It’s never fun getting sick, especially this year! Today, I’m sharing my tried and true, all-natural home remedies for cough. I recommend making these remedies in advance, so that they’re ready for cold and flu season. This ginger lemon honey tea actually works, and not just as a home remedy for a sore throat.
Designed to soothe + heal, these ingredients will actually shorten the life of your cold.
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Ginger Lemon Honey Tea Recipe
I made this concoction of fresh lemon, ginger, and raw local honey (best purchased seasonally) to prepare for when the germs start spreading. Now, I keep it in the fridge. At the first sign of a cold or flu, I just scoop out a few tablespoons, add hot water, and enjoy this delicious home remedy for cough.
This is hands down the best way I’ve ever found to treat a cold, cough or flu naturally. No joke. It tastes amazing, makes me feel great instantly and I quickly recover. Why is that?
Home Remedy Ingredients
Lemons are high in vitamin C (especially the pith, aka the white part we all usually avoid!). Vitamin C helps boost the immune system and neutralize the free radicals in the body. This reduces the inflammation and swelling in the body when fighting off a common cold. Lemon also has natural acidity that helps break down mucous as well as alleviate congestion
Ginger contains a bioactive compound called gingerol, which is known to be the strong medicinal part of ginger. Helps you sweat out the toxins in your body, which is helpful when you have a cold or flu. Ginger is also a helpful home remedy for cough, settling upset stomachs, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and cold sweats. First found in Southeast Asia, this powerful root not only helps fight the common cold, but also free radicals and inflammation, according to research by the US National Library of Medicine.
Interested in adding more ginger power to your diet? Check out all of our recipes featuring this amazing and powerful root in our member’s only meal planner. We have 50+ recipes in Rawk the Year that contain ginger – everything from smoothies to soups to cookies and more!
Honey is a natural cough suppressant (Which explains why the most effective cough drops use honey). It also improves the body’s ability to fight infection and decreases the risk of fevers. The natural sweetness of honey also balances the tartness of the lemon + ginger, giving this ginger lemon honey tea its soothing flavor. Raw honey is used to treat a whole host of ailments, including cancer.
Why I Believe in Natural Remedies
As the weather gets windier and colder, flu and cold season kicks into gear. I get a little obsessive; wiping down the shopping cart like crazy, washing my hands numerous times a day, as well as gulping down my immune boosting green smoothies.
Yet no matter what I do, I get one cold every year. That’s why I’ve come to rely on my home remedies for cough. I’ve used them for years, so I know that they work for me. Many store-bought treatments contain harmful food dyes, processed sugar, along with other chemicals.
If I’m not willing to eat those on the regular, then why would I turn to them when my immune system is down?! The whole food, plant-based ingredients used in these home remedies for sore throat and cough are often cheaper, and are definitely healthier than over the counter meds. They also have natural healing properties.
Home Remedies for Cold and Flu
In winters past, I hit the drugstore to load up on medicine and cough drops when my annual cold hit… yet I never felt better using them. They tasted gross and I woke up feeling even worse. That’s when I decided there had to be a better way—something that was natural and made to heal the body.
Seven years ago, I went on my own wellness warrior journey to discover the best home remedies for cough. Since I learned about so many incredible remedies, I created a whole medicine cabinet of plant based cures. Read on for a few of my tried and true favs:
- Elderberry syrup: can be taken daily, and taken multiple times a day when experiencing cold or flue symptoms. And when you can make a medicinal syrup into popsicles for sore throats, I’m 100% here for it.
- Rawkstar fire cider: while this tonic is not for the faint of heart, it does wonders in limiting the life of a cold or the flu, and helps to strengthen the immune system along the way. This is one home remedy that’ll scare the cough right out of ya!
- Homemade vapor rub: this is a perfect natural remedy for cough + decongestant. Use it on the chest, as well as the feet to soothe.
- Ginger lemon honey tea: The recipe below has a whole host of benefits, just like the others on this list. I love this recipe for allergies, when I feel any kind of sickness coming on, or if I’m in the middle of a full blown cold.
Practical Uses for Home Remedies
Typically, when I start to feel a tickle in my throat, a stuffy nose, or the body aches, I grab a shot of fire cider. My kids and I take homemade elderberry syrup on the daily throughout the winter.
I use the vapor rub if congestion is keeping me from sleeping, and my son Jackson also uses it to help with seasonal allergies. This ginger lemon honey tea recipe can be sipped throughout the day as a home remedy for cough, sore throat, or the flu.
