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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!
Hi Natasha
I tried your no-bake strawberry cheesecake and I made the sauce as well on Wednesday 9 June and both were delicious. There is only one slice left. My husband loved it very much. As you indicated, ” it’s dangerously addictive”, so true. All your recipes that I have tried came out wonderful and delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipes with us. Appreciate it very much. Blessings!
You’re very welcome, Doradeen! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Natasha, thank you for your recipes.
I just cooked the strawberry sauce. I fallow as you wrote.
Is a bit sour and not thick at all.
Any suggestions?
Can you do a video of this recipe, please?
Thank you
Hi, did you make sure to add the correct amount of sugar and not add any water to the sauce? Following the proportions listed, you should get a sauce that isn’t too thin. Also, frozen strawberries tend to release more juice.
Really excited to give this as gifts! I have twin 6 year old boys and we made this together for their teachers. The simplicity and flavor make it an amazing gift giving idea. Can’t wait to hear what they think.
Thank you for the wonderful review, Bridgett! I bet their teachers are going to love these gifts!
Natasha,can you freeze cheesecake with the strawberry topping on the cheesecake, or should i apply it after thawing cheesecake out.
Hi Tom. I have not tested freezing the sauce but I think it would freeze fine.
It’s early strawberry season here in Ohio and I had a quart of real beauties, so I made this this morning to serve with our waffles–had to do a quick-cool by putting the pan in ice–so worth it! This is absolutely delicious; my husband said, “It looks like a bed and breakfast breakfast!”
Yay, what a great compliment! Thanks for sharing that with us, Jan. Glad your husband loved it!
Made a small batch last night, I wasn’t sure I could do this. But it was very easy! And you’re right dangerously delicious!
Hi Ann, I’m glad you loved it too! Thanks for your great review and feedback.
Hello Natasha,
If I stores this in the refrigerator, how would you soften the sauce to use on the strawberry no-bake cheesecake?
I Paul, you can let it thaw or heat it in very low heat.
Nana
Have you ever tried to Freeze the Strawberry Sauce Recipe ?
I was thinking of trying to so I have some for when Strawberries are out of season.
The recipe looks yummy I’m going to try it
Hi Randy, I haven’t tried freezing this yet, but one of our readers wrote in saying it freezes well, “I freeze mine, and it turns out great. I use it for our nightly ice cream” I hope that helps.
Hi Natasha, do you know if this recipe would work with raspberries or other berries/fruit, or should I find a recipe tailored to those fruits? I like the idea of an easy fruit sauce, but I’m allergic to strawberries.
Hi Carolyn, I think that would still work with raspberries. You may need a little less cooking time. This is our go-to raspberry sauce, but if you wanted a little more texture, I think raspberries are worth experimenting with!
Thank you for posting this delicious recipe! I plan to use it on your mini strawberry cheesecake recipe.
You’re welcome, Kara! I hope you love this recipe.
I will definitely give this strawberry sauce a try. It looks delicious.
I hope you love this recipe, Susan!
Can this sauce be frozen?
Hi Joni, I haven’t tried freezing this yet, but one of our readers wrote in saying it freezes well, “I freeze mine, and it turns out great. I use it for our nightly ice cream” I hope that helps.
Why do my strawberries look dull in color..not vibrant red? I made using older strawberries rather than throwing away…could that be why?
Hi Tina, that could be likely. If the strawberries are already dull, that will impact the color.
I mostly served this sauce “with me and a spoon in my hand”! You weren’t kidding when you said “it’s dangerous”!
Easy and tasty! I used frozen berries. I didn’t have quite a pound of strawberries so I added some raspberries too.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Anna! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Can you use the bottled lemon juice?
Hi Libby, I haven’t tried that yet to advise but I imagine that will work. Please share with us how it goes if you try it.
It works awesome with frozen sliced strawberries & bottled lemon juice but like they say lol fresh is always better! 😁🥰 Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe!! 😄
You’re very welcome! Totally agree with you on that one.
I made this last weekend and it’s delicious. Making a big batch to serve with my cheesecake on Easter.
This is so perfect for Easter! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I add this to plain greek yogurt , its divine
Great to hear that you liked it!
Can frozen strawberries be used!
Hi Sharron, yes, that should work with frozen strawberries; cook the sauce to the desired consistency. Sometimes frozen can give off more juice, so it may take slightly longer to cook.
Can the strawberry topping be frozen
Hi Leesa, I haven’t tried freezing this yet but one of our readers wrote in saying it freezes well, “I freeze mine, and it turns out great. I use it for our nightly ice cream” I hope that helps.
Can this sauce be frozen for few weeks and used when needed?
Hi Merley, I haven’t tried freezing this yet but one of our readers wrote in saying it freezes well, “I freeze mine, and it turns out great. I use it for our nightly ice cream” I hope that helps.