Homemade Fire Cider Recipe
What is Fire Cider?
Fire cider is an herbal tonic that supports your immune system and digestion. It is an infused vinegar made with a variety of ingredients that provide powerful benefits for your overall health. These ingredients vary based on which recipe you use, but the most basic recipe includes ginger, onion, garlic, horseradish, and hot peppers. Each ingredient in any given recipe will add different benefits and flavors to the fire cider.
Fire cider is a natural remedy for colds that became popular during the 1970s, but it is based on traditional folk remedies going back centuries. It has gained further popularity in the herbalist community in recent years.
Fire cider is typically drank diluted in water, but it can also be taken by adding it to soups, tea, juice, or making it into a salad dressing. The flavor is spicy, vinegary, savory, and sweet.
Health Benefits of Fire Cider
Fire cider boosts the immune system, and has antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties. It soothes a sore throat, fights illness, supports digestion, and promotes respiratory health. Each ingredient brings powerful benefits that promote overall wellness.
Ginger Root: Contain gingerol, which offers antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Also supports digestion and respiratory health.
Turmeric Root: Contains curcumin, which has profound anti-inflammatory properties. Supports brain, heart, and skin health.
Onion and Garlic: Powerful antimicrobial and antibacterial benefits.
Jalapenos: Rich in vitamins A and C and fights infections.
Lemon and Orange: High in vitamin C and antibacterial properties.
Cayenne Pepper: Clear sinus congestion and fights inflammation.
Black Pepper: Known to enhance curcumin absorption by 2000% and has anti-inflammatory properties.
Honey: Promotes healing and is high in antioxidants. Also soothes sore throats.
Apple Cider Vinegar: Balances blood sugar and has antimicrobial properties.
Fire Cider Ingredients
The fire cider base recipe is ginger, onion, garlic, horseradish root, and hot peppers in apple cider vinegar with honey. The recipe below adds a lot of beneficial herbs, fruit, and spices, but omits the horseradish. This is simply because fresh horseradish root is difficult to find and often very expensive. If you are able to easily obtain horseradish root, definitely add it to your fire cider!
Because this is a medicinal tonic, it is important to choose good quality ingredients. The fire cider won’t be the most effective medicine it can be if you use ingredients that are covered in pesticides or processed to the point they are dead. I strongly recommend using:
- Raw honey (local honey is best when possible)
- Raw, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar with the mother
- All organic ingredients
I purchase most of the ingredients for fire cider from Azure Standard. They sell a wide variety of organic products and I have found them to be a lot more affordable than what I get at the grocery store. They also have bulk options that reduce the price even more, when I have the space and budget for it.
How to Make Fire Cider
Fire cider is very easy to put together, then you simply have to wait for a month before using it. I like to start a batch of fire cider in September using fresh garden herbs that will be ready right when cold and flu season is coming around. I typically start another batch every 4-6 weeks, depending on how often I’m drinking it.
How to Take Fire Cider
Fire cider has a unique flavor that is tangy, sweet, and a little savory. I’ve found that people are very divided on whether or not they enjoy it, but all agree that it is worth drinking for the health benefits! The most common way to take fire cider is adding one or two tablespoons to a glass of water.
Another option is to incorporate it into your existing meal. You can make fire cider salad dressings, add it to soups, or use it as the vinegar on a sandwich.
My favorite way to consume fire cider is by making it into a hot wellness drink. This beverage is warming, comforting, and delicious. It also incorporates fat from the oil, which helps the bioavailability of curcumin, the primary compound that gives turmeric its benefits.
Fire Cider Wellness Drink Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp fire cider
- Juice of half a lemon
- Honey to taste
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil or MTC oil
- ½ tsp cayenne (optional)
- Boiling water
Instructions
Put all of the ingredients in a cup of hot water. Stir tp dissolve the honey and enjoy.
Preserving Garden Ingredients for Winter Fire Cider
I like to eat as seasonally as possible, which means that fresh peppers are not on the menu in the winter. Fresh herbs are also not in season unless I grow them indoors. In order to grow as much of my own fire cider ingredients as possible, I preserve some garden harvests to use for fire cider in the winter by freezing. This is a really easy way to save money and live seasonally while making fire cider.
How to Freeze Fire Cider Ingredients
- Bag 1-batch portions of fresh herbs and jalapenos.
- Label each bag.
- Freeze until it’s time to make a batch of fire cider.
- Empty the contents of the bag straight into the jar, still frozen.
Homemade Fire Cider Recipe
Fire cider is an herbal tonic for boosting the immune system and promoting overall wellness. It is a tangy, spicy addition to your beverages or meals!
Ingredients
- ½ cup ginger, grated or chopped
- ½ cup turmeric root, grated or chopped
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 6-10 cloves of garlic
- 2 Jalapenos, cut in half
- 1 lemon, chopped with the peel
- 1 small orange, chopped with the peel
- 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp black pepper
- 6 sprigs fresh herbs (I recommend thyme, sage, parsley, and rosemary)
- Raw apple cider vinegar (enough to fill the jar, about 2 cups)
- ¼ cup raw honey, or to taste
Instructions
- Pack all of the ingredients except the apple cider vinegar and the honey in a quart jar.
- Pour apple cider vinegar to the top of the jar.
- Cover the jar with a plastic lid or a piece of parchment paper with a metal lid over it. The vinegar will corrode the metal lid if there is no parchment paper barrier.
- Store in a dark, cool place for four weeks. Give the jar a shake every day or so.
- After the four weeks, strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer and stir the honey into it.
- Store in the fridge for up to 6 months and take 1-2 tablespoons a day, or more when you’re sick.
Notes
Use organic ingredients whenever possible.
