Make homemade strawberry topping sauce for your desserts or breakfast using fresh strawberries with this simple 10 minute recipe. When strawberries aren’t in season, use frozen strawberries instead.
After publishing no bake cheesecake jars, I figured a completely separate post for the strawberry topping sauce would be appreciated! I actually made a triple batch of it last week when strawberries were on mega sale and froze the sauce in freezer tupperwares. (Freezes and thaws like a dream!)
But this strawberry dessert topping has actually been an essential for years, pairing with everything like pound cake, cheesecake, ice cream, and berries & cream french toast casserole. I have plenty more suggestions below and yes, this stuff is totally acceptable at breakfast!
Why You’ll Love This Homemade Strawberry Topping
- 5 simple ingredients
- 10 minutes
- Nothing artificial
- No preservatives
- Made from real strawberries
- Supremely versatile just like lemon curd, raspberry sauce, and salted caramel
Isn’t this jar cute?!
What You Need
- Fresh or frozen strawberries: Hulled & halved.
- Cornstarch + water: You don’t need much, but you must dissolve the cornstarch in a little water before using. This is called a “slurry”; see raspberry cake filling an example. Without mixing with water, the cornstarch will leave white chunks in your strawberry sauce.
- Lemon juice + zest: Keeps the flavor bright. The sauce won’t taste like lemon, I promise!
- Sugar: Just enough to sweeten the sauce without taking away from the strawberry’s natural flavor.
I include a strawberry compote recipe with my brown butter pound cake. This strawberry topping sauce is almost identical, but I use a little less cornstarch here. Today’s strawberry sauce is on the thicker side, but it’s not quite as thick as the compote. The compote is closer to a jam consistency.
How to Make Strawberry Sauce
This strawberry sauce cooks on the stove in about 10 minutes.
- Mix the cornstarch and water together.
- Place everything, including the cornstarch mixture, into a medium saucepan. Mash the strawberries a bit with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. This helps the release the juices and cooks down the strawberries.
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. The sauce will begin to thicken.
- Remove from heat and allow strawberry sauce to cool.
This is a chunkier style strawberry sauce, providing wonderful texture to no bake cheesecake, waffles, biscuits, and so much more. But the amount of strawberry chunks is up to you. For less chunks, mash up the strawberries a little more as the sauce cooks.
Prefer a chunk-free sauce? For no strawberry chunks, blend the finished sauce in a blender until you reach your desired consistency.
By the way, if you’re looking for a less jammy and more substantial strawberry topping, try this strawberry cream cheese pie or the filling from these strawberry shortcake cupcakes.
Endless Uses for Strawberry Topping!
- Cheesecake, lemon cheesecake, no-bake cheesecake, and cheesecake pie
- Mini cheesecakes and no-bake cheesecake jars
- Use as a topping for angel food cake and pavlova
- Serve with pound cake and whipped cream
- Filling for homemade crepes
- Topping for yogurt (for a healthier dessert recipe), oatmeal, buttermilk waffles, pancakes, brioche French toast, and biscuits
- Layer in a trifle or parfait
- Use with strawberry shortcake
- Serve with strawberry cake
- Atop a Dutch baby pancake
What will you use it for?!
Print
Homemade Strawberry Sauce (Topping)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 1 and 1/2 cups
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Description
You can use fresh or frozen strawberries in this versatile strawberry topping sauce. This topping is fresh, quick, & easy and gives desserts that little something extra!
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) warm water
- 1 lb strawberries, hulled and sliced in half (you can use frozen; don’t thaw)
- zest and juice from 1/2 small lemon (see note)*
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
Instructions
- Whisk the cornstarch and water together until all the cornstarch has dissolved. (I just use a fork to mix—very easy.)
- Place the cornstarch mixture, along with the rest of the ingredients, into a small saucepan over medium heat. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, stir the mixture as it cooks. Break up some of the strawberries as you stir.
