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This easy Strawberry Sauce recipe comes together in a flash with simple ingredients. Strawberry topping is a bright, sweet finishing touch for waffles, cheesecake, ice cream, and more!
This sweet, vanilla-scented strawberry sauce is bursting with fresh flavor and is so easy to make! Cook ripe strawberries, lemon juice, and sugar until the berries break down, then finish it with a splash of vanilla extract. You’ll want to eat this homemade strawberry topping by the spoonful!
Fresh strawberry sauce is the perfect recipe to take advantage of the abundance of berries during strawberry season! And because the berries cook down until they are soft, you can even use slightly older strawberries sitting in your fridge. For more dessert topping recipes, try my hot fudge sauce recipe, caramel sauce, and homemade sprinkles.
4-Ingredient Strawberry Topping
You only need 4 ingredients to make this recipe! You can find the list of strawberry topping ingredients with measurements in the recipe card below.
Strawberries — wash, hull, and dice fresh summer strawberries for the sauce. For the best-tasting sauce, use strawberries that are very fragrant and have a bright red color.
Sugar — granulated sugar makes a sweet strawberry sauce and helps to thicken the consistency.
Lemon juice — fresh lemon juice adds a bright, tart element to balance the sweetness in the sauce.
Vanilla — vanilla extract enhances the intensity of the strawberry flavor.
Strawberry Sauce Recipe
Equipment
- Medium pot
- Blender, optional
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds strawberries (675g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Hull the strawberries and dice them into ½-inch pieces.
- In a medium saucepan, combine the strawberries, sugar, 2 tablespoons water, and lemon juice. Place over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to a simmer while stirring frequently. Cook until the strawberries are nearly submerged in their juices, about 3 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 more minutes, until the sauce is reduced by about one-third, the strawberries have mostly broken down, and the consistency is syrupy. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer to a bowl or jar and let cool to room temperature. (The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools, especially with refrigeration.)
- Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- You can use frozen strawberries in place of fresh. Simmer the mixture for a few minutes longer, as the frozen strawberries will release more liquid when cooked.
Nutrition
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How To Make Strawberry Sauce
1. Hull and dice the fresh strawberries.
2. Add the fresh berries, white sugar, water, and lemon juice to a medium saucepan.
3. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for a few minutes.
4. Reduce the heat to medium-low, then cook to reduce the mixture by about one-third and until the strawberries are quite broken down. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add vanilla extract. Transfer the finished sauce to a container and let it cool.
Is Strawberry Sauce And Strawberry Syrup The Same?
While they seem similar, strawberry sauce and strawberry syrup are different! Strawberry sauce (also called strawberry topping) is quite thick. It can be used chunky or blended to a smooth consistency. Strawberry sauce is most commonly used as a dessert topping, like on strawberry cheesecake.
Strawberry syrup is thinner and is strained to remove the pulp and seeds of the strawberries from the syrup. While it can also be drizzled as a topping, it’s better suited for flavoring beverages like homemade milkshakes.
Thicken Or Puree The Sauce
If you need a thicker sauce, ideal for something like strawberry shortcakes, whisk together 2 teaspoons of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of cold water. At the end of Step 2, whisk the cornstarch slurry into the strawberry mixture. Cook for 3 to 5 more minutes, until the sauce has thickened. The cornstarch will thicken the sauce and lessen the time it needs to reduce in Step 3.
For a smooth sauce that doesn’t have any strawberry chunks, puree it in a blender once it has cooled to room temperature, or use an immersion blender! This is a great option for making an ice cream sundae like I do with hot fudge sauce in my hot fudge sundae recipe.
How To Use Strawberry Sauce
This simple strawberry sauce is the perfect topping for so many desserts and breakfast recipes!
- Drizzle it over vanilla ice cream, strawberry ice cream, or fried ice cream.
- Spoon the chunky sauce over cheesecake or mini cheesecakes.
- Use it as a delicious topping for waffles and French toast.
- Layer it in my easy Eton mess or yogurt parfait recipes.
- Serve it over pound cake and angel food cake with a dollop of whipped cream.
How To Store
Store strawberry topping in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Pro Tips For Making This Recipe
- Cut the strawberries based on how chunky you want the sauce. Diced sweet strawberries, like I use in this strawberry topping recipe, yield a sauce with a good mix of syrupy and chunky textures. Halving or quartering the strawberries will give you a chunkier strawberry sauce.
- If you want a smooth sauce, blend it after you cook it, not before. Blending the strawberries beforehand will cause the mixture to splatter when it’s placed over heat. It could also stick to the pan and burn during cooking. So, cook down the sauce, let it cool, then puree it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Once the strawberry topping cools, transfer it to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
I would stick to refrigeration or freezing the sauce for longer-term storage. Canning requires specific acid levels, and I haven’t developed this recipe to be suited for a long shelf life.
Yes! This homemade strawberry sauce recipe should work well when swapping in fresh or frozen blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries. Adjust the sugar, lemon juice, and water amounts based on the flavor and juiciness of your berries.
If you’ve tried this strawberry sauce recipe, then don’t forget to rate it and let me know how you got on in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
