Keep cool this summer and save money with this super simple 3-ingredient Homemade Snow Cone Syrup recipe!
Snow Cone Syrup recipe
I am ashamed to admit the amount of money our family has given to various ice cream trucks and shaved ice carts. Let’s be honest, all of that stuff is way overpriced …
Last year, our family decided it would be fun to add a cotton candy machine, popcorn popper, hot dog roller, and snow cone machine to our house. At first, I was kind of hesitant, because I had to find a place to put all of this stuff! Plus, would we really use this stuff?!
Surprisingly, the answer was yes! We use the popcorn popper, hot dog roller, and snow cone machine all of the time! Not so much on the cotton candy machine unless we’re having a party. We’ve actually had people comment that it’s like going to the carnival when they come over to our house … I can only assume they’re talking about all of the nifty gadgets and not the chaos!! ?
For quite awhile, we bought those big jugs of syrup off of Amazon – and while they’re great, it got so expensive!! I don’t like spending money on things I can get or make cheaper, so I decided to make our own Homemade Snow Cone Syrup.
You only need three ingredients to make this Homemade Snow Cone Syrup – water, sugar, and flavored drink mix packets of your choice. Easy peasy! The flavors I used were Cherry, Grape, Berry Blue, and Peach Mango.
Stronger flavor
If you prefer a sweeter mixture, you can up the sugar ratio … and likewise, if you prefer a less sweet mixture, you can use less sugar. I use an equal 1:1 ratio to make a simple syrup and add whatever flavor of drink mix we want. If you want a real flavor punch, use two packets of drink mix. Cherry and Lemonade are faves in our house!
One recipe perfectly fills up one of these bottles I bought off of Amazon. I love that the bottle has a cap to help keep them fresh in the fridge and prevent an accidental spill.
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Stored in the refrigerator, these Homemade Snow Cone Syrups will be good for about one month – but ours never last that long!
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Homemade Snow Cone Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 packet unsweetened drink mix 0.23 oz.
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil; simmer until the sugar is dissolved, 3 minutes.
- Stir in drink mix until well combined.
- Remove from the heat and let cool completely.
- Transfer syrup to a container for pouring.
- To serve, pour the desired amount of syrup over shaved ice to flavor.
Notes
- Use your imagination to make a bunch of flavors to get you through summer.
Nutrition
Please note that the nutritional information listed on this page is an estimation based on the products I used. Ingredients and nutritional information can vary significantly between brands. Always be sure to read labels. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Likewise, recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them.
My favorite summer desserts have to be snow cones, popsicles and ice cream! Especially homemade! All cold and delicious! 🙂
SO easy!!! Now I need some grandchildren to test this out on 😉
I wish that I had found this recipe earlier in the summer, but we still have a good month left – and there is always next year. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I found it on pinterest. Shared.
Nice post.
Looks pretty and delicious and seems really easy to make. I can't wait to try, I bey my children are going to be impressed! Spending all your time at Homeworkmarket doesn't leave you with a lot of spare time to try something new in cooking. So thanks a lot for inspiration.
My sister would like to have a summer-themed party for her birthday; that’s why I’m currently looking for a shaved iced machine since snow cones will be served in the event. I’m glad you shared this; I’ll make sure to look for Dixie Crystals pure cane sugar products because according to you, these are non- GMO. It’s also great to learn the prep and time cook for this yummy treat will only take 10 minutes.
Oh wow, thats gonna help a lot in making our own syrups.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Where do you get the flavor packets
Generally, you can find them on the drink aisle. You are looking for “Kool-aid” packets without the sugar added or a similar brand.
Good one!!!!, we made 3 flavors today and they all taste GREAT….The Tropical Punch looks like blood lol we are going to use it in our Bat ice trays for Halloween …Thank you so much
How long does it last? Does it go bad?
We use the salad shredder attachment to our kitchen Aid mixer to shave ice. Stock pile on freezer just for the day. Then serve later at event.
Is this recipe just like the real snowball syrup like on the snoball trucks or is it really watery
I made it and it’s close, I plan on the next batch cooking more of the water off of the syrup to get a thicker syrup. It did taste good thiugh
I made this with sharkleberry fin flavored Kool aid and for my next batch I’ll use the same flavor but I’m going to cook off a bit more water, to me the syrup seemed a bit on the thin side. Definitely make a day in advance too. That way you won’t have to ice bath your syrup bottle out of impatience
Just what I need to help me honor my sister Brenda’s birthday. She is gone but not forgotten. Thanks!.
Have you tried making a huge batch of the water/sugar mixture, then parting it out to mix in the flavors? I don’t want to have four pots going at the same time.
You can do that.
The recipe looks good but I haven’t tried it yet, should I use brown or white sugar?
white sugar
It came out just right Thank you .I flavored it with banana 🍌 extract and strawberry 🍓 and yellow & red food coloring.perfect for tomorrow its gonna be in the 💯 .
That is a good idea. How was the taste and thickness of the syrup
This is a great recipe. We’ve made several flavors. We’ve used the drink mix packages (kool aid) and also the little boxed packets that you can put in water, cheap at the dollar store! And, depending on how strong/flavorful you want your syrup, you can add 3 of them (2 works great too!). My grandkids, along with the rest of us, love them! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! Much more affordable than buying the premade syrup!!! And the flavors you can create are endless!!! We also made the Sonic Ocean Water with the boxed water packets!! A favorite!
very very nice
So I admit when I first found this I thought “this woman is crazy to be doing this” But then I realized that you’re crazy alright, crazy thrifty! What a great idea and so simple! Thanks!
It came out just right Thank you .I flavored it with banana 🍌 extract and strawberry 🍓 and yellow & red food coloring.perfect for tomorrow its gonna be in the
It Great website to find this dish
Has anyone try making the syrup with sugarfree substitutes? If so, what sugarfree alternative would you recommend? Waiting anxiously for info.
It turned out perfectly! I added banana extract, strawberry, and a mix of yellow and red food coloring. It’s ready for tomorrow and looks fantastic. This website is a great resource for finding this recipe.
Really appreciate your taking the time for these ideas. I want to surprise the kids with snowcones because they love the well, gas station ones, and I’m looking for something at home that is *slightly healthier (at least no high fructose!). Can’t wait to try!
I truly appreciate your suggestions. I want to surprise the kids with snow cones since they love the ones from the gas station. I’m looking for a way to make them at home that is a bit healthier, without high fructose corn syrup. I’m excited to try your ideas!
Your ideas are truly unique!
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Thank you for sharing your insights!
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Keep doing what you do best!
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Wondering what snow cone maker you have??? Can’t wait to try making our own syrup. We too spend way too much money buying over-priced snow cones!!
This is my Amazon affiliate link to the snow cone machine I use at home. Hope this helps – and I hope you enjoy the recipe!! 🙂