- Bring it to a simmer and allow to simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. After 5 minutes, remove pan from the heat and allow to cool. The mixture will thicken as it cools.
- You can serve the sauce warm before it cools completely if desired, or store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Strawberry topping will be thick after refrigeration, so microwave for 15 seconds or warm on the stove to thin out, if desired.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: After the strawberry sauce cools completely, freeze in a freezer-friendly container for up to 3-6 months. Thaw on the counter or in the refrigerator. Warm up in the microwave or on the stove, if desired.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Small Saucepan | Rubber Spatula or Wooden Spoon
- Strawberries: You need a 1 pound carton of strawberries, which is 16 oz, 3-4 cups, or 450g.
- Other berries: You can substitute blackberries for the strawberries with no other changes to the recipe. Cherries work too—pit and halve them first. For other berries, try my raspberry sauce and blueberry sauce recipes.
- Lemon: Lemon brightens the flavor of the strawberry topping. You need about 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon zest. Feel free to skip the lemon zest if needed.
- Chunks: The amount of strawberry chunks is up to you. For less chunks, mash up the strawberries a little more as the sauce cooks. For no strawberry chunks, blend the finished sauce in a blender until you reach your desired consistency.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I made this as instructed for your Strawberry Compote to go with our popovers. It was so tasty, and easy!! I had strawberries from our local farm in the freezer that I wasn’t sure what to do with.
I never have to worry about not having homemade strawberry jam for our popovers again. Your website never disappoints, Sally. You always have well-written instructions, and so many good recipes with simple ingredients. I can’t thank you enough for all of your efforts.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Sally! We’re so glad you’re enjoying our recipes. This strawberry sauce over popovers sounds absolutely incredible.
When using frozen Strawberries do I let them thaw before? Or csn I just start with the frozen ones and put them right into the saucepan?
Hi Jillian, if you use frozen strawberries, don’t thaw them first.
Delicious! I added 2 more tbsp of water to make it a little runnier. Used it to top cheesecake.
Hi! What is the lemon zest and juice note*? I don’t see the note after it’s mentioned in the ingredient list. Thanks!
Hi Adriana! See Notes after the recipe: Lemon brightens the flavor of the strawberry topping. You need about 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice and 1 teaspoon lemon zest. Feel free to skip the lemon zest if needed.
Hi. I would like to use this as an icecream topping for my son’s birthday this weekend. I would need to quadruple the recipe. Would that increase the simmer time by 4 as well or could I burn the strawberries? I am fine doing individual batches if that is what is recommended but also would love to do 1 batch. Sorry if the question seems obvious, new to baking and baking is so precise, just want to be sure.
Hi Brooke, you may need to increase the simmer time somewhat, but probably not by 4x. I would say doubling the simmer time would be plenty. This is really cooking, not baking, so it’s not as precise here! Hope the party is lots of fun!
Thank you. I doubled the simmering time.
I 4x the cornstarch and water though and I can taste the cornstarch. Can I salvage this batch?
I mean, I sort of ruined the recipe by increasing the strawberries, decreasing the sugar, and skipping the lemon, but it still worked, and is perfect for topping greek yogurt and overnight oats!
Excellent way to use up extra strawberries! Fabulous taste and so easy!
Great recipe. I used bit more sugar since my berries were tart.
Wondering if I can reheat and add more cornstarch for it to be a bit thicker? I probably mashed too many and it got very juicy. Using as a cake filling. Even after a few hours in fridge it did not thicken as much as I wanted. Tastes delicious though!
Hi Amy! This recipe is a bit too thin to use between cake layers – if you do try it we would definitely make a dam of icing around the edges of the cake to prevent seeping. You can try reheating and adding more cornstarch, or even just letting it simmer for a bit to thicken more. For a strawberry cake filling we recommend using the strawberry filling from our strawberry shortcake cupcakes.
