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 just realized I didn’t cook the strawberries– just blended them up. (didn’t think I needed to actually read the recipe…duh) Should I cook them to kill any bacteria or something, or was that step for flavor?
Nah, you’ll be fine 🙂
What timing for me to come across this recipe! My daughter has been asking for strawberry juice lately. I can mix this sauce with seltzer and she will love it!
Oh my goodness!! That sounds SUPER YUMMY!!! Thank you for sharing!! By the way, I also have a Blendtec and I LOVE IT!!!! It is the BEST blender!! I use it ALL the time!!! ( :
this is awsome! where did you get that adorale jar?
Walmart 🙂
Could the same thing be done with fresh peaches? I have a case of them I need to use up and I HATE canned peaches, but my family devours the strawberry sauce I made and have in the freezer. It’s a great base for the breakfast smoothies we make! Thanks!
Probably!
I’ve made this a few times over the summer to not only use up strawberries from our garden, but because it’s absolutely delicious when you add it to your lemonade!!! Now I have tons of raspberries and wondering if I could make a raspberry sauce the same way? What do you think? I know there would be lots of seeds, but I’m figuring they’d mostly go to the bottom when you are drinking? When my husband ate at Tucano’s in Utah over the summer, he had a raspberry brazilian lemonade drink that was great (but honestly, my passion fruit brazilian lemonade was THE BOMB!) and so I was thinking of trying the sauce in the brazilian lemonade?
Yep, it would probably work. You’d have to adjust the sugar to taste, and you might want to puree it and strain the seeds out when you’re done. You’ll have to experiment!
I was wondering if you can freeze this, and if you can, how long can it stay in the freezer? Thanks!!
Sure. I don’t have an exact time frame for how long it will stay fresh, but definitely a while.
I’ve made this a few times already and can’t even tell you how many ways we use this sauce! Waffles, pancakes, crepes, oatmeal, french toast, cold cereal, strawberry lemonade, strawberry shakes, drizzled over cheesecake, ice cream, yogurt… etc. Can’t wait to learn how to make horchata and mix it in there! Oh, and it has waaaaay less sugar, less prep, and more flavorful than freezer strawberry jam. Thank you SO much for this recipe which I’ll use ALL the time now. I think I’m in love with strawberries…
Made this tonight and it tastes amazing! I plan on using it over angel food cake and fresh strawberries (and maybe some whipped cream 🙂
I love it! so yummy! Would it work with cherries? I have cherry tree, so I have a ton of cherries and I don’t think I have time to can all of them. so I’m looking for others things to do with them. If you have any other ideas, please share!
I bet that would be delish- make sure to use almond extract! I’m jealous you have a cherry tree! Check out our recipe for a Galette, one of my faves for cherries.