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
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.
Video
Nutrition
I was going to serve angel food cake with plain sliced strawberries for our Easter dessert, and then I saw this recipe. So glad I tried it, really made our dessert something special!
Thanks Susan, it tastes so good with vanilla ice cream as well.
Dear Laureen,
Have you ever tried to make this sauce more thick….like Strawberry Pie Gel? I can’t buy Strawberry Pie Gel year round, only strawberries. Was wondering if I could add additional cornstarch and make gel, without messing it up. This looks delicious. I know we’d love it on Angel Food Cake, Pound Cake or over Vanilla Ice Cream.
Hi Kathy, you can try to thicken the sauce up a bit more with extra cornstarch, but not too much or I find you get a starchy flavor.
Hey just wondering how long is this good for in the fridge? Thank you so much
Hi Chrystal I would say sauce should keep Ok in the fridge for a week, although mine has never lasted that long. It also freezes very well.
Loved this cheesecake. I don’t care for graham cracker crust. This turned out perfect. Thank you for the recipe.
Love this sauce. Made a batch this morning and added 1/4 cup Grand Marnier to it for a little adult treat. Absolutely amazing!
I used the same cheesecake recipe for years and swore by it. Decided to try this one because it just sounded so good and looked beautiful. Goodness it is to die for!!!! Serve mine with strawberries and it’s pure heaven. And really easy!!! Thanks for the recipe. Just shows sometimes we gotta try a new way of doing things!!!!!
Thank you so much Lorraine, glad you enjoyed the recipe. Its always fun to try a new one!
Is your tall and creamy cheesecake recipe for high altitude baking? It looks awesome. Let me know. Thanks!!
Hi Sue, I’m not sure. I live in Alberta, Canada, but people from all over the world have tried the recipe with great success.
Can u use flour in place of the cornstarch?
Hi Rin, No flour will not work.
I am looking at the Cheesecake recipe and have a question, in step 11 it says remove from water bath and remove foil, but never says when or where to put foil, first time baking Cheesecake so don’t want to mess up. Is the foil covering while baking?
The foil is wrapped around the outside of the springform pan. Do this prior to pouring batter in the pan.
Tried 3 other recipes….yours is hands down #1 thanks so much…..always had cheesecake from diners…didnt know it could be so easy to make at home Thank You
Thank you Bryan, so glad you made and enjoyed this recipe.
Wow , delicious 😋! I make cheesecake all the time . THis one is my new favorite . Thanks .
So glad to hear you like the recipe Susan. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Can you freeze?
Yes Rebecca, it should freeze well.
Great sauce I use this for the topping of my strawberry cupcake.
Thanks sounds delightful on a strawberry cupcake Donna!
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.
Can I replace the strawberries with blueberries in this recipe ?
Absolutely, adjust the sugar to your liking.
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
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!
Simple and elegant. I used it on the tall and creamy new york style cheesecake.
Do you add the sauce hot on top of cheesecake or let it cool to room temperature first?
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.
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.
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’ve tried six different Receipes for strawberry sauce/ glaze/ topping.
This one is PERFECT and so easy. I think the trick is the cornstarch slurry. I tried adding cornstarch straight in with other Receipes only for it to turn out cloudy. The slurry thickens the sauce and stays clear.
PERFECT!!!