This sweet, fruity Strawberry Sauce is a quick and easy recipe made with fresh or frozen strawberries. It transforms any dessert into a showstopper and is perfect for drizzling over ice cream, cheesecake, pancakes, yogurt, and more!
Who doesn't love classic, simple desserts? I mean, you'll never see me turn down a chocolate chip cookie or bowl of vanilla ice cream!
I love taking those simple treats to the next level with flavorful dessert toppings, like Salted Caramel Sauce, Lemon Curd, and strawberry sauce–turning them into something special.
Why this strawberry sauce recipe is a must-try
If you really want to transform a basic recipe into a showstopper, you need a failproof Strawberry Sauce Recipe at your fingertips. As an expert recipe developer I know a thing or two about getting it right!
There's so much to love:
- Versatile: This sauce is such a lifesaver in the kitchen because it pairs well with so many other foods! It's the perfect way to jazz up pancakes and waffles at breakfast or ice cream and cheesecake for dessert.
- Vibrant strawberry flavor: Fresh summer strawberries are my favorite, but now you can enjoy their sweet, fruity flavor all year long! Make this recipe with fresh or frozen berries anytime you get a craving for strawberries.
- Quick and easy: Best of all, it only takes five ingredients and a few minutes of your time to make the sauce. It keeps well in the fridge and will be ready when you need it!
Jump to:
Ingredients for strawberry topping
You'll only need a few ingredients to make your strawberry topping. Keep these tips in mind as you select your ingredients.
- Strawberries: You'll need 1 pound of fresh, washed strawberries. Hull and chop them to yield about 3 cups of chopped berries. You can also use frozen berries. Check the FAQs for how to use frozen berries.
- Granulated sugar
- Cornstarch: Helps to thicken the sauce.
- Lemon juice: Brings out the flavor of the strawberries and balances out the sweetness of the sauce.
- Water
See recipe card for quantities.
Hull and chop the strawberries
Hull: This is just a fancy term that means to remove the strawberry stems. I love this push-button huller, or this simple handle version.
Chop: I like cutting the strawberries into small pieces (diced or roughly chopped) because they are easier to serve and eat in a sauce.
Step-by-step instructions
You won't believe how easy this strawberry dessert sauce recipe is! Use this photo tutorial to get familiar with the process.
- Bring sauce to simmer: Mix together all the sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan. Place the pan over medium-high heat and stir frequently until the mixture begins to simmer.
- Thicken: Continue to stir and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.
- Cool: Let cool on the counter, covered in the refrigerator, or in an iced water bath. This sauce can be served warm or cold over your favorite breakfast foods, snacks, and desserts. Enjoy!
- Simmer: Bring all the ingredients to a simmer over medium-high heat.
- Stir, thicken, and cool: Continue stirring and simmering until the sauce thickens (3 minutes). Then cool and serve.
Pro Tip
- Whole-berry look: As a professional food stylist, I think finely chopped, uniform berry chunks make fruit sauces look prettier! If you want the whole-berry look for a cheesecake or special dessert, simmer a few small, whole strawberries in the sauce along with the chopped berries. Viola!
Serving Suggestions
You might be wondering what goes well with strawberry sauce so that you can start using it. You'll find lots of inspiration for how to use it here.
- Breakfast - Just a swirl or drizzle of strawberry sauce can make a basic, boring breakfast into something special. It's delicious on Homemade Pancakes, waffles, toast, and bread pudding like my Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding. Or, swirl it into a bowl of cream of wheat or oatmeal!
- Snacks - Snack-time just got berry delicious! This sauce is nice and thick -- it's almost like jam. You can spread it on muffins like my Bran Muffins or Double Chocolate Muffins. You can also use it to top a fluffy slice of White Bread and butter, or swirl it over a bowl of yogurt.
- Ice cream - I love using this sauce as an ice cream topping. It's amazing on Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Ice Cream, or any other flavor you think needs a strawberry pick-me-up. You could also use it in place of (or in addition to!) hot fudge sauce on desserts like these Profiteroles (Cream Puffs) or ice cream sundaes.
