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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!
Made this this morning, taste test is so good! Really good! Looking forward to topping off my homemade cheesecake with it.
It will be perfect with your homemade cheesecake. Enjoy!
Hi Natasha Merry Christmas! I tweaked my recipe by adding a bit of strawberry gelatin to this. It really made a nice glossy sauce for the cheesecake! Thank you for making my holiday cooking so much easier, I’m doing your prime rib roast too with your horseradish sauce 🙂
Hello Tracey, Merry Christmas to you and your family too! Nice to know that it worked well by adding strawberry gelatin to the recipe, I will try that next time too.
Yummy! Just finished this for Christmas cheesecake. Taste test is awesome. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Pamela!
This is the best strawberry sauce. I always use it to top mini cheesecakes, spread on toast or like you said, eating it by the spoon! 😂
Hi Ashley, I’m so happy you love it so much.
Hey! How long can this sauce be kept for once without freezing please? Thanks in advance!
Hi Aston, You can make this strawberry topping 1 to 3 days in advance, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Hi Natasha! I love your recipes. They’re easy to follow so I want to thank you for that. I have made this sauce twice though and each time it’s turned out pretty thin. I use fresh strawberries and fresh lemon juice. Do you have any suggestions?
Hi Dove, this recipe thickens naturally as it cooks down and doesn’t need it. Keep in mind sauce will also thicken up slightly as it cools and even more after refrigeration. If it doesn’t meet your desired thickness, you can cook it down more or add corn starch.
Awesome in every way! Made it 3x and making it again today for Thanksgiving. Thank you so much Natasha for the best dessert ever!
You are very welcome, Vicky! Thanks for your wonderful review.
Easy and so tasty! I’ve loved strawberry sauce since I was little, and this recipe made it so simple for me to make it myself. The lemon brightens it perfectly.
Don’t you love how simple it is! I’m glad you loved it, Danielle!
Hi Natasha, do you strain the sauce after it’s cooled down?
Hi Cindy, no, I did not strain the sauce! I hope you love it!
Should we simmer for 20 – 23 mins, because the strawberries seem perfect after around 5 mins? And I absolutely love your recipes. They completely fail-proof and amazing in every way.
Hi Aisha, depending on how high your heat is, that timing may change. Once you get it to the consistency you like, it may take more or less time.
The sauce is so delicious and super easy to make!!! I will use this only sauce. Just so yummy, perfect amount of strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. Thanks
Glad you loved the sauce, Helen! Thank you for your good feedback.
Can we use Blueberries instead of Strawberry
Hi Ramya, this works great with blueberries!
Can this be frozen?
Hi Diane, 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.
Canyou use frozen strawberries?
Hi Marilyn, yes, this should work with frozen strawberries; be sure to cook the sauce to the desired consistency. Sometimes frozen can give off more juice, so it may take slightly longer to cook.
So easy a five year old and an eight year old can make it while fighting over the spoon. We used frozen strawberries and bottled lemon juice, and it still turned out absolutely delicious, albeit not as clear. Will definitely be making this again. 10/10, would recommend.
That is the best when kids love what we moms make but can help out also! That’s so great!
so good
Thank you!
I LOVE this stuff! Are you kidding me?!? 😍😍 I have searched for a recipe that mocks Dq’s strawberry sundae sauce and this nailed it! I made it yesterday and put it on my french toast this morning and, man, i just cant get over how awesome it came out…TY!!
Love it! I’m happy that you enjoyed this recipe and you found the perfect one that you’re looking for. Thank you for sharing your good comments and feedback!
Try adding crushed pineapple to your strawberry sauce. So good.
Thanks for the tip, Rhonda. I’ll try that next time.
Hi Natasha! How long is this sauce good for in the fridge? Thanks!
Hi Jessica, I have stored it max 4 days and it was still great but I haven’t tested it beyond that. Freezing it should work just fine.
My husband came home tonight with angel food cake and strawberries and intended to eat them plain like that! 😝 I offered to make a sauce instead! This was a delicious topping and I think I convinced him my way was better! We didn’t have any lemons, but lime juice worked great! Thank you!
I’m so glad you tried this sauce! I bet it is so good with angel food cake!
Hi Natasha,
Just made the sauce and it turned out great! I had half pound strawberries so I adjusted the sugar an lemon juice. I’m making avocado pound cakes and plan on serving the sauce over slices with whipped cream!
This sauce is our favorite! I’m glad you enjoyed it, Kathleen!
I rarely keep lemons on hand but always have limes. Will lime juice work just as well?
Hi Teri, I haven’t tested this with lime juice but I think that could work well. Let me know if you experiment.
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 🙂
Yum! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Christina!
Hi Natasha! A lot of recipes call for some corn starch – is that not needed to thicken the sauce? Thanks!
Hi Kerin, this recipe thickens naturally as it cooks down and doesn’t need it. Keep in mind sauce will also thicken up slightly as it cools and even more after refrigeration. If it doesn’t meet your desired thickness you can cook it down more or add corn starch.
What is using frozen strawberries?
Hi Nancy, yes, this should work with frozen strawberries; be sure to cook the sauce to the desired consistency. Sometimes frozen can give off more juice, so it may take slightly longer to cook.