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
- Yield: 1 pint
Description
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
What container do you use to freeze your sauce? I have used glass but I had a bottle crack.
You can use freezer Ziploc bags or any freezer-safe plastic container. I don’t recommend glass. 🙂
Hi – for those of you who don’t like white sugar this works beautifully with honey – and you don’t need 1/3 cup – just a drizzle over the berries before cooking to taste.
So I found this recipe a year ago when my truck driver friend brought me 8 flats of freshly picked Plant City strawberries. I froze the vast majority of them, but needed recipes in this worst way. I’ve made a ton of your sauce (and, yes, almond extract is the best) and freeze what I don’t use right away.
I wanted to share a great use for this sauce. I was making a Duncan Hines French Vanilla cake one day and suddenly came up with the idea of replacing the water with your strawberry sauce (w/ almond extract). I used about a third of a cup more of the sauce than I would have used of the water. Let me tell you, that cake was SUPERB! Instead of frosting, I sprinkled a little powdered sugar on. If you haven’t made a cake replacing the liquid with this strawberry sauce, then you are really missing out! Thank you for an excellent strawberry sauce recipe!
I am sure this is wonderful! You mentioned that this is freezer friendly. Is there anything I need to know when freezing. How long will it keep in the freezer? Thanks! I’ll try this for sure!
Do you know if this recipe is good for canning?
I love making this to put in your fresh squeezed lemonade. I made a lot so I could freeze it and have plenty for the whole summer BUT my brother in law seriously ate the whole freaking bowl on me! Lol. Good thing it is so easy to make =)
I had no idea this was even possible. Thank you from the bottom of my giant bowl of strawberries!
Im wanting to make it in the middle of a ice cream cake like the dairy queen ones with fudge in the middle wanting strawberries in the middle
can you freeze on a ice cream cake will it set or not?
I’ve never tried it, but I imagine if it’s not too thick, it should be fine!
How long will this keep in the fridge?
I would keep it for about a week. If it looks like you’re not going to use it all, you can pop it in the freezer.
Hope that helps!
This stuff looks amazing! I think I’ll try it with some sort of sugar substitute then vary different extracts- I’m thinking coconut would be my favorite.
Oh man, yeah. Soooo I tried my own variation of this with sweet n low, black berries and lemon extract. PERFECT for waffles!
I was just wondering if there was an alternative to white sugar that would work. Do you think Stevia would work? Love the idea of the strawberry sauce, but we want to cut back on white sugar. Could you suggest another alternative that wouldn’t change the flavor. We often us natural maple syrup or raw honey in place of sugar in recipes, but it may affect the taste of this sauce. Thanks.
You’d just have to experiment Leslie; we always use sugar so I’m not sure!