Tried and True Storage Tips
Have you noticed I use an awful lot of mason jars? There’s a reason why Mr. John Mason’s jars have been a popular storage favorite for over a century! I love them not just for serving green smoothies, but for storing this healthful home remedy for cough recipe. These days you can find them anywhere from antique shops to grocery stores. I often buy mine at a local feed supply store.
Please let me know in the comments below if you’ve tried this natural remedies for cough recipe for ginger lemon honey tea, or any of the other home remedies for sore throats (and a whole host of other ailments!) I’ve created. I’d love to know how they work for your family.
Ginger Lemon Honey Tea
Ingredients
- 2 lemons organic
- 2 inch ginger root
- 1 cup honey
- 12-oz mason jar
Instructions
- Slice lemons and ginger.
- Place the lemon and ginger slices in the mason jar, alternating layers of each.
- Slowly, pour honey over the lemon and ginger. Allow the honey to sink down and around the lemon and ginger slices. Fill jar to the top with honey and seal tightly.
- Store in the refrigerator. Over time, the mixture will start to turn into a loose jelly.
- When you are in need of some soothing tea, scoop 2-3 tablespoons into a mug full of hot water—be sure to scoop whole pieces of ginger and lemon. Allow to steep for 3-4 minutes and sip away.
Video
Notes
- Since lemons are going into this concentrate, make sure to wash them well before slicing.
- Use a jar with a tight-fitting lid to ensure this mixture stays protected.
- For best personal results, use raw, local honey that was made within the season you are using it.
This stuff is the real deal! I’ve been making batches of it every winter for years now. Thanks Jen for such an awesome and effective recipe!
You can say that again!! It’s the best!
How long can I keep the recipe in the refrigerator??
Betty, it will last a few months in the fridge. 🙂
With the flu season coming and corona, I am always looking for home remedies to try and prevent it while boosting my immune system. I much rather prefer to do home remedies than medications.
Ashley, we always prefer homemade, natural remedies over store-bought and over-the-counter options if we can help it! 🙂
I’ve been trying for the last week to remember where I saw this recipe and I just remembered today. I’m going to make this this weekend for flu season.
So glad you found it, Sandra! It’s great to have on hand during cold and flu season.
This is in my fridge every year!
Mine too! 😀
Over the counter cough syrups that are ‘safe for kids’ never work for my kiddos. Can’t wait to try these remedies with them!
Let us know how it works out for your family, Kat!
Cold season is coming, so I need to prep this & have it on hand.
This is a great remedy to prep and have ready when cold and flu season arrives.
I have a jar of this ready to go for the winter; a tried and true staple in our home.
Awesome, Erin! It’s a great one to always have ready.
This sounds like a great recipe. However that large amount of raw honey would be expensive. Does it work as well to just make an individual cup of sliced lemon, ginger, honey and hot water when needed?
You can definitely do that if it will be a better budget-friendly option. 🙂
It is great!! My girlfriend is sick so this will help her heaps!! Thank you!!
You’re welcome! Hope she feels better soon. 🙂
What if no lemon is it okey to use calamansi?
Josie, if that’s what you have access to, I think that should work ok.
Can you drink the honey like that without put it in hot water
Can i use organic honey for this homemade
Yes, we recommend local raw organic honey.
I don’t advise it. That would make it very (too) strong tasting and adding hot water to the mixture makes it nice and warm, which will be soothing to your throat and warm you from the inside.
Thank you for your help I this troubled time! I am into lemons and herbs but needed support since I have not been ankle to research remedies as much as I’d like. I have Mullien ready for teas but wanted more for confidence. My husband told some since he’s older he’ll stay at home and I’ll need to treat him since there may be no respirator for him. My greatest strength is knowing Good is in control and friends like you to help for such a time as this!
You’re welcome, Crystal! Safe + healthy vibes to you and your family. 🙂
I don’t have ginger root, and thanks to the quarantine I can’t make a trip just for that, but I have a bottle of minced ginger in the fridge! Could that work?
Abby, I think in a pinch that could work. If the minced ginger is in any sugar or vinegar solution, rinse it off before adding it to your jar with the lemon.
Would it work without honey?? I don’t have honey available
You can make a morning tonic using lemon and ginger. It will help you feel better but it won’t work exactly the same without honey. It’s still great, though. I drink it almost every morning to help alkalize my body. Here’s a link to the recipe: Morning Tonic
Can you put this in the freezer by any chance?
Alexa, I don’t think this is something that should be put in the freezer.