How To's
Fire Cider Recipe
Prep
15 minutes
Yield
30 servings
This fiery, flavor-packed Fire Cider blends horseradish, ginger, turmeric, hot peppers, citrus, and herbs steeped in apple cider vinegar for a zesty, immune-boosting elixir.
This Fire Cider is bold, punchy, and so good for cold and flu season. It’s packed with spicy roots, warming aromatics, bright citrus, and a little tart sweetness. A few weeks of patience transforms this colorful jar into a fiery, flavor-packed elixir you’ll reach for when you want a serious kick that’ll jolt your immune system into gear.
❤️ Why You’ll Love this Fire Cider Recipe
- Powerhouse in a Jar: Every layer brings bold flavor and warmth that will literally feel like your lighting your insides on fire in the best way.
- Simple: This recipe is super simple, you basically just chop, layer and wait. In no time you’ll have something that tastes delicious and intentional ready in your fridge.
- Customizable: Dial the spice up or down, tweak the citrus, or play with the herbs to make this exactly how you like it.
🍲 Ingredients
Horseradish: Horseradish is the fiery backbone of this recipe, giving the cider its signature bite and warming quality. It’s packed with natural compounds that may support digestion and circulation, making it as functional as it is flavorful. Freshly grated horseradish is sharp and pungent, so a little goes a long way. Adjust as you need to!
Ginger: Ginger adds a bright, zesty heat that balances the sharpness of the horseradish. It’s well-known for its soothing effects on the stomach and its anti-inflammatory properties. In this fire cider, ginger helps round out the flavor.
👩🍳 How to Make Fire Cider
1. In the large glass jar, add horseradish, hot peppers, ginger, turmeric, garlic and onion and then press down using a muddler or end of a rolling pin a few times.
2. Add fresh herbs and press down again, then citrus fruits and cranberries and press down once more. Top with the pomegranate seeds and press for the final time, and then slowly fill the jar with apple cider vinegar ensuring everything is submerged. Seal the lid and rotate the jar upside down to allow the vinegar to seep between the layers. You may need to add more vinegar at this point.
3. Seal with the lid and set the jar in a cool dark place for 3-4 weeks. Gently rotate the jar upside down every few days until the 3-4 week mark.
4. After 3-4 weeks, strain the liquid in the jar from the solids (you can use gloves to squeeze the liquid out of the softer ingredients) Transfer the ‘fire cider’ liquid into a clean jar and sweeten with honey to balance the flavur. Store in the fridge for up to a couple of months.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Use a Big Jar: You want enough room to press, layer, and fully submerge everything without vinegar spilling everywhere mid-muddle.
- Chopping: Roughly chopped roots and aromatics release more flavor than large chunks, especially over a long steep. Don’t just go for aesthetics here.
- Press with Purpose: Muddling helps kick-start the flavor release just enough to bruise and wake things up, not turn it into mash.
- Layering: Hard roots first, then herbs and fruit, then seeds on top helps the vinegar move through the jar evenly and extract all the good stuff.
- Keep Everything Submerged: Anything poking above the vinegar can spoil. Top up as needed, especially after the first flip.
- Flip (vs. Shake): Gently rotating the jar upside down every few days mixes things without breaking down the ingredients too aggressively.
- Label with the Date: Three to four weeks flies by, and you want to make sure you know when the beverage is no longer safe to drink.
🗒 Substitutions
- Horseradish: If you don’t have fresh horseradish, grated wasabi or even spicy radish can give a similar bite, though the flavor will be a bit different.
- Hot Peppers: Any spicy chili works such as dried red pepper flakes, fresh jalapeños, or even a mild chili if you want less heat.
- Turmeric: Fresh turmeric gives the best color and aroma, but ground turmeric works in a pinch. Use a smaller amount since it’s more concentrated.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: You can swap the vinegar for another acidic base, though it will slightly change the flavor profile.
- Citrus: Any citrus works. Mixing types can give a nice balance of sweetness and tang.
- Honey: If you want a vegan option or just a different sweetness, maple syrup or agave works beautifully.
- Fresh herbs: If you don’t have fresh herbs, dried ones can work, but use about a third of the amount since dried herbs are more concentrated.
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store this Fire Cider in the fridge for up to a couple of months. Make sure everything in submerged in the vinegar so it doesn’t spoil and feel free to top up the vinegar as it sits if you notice that the liquid levels go down.
🤔 Common Questions
Fire Cider is a traditional herbal tonic designed to support the immune system, aid digestion, and give a natural boost of warmth and energy. People often take it during cold and flu season or anytime they want a zesty, healthful pick-me-up.
Nope! Fire Cider is actually an infused tonic, not a fermented product. You steep the ingredients in vinegar for a few weeks to extract their flavors and nutrients. No fermentation needed.
Absolutely. Honey is just used to balance the tang and spice. You can leave it out entirely or substitute with maple syrup, agave, or another sweetener if you prefer a vegan option.
A typical serving is 1–2 tablespoons at a time. You can take it straight or diluted in water or juice, depending on how fiery you like it.
Fire Cider Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 extra-large jar with sealing lid, 64oz or 2L
- 1 cup sliced fresh horseradish
- 2-3 small hot peppers, sliced lengthwise into quarters (jalapenos or habaneros, seeds removed if you want to reduce spice level)
- 1/2 cup cubed fresh ginger
- ⅓ cup sliced fresh turmeric
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced or crushed whole
- 1 red onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 handful fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 handful fresh rosemary
- 1 handful fresh mint
- 1 whole pomegranate, pomegranate seeds removed OR cut into sections
- 1 lemon, cut into half moons
- 1/2 grapefruit, cut into half moons
- 1/2 orange, cut into half moons
- ½ – ¾ cup fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1/2 pomegranate, seeds removed (or ½ cup pomegranate arils)
- 1 litre / 33oz apple cider vinegar (will likely need about ½ to ¾ of the bottle)
- Honey to sweeten after straining
Instructions
- In the large glass jar, add horseradish, hot peppers, ginger, turmeric, garlic and onion and then press down using a muddler or end of a rolling pin a few times.
- Add fresh herbs and press down again, then citrus fruits and cranberries and press down once more. Top with the pomegranate seeds and press for the final time, and then slowly fill the jar with apple cider vinegar ensuring everything is submerged. Seal the lid and rotate the jar upside down to allow the vinegar to seep between the layers. You may need to add more vinegar at this point.
- Seal with the lid and set the jar in a cool dark place for 3-4 weeks. Gently rotate the jar upside down every few days until the 3-4 week mark.
- After 3-4 weeks, strain the liquid in the jar from the solids (you can use gloves to squeeze the liquid out of the softer ingredients) Transfer the ‘fire cider’ liquid into a clean jar and sweeten with honey to balance the flavour. Store in the fridge for up to a couple of months.
- Usage: Take 1-2 tablespoons at a time.
Notes
- You can use one whole orange or whole grapefruit instead of half of each.
- If you don’t have a jar that is large enough, you can split the ingredients into two smaller jars. Old pickle jars work well!
- If you can’t find fresh pomegranate, you can sometimes find frozen pomegranate arils at the grocery store
- Optional: During step 4, you can use a blender to blend some of the ingredients into the liquid (horseradish, ginger, turmeric, peppers, citrus fruits, garlic, onion), and then strain through a fine mesh sieve before storing in a jar. Note that this will make the fire cider a lot more potent and it’s not for the faint of heart.
