Okay, do you ever find yourself in Costco [I can only dream] or Sam’s Club around this time of year and see those GIANT flats of strawberries for, like, $3? And you think to yourself, “Self, that is an awesome deal on strawberries, but after the novelty wears off with my kids and my husband and myself and I make strawberry shortcake and strawberry jam and some strawberry smoothies, what will I do with the remaining 14 pounds of berries?” Well, I have your answer. This strawberry sauce has about a million uses, is freezer-friendly, and is so much better than that jar of Smuckers strawberry sauce that you’ve had sitting in your fridge since that time you made banana splits 1 1/2 years ago.
Wash strawberries and remove stems. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can roughly chop the berries,
but I say you’re already feeling ambitious enough by making your own strawberry sauce. So don’t sweat it either way.
Combine berries, sugar,
and extract
in medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for five minutes, stirring/breaking strawberries up with a wooden spoon constantly.
After five minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly (if you have a glass blender jar) and a lot (if you have a plastic blender jar). Or use an immersion blender, which is a delightful tool to have in your arsenal. When cool enough, transfer mixture to blender and pulse until desired consistency is reached. (I adore my Blendtec.)
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of large chunks of mystery fruit, so I like it smooth, but you can do it however you want.
Wanna know what to do with it?
–Make banana splits with this and Sara’s hot fudge sauce
–Drizzle over plain cheesecake
–Spoon over these Light and Crispy Waffles (which are the best waffles you will EVER eat!)
–My proudest use of strawberry sauce: mix a couple of tablespoons (depending on the size of the glass and your own personal taste) with this fresh-squeezed lemonade for strawberry lemonade. So so so so good…
—Chocolate waffles, anyone? If that’s not your thing, you could put them on your favorite French toast, waffles, or pancakes. Speaking of French Toast- try this one!
–Drizzle over angel food cake and add a dollop of sweetened whipped cream.
Strawberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
- 1 pint strawberries
Instructions
- Wash strawberries and remove stems. If you're feeling ambitious, you can roughly chop the berries, but I say you're already feeling ambitious enough by making your own strawberry sauce. So don't sweat it.
- Combine berries, sugar, and extract in medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for five minutes, stirring/breaking strawberries up with a wooden spoon constantly.
- After five minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly (if you have a glass blender jar) and a lot (if you have a plastic blender jar). When cool enough, transfer mixture to blender and pulse until desired consistency is reached. You can also use an immersion blender, which makes things super easy!
Notes
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.
Questions & Reviews
I used it to make a great salad dressing for a romaine and berry salad. It was delicious. I have also used it for a topping on waffles, another favorite. Thanks for the recipe.
Okay, I substituted the juice of half a lemon for the vanilla, used Whey Low to cut the sugar impact by 3/4, and made a delicious light sweet salad dressing to drizzle over baby greens with pine nuts or walnuts. Yowsers! This is now my favorite dressing! I’m going to go make the second batch now….the first one didn’t last three days. (This would be spectacular on a batch of steaming Popovers too.) Great recipe!
LOVED this recipe! I made it, immediately dished it up with a bowl of vanilla ice cream and my husband and father were begging for more! To freeze, I put the strawberry syrup in ice cube trays and froze them, then put them in to baggies so I don’t need to thaw large batches when I want to use it for small things. Works wonderfully!
I am not a very experienced cook but I really love to try new things! I’m not quite sure how to measure out a pint of strawberries from a large flat of them. How many strawberries is it?
I just used the last of my strawberries I froze last year for fruit leather. I cooked ’em, added some lemon juice & sugar, blended, then dehydrated them and thereafter got the “best Mom” vote from my 7 year old. You’ve inspired me to take the plunge and buy another flat!
I want to make this to put over cheese cake for mother’s Day. It’s for Relief Society. How many servings do you think I’d get if I drizzled this over each piece if cheese cake?
Thanks!
Fantastic!! I don’t even like cooked strawberries! I made one batch and loved it so much I made a double batch out of the strawberries that were rotting in the fridge. Strawberry sauce for the freezer to pull out for waffles, french toast, ice cream… Thank you!
I just made this for the first time! (My first OBB recipe tried, too!) I can’t wait to try this out on some ice cream 😀 Incidentally, I had forgotten how beautiful strawberries really are.
Update: My husband and I loved it!! He wants me to fill the freezer with it. 😀
I’m wondering if I can use this sauce to make fresh strawberry cupcakes? If it is possible, ::crossing my fingers:: how much do you think I’ll need to mix in the batter? Or can I use this to make strawberry whipped cream frosting?
I’m betting you could do both, I just have no idea how with the cake, haha! 🙂 I’d say just add it into some batter, but then you run into issues with adding too much moisture. As far as the frosting goes, just mix it in to taste and it would be awesome.
Very simple to make and tastes really great. I’m thinking about putting this on pancakes. 🙂