So simple, yet so delicious
I love your recipes Sally. You’re my go-to when I need a recipe.
How many mini cheesecakes do you think that this sauce would cover?
Hi Abby! This recipe yields 1 and 1/2 cups of strawberry sauce. If you put 1 Tbs sauce on each mini cheesecake, that would cover about 24 mini cheesecakes.
Great Recipe!!! I just used this recipe for my banana splits I made my husband and I; I must say I will no longer need to buy them from a store… I will use this for all my cheesecake and shortcake recipes as well!!! Thank You!!!
Just made this to serve with your no bake cheesecake on Saturday with farmer’s market fresh picked strawberries. OMG how delicious Really brought out the in season strawberry flavor. Thanks for the recipe.
I want a smooth sauce. No chunks. Will there be seeds? Can I strain it after I blend it?
Hi Misha, this is a chunkier-style sauce, but you can blend the finished sauce in a blender until you reach your desired consistency. Feel free to strain the seeds too if you prefer—the sauce will be a bit thinner that way.
Sounds fantastic. Can I substitute the sugar with honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar?
Hi Bob, we don’t recommend it—it would require some recipe testing to determine best amounts so that the sauce would still have the same consistency. It may be best to find a recipe that was written to include one of those alternate sugars. Let us know if you find one you enjoy!
I tried this to put on cheesecake. It was EXCELLENT
Soooo good made it for easter to put on cheesecake!
Hello! Can this be used with the cream cheese danish recipe instead of the blueberries, and still baked in the oven? Or would it ruin it. Thanks!
Hi Amber, we haven’t tested it that way, but I think it should work fine. Let us know how it turns out!
I love this recipe, my family love too.
Can this recipe be canned?
Hi Crystal, we haven’t tried canning this strawberry sauce before. For best results, we recommend storing in the refrigerator for up to a week, or for longer storage, see recipe notes for details.
Hello Sally, can I use this on a strawberry shortcake cake?
Hi Devin, this would be delicious drizzled on top of a strawberry shortcake. (We don’t recommend it between layers of a cake, though, unless there is a ring of frosting to keep it from seeping out the edges.) Enjoy!
Out of curiosity…shouldn’t one also apply a thin layer of frosting to the cake layer, BEFORE piping the dam, to ensure the liquid doesn’t seep and turn the cake “mushy”?
Thanks so much!
P.S.: I click on the “Save my name, email…” button EVERY time I comment, yet it DOESN’T save my info!
Hi Terry, yes, a thin layer of frosting would also be recommended. We’ll look into that issue for you—thanks for letting us know!
To die for!! On the no bake cheesecake. Everyone loved it!
Made exactly as the recipe states, for a banana split bar. I won’t have to look further….this will be my go to strawberry sauce for ice cream, cakes, etc. It was a huge hit! *used a 14oz bag of frozen berries, added them to the pan frozen, mashed and stirred for a smoother less chunky sauce. Didn’t use lemon because I didn’t have it.*
Super easy and delicious
SOOOOO easy, I used frozen strawberries since my fresh ones started going bad quickly. They worked GREAT! I mashed them somewhat to the consistency I wanted. Fast, easy & delish recipe. Won’t buy canned anymore!
Taste great and so easy! Do I need to refridgerate this?
Hi Barb, store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Just made this with a box pound cake mix. Topped with vanilla ice cream. Y’all gotta try it!! Delicious. I had already defrosted frozen strawberries so I drained them before adding in with other ingredients. This sauce is it. Stop searching google & go ahead & make it & come back to review!!
Ty for sharing! I pinned recipe it to my Google collection & will be making this again soon for Thanksgiving!!
10/10!! This recipe is so easy and my compote came out thick and sweet and just hands down amazing!
Mine turned out watery, should I add more cornstarch?
Hi Melinda! Has it cooled? Allowing the mixture to cook for longer should thicken it up, or you can add more cornstarch, but be careful to not add too much!