Strawberry Sauce
Take a break from store bought and make your own Strawberry Sauce. It’s so fresh tasting and you only need a handful of ingredients, 5 simple steps and about 10 minutes!
FRESH, EASY HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY SAUCE
I love recipes that are super quick, don’t involve a long laundry list of ingredients and come together with minimum effort. It doesn’t take much to pull this delicious Strawberry Sauce together. My family loves to eat it on top of ice cream, waffles and pancakes. I absolutely love this stuff! Basically anything you typically put a fruit topping on, this will work with! Perfect for strawberry season!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
This simple Strawberry Sauce is only slightly thickened and has a silky texture to it. It is not super thick so it acts more as a topping and not a filling (like for a pie).
The longer the sauce cools, the thicker it gets. Popping it in the fridge helps it thicken even faster.
Yes, you can, just thaw them first and pat them dry well. Remove any excess moisture so you don’t make the sauce thin and runny. Just make sure you are getting the frozen strawberries that are unsweetened. The sweetened and unsweetened can be right next to each other on the freezer shelf so be careful.
If you don’t want chunks of strawberries in your sauce topping, you can blend the sauce or process the sauce in a food processor until it reaches your desired consistency.
If you find the sauce has gotten too thick while sitting in the fridge, you may want to thin it out a bit before using again (this is more of a personal preference). To loosen it up, stick it in the microwave very briefly for a few seconds (making sure you’ve removed the lid first).
Absolutely! You can use blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. They all work with this recipe! You just want to make sure you gently cook them until they soften up enough. I would cut up any berries on the larger side as well.
You can either keep this for up to a week sealed in the refrigerator or keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
- water
- cornstarch – this works much better than flour so don’t substitute.
- fresh strawberries – you can use frozen. See my frequently asked questions above if you want to use frozen.
- granulated sugar– you can adjust this to your liking depending on how sweet you like it.
- lemon juice- freshly squeezed is a must. Don’t use the bottled stuff. Not only does it taste like chemicals and is too acidic but it won’t work well in the sauce.
- vanilla extracn – this is optional but it adds a wonderful depth of flavor to the sauce.
HOW TO MAKE STRAWBERRY SAUCE
In a small bowl, whisk together the water and cornstarch. Add the cornstarch mixture, diced strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla into a medium saucepan. Place over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a simmer and simmer, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.
Take off the heat and allow to cool before serving. It will thicken up as it cools. Store covered in the refrigerator.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- Strawberry Jam
- Best Buttermilk Pancakes
- Strawberry Muffin Mix Waffles
- No Churn Strawberry Ice Cream
- Strawberries & Cream Bars
- Blueberry Jam
- Raspberry Jam
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad
- Strawberry Cake Balls
- Strawberry Freezer Jam
- Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
- Strawberry Bubble Up
- Strawberry Upside Down Cake
- Strawberry Delight
Strawberry Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup water
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 pound strawberries, stems removed and large diced
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup water and 1 Tablespoon cornstarch.
- Add the cornstarch mixture, 1 pound strawberries, stems removed and large diced, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Place over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to a simmer and simmer, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.
- Take off the heat and allow to cool before serving. It will thicken up as it cools.
Notes
- Please refer to my FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) and ingredient list above for other substitutions or for the answers to the most common questions.
- This makes about 1 1/2 cups of sauce. I estimated about 6 servings (which is 1/4 cup per serving).
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Love it. This is the best
Absolutely wonderful.
I doubled the batch and put in freezer safe containers and placed in the freezer. Nice gift item to put in gift basket
i’m looking for a topping for cheesecake? could I also make this with cherries or other berries instead? it looks delicious
Hi Alyce, you could definitely use it as a cheesecake topping! You can definitely make it with berries but I don’t know for sure about cherries. I haven’t tried those yet.
Thank you! Love your recipes. Id I try cherries I’ll let you know
Can you make it with Splenda instead of sugar?
I haven’t tried! There are some articles out there suggesting that heating sucralose (Splenda) in this manner can cause it to degrade. I’m no scientist though so I say try it at your own risk. I’m sure lots of people heat it this way all the time and they feel it is perfectly safe. I’m just sharing some information from recent articles I’ve read about it so you may want to Google it to make your own judgement 🙂
Thank you for the quick response! If I try it I’ll comment back and let you know how it worked.
10 stars! I made it with Splenda and it was perfect! I doubled the batch and we ate it over pancakes.