5 Minute Strawberry Sauce
A quick and easy 5 Minute Strawberry Sauce recipe bursting with flavor! This sauce is made with fresh strawberries and a few simple ingredients. It is the perfect topping for ice cream, pancakes, cheesecake, and more!
Are you lucky enough to grow fresh strawberries in your garden, or have a local farmer’s market that sells in-season produce? When you have an abundance of strawberries, don’t let them go to waste. Use up your fresh summer strawberries making this delicious sauce. It freezes great! My homemade strawberry sauce recipe makes a fantastic strawberry topping for Fluffy Pancakes, Tall and Creamy New York Cheesecake, and Homemade Angel Food Cake!
Ingredients
- Fresh strawberries – opt for ripe, fragrant berries that are firm to the touch and deep red in color. Avoid berries that are underripe, soft, or mushy. I leave smaller strawberries whole and half or quarter larger ones.
- Granulated sugar – I usually use about 1/3 of a cup for fresh, ripe strawberries. The sweetness of strawberries can vary quite a bit, adjust with more or less sugar to suit your taste.
- Fresh Lemon Juice – freshly squeezed lemon juice enhances the strawberry flavor and balances the sweetness.
- Cornstarch – works great to thicken fruit sauces without altering the flavor. You make a simple slurry of cornstarch with a bit of cold water.
*see recipe card for quantities
Can I use other berries to make this sauce?
Absolutely! Fresh blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are great substitutions.
How to make 5 Minute Strawberry Sauce.
- Rinse and hull the strawberries. Cut in half or chunks. I prefer my strawberry sauce quite chunky and leave the small strawberries whole.
- Place in a saucepan, add the sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Cooking at a high temperature quickly releases the juices.
- Turn the heat down to medium and blend in the cornstarch slurry while stirring continually until the sauce thickens.
- Serve as a dessert topping, or spoon on yogurt, pancakes, or waffles.
I prefer using fresh strawberries but frozen will also work. Simply thaw and drain any excess liquid off. Extra cornstarch may need to be added to thicken and achieve the perfect consistency.
I always use a cornstarch slurry to thicken berry sauces rather than cook longer to evaporate the moisture. Why reduce those flavorful juices?
Cornstarch speeds up the thickening process and produces a glossy strawberry glaze in a matter of minutes.
Storage
I store my strawberry sauce in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. You can also store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Place in an airtight container or leakproof freezer bag.
This sauce goes great on:
Homemade Strawberry sauce makes a terrific topping for your desserts or breakfast.
This post was originally published March 22, 2018. Occasionally I update with fresh tips, content, and photos. Current update March 1, 2024.
5 Minute Strawberry Sauce
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh strawberries
- 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp cold water
Instructions
- On the stove, place the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a medium size sauce pan.
- Bring to a boil and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Cooking at a high temperature quickly releases the juices.
- In small bowl combine the cornstarch and cold water.
- Turn the heat down to medium and blend in the cornstarch slurry while stirring continually until the sauce thickens.
- Serve as a dessert topping, or spoon over yogurt, pancakes, or waffles.
Nutrition
Loved it! I made more than I needed and decided to freeze the extra. How would you recommend I defrost?
Thank you, defrost at room temperature, then store in the refrigerator
I love this recipe and would like to try it but I am highly allergic to any type of citrus whether is the fruit or juice. Is there something else that the lemon juice can be substituted for?
Please advise.
Hi Cookie, simply leave out the lemon juice, it will still taste great.
Wonderfully easy. I am fortunate to be able to walk out the door and pick fresh strawberries, blackberries & blueberries. I add all 3 to make an impressive sauce for cheesecake, ice cream, shortcake and pancakes.
Lucky you to be able to pick fresh berries from your garden.
Do you add the sauce hot on top of cheesecake or let it cool to room temperature first?
Simple and elegant. I used it on the tall and creamy new york style cheesecake.
Delicious! First batch, half went on French Toast for breakfast, rest waiting for ice cream dessert tonight. Tip – I used a full supermarket 1lb package and added 50% to the rest of the ingredients – worked like a charm. Love that lemon tang!
Regarding the Tall cheese cake Can I use a 9 inch pan but not use all the batter? Also would the baking time change?
Eileen, that would work or you could try building up the sides of the pan with parchment paper. The baking time should not change too much. This video gives you a great idea of how to check doneness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkwbSGEczHQ
Can I replace the strawberries with blueberries in this recipe ?
Absolutely, adjust the sugar to your liking.
I want to have graham crackers crust on the bottom. How much graham and butter to use please
Dolores, are you wanting to make a crust for the strawberry sauce? That won’t work as the strawberry sauce is too liquid for a crust.
Great sauce I use this for the topping of my strawberry cupcake.
Thanks sounds delightful on a strawberry cupcake Donna!