Easy Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe - Made with fresh strawberries and simple syrup, and has a sweet strawberry flavor. Fresh strawberry syrup is the BEST syrup for french toast or pancakes, a tasty strawberry syrup for drinks, and makes the perfect strawberry sauce for dessert.
All you need are a few simple ingredients and a little bit of time to simmer fresh berries, sugar, water, and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Make a batch the next time you have some extra strawberries. It really has the best flavor and is a great alternative to maple syrup. It's sweet strawberry flavor is perfect to serve on french toast, buttermilk pancakes, crepes, and homemade buttermilk biscuits.
Be sure to check out our other breakfast recipes. You'll find some of our favorite recipes for making the best breakfast on that page.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Secret to this Recipe is... it's simple and versatile.
You can make this recipe with fresh berries picked at the peak of strawberry season, or frozen strawberries. Either one works.
Bonus: We'll show you how to combine other types of fresh fruit with a basic simple syrup recipe to create other variations.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
This simple flavored syrup recipe is a combination of fresh berries and a rich simple syrup. The level of sweetness and how thick it becomes can be varied with a few tweaks you'll find in the ingredient list below.
Here's What You'll Need
- fresh strawberries - Washed, hulled (see note below), and chopped. Gently wash whole strawberries and lay them out on a clean towel or paper towel to dry. Hull them by removing the green stem and white middle core of each berry. Chop the strawberries into small pieces.
Pro Tip: You also can use a food processor or immersion blender to make a strawberry puree.
- granulated sugar - Granulated sugar combines with the natural sugars in the berries. Using less sugar than this recipe calls for will result in a less sweet, thinner final product.
- water - The water is used to make a simple syrup, which is basically liquid sugar. For this recipe, we use a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water.
Another common simple syrup ratio is 1:1, which uses an equal amount of sugar and water. Reducing the amount of water in this recipe will result in a sweeter, thicker final product.
- lemon juice (optional) - Adds an acidic brightness to the flavor. You may substitute orange juice or omit it altogether. May also add lemon peels for extra flavor.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Optional Add-Ins
- cornstarch - Cornstarch is a thickening agent that can be added if it seems like it has too much liquid.
Pro Tip: Whisk a few teaspoons of cornstarch into cold water for this recipe. The water must be cold for the cornstarch to dissolve without creating lumps.
- vanilla extract - Vanilla extract's mellow, sweet flavor is often used to enhance flavors in cooking and baking.
How To Hull Strawberries
Hulling is the process of removing the hull or calyx of the strawberry. The hull is also known as the "cap" and it is the green stem and little white part at the top of the strawberry where it forms.
Hull fresh strawberries by removing the green stem and white middle core of each berry. Hold the strawberry in the fingers of one hand and use a pairing knife to cut out the hull, leaving the shoulders or top of the strawberry intact.
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How to Make Strawberry Syrup
Step 1. Make Simple Syrup. Combine sugar and water in a medium sauce pot and bring that to a low boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until the sugar dissolves.
Pro Tip: Lower the heat to medium temperature and watch it so that it doesn't boil over.
Step 2. Add Strawberries and Reduce. Add chopped strawberries and simmer over low heat.
Reduce - Simmer until it has evaporated somewhat and has reduced by half and is of a syrupy consistency.
Cooking time will vary depending on the cooking temperature, but reducing the liquid will generally take about 20-30 minutes.
Step 3. Create Desired Syrupy Consistency.
Chunkier Sauce - Leave the fruit pulp for a more chunky end product. Use a potato masher to create uniform chunky consistency.
Smooth Syrup - Run it through a fine mesh sieve to create a smooth syrup. Place the sieve over a large bowl and carefully pour it into the sieve. Use a large spoon to press the fruit pulp through the sieve, leaving a smooth syrup in the bowl.
Step 4. Serving.- Pour it into a serving dish or an airtight container for storage.
Pro Tip: Use the fruit pulp remaining in the sieve as a delicious strawberry fruit spread for sandwiches or baking. It will have a slightly thicker consistency than jam.
