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There is no rival for homemade strawberry sauce. It has just 3 ingredients and this is the easiest strawberry sauce recipe. Adding a few spoons of this glossy fresh strawberry topping will make any dessert feel fancier. This is a great recipe to have in your arsenal for entertaining or to make your family’s eyes light up as you spoon it over a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
This strawberry topping is completely wonderful over pancakes, waffles, pie, cheesecake, this trifle, you name it! This is our favorite and easiest way to make strawberry sauce. The lemon juice balances the sweetness and makes the strawberry flavor more pronounced. Truth be told, it’s dangerously irresistible stuff – consider yourself warned ;).
We’re using this sauce in our next recipe post so I hope you are all kinds of excited!!
Make-Ahead Tip: You can make this strawberry topping 1 to 3 days in advance, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Easy Strawberry Sauce Ingredients:
1 lb Strawberries, rinsed, hulled and thickly sliced
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice (from 1/2 Lemon)
How to Make Easy Strawberry Sauce:
1. In a medium saucepan, combine sliced strawberries, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice. Place over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. The strawberries will release juice without any mashing required.
2. Reduce heat and simmer 20-23 minutes or until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Keep in mind sauce will thicken up slightly as it cools and even more after refrigeration.
Pro Tip: Do not blend strawberries before cooking. I have tested coarsely blending strawberries in a food processor and even though they taste great, the color of the sauce was foggy and not glossy as shown in the photos above. We had best results with slicing strawberries by hand.
It really is as good as it looks – bursting with fresh strawberry flavor!
⬇Print-Friendly Strawberry Sauce Recipe:
Strawberry Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
Strawberry Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 lb Strawberries, rinsed, hulled and thickly sliced
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice, from 1/2 Lemon
Instructions
How to Make Strawberry Sauce:
- In a medium saucepan, combine sliced strawberries, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Strawberries will release juice without any mashing required.
- Reduce heat and simmer 20-23 min or until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Keep in mind sauce will thicken up slightly as it cools and even more with refrigeration.
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
I hope this becomes your new favorite strawberry topping. Let me know how you serve your strawberry sauce. Or maybe it’s just you with a spoon in your hand? Remember I called this dangerous for a reason!
The best accompaniment to the flourless chocolate cake and chantilly cream I make every Valentines Day for my family💗delicious!
That’s so awesome, Christine, Thank you for trying this recipe, I’m so glad you loved it.
SOOO DELISH! This strawberry sauce is the best ive ever tasted. A must make
How long will the sauce keep and how do you recommend to store it ?
Hi Amber! I have this Make-Ahead Tip
Above: You can make this strawberry topping 1 to 3 days in advance, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Sooooo sweet and delicious! Just love it!!!
I made this as a topping for cheesecake and my husband loved it!! He said it was delicious and made a happy plate!!
What an awesome feedback! Thanks so much for sharing that with us.
There is a restaurant that I go that serves raw bananas and then adds fruit topping (the kind you would get in a can) minus the pieces of fruit. Is there a way to make this recipe to create the same type of sauce (it’s a thick sauce)
Hi Stephanie. If you want a smooth sauce, you can blend the sauce after it’s cooked.
Hello! I am making the sauce for a cheesecake topping. Should I strain it after it cools to make it smooth? Thank you!
Hi Sara, I have never had to strain it. I hope you love it!
Hi. I was wondering if this sauce can be used as a topping for a cheesecake. I’ve got a cake cooling now ready to go in the fridge, but would like to put a glazed fruit topping on it. Is your recipe solely a sauce to be dished out with the cake, or can it be used spread over the cake beforehand and left in the fridge until ready to serve? Thank you
Hi Karen, this will work great over a cheesecake! You can pour it over individual slices as an option or pour it over the entrie cake. It is a more runny sauce, so it may be a bit more messier when cutting.
Thank you very much! I’ll give it a go – made it for guests this evening and I’ll let you know how it went. Many thanks for your answer, much appreciated.
Thank you. I’m trying it now. I was thinking maybe I could try a little bit of orange juice.
Hi Tracie, it will work with orange, yes. Here’s what one of my readers wrote ” My daughter made this recipe and it was delicious. We didn’t have any lemon juice, so she went with fresh orange and squeezed it. (Her reasoning was it’s a citrus!) It tasted great with the orange! So easy to make and so very very good. I made it quickly to go over McDonalds hotcakes 🙂”
Hello Natasha, I made your blueberry and cherry sauce. Now I’m making the strawberry and was wondering why no cornstarch with the strawberry sauce. Wondering because the others are quicker and thicker? Thanks in advance.
Hello! Adding cornstarch is not necessary in this recipe as strawberries release a lot of liquid as they cook, and the long simmer time reduces that liquid naturally. Cornstarch is optional, if you want it to thicken more, you can add it.
Can I make this without lemon juice? I don’t really like the taste of lemon so I don’t have any on hand.
The lemon juice balances the sweetness and makes the strawberry flavor more pronounced. I haven’t tried making this recipe without lemon but you can try!
Hello Natasha,
I’m planning to make this recipe for a strawberry shortcake and it looks delicious! I was wondering if frozen strawberries would work instead of fresh ones, or if that would significantly change the flavor or consistency.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes, I really appreciate it!
Hi Nairobi, if that’s what you have on hand, that will work. You can thaw them or cook them directly frozen. Hope you enjoy it!
Hi! Can I use frozen strawberries? Thank you.
It’s a good option to use frozen strawberries if that’s what you have on hand. You can thaw them or cook them directly frozen. Hope you enjoy it!
Hi,
I wanted to use this as a topping for a cheesecake. Will it get watery before I give it to the person requesting it? Plan on giving it to them 12/10/25.
Hi D, You can refrigerate this strawberry sauce for up to 1 week in an airtight container. It thickens as it chills and keeps its fresh flavor really well.
I’ve made this a few time now. It always comes out perfect and my friends and family always request it.