This calorie-free, sugar-free Stevia Simple Syrup is the perfect way to sweeten up your cocktails, mocktails, and other beverages only using natural sweeteners.
This quick and easy Stevia Simple Syrup is just one way I lighten-up my cocktails. You're gonna wanna check out these 10 other Smart Drink tips I use all the time to make sure all my drinks are guilt-free, even when I'm ordering from the bar.
Sugar.
It's in everything, isn't it? Even foods that totally shouldn't have sugar in them.
Of course, you expect to have sugar in your baked goods. But spaghetti sauce? Dried Fruit? Smoothies from the smoothie shop that are supposed to be healthy??
Some can have up to 60 gram of sugar in just a 16 ounce smoothie. That's ridiculous.
And this is why I'm too skeptical of eating anything outside of my house and do my best to make everything from scratch.
I'm sure you're thinking, "what, so you don't eat anything sweet at all??"
Oh no my friend. I have a major sweet tooth that has a hard time being tamed. But I have found ways around using pure sugar.
Dates, agave, raw honey, and of course Stevia. It is the only dry sugar-replacement that is all natural. Sweeteners like Splenda, Equal, and the like, are all full of nasty chemicals with side effects we're not quite sure of.
And the unknown side-effects are what scares me.
You've probably figured it out by now, but I'm a huge fan of only eating foods that are directly derived from the source. The ground. The tree. The plant.
I always want to know where something came from before I put it in my body. Which is why I'm such a huge fan of farm-to-table living.
One day, I will have a huge garden that I will be able to cook from. Well, except for the fact that I unintentionally kill everything I try to grow...
Stevia is an all-natural plant that is actually 30 times sweeter than sugar, so you don't even need to use as much as you would to sweeten things. Stevia leaves can be eaten in their natural form to sweeten breath.
Or they can be dried to sprinkle on foods like a spice or seasoning. Alternatively, powdered or granulated stevia can be steeped in water like I'm going to show you today in my Stevia Simple Syrup.
How do you make Stevia Simple Syrup?
First of all, you only need two simple ingredients.
Powdered stevia
Water
It doesn't get much simpler than that.
As for the procedure, it's equally as simple:
- Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add powdered stevia and let simmer until stevia has completely dissolved.
- Once stevia has dissolved, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Once cool, place in a jar and store in the refrigerator to use in drinks and other recipes that call for simple syrup.
What can Stevia Simple Syrup be used in place of?
I mostly use Stevia Simple Syrup in recipes that are calling for plain old syrup. Generally cocktails and mocktails. Or any drinks that are adding maple syrup, sugar, or agave.
With a stevia simple syrup on hand, it's easy to add just a splash to get the sweetness you're looking for.
When I'm making drinks in my house, the first thing I generally do is start browsing Pinterest. I have a ton of great drinks pinned to my drink board.
Most of these drinks seem to call for a simple syrup, and that just doesn't jive with me. Especially because I already have calories from the liquor.
And then there are the calories from whatever I'm mixing it with. The last thing I need is more calories from any added sugar.
So let's just eliminate that and make a stevia simple syrup instead of sugar. And they don't call it simple for nothin.'
Seriously, two ingredients. Five minutes.
Boom.
USE THE STEVIA SIMPLE SYRUP IN THESE VEGAN DRINKS:
Healthy Whiskey Sour
Grapefruit Vodka Cocktail
Ginger Lime Drink
Peach Whiskey Cocktail
Watermelon Basil Margarita
COMPLETE THE PARTY WITH THESE VEGAN SNACKS:
Stevia Simple Syrup
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- ¼ cup stevia (approximately 20-25 packets)
Instructions
- Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add stevia and let simmer until stevia has completely dissolved.
- Once stevia has dissolved, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Once cool, place in a jar and store in the refrigerator to use in drinks and other recipes that call for simple syrup.
Nutrition
Nutritional Information: zero.zero.zero.
Incredibly easy right?! You have no excuses to make it yourself now.
WATERMELON BASIL COCKTAIL
hellokitty says
Is this recipe a 1:1 equivalent to simple syrup? So if a recipe calls for 1/4 cup of simple syrup (which is a 1:1 ratio of water to sugar), i would use a 1/4 cup of this stevia simple syrup? thank you!
Cindy says
Yes, I would start with a 1;1 sub and add more as needed in drinks. It does not do well in baked items 🙂
DR says
Has anyone tried adding raspberry flavoring? I'd like to make something similar to creme de cassis to add to white wine to make a "Kir".