- Brownies - You just can't go wrong with brownies and strawberries. I like drizzling this sauce over Classic Chewy Brownies or these slightly healthier Fudgy Squash Brownies.
- Cake and cheesecakes - Making a fancy dessert? Give it some extra glam with this strawberry sauce. It would be lovely served with this Valentine's Day Strawberry Cake Roll. And, let's not forget cheesecake! Use it to top a Simple No-Bake Cheesecake or as the fruit layer in these Easy No-Bake Cheesecake Jars.
Equipment
Get a heavy duty saucepan for simmering the sauce.
Glass storage containers can go from the fridge or freezer to the microwave for thawing!
Storage
Make the most of this delicious strawberry topping with proper storage.
- Refrigerate: Store cooled strawberry sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Serve cold or warm.
- Freeze: This sauce freezes well. Pour the cooled sauce into a freezer safe zipper bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or over gentle heat.
FAQ
There's no doubt about it, these three strawberry treats are very similar. A strawberry sauce usually has chunks of fruit in it, is thin enough to pour, and is used as a topping for breakfast foods and desserts. A strawberry syrup is very sweet and usually doesn't contain berry chunks. If it does, they are pureed into fine pieces. A syrup can be drizzled over desserts or mixed into drinks and batters to provide flavoring. A strawberry glaze is typically thicker than a sauce or syrup, does not have berry chunks, and looks shiny. It can be used as a cake or pie filling, or as a shiny coating on donuts, cookies, fruit, etc.
You've come to the right place. This strawberry sauce recipe makes a delicious pancake syrup. Just follow the directions and store it in the fridge for all your pancake topping needs.
Definitely! If you want to use frozen berries, thaw them on the counter or in the microwave until they are soft enough to chop. Thawed berries will have more liquid than fresh berries, so you'll need to add an extra ½ teaspoon cornstarch to the recipe.
An ice bath is a cooking technique that helps to quickly cool down food by placing it into a bowl filled with ice and water. If you want to use one for this recipe, you'll need a large bowl that is bigger than the bowl filled with strawberry sauce. Fill the larger bowl partially full with water and ice. Then place the bowl of sauce into the center of the ice bath, being careful not to allow water into the sauce. Stir occasionally to cool evenly.
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📖 Recipe
Strawberry Ice Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh strawberries (hulled and chopped to make about 3 cups*)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients to a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and mix together. Stir frequently and bring to a simmer.
- Stir while sauce simmers until thickened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. To speed up the cooling process, pour the sauce into a bowl and chill it in an ice and water bath or refrigerate.
- Serve warm or cold over breakfast foods, snacks, and desserts.
- Store leftover sauce in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or over gentle heat.
Notes
Nutrition
Tara Teaspoon
I’ve been in food publishing for over 25 years, creating recipes & food-styling for magazines, books, television, food brands, & advertising. With two cookbooks under my belt and thousands of my recipes at your fingertips, I hope you'll be inspired to spend more time in the kitchen!
Tara says
My family enjoys this sauce on so many different desserts, and even mixed into milkshakes. I hope you enjoy it!
Beth says
I love this so much! It's so easy to make, and I'm already counting all the ways I can use it!
Ben says
I made this last night just to put on my ice cream, but I added some of the leftovers to my preworkout protein smoothie this morning. HOLY. MOLY.
Renata Feyen says
Ooh, I love strawberries on almost anything. Sounds perfect that you can keep it in the fridge for a week
LisaLisa says
Ooooooh La La, this strawberry sauce looks so delicious and I wouldn't mind adding this sauce to a few of my desserts.
Catherine Kay says
I love strawberries! This looks like a very easy recipe for strawberry sauce. Thanks for the recipe!
Marysa says
We just made plain strawberry shortcake because we did not have a sauce. This is exactly what I need! Perfect for when we go strawberry picking and need a way to use up a lot of strawberries that are going to go bad.
Marie Gizelle says
I love strawberries, it's one of the few fruits I eat, being lowcarb and antioxidant. This is also easy to convert to no-sugar I think, will certainly try your recipe soon, thanks for sharing!
Julie says
Berry season is almost here! What a great way to use all those fresh berries. What a decadent treat.