From a natural remedy for sore throat, to immune support for cold and flu, make these simple herbal recipes for cold and flu care packages for a sick loved one.
The season of giving aligns almost perfectly with the start of cold and flu season. But amid holiday planning, it can be easy to miss the chance to support an under-the-weather loved one with a immune-boosting get-well care packages.
It’s common in our culture – and all too easy – to just reach for an over-the-counter medication to deal with the pesky symptoms accompanying a cold. The meds may stop the symptoms but won’t always support deeper healing and immune support. And in the long run, they may wreak havoc on the digestive system or harm the liver, making us more susceptible to illness.
Herbal Immune Support Cold and Flu Care Packages
I love giving the gift of health and sharing inspiration for the home apothecary and self-sufficiency. It seems to me like most people have enough “stuff,” so the winter cold and flu season is the perfect time for homemade care packages and wellness gifts, empowering family and friends to use herbs to support their winter health.
The following four herbal recipes are for simple homemade gifts and care packages that can be left on a sick friend’s or family member’s porch during cold and flu season to show you’re thinking of them. They’re all herb-infused recipes that’ll offer immune support naturally and can be put together with just a few steps. As the gift giver, you can learn more about the ingredients in each recipe description, make the herbal solution, and then create a label with instructions for the recipient (also included in the recipe).
Herbal Recipes for Cold and Flu Help Us Connect
Beyond the gesture of care during cold and flu season, sharing the medicine of the plants broadens and deepens our collective connection to the lineage of kitchen herbalism. This lineage is embedded in each of us: We connect with our ancestors by learning more about herbal actions, and leaving behind what didn’t work. Small acts, such as nurturing our innate immune defenses during a cold or flu, help us return to that mindset of self-sufficiency and interdependence with the natural world.
Note: With all of these recipes, make sure you’re sourcing your ingredients from safe, reputable, and ethical places.
Notably, pay attention to where your herbs and other plant materials (such as seaweed) are coming from, as some may have a risk of absorbing harmful contaminants based on how they’re cultivated.
Ginger Elixir Mix Recipe for Cold and Flu Season
Ginger has pungent, warming properties that may increase circulation and help break a fever. It’s also a folk remedy for nausea; some historic ginger ales were even formulated by pharmacists to help with indigestion.
This recipe also contains cinnamon and nutmeg, which have antimicrobial properties that can give the body an upper hand on tiny invaders that affect the immune system. Cinnamon is rich in antioxidants and can help reduce inflammation, while nutmeg is a carminative that can help ease an upset stomach. If possible, grate your own nutmeg when you make the recipe, which will enhance both the flavor and antimicrobial effects!
This elixir is great for a care package and can be taken at the first signs of cold and flu or when an illness is established to help break the fever and soothe nausea. To finish this recipe, your sick loved one must only warm some water and stir. Yields 2 servings
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger root (Zingiber officinale); use the smallest grater size you can find
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum )
- 1/4 teaspoon powdered nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt )
Directions
- Combine ginger, coconut oil, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small, sterilized jar.
- Make sure everything is totally mixed.
- Cover with a lid.
- Write down the directions (below), and affix them to the jar.
- Store in the refrigerator until delivered.
Label for Care Packages: Ginger Elixir Mix
- Combine 1 cup water and 1 tablespoon Ginger Elixir Mix in a pot.
- Bring to a simmer, then turn off heat.
- Pour into a cup. Just before drinking, stir in honey to taste, if desired.
- Enjoy, and get well soon!
Ginger Elixir Mix is best used by: [Write 1 week out from date of assembly.]
Herbal Miso in a Jar Recipe for Cold and Flu
You don’t have to wait until sickness sets in to benefit from this Herbal Miso. If you feel under the weather or have been exposed to cold and flu, I’ve found eating lighter meals to be one of the quickest ways to free up vitality and fight off a possible virus that may be trying to set up house in your body. This “just add water” recipe is easy to prepare and digest, while delivering various nutrients and flavors.
Miso contains protein and beneficial bacteria that nourish your digestive tract. Tahini makes this soup creamy and contributes protein, calcium, and healthy fats. Ginger, as noted in the Ginger Elixir Mix recipe, stimulates circulation to help break a fever and can soothe nausea.
Garlic is a superstar when it comes to immune support, with a long history of bolstering health. Its use is documented in early medical writings of Egypt, Greece, India, Rome, and more. Garlic has antimicrobial properties and seems to increase the production of white blood cells, our natural defense against viruses and bacteria.
Seaweed is packed with beneficial vitamins and minerals. And shiitake mushrooms have been valued as both food and folk medicine for centuries, especially in Asian cultures, and used to remedy a wide range of ailments, from cold and flu to stomachaches.
This nourishing soup can be enjoyed at the first signs of illness or when a cold or flu is already established to help support the immune system and provide the body with plenty of beneficial minerals and vitamins. It’s a great addition to care packages. Yields 4 cups
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons miso paste
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 2-inch piece finely grated fresh ginger root (Zingiber officinale)
- 1 minced garlic clove (Allium sativum)
- 1 teaspoon powdered nori or red seaweed (or your favorite edible seaweed)
- 1 teaspoon powdered shiitake or dried mushroom powder of choice
Directions
- Add miso paste, tahini, ginger, garlic, seaweed, and mushroom powder to a pint-sized, sterilized jar. Make sure to stir everything well.
