Strawberry Sauce

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Strawberry sauce is a simple yet delicious sauce that captures the essence of summer. It’s light and explodes with fresh strawberry goodness. Drizzled over ice cream or pound cake, it adds a sweet and fruity burst to your dessert. This homemade strawberry sauce recipe will become a family favorite.

Side view of strawberry sauce in a jar.

Sweet strawberries have a short season. We love fresh berries when they are ripe and juicy. If you are looking for a fan-favorite dessert, try this strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, obviously. Or this scrumptious fresh strawberry cake.

This strawberry topping recipe will be a wonderful addition to your strawberry dessert repertoire. We keep a jar of this in the fridge all summer. It’s an easy way to put a last-minute seasonal spin on ordinary vanilla ice cream or pound cake. It’s also great drizzled over french toast, waffles, or as a topping for cheesecake.

This is the perfect recipe to make when berries are overflowing. You can use it right away or store it in your freezer to brighten a gray winter day. Though we love this recipe with fresh berries, you can also make it with frozen strawberries if you didn’t plan ahead.

We love this sauce because it is so simple – just berries, sugar, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a dash of vanilla. It’s pure and delicious and brings a taste of summer days to anything you serve it with.

Other dessert sauces that I love to have on hand are raspberry sauce, chocolate sauce, easy caramel sauce and applesauce. Be sure to give them a try!

Overhead of strawberry sauce in a jar.

Ingredients

This strawberry sauce recipe tastes just like fresh berries because that is really all it is made from. Berries, sugar, lemon juice and a splash of vanilla. There is no gelatin or cornstarch to thicken the sauce or dilute the flavor.

  • Strawberries – Preferably fresh, tops removed and thickly sliced
  • Sugar – For sweetness. We used granulated white sugar.
  • Lemon juice – Always from a lemon, not a bottle.
  • Vanilla extract – We make our own recipe but use the best quality you can find.

How to Make Strawberry Sauce

This strawberry dessert sauce is quick and easy to make – just bring all the ingredients to a boil and simmer until thickened. Really, that’s it. You’ll wonder why it took you so long to make this sauce. Your family will want to drizzle it over ice cream, waffles, pancakes, biscuits, or anything else you can dream up.

  1. Bring ingredients to a boil. In a medium saucepan combine the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
  2. Simmer until thickened. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 20-23 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
  3. Store. Remove from heat, cool completely (about 15 minutes), and transfer to a glass jar.

Hint: You can use fresh or frozen berries here. No need to thaw the berries if they are frozen. I’ve tried with frozen and while fresh is great, the frozen ones worked great.

Substitutions

There are so few ingredients here, there really aren’t any substitutions you can make.

Variations

Because this is a strawberry sauce made from so few recipes, it’s hard to come up with variations. However, if you want to try a different version, you can make this with other berries like raspberries or blackberries. Use the same amount of berries and cook down – checking frequently to see when the sauce is at the desired thickness.

This sauce will be chunky from the berries – like a jam. If you would like a smoother sauce, use an immersion blender and blend until it reaches your desired consistency. With chunks or without – either is delicious.

High angled view of strawberry sauce in a jar.

Storage

Once the strawberry sauce has cooled completely, cover it tightly and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or store it in the freezer for a few months. Strawberry sauce will thicken after refrigeration, so microwave for 15 seconds to thin out if desired. If frozen, thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

Strawberry Sauce

5 from 1 vote
Side view of strawberry sauce in a jar.
You only need four simple ingredients to make this easy homemade strawberry sauce. This recipe contains no cornstarch and you can use fresh or frozen strawberries. It's the perfect strawberry topping for cheesecake, ice cream, shortcake, and more.
Sauce Fanatic
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 23 minutes
Total Time 28 minutes
Serving Size 12

Ingredients

  • 1 pound strawberries tops removed and thickly sliced
  • â…“ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • In a medium saucepan combine the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla.
  • Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
  • Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer 20-23 minutes or until thickened, stir occasionally.
  • Remove from heat and transfer to a glass jar to cool completely before using.

Notes

Strawberries: Fresh or frozen berries will work for this recipe. There’s no need to thaw frozen berries.

Make ahead tip:

Refrigerate – Once the strawberry sauce has cooled completely, cover it tightly and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Strawberry sauce will thicken after refrigeration, so microwave for 15 seconds to thin out if desired.
Makes about 1 ½ cups.

Nutrition

Serving: 2tablespoons | Calories: 35kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 0.3g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.02g | Sodium: 0.5mg | Potassium: 60mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 23mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 0.2mg
CourseDessert
CuisineAmerican

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