How to Make Lavender-Infused Honey (A Simple Home Apothecary Recipe)

Dr Lucy
Jul 19
6 min read

Honey being poured into a glass jar over dried lavender, with the lid open on a wooden table and a blurred garden behind.

Lavender-infused honey is one of those simple projects that asks very little of you. There is no special equipment, no complicated technique and very little active time. Instead, the flowers slowly share their aroma with the honey over the course of a few weeks, creating something that feels both luxurious and deeply rooted in the rhythm of the seasons.

I particularly enjoy making a jar in summer, when the lavender is in bloom. By the time autumn arrives, it has developed a beautifully delicate floral flavour that feels just as at home stirred into herbal tea as it does drizzled over warm porridge or fresh bread.

Gathering Your Ingredients

This is one of those wonderfully simple recipes where every ingredient has the opportunity to shine. When there are only two ingredients in the jar, the character of each one really matters. That doesn't mean you need to buy the most expensive honey or search for something impossible to find. It simply means choosing ingredients that you'll enjoy, because their flavours will become part of the finished infusion.

Choosing Your Lavender

If you're harvesting lavender from your own garden, English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is usually the best choice. It has a beautifully soft, floral flavour that lends itself well to food.

If you're buying dried flowers, look for lavender sold specifically for food use (often labelled culinary lavender). This simply means it has been prepared and sold to be eaten, rather than used in potpourri, crafts or decorative arrangements.

More camphor-rich lavenders can quickly become overpowering in food, so choosing the right variety helps the honey remain delicate and balanced.

Choosing Your Honey

For this infusion, I chose a raw single-apiary honey, not because it's the only honey that works, but because I enjoy knowing the story behind the ingredients I use.

Single-apiary honey comes from one beekeeper's hives in a single location, allowing the character of that landscape to shine through. Just as lavender reflects the place it was grown, honey reflects the flowers the bees have visited, the season and the surrounding landscape. No two harvests are ever exactly the same, and I rather love that.

I also chose a raw honey. Unlike many commercial runny honeys, raw honey has been minimally processed, so it retains more of its naturally occurring enzymes, tiny traces of pollen and its wonderfully complex floral character. While these differences don't necessarily translate into proven additional health benefits in everyday use, they are part of what makes raw honey such a fascinating natural ingredient to work with.

Of course, this recipe will still work beautifully with a supermarket honey if that's what you have. But if I'm taking the time to create something slowly by hand, I enjoy starting with ingredients that still carry as much of their natural character, and their sense of place, as possible.

The most important thing isn't finding the perfect honey, it's choosing one whose flavour you already enjoy. The lavender should never hide the honey; it should simply become part of it.

You'll Need

Ingredients

1 cup (approximately 340 g) raw honey (I used a raw single-apiary honey, but any honey you enjoy will work.)
3 teaspoons dried English lavender flowers (Lavandula angustifolia)

Equipment

1 clean glass clip-top jar (or similar)
A spoon

Method

Place the dried lavender into your clean jar.

Spoon adds dried lavender buds to a clear glass jar on a wooden table, with a soft green garden blurred in the background. — Around three teaspoons of dried lavender create a beautifully gentle floral infusion.

Pour over the honey until the flowers are completely submerged. I used approximately one cup of raw single-apiary honey, although the exact amount isn't critically important.

Open glass jar of raw honey with dried lavender buds in the bottom on a wooden board, lid tipped open. — The infusion begins the moment the honey gently surrounds the lavender flowers.

Seal the jar and give it a gentle shake to distribute the flowers throughout the honey.

Hand holds an inverted glass mason jar filled with raw honey and lavender buds on a wooden table by a window. — Gently turn or invert the jar to ensure all of the lavender buds are fully submerged in the honey.

Store somewhere cool and out of direct sunlight.

Every few days, turn or gently shake the jar to encourage the lavender to continue infusing evenly.

Each gentle turn helps keep the lavender flowers happily submerged as the flavours slowly develop

After around two to four weeks, taste the honey. You'll often find that the flavour develops gradually, becoming gently floral without overwhelming the natural sweetness of the honey.

Once you're happy with the flavour, strain out the lavender flowers using a fine mesh sieve if you prefer a smooth honey. Alternatively, you can leave the flowers in if they'll be used within a reasonable time, although the flavour will continue to develop.

Let the Plants Guide the Process

One of the things I love about making infused honey is how forgiving it is. Recipes often become very focused on exact measurements, but nature rarely works that way. Some lavender harvests are more fragrant than others. Some honeys have bold, distinctive flavours, while others are wonderfully mild. Rather than worrying about perfect ratios, you can taste as the infusion develops and simply allow the plants to guide the process.

How Long Should You Infuse Lavender Honey?

You'll often see exact infusion times given for recipes like this, but I've found nature rarely follows a timetable.

Start tasting after about two weeks. Some lavender harvests are wonderfully fragrant, while others are more delicate. Likewise, every honey brings its own personality. Rather than aiming for a strong lavender flavour, I prefer to stop when the honey still tastes beautifully of honey, with lavender gently woven through it.

Ways to Enjoy Lavender Honey

Once infused, lavender honey becomes a surprisingly versatile pantry ingredient.

Try it:

stirred into herbal teas (a beutiful bedtime ritual)
drizzled over Greek yoghurt with fresh berries
spread over warm sourdough toast
served with soft cheeses
spooned over roasted peaches or apricots
added to homemade vinaigrettes
used in baking where you want a gentle floral note

Does Lavender Honey Have Medicinal Benefits?

Both honey and lavender have long histories of traditional use.

Raw honey has been valued for centuries as both a food and a soothing ingredient, while lavender has traditionally been associated with relaxation, comfort and wellbeing.

That having been said, it's important not to assume that an infused honey carries the same properties as lavender essential oil or concentrated herbal preparations. During infusion, only certain aromatic compounds move into the honey, and we currently have very little research examining lavender-infused honey specifically.

For me, much of the value of this prepartion lies in the beutifu l moments of ritual you create when using it. A spoonful stirred into an evening herbal tea, a drizzle over breakfast, or simply taking a moment to appreciate the remarkable flavours that plants can offer.

Storage

Store your lavender honey sealed at room temperature and away from direct sunlight. Because honey naturally contains very little water, it has an excellent shelf life. As always, use clean, dry utensils when serving to help preserve its quality. If your honey crystallises, simply stand the jar in warm (not boiling) water until it softens again.

A Gentle Safety Note

Honey should never be given to babies under one year of age because of the risk of infant botulism.

If you're harvesting your own lavender, ensure it hasn't been treated with pesticides or other garden chemicals, and always use clean jars and utensils when preparing infused foods.

One of my favourite things about projects like this is how they remind us that building a home apothecary doesn't always begin with herbal remedies or essential oils.

Sometimes, it simply begins with noticing the plants around us and inviting a little more of their beauty into everyday life.

Welcome to Subtle Medicine

Hi, I'm Lucy.

I'm a former medical doctor with a deep love of medicinal plants, aromatherapy and helping people feel more confident bringing them into everyday life.

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