HOMEMADE GINGER ALE
PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES, PLUS 2 HOURS CHILLING
COOK TIME: 40 MINUTES
MAKES: 8 CUPS
4 cups water
½ cup peeled and coarsely diced ginger
½ cup sugar
¼ cup honey
4 cups club soda
1. In a medium saucepan over high heat, bring water and ginger to a boil. Remove from heat and let stand for 30 minutes.
2. Over a medium bowl, strain the ginger from the liquid and discard ginger.
3. Add sugar and honey to the liquid and stir until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, or until cool.
4. After the ginger syrup has cooled, all of it can be mixed with the club soda for a crowd, or equal parts syrup and club soda can be mixed for individual servings.
Gather ingredients.
Add 4 cups water to a medium saucepan. Add ½ cup peeled and coarsely diced ginger.
Bring water and ginger to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat and let stand for 30 minutes.
Over a medium bowl, strain the ginger from the liquid and discard ginger.
Add ½ cup sugar to the liquid.
Add ¼ cup honey.
Stir until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, or until cool.
After the ginger syrup has cooled, all of it can be mixed with 4 cups club soda for a crowd, or equal parts syrup and club soda can be mixed for individual servings.
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Mmmmmm, ginger ale is the only soda that I like but the canned stuff is so full of high fructose syrup making it sickening sweet and bad for you. Alas, this recipe is something I can make and enjoy here at home. It looks so refreshing and delicious in your photo and I am definitely going to try this one out and keep the recipe on hand. I bet it is a real crowd pleaser as well.
I’ve been making this for awhile now and it’s become my go-to beverage of choice. Far healthier than store bought soda, a great digestive aid, and SO good! The flavor of the fresh ginger really shines! Plus you can control the amount of sweetener you’re using.
This sounds so good. I am gonna give it a go. Thanks!!!
And Winnie, there are lots of “micro brew” ginger ales coming to the fore…keep looking.
If you are ever anywhere in SC, check for Blenheims. You can get regular and fiery hot and it’s oh so delish. (No hfcs either)
What an awesome recipe!! I’m not a soda person at all, but this sounds delicious, refreshing, and healthy! Thanks Mary Jane!
another alternative & a treat instead of water all the time! thank you.
I love homemade ginger ale. It’s so easy to make and very refreshing. Would you believe that I got my recipe from a Chinese cookbook? LOL! Suppose that makes sense, since China is no stranger to ginger.
I made the Ginger Ale yesterday. It turned out great. We really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Mary Jane ! My Sweetheart buys ginger ale from the store ~ believe it or not I tried it for the first time last year !
I will be letting her know about your recipe ! I also enjoy your magazine and I am planning on buying her your book on Wild bread! Wishing you the best in the new year !
Dear Jane, I love to bake. Gingerale is an ingredient utilized when making ginger jelly for the inside layers of cake and as a filling for cupcakes. This Gingerale recipe will come in handy. How much better is my jelly going to taste when using freshly made Ginger Syrup! Today I’m baking up a Vanilla Ginger Birthday Cake with Ginger Swiss Meringue Frosting. Looking forward to using this recipe today. I enjoy receiving your emails.
Sounds great until you look at the Sugar!
Would love to have a recipe using Maple Syrup or Stevia….
Why don’t you substitute for them. The beauty of a DIY/recipe is that you do it how you want to. No recipe police.
I am going to have to give this a try! I am a big fan of Ginger…
Hmmmm,, I wonder if I could make and pour a 1/2 glass over ice and add a 1/4 glass of cream (or Half & Half) to make this a creamy ginger soda???
I’m a huge Ginger Ale fan, especially when I’m pregnant. It really calms my stomach. I’m excited to try this recipe and have some of my own that’s much better for me. It looks so refreshing.
Tried this today. It is fabulous and so easy!
Can ginger essential oil be substituted for the diced ginger??
Here’s, what my DIL, Ashley, MaryJanesFarm food guru had to say:
Hi Robin,
We made this recipe with fresh ginger, so I cannot tell you whether it would work to substitute ginger essential oil with fresh ginger. I would personally hesitate, because essential oils are usually intended to be used as aromatics or topicals, and don’t necessarily possess a strong flavor component. If made with ginger essential oil, it seems to me that the ginger ale would be lacking the fresh ginger “bite” that makes this soda so good. Additionally, essential oils are incredibly heat sensitive, so you would need to be mindful of which stage in the recipe you add the oil, otherwise the oil will burn off.
Can you mix this up and store it in the fridge like store bought soda ?
Here’s, what my DIL, Ashley, MaryJanesFarm food guru had to say:
Hi Annie,
If you want the ginger ale to be something you have on hand, you can store the syrup and club soda in the refrigerator separately and mix in small batches. If you mix all the ginger syrup and club soda together, and then store it in the refrigerator, the mixture will go flat.