Learn to make your own fresh or shelf stable homemade strawberry sauce! Strawberry Sauce is a perfect addition to ice cream sundaes, cheesecake or some yogurt for breakfast. This strawberry sauce is easy to make and has simple ingredients that everyone will love!
I always love strawberry season!
We pick enough berries to eat fresh, freeze some for smoothies, make some strawberry jam, make strawberry rhubarb pie and this homemade canned strawberry sauce!
My strawberry sauce was more of a recent addition to our canning store for the winter.
I realized my children loved strawberries on their ice cream or yogurt, but I didn’t always remember to pull out frozen strawberries ahead of time for this.
Solution: Make shelf stable strawberry sauce!
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Why you will love homemade strawberry sauce!
Here are the reasons we keep making and love our strawberry sauce!
- Easy to make – Unlike some recipes for canning, this one is super simple and straight forward!
- Only 3 ingredients!
- Numerous possibilities – Use it for ice cream, cheesecake, yogurt, and even homemade strawberry milk!
Equipment You May Want
- Large stock pot
- Pint jars with lids & rings
- Water bath canner
- Wire Masher (to break up the strawberries easier when cooking)
Ingredients
- Strawberries
- Sugar (I like this sugar the best!)
- Lemon Juice
How to make strawberry sauce
Prepare your jars, lids & rings by washing and drying them.
Place the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a pot.
Cook the strawberries on medium high heat, and mash as the strawberries are cooking. This will break them up and make them more into a sauce consistency.
Bring strawberries to a rolling boil, and cook for another two minutes.
Optional: As the strawberries are cooking, add 1 teaspoon of butter to prevent foaming.
If water bath canning the strawberry sauce, fill your canner with enough water to cover the tops of the pint jars. Put the canner on your stove on high heat, to start boiling your water.
Scrape off the foam from the strawberry sauce cooking, if any.
Ladle the hot strawberry sauce into the pint jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Wipe the jar rims clean before adding the lids and rings.
Storing for immediate use: Let the strawberry sauce cool in the jars for 1 hour before placing them in the refrigerator to use as desired.
Instructions for water bath canning
Place jars in the canner basket, and slowly lower the jars into the boiling water. Make sure the water comes back to a rolling boil before letting the strawberry sauce jars process for 15 minutes.
After processing in the water bath, turn the stove off, remove the lid, and let the jars sit in the water another 5 minutes before removing.
Let the jars sit on your counter for about 12 hours before checking that the jars sealed properly.
If the jars sealed properly (lids are completely flat with no bubble on top), wipe your jars off with a wet cloth and store in a cool place for up to a year.
If the jars did not seal, place in your refrigerator to use strawberry sauce earlier.
Enjoy your strawberry sauce anytime on your choice of treats!
What things do you love putting strawberry sauce on? I would love to hear about them in the comments!
And if you tried and love this strawberry sauce like our family does, I would love if you gave the recipe 5 stars! Thank you!
Strawberry Sauce With Water Bath Canning Instructions
Equipment
- 1 water bath canner (optional – only needed if water bath canning)
- 1 wire masher
- 2 pint jars, with lids & rings
Ingredients
- 4 cups strawberries, hulled
- 2/3 – 1 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp butter (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare your jars, lids & rings by washing and drying them.
- Place the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a pot.
- Cook the strawberries on medium high heat, and mash as the strawberries are cooking. This will break them up and make them more into a sauce consistency.
- Optional: As the strawberries are cooking, add the butter to prevent foaming.
- If water bath canning the strawberry sauce, fill your canner with enough water to cover the tops of the pint jars. Put the canner on your stove on high heat, to start boiling your water.
- Scrape off the foam from the strawberry sauce cooking, if any.
- Ladle the hot strawberry sauce into the pint jars, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Wipe the jar rims clean before adding the lids and rings.
- Storing for immediate use: Let the strawberry sauce cool in the jars for 1 hour before placing them in the refrigerator to use as desired.
- Water Bathing: Place jars in the canner basket, and slowly lower the jars into the boiling water. Make sure the water comes back to a rolling boil before letting the strawberry sauce jars process for 15 minutes.
- After processing in the water bath, turn the stove off, remove the lid, and let the jars sit in the water another 5 minutes before removing.
- Let the jars sit on your counter for about 12 hours before checking that the jars sealed properly. If the jars sealed properly, store in a cool place for up to a year. If the jars did not seal, place in your refrigerator to use strawberry sauce earlier.
Notes
- Continue to cook the strawberries longer, at a lower temperature to evaporate more water.
- Mix 1 c. water + 1 T. clear jel together. Stir into the strawberries before ladling into jars.
Why do you put lemon juice in strawberry sauce?
Lemon juice helps in two ways:
- It helps by “brightening” or enhancing the flavor of the strawberries.
- Also, lemon juice adds a little more acidity to your strawberries, allowing safe water bath canning.
You can omit lemon juice, if you don’t have it or choose not to use it. I personally love using it with any fruit that I personally water bath can!
How do you thicken strawberry sauce?
I usually don’t thicken my strawberry sauce because I’ve found it has a good consistency for our family. However, if you want to thicken your strawberry sauce before sealing in jars or water bath canning, you can do a couple things.
- When cooking the strawberry sauce, you can cook it longer at a simmer (lower temperature) to let more water evaporate.
- After cooking the strawberries, you can make a slurry of 1 cup of water and 1 Tablespoon of clear jel and add it to the strawberries. Clear jel won’t break down when water bathing and will hold it’s consistency.
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