This simple strawberry syrup uses just 3 ingredients (and water!) and can be made in just 15 minutes. Use within drinks, cocktails, drizzled over desserts and pancakes, or as a thicker sauce. Plus this recipe uses all-natural ingredients and is refined sugar free, vegan, and can be made keto!
If you're not worried about having a cloudy syrup then lightly mash the berries with a fork or potato masher. Alternatively, slice into quarters and take care not to mash the pieces while they cook.
In a medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil then reduce the heat slightly and simmer for about 15-20 minutes for the berries to soften and release their juices and the sauce to thicken slightly.
Sieve the mixture to remove the strawberry pulp.TOP TIP: when sieving the strawberry mixture, making sure not to press the pulp/ pieces at all or else this will make your syrup cloudy.
Once you’ve sieved the syrup then you can further reduce it for a few minutes to allow it to thicken slightly more. Or remove from the heat immediately and allow to cool.
Transfer to an airtight jar and place in the fridge.
How To Store
This syrup can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for around 3 weeks. This may be freezer friendly too, though I haven't tried.
Video
Notes
Optional: Add a little fresh lemon juice to help maintain the color and fresh flavor of the syrup whilst storing.--For A Clear, Simple Syrup: Simply follow the recipe below. If you want a thicker version then you can either continue to reduce the sauce for longer (though this takes a lot of time) OR add a little cornstarch after straining the syrup and allow to boil for a further minute before removing from the heat and allowing to cool.For an Unstrained Syrup: Blend the strawberries into a juice before adding to the pan and follow the recipe as provided. You can still strain the mixture, if wanted, to get out any larger bits of seeds, though this isn’t necessary.For A Chunky Sauce: This is the kind of strawberry sauce for pancake – plenty of liquid but also chunks of fresh berries too. For this sauce, finely dice the strawberries and allow to simmer with the additional ingredients for 6-8 minutes until the berries have softened and released their juice. Then add in a little cornstarch. This syrup will need to be used within 5 days, as it retains big fruit pieces in it.
You can adjust the amount of sweetener used according to your tastebuds. Start by adding half of my suggested amount and then increasing as needed. Make sure to do this while the sauce is still hot, so the sweetener probably dissolves into the mixture.
Use the leftover strawberry pulp to top pancakes, ice-cream, waffles, or mix into a yogurt bowl (with dairy yogurt or coconut yogurt)
You can use the strawberry stalks too. Just chuck these straight into a smoothie (like any of these- Guide to Healthy Smoothie Recipes, for additional nutrients.
Whenever adding cornstarch to a sauce it’s best to make it into a slurry (paste) first by adding it with a tiny bit of water and then adding this to the sauce. That way you avoid getting any lumps in the sauce.
Read the post for a list of optional flavor add-ins.