- Cover with a lid. Write down the directions (below), and affix them to the jar.
- Store in the refrigerator until delivered.
Label for Care Packages: Herbal Miso
- Add 2 cups warm water to half of jar’s contents.
- Stir everything together well, and sip.
- Enjoy, and get well soon!
Herbal Miso is best used by: [Write 1 month out from date of assembly.]
Respiratory Support Honey for Care Packages
This honey is packed with throat-soothing, cough-easing, sinus-clearing herbs and can be turned into a cup of tea by stirring a spoonful into hot water. Herbal honeys benefit from a 2-week steep and have a long shelf life, so this is a good one to make at the start of cold and flu season so it’s ready to go when you’re ready to make a care package or if you catch a runny nose or sore throat.
Virtually every part of the fennel plant has been used to ease coughs around the globe. Ginger is also a popular natural remedy for cough. I’ve seen firsthand that juniper berry (technically a small cone) can be a natural remedy for sore throat. And anyone who’s tasted horseradish knows its power to move sinus fluids and help clear congestion. Honey has been a natural remedy for sore throat and easing coughs since ancient times. Yields about 72 servings
Ingredients
- 1-1⁄2 cups raw honey
- 3 tablespoons powdered fennel seed (Foeniculum vulgare)
- 2 teaspoons powdered ginger rhizome (Zingiber officinale)
- 2 teaspoons powdered juniper berry (Juniperus communis)
- 1 teaspoon powdered horseradish root (Armoracia rusticana)
- 1 teaspoon powdered garlic (Allium sativum)
Directions
- Pour honey into a sterilized, pint-sized jar.
- Put jar into a double boiler over the lowest heat. Gently warm until honey is fluid enough to easily mix herbs in. Don’t heat beyond this point, or you’ll start to degrade the antioxidants and enzymes in raw honey. Remove from double boiler.
- Stir powdered herbs into the slightly warm honey, mixing thoroughly.
- Cover with a lid, and store honey in a cabinet for at least 2 weeks to allow the herbs to steep, stirring occasionally.
- Write down the directions (below), affix them to the jar, and deliver.
Label for Care Packages: Respiratory Support Honey
- Stir a teaspoonful of Respiratory Support Honey into a cup of warm water to soothe your throat during cold and flu season. Leave the herbs in the honey when you use it. Drinking the herbs with the honey is part of the remedy, so no need to strain them.
- Enjoy, and get well soon!
Honey is best used by: [Write 1 year out from date of assembly.]
Thyme Gargle Recipe for Cold and Flu Season
The art of gargling is a natural remedy for sore throat. Studies have found that gargling with saltwater helps prevent and resolve upper respiratory infections. And after 30 years of gargling – as my grandfather did, and his father before him – I can attest it significantly helps my respiratory health.
My tonsils were removed when I was 5, so my throat is my weak link. The pattern in my life was that I’d get a sore throat and then get sick. I remember when I first started working with the Thyme Gargle. I couldn’t believe it at first. I thought, “Well, maybe my sore throat wasn’t as bad as it usually is.” But then, time and again, I’d start to get a sore throat, use the Thyme Gargle, and then I wouldn’t get sick. It’s been a staple natural remedy for sore throat in my life ever since.
Thyme has been shown to help regulate excessive mucus production – think excess snot or a wet cough. It also has antimicrobial properties that can support the immune system in fending off pathogens.
This is a great natural remedy for sore throat and perfect to include in care packages for friends when they tell you they feel the beginnings of a scratch in their throat. Yields 4 servings
Ingredients
- 32 ounces water
- 3 tablespoons dried or 6 tablespoons fresh thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
- 1 teaspoon salt
Directions
- Heat water to boiling, and pour into a bowl over thyme.
- Let steep for 10 minutes, and then strain out and discard thyme.
- Pour liquid into a portable, sterilized jar.
- Add salt, and stir to dissolve.
- Cover with a lid. Write down the directions (right), and affix them to the jar.
- Store in the refrigerator until delivered.
Label for Care Packages: Thyme Gargle
- Warm 1 cup of the solution as hot as possible without burning your tongue or throat.
- Gargle with half the warm saltwater solution (or as much as is comfortable) for 5 to 10 seconds, and spit out. Repeat several times until the 1 cup is gone.
- Repeat 3 times a day, and get well soon!
Gargle is best used within 3 days.
Kami McBride is an author and herbalist whose online herb courses and bestselling book, The Herbal Kitchen, has helped thousands of people learn how to use common kitchen herbs and spices in delightfully simple, new, and delicious ways. Find Kami on social media @KamiMcBride or online at www.KamiMcBride.com.
Find even more delicious recipes using herbs and spices in Kami’s book, The Herbal Kitchen. Check out our Grit store and get your copy today!
