Homemade Strawberry Sauce

This easy strawberry sauce makes any dessert more delicious. Use it as a strawberry topping for cheesecake or ice cream! This sauce is quick and easy to make, with just four simple ingredients.

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It is amazing how a simple sauce can elevate a dish and take it from good to amazing! This homemade strawberry sauce is perfect for topping pancakes, chia pudding, cake or many other dishes and will make them extra special and delicious.

If you have never made a fruit sauce it can seem intimidating. But this recipe is simple and doesn’t require much time or any special cooking techniques. Fresh homemade strawberry sauce can be made in less than 15 minutes!

Ingredients

This recipe requires only four simple ingredients and some water. The ingredients are:

• Strawberries – You can use either fresh or frozen strawberries.
• Lemon juice – A little bit acidity from the lemon juice brightens the flavor of the strawberries and makes them taste more delicious.
• Sugar – Granulated sugar adds sweetness to the berries.
• Cornstarch – The cornstarch helps thicken the sauce so it pours and flows easily.

Step By Step Instructions

1. Wash and Hull the Strawberries

Strawberries go bad faster once they are washed, so it is always best to wash strawberries right before using them. Wash them in a colander under cold running water and then pat them dry.

Hulling or coring the berries is removing the green stem part. Use a sharp knife to cut around the stem cap and move it from the berry.

You can also buy an strawberry huller, which is designed to remove the cap quickly and easily. That might be worth getting if you love strawberries and eat them frequently!

Once the berries are hulled slice them into smaller pieces.

2. Cook the Berries

Put the berries into a sauce pan along with the sugar, water and lemon juice. Put the sauce pan on medium heat and bring it to a boil, stirring it to melt the sugar.

Once the strawberry mixture is boiling reduce the heat to low. At this point I like to mash the berries up a little bit.

How much you mash the berries will determine the final consistency of the strawberry sauce. I like my sauce to still have noticeable pieces of berry in it.

I use a potato masher to gently squish the berries. This releases a lot of juice, but also leaves recognizable strawberry pieces in the sauce.

Once the berries have reached the consistency you prefer let them boil on low heat for about 5 minutes while stirring.

3. Thicken the Sauce

Strawberries have a lot of natural pectin, which means they will thicken some as they cook. Adding cornstarch will thicken the sauce even more and allow you to get consistent, repeatable results.

Combine the cornstarch with the cold water in small bowl before adding it to the berries. If you put cornstarch directly in the boiling sauce it will clump and leave lumps.

Pour the cornstarch/water mixture into the strawberry sauce, stirring as it is poured in. Then continue to let the sauce boil as you stir for another 1-2 minutes to thicken the sauce.

Then remove the sauce pan from the heat and pour the filling into a mason jar or bowl. Let it cool for about 15 minutes before using or storing.

How to Store

You can serve the strawberry sauce either warm or cold. Store it in a tightly container in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. You can also freeze the sauce for up to 3 months.

Variations

This recipe makes a small amount of sauce, suitable for family use. If you want to make more you can easily double or triple this recipe with excellent results.

This sauce is relatively chunky, which noticeable strawberry pieces. If you want it to be smoother you can puree the strawberries before cooking them. Put the strawberries in a blender or food processor before cooking.

This recipe for strawberry sauce uses less sugar than many other recipes. I usually put the sauce on something that is already sweet, like ice cream, so I don’t like the sauce itself to be extra sweet.

But if you have a sweet tooth you can increase the amount of sugar in the recipe. Increase the sugar to 1/3 of a cup or even 1/2 a cup for extra sweetness.

How to Use Strawberry Sauce

There are millions of ways to use this strawberry sauce. It makes an amazing strawberry topping for desserts, snacks or breakfasts. Here are some suggestions.

• Drizzle the sauce on pancakes or waffles instead of using syrup.
• Use it as an ice cream topping, especially delicious on strawberry ice cream.
• Swirl it into a bowl of Greek yogurt for an easy yogurt parfait.
• Use it to top or fill crepes.
• Make traditional Australian pavlova and top with with strawberry sauce.
• Place it on top of strawberry shortcake or strawberry trifle.
• Use it between the layers of a cake for a delicious strawberry filling.
• Drizzle it on top of a New York style cheesecake.
• Use it as a topping for chia pudding or Instant Pot oatmeal.

Find More Dessert Sauces

• Salted Caramel Sauce
• Homemade Blueberry Sauce