Jonathan L Graifer says
I make syrups for shave ice and the like. your best bet is to actually just use the fruit. after you kill the heat, drop a single serving worth of raspberries, strawberries etc into the syrup and let them steep for an hour, then strain them out before refridgerating. fresh works best but frozen is fine.
Cindy says
Thank you for sharing!
DR says
Thanks for the tip...sounds great!
Kathy says
Have you tried canning with the simple syrup? I’d like to do sugar free peaches.
Holly Waterfall says
I have not tried canning - that is not my specialty.
Andrea says
How long does it last? Or what kind of preservative would I need & how much?
Cindy says
I would recommend a shelf life of 1 week, very similar to simple syrup. I would not add in any preservative. 🙂
Susana says
This is the idea I was looking for to add vanilla syrup for coffee. Will this work with liquid stevia that I already have or only with powdered version?
Quinn says
Yes, with some caveats.
Liquid stevia is concentrated. It will work perfectly fine, but you'll need to consult the concentration ratio provided by the manufacturer vs the granulated version and dilute accordingly.
If that number isn't listed, you can derive it from the listed conversions from sugar equivalents in metric. It will vary by product and you'll need to do some kitchen math, example:
https://www.sweetleaf.com/pages/stevia-conversion-calculator
In the reference above the conversion ratio is 20:1, so if it calls for 40mg of stevia, you would use 2ml of liquid stevia. The ratio packets to liquid ml is (.5)/1, so you would need 2 packets to equal 1 ml of liquid stevia.
Adjusting for the recipe, 20-25 packets of powder would be 10-12.5ml of stevia.
It is recommended to buy both a scale and small scale measuring equipment when dealing with these sorts of precise quantities. Lab glassware is cheap online and works great in the kitchen, pipettes make short work of this sort of thing.
As a hack, 1mg of water mass is conveniently equal to 1ml of water volume so a scale weight measurement can be used in place of a liquid measurement. Stevia will be roughly the same. This may scale poorly, so if you think it's too sweet, use a liquid measurement.
Julia says
I am looking for an alternative syrup to dissolve into butter, to make one of my favourite recipes; which consists of the dry ingredients: Oats, Stevia, Wholemeal S R Flour, Baking Soda, and grated fresh Ginger. I am wondering if your syrup would do the same job as maple, malt rice etc. I have been using up some malt rice, but do not wish to continue using it after further research.
I have just signed up for your future notifications; so thank you in advance :).
Judy Drtina says
Looks great!
How many days can this be stored in the fridge?
Holly Waterfall says
I've kept it for up to a month.
Dave says
How long does this keep for in frig?
Holly Waterfall says
About a month in the fridge
Im says
add rose petals, soak for an hour, pour through a filter, and add to hot tea.
enjoy
Holly Waterfall says
sounds perfect!
Shelly says
I'm wondering if you've ever used food-grade essential oils for the syrup. I'm going to try lavender today, to use in a plant-based chocolate-lavender ice cream.
Cindy says
I have not used food grade oils before, be sure to let me know how it turns out!
April says
I made this recipe! And I added a tsp of vanilla extract to make it vanilla simple syrup for my coffee. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Su says
Niiiice!
Kim Conover says
Hi Holly, I just started 2 half gallon jars of blueberries and vodka to make my own flavored vodka and liqeuor. There is no sugar /sweetener added at this point but the difference between the infused vodka and liqeuor is the sweetness but also the viscosity. The liqeuor should be thicker and that is usually achieved with a thicker simple syrup. The stevia doesn't thicken when it's dissolved in the water- correct? Is there a way to thicken the stevia based syrup without adding carbs?
Wanda Reed says
Thank you for this Stevia simple syrup recipe! I make a three ingredient chocolate snack. The syrup will make it even easier! Yum!
Nop T. says
I have the question about stevia is it 100% concentred power? I would like to try to make it for my drink.
Granni says
Hi did you stevia stay dissolved When I cooled mine overnight small hard crystals formed that seemed to disappear when I reheated the solution. When I cooled it in the fridge they reappeared... So I discarded it and made another batch and the same thing happened . We were concerned about drinking something that reformed crystals and we haven't used Stevia again because of it..
Emily says
I am so glad I found your recipes. I too love sweet leaf stevia. Can't wait to try some recipes.
Lisa says
Thanks for the recipe! I follow a paleo diet and always want to know what I'm putting in my body. Big fan of stevia ! Now I can make skinny Rita's without any guilt , well except for the tequila which I use 100% agave tequila