Every once and a while something comes up that I assume everyone make and eats, but then you mention it (or serve it) to someone and you get a “What the whaaaa??” and you realize a huge portion of the population is missing out on something amazing. (Like Muddy Buddies.) Strawberries with sour cream and brown sugar is one of those things! For me it’s a nostalgic experience, bringing back memories of warm summer nights and fresh berries from the garden. With strawberry season about to be in full swing, now is the perfect time to try this out if you’ve never had it before, or make it again if you have! It’s also the perfect thing to pull out for a Mother’s Day spread.
So what exactly am I talking about?? It’s exactly as it sounds; fresh juicy strawberries dipped in sour cream, and then in brown sugar. This isn’t like chocolate-covered strawberries where you dip them all ahead of time and serve them on a platter. It’s meant to be casual and immediate- dip and pop in your mouth!
Even though this is pretty simple, I’ve got lots of tips!
Sour Cream
When it comes to sour cream, use full fat. It’s richer and creamier, and adheres to the berries better.
Brown Sugar
Open up a fresh bag of brown sugar, as opposed to grabbing the rolled up bag in the ziplock from your pantry. Fresh brown sugar is so much softer. The finer granuals will melt into the sour cream better and feel better in your mouth.
Strawberries
When it comes to berries, smaller ones work better here. My berries here in these photos are huge- do as I say not as I do. The problem with large berries is that you will 100% want/need to double dip. If you’re piled around the table with your own family and no one cares, you can go for it. But if you’re serving these, smaller berries result in a one-bite situation that’s quite convenient. If you do have large berries, I sometimes leave the stems on, and either cut them in half or quarters.
After you dunk a berry into sour cream, you immediately roll it around in the brown sugar bowl.
The sweet and grainy brown sugar combines with the creamy and tangy sour cream and that juicy berry and it’s pure magic.
This is one of our favorite family snacks, or something fun to pull out after dinner or on a late summer night. It can get messy, quick (especially with kids) so definitely use small bowls for dipping.
If you’re going to serve it at a gathering (one of my favorites for baby and wedding showers) you might want a little sign nearby to show what to do- or I sometimes fill up those little plastic single-serve containers with sour cream and others with brown sugar, and let people grab one of each on their own plate.
Any way you slice it, this is one of the best things you can do with those summer strawberries! If you’ve never tried it, now’s the time!
Strawberries with Sour Cream and Brown Sugar
Ingredients
- Fresh Strawberries Stems attached
- brown sugar I suggest a fresh bag
- Sour Cream I suggest full fat
Instructions
- Place some sour cream in a small bowl, place some brown sugar in a separate small bowl. To serve, have people dip a berry in sour cream and then in brown sugar, and eat immediately!
Notes
Questions & Reviews
Excellent
I love this combination
Just mix the brown sugar into the sour cream ahead of time….fewer dishes, less dipping, less mess. Some people add a splash of vanilla extract. I use golden monkfruit instead of sugar, and add a few drops of smoked cinnamon bitters. I didn’t realize this was an obscure combo.
My Nanny use to serve this as an hor’dourve when I was younger!! This recipe brings back those great memories
I grew up eating strawberries this way in SW Ontario as an 80s/90s kid. So good.
We do this with yogurt instead of sour cream. I learned this from a pals mom. She was German. My kids call it healthy Carmel.
I’ve never heard of this and sour cream on strawberries sounded strange, but somehow this was amazing! I just used what I had on hand so I ignored your recommendations and used light sour cream and my brown sugar was down to the last remnants of the bag, but it was great. I think this will have to be a regular method of eating strawberries!
yay! I’m glad you liked it!
I had a lovely older nurse that I worked with at the hospital in Labor and Delivery and she would bring this in the summer. We would snack on them in the break room on the weekends. So delicious!
What?! I fall into the camp that’s never even heard of or tried this…and we are a strawberry loving family! I’m so glad you shared this, I can’t wait to try it! Thank you!
I’ve never done this as a fruit dip, but every time we make crepes we make “brown sugar sauce” out of sour cream and brown sugar, so I imagine the taste is the same. We will have to try this!
My cousins in California introduced me to this deliciousness years ago, and I thought it was SO strange that i almost didn’t try it. Now my husband thinks I’m crazy when I do it. He just doesn’t know what he’s missing out on! 🙂
I grew up eating strawberries sipped in a mixture of sir cream and brown sugar. It’s oh so good!!! I need to give your method a try too. Thanks for the suggestion.
Me too!
This is one of my favorite things to eat! YUMMMM My Mom used to have a wedding catering business and that is where I first tasted this combination. When I saw it on the table, I thought it sounded awful, but Mom convinced me to try it. SO GOOD!!
We have done this for years . . . but we use washed raw sugar. It doesn’t get old and always has a nice crunch that makes it more of a delicacy.
I didn’t realize that not everyone knew what muddy buddies (we called it puppy chow growing up!) we’re.until I made them for a girl’s night a while back and I was the only one who had had it before. Weird!
An another note, this looks incredibly delicious! Do ya think yogurt would be an ok substitute for the sour cream in this case? I have a huge carton of plain yogurt in my fridge and it’s asking for strawberries now!
I used this as inspiration today and prepared with Siggi’s Vanilla yogurt & old brown sugar (it was all I had). They were amazing! Siggi’s is low in sugar & very thick. I do like eating just a bowl of Siggi’s, but have often thought it tastes just like sour cream. I can’t wait to try as written to compare!!
OMG I grew up eating strawberries this way! I also thought EVERYONE ate them like this.. but NO! Thanks for the memory jog!
Yum! This looks amazing! Totally trying this the next time we have berries in the house!
YES! We always ate strawberries like this growing up, and now my kids love it too. Sweet, juicy berries taste the best, obviously, but you can make even sour or tasteless berries (that no one will eat but you feel guilty tossing) sooo much better by dipping them. Mmmm….