More Flavored Simple Syrups
Variations - This recipe is made up of 2 basic ingredients: fresh berries + simple syrup. You can easily use this basic combination to create other flavored simple syrups. Here are some ideas:
- blackberry
- blueberry
- cherry
- dragon fruit
- mango
- melon
- multiple berry
- pineapple
- prickly pear
- raspberry
- watermelon
Recipe FAQS
It will last about 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
You can freeze it in a freezer safe container. Freeze smaller portions in an ice cube tray, pop the cubes out of the tray when frozen and store the cubes in a freezer bag for convenient use.
How To Use It
Serving Suggestions - Serve this fresh strawberry syrup as a great alternative to maple syrup and make yourself the best breakfast. Here are some of our favorite ways to serve this delicious sweet syrup:
- french toast
- buttermilk pancakes
- crepes
- buttermilk biscuits
- strawberry lemonade
- strawberry milk
- angel food cake
- strawberry cheese cake
- Italian sodas
- vanilla ice cream
- ice cream sundaes with fresh fruit
Freezing and Storage
Storage Instructions - Store it in an airtight container like a mason jar and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. Any longer than that and it should be frozen in a freezer-safe container.
Freezing Instructions - It can also be frozen in an ice cube tray for smaller portions. Once frozen, the cubes can be popped out of the tray and placed in a freezer bag for easy use.
More Breakfast Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe
Equipment
- medium sauce pot
- airtight container
Ingredients
Simple Syrup
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
Flavoring
- 1 lb fresh strawberries chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice optional
Instructions
Make Rich Simple Syrup
- Simple Syrup. Combine sugar and water in a medium sauce pot and bring that to a low boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until the sugar dissolves. Lower the heat to medium temperature and watch it so that it doesn't boil over.
Add Flavoring
- Add Strawberries and Reduce. Add chopped strawberries to the simple syrup and simmer over low heat until the berries have cooked down and the simple syrup has evaporated and been reduced by half and is of a syrupy consistency.The cooking time will vary depending on the cooking temperature, but reducing the liquid will generally take about 20-30 minutes.
Finish Syrup
- Create Desired Syrupy Consistency.Chunkier Sauce- Leave the fruit pulp in the syrup for a more chunky end product. Use a potato masher to create uniform chunky consistency.Smooth Syrup - Run the cooked syrup through a fine mesh sieve to create a smooth syrup. Place the sieve over a large bowl and carefully pour the syrup into the sieve. Use a large spoon to press the fruit pulp through the sieve, leaving a smooth syrup in the bowl.Serving - Pour the finished strawberry syrup into a serving dish or an airtight container for storage.Pro Tip: Use the fruit pulp remaining in the sieve as a delicious strawberry fruit spread for sandwiches or baking. It will have a slightly thicker consistency than jam.
Notes
Notes on Ingredients
- fresh strawberries - Washed, hulled (see note below), and chopped. Gently wash whole strawberries and lay them out on a clean towel or paper towel to dry. Hull them by removing the green stem and white middle core of each berry. Chop the strawberries into small pieces.
- granulated sugar - Granulated sugar combines with the natural sugars in the berries. Using less sugar will result in a less sweet, thinner final product.
- water - The water is used to make a simple syrup, which is basically liquid sugar. We use a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water to make a rich simple syrup. Another common simple syrup ratio is 1:1, which uses an equal amount of sugar and water. Reducing the amount of water will result in a sweeter, thicker final product.
- lemon juice (optional) - Adds an acidic brightness to the flavor. You may substitute orange juice or omit it altogether. May also add lemon peels for extra flavor.
Optional Add-Ins
- cornstarch - Cornstarch is a thickening agent that can be added to thicken if it seems like it has too much liquid.
- vanilla extract - Vanilla extract's mellow, sweet flavor is often used to enhance flavors in cooking and baking.
Variations
Variations - This recipe is made up of 2 basic ingredients: fresh berries + simple syrup. You can easily use this basic combination to create other flavored simple syrups. Here are some ideas:- blackberry
- blueberry
- cherry
- dragon fruit
- mango
- melon
- multiple berry
- pineapple
- prickly pear
- raspberry
- watermelon
Russ B
Awesome on pancakes!
Seanna Borrows
So delicious!
Annie Taylor
So easy...and absolutely delicious Seanna! We had this on waffles and it was incredible.
Seanna Borrows
Thanks Annie! Makes me so happy to hear!