This no cook strawberry sauce is my newest favorite recipe. It doesn't have any added sugar, and takes 5 minutes to make. You're well on your way to a super easy and versatile sauce.
[This no cook strawberry sauce recipe was originally posted in February 2017. It has been updated for photos and content.]
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There's nothing like a sauce made with fresh seasonal fruit. But if you're like me and have no desire to boil strawberries or put much effort into making a dessert sauce, this no cook strawberry sauce is for you.
This strawberry sauce recipe is so simple, it's got fresh strawberries, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.
You can eat it lots of ways, but it's best over ice cream because the cold ice cream hardens the sauce just enough that it forms a shell on top.
This sauce is tart and has a great strawberry flavor, you can always add some sugar to it to your preference. This is especially important if your berries aren't super flavorful.
Ingredients
Scroll down to the no cook strawberry sauce recipe card for the amounts of each ingredient, but here's a quick visual + description of what's in this recipe.
- Fresh Strawberries: Choose the most red, firm, nice looking strawberries for max strawberry flavor. See notes above for tips.
- Fresh Lemon Juice: Just a bit of lemon juice adds a nice zip to the sauce and enhances the strawberry flavor.
- Salt: Just a pinch of salt will enhance the strawberry flavor in your no cook strawberry sauce
Instructions
Scroll down to the no cook strawberry sauce recipe card for more detailed instructions. Here's a quick overview + photos to see how to make this recipe in general.
1. Remove leaves from strawberries. Slice lemon in half, remove seeds.
2. Add strawberries, fresh lemon juice, and a pinch of salt to blender. Blend until desired consistency. Adjust flavors, add sugar if desired.
3. Once smooth, pour your no cook strawberry sauce into glass jar to store for a week. Serve over ice cream, yogurt, or on graham crackers.
Tips to get the most strawberry flavor
- Choose bright red berries. Slightly soft berries are good too, just not very mushy ones as they taste more fermented than you might want in strawberry sauce.
- Choose small- small medium berries, if you can (they tend to be a bit sweeter and more flavorful than the large ones)
- Choose strawberries with bright, fresh looking green leaves. This will help you get fresh, flavorful no cook strawberry sauce
- Add sugar (optional) and a pinch of salt to add some flavor
- If your berries are not super flavorful, smash half to all of the berries, add a tablespoon + of sugar and let it sit, add remaining strawberries (if applicable) then finish the recipe
Storage Tips
Store leftover no cook strawberry sauce in an airtight container in the fridge. It should last a couple weeks. You can heat it up in the microwave until it's to room temperature, if you'd like, or serve it cold.
This strawberry sauce is also easy to freeze. You can pour it into an ice tray for smaller/individual servings. This way you can get as much as you'd like to defrost instead of the whole amount.
Defrost in the fridge for a few hours, or in the microwave until room temperature, or it's no longer frozen.
Substitutions/Tips
- This no cook strawberry sauce is the perfect way to use up strawberries that are starting to get soft. You know the ones you don't really want to eat plain. They're really ripe, sweet, and perfect for this sauce.
- Don't use early season strawberries that lack flavor, your sauce just won't be that delicious. I highly recommend using up your last farmers market strawberries or others that are packed with flavor.
- Add sugar (granulated, honey, etc) to sweeten it up.
- Want to thicken it up? Add some chia seeds. They'll soak up the liquid and you can use it as jam too! Much easier than making jam with pectin.
- Substitute strawberries for other fresh fruit: berries or peaches.
FAQ
If your no cook strawberry sauce is too thin, add 1-2 tablespoons of chia seeds. It's easy, you let the chia seeds do all the work, and it adds a fun texture! (note that it does take 30+ minutes for them to absorb the liquid to thicken up)
Yes absolutely! Add just a bit of the lemon juice & salt between tastings to make sure it tastes good. Add as much as you prefer. This sauce is fruit forward, so it'll work with any fruit.
I'm already thinking it'd be great with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches. Oh and be aware of the water content of the fruit you use. The peach sauce will probably be thicker, but still so delicious.
Strawberry sauce, like any food can fit in a healthful diet. It's more about eating a variety of foods. This strawberry sauce just has 3 ingredients, and no added sugar, which is a good place to start. If it's not sweet-add some.
Repurpose this sauce
The best part of this no cook strawberry sauce recipe is just how versatile it is.
- No cook strawberry sauce is great over ice cream, Single Serving Brownie, between cake layers
- On yogurt
- Added to a smoothie
- Mix your no cook strawberry sauce with olive oil to make an easy summer salad dressing
- Add to lemonade to make strawberry lemonade (replace ½ cup sauce for berries in this Sparkling Berry Lemonade Recipe)
What to do with leftover ingredients
When you're cooking for one, you often have leftover produce, cans of whatever ingredient, etc. Here are a couple ideas on how to use up the leftover ingredients. It'll help you save money by wasting fewer ingredients.
- Strawberries: Strawberry Banana Milkshake, Sparkling Berry Lemonade, or top easy chocolate waffles with them.
- Lemon: Single Serving Lemonade, Lemon Herb Couscous, Cucumber Beet Salad with Feta.
Did you make this no cook strawberry sauce? leave me a comment to share how it turned out!
No Cook Strawberry Sauce (no added sugar)
Equipment
- knife
- cutting board
- blender
- Measuring Spoons
Ingredients
- ½ pound strawberries washed and stemmed
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Add ½ lb strawberries, ½ teaspoon lemon juice, and a pinch of salt to the bowl of a high powered blender. Blend until smooth. Serve over ice cream, yogurt, cream, as a salad dressing, or anything else!
Notes
- Use ripe seasonal strawberries to get sweet, flavorful sauce.
- Consider adding a bit of sugar if strawberries aren't super ripe and red in color
- Adjust lemon juice based on taste preferences
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Joyce Kacar says
Can you freeze this sauce?
Rebecca says
Hi Joyce, great question. Full disclosure, I haven't tried to freeze it but I bet it'd be fine. My only recommendation would be to freeze it in a flat bag or in an ice tray so you don't have to thaw the whole thing (unless you would use it all within a couple days). Let me know if you try it & how it goes!