Strawberry Purée
Make this simple strawberry purée recipe because you’ll love having this fresh, lightly sweet sauce on hand! Pour fresh strawberry sauce over ice cream, but it’s also great drizzled over waffles, pancakes, and even yogurt.
It’s so easy to make this no-churn vegan ice cream or even this vegan chocolate ice cream, both of which taste amazing with strawberry purée over the top.
Strawberry purée makes everything better. Need proof? Think about a dessert at a fancy restaurant. Oftentimes you’ll see a drizzle of strawberry sauce on the side. Who knew that making a strawberry sauce is so easy and yet gives desserts such panache?
What Makes This Recipe Shine?
- Using frozen strawberries keeps this recipe so easy to make (you don’t even have to hull strawberries), and do-able all year long
- Adding lemon juice adds a zest of fresh flavor to this sauce
- Agave Nectar adds simple sweetness, making this the most irresistible strawberry purée!
For my vegan strawberry cake, I used a strawberry reduction. That means cooking the strawberries down, removing a lot of their juices. That leaves behind a thick strawberry paste. It’s perfect for adding strawberry flavor to a cake.
However, for this simple purée, there’s no cooking involved unless you want a thicker sauce. See the notes below about that.
Next, let’s talk about how to make strawberry sauce because it’s so easy!
Key Ingredients
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, including substitution ideas:
- Strawberries — We’ll use frozen strawberries to keep this recipe so simple
- Agave Nectar — Using a simple syrup, like agave nectar, adds a touch of sweetness to this sauce. Strawberries with sugar cut the tartness and enhance their sweetness. You can substitute maple syrup or even a no-calorie syrup sweetener too.
- Lemon Juice — Most fruit sauces are better with a bit of citrus added for brightness. You can use fresh or lemon juice from a bottle.
How To Make Strawberry Puree
Let’s talk about how to puree strawberries in only a few minutes:
- Thaw Frozen Strawberries — Remove the frozen strawberries and either let them sit at room temperature or use your microwave to defrost them slightly
- Combine in a Blender — Add thawed strawberries to a blender along with the other ingredients
- Puree — pulse the mixture until you achieve the desired consistency
- Serve — drizzle the sauce over your favorite desserts
Marly’s Tips
For a thicker sauce, transfer the purée to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring it to a low simmer for about 5 minutes or until the desired thickness is achieved. Remove from heat, allow it to cool completely, and then transfer it to a container for storage.
Why use frozen strawberries?
Wondering what to do with frozen strawberries? Don’t let them go bad in the freezer! Instead, use frozen strawberries to make this simple strawberry purée. But why not use fresh strawberries?
Using frozen strawberries keeps this recipe easy and doable all year long. In addition, the quality of fresh strawberries varies greatly (especially during off-seasons), so using frozen strawberries will give you the best strawberry purée.
Storage Tips
Transfer the purée to an airtight container and store it in the fridge. It will keep up to 7 days in the fridge. You can also freeze strawberry purée. To do so, store it in a freezer-safe container. Then, place the container in the fridge the night before to allow it to thaw. Alternatively, you can leave it out at room temperature for several hours or use your microwave’s defrost setting.
What is purée?
A purée is a process used to transform vegetables, fruits, or even beans, into a creamy paste or sauce. Using a blender to make purées is common. Hummus is a well-known form of purée, as well as applesauce.
Is strawberry purée the same as strawberry preserves?
There are a few differences between strawberry purée and strawberry preserves. For starters, strawberry preserves have more whole fruit pieces. Preserves sometimes have had thickeners added as well. Finally, preserves usually are made with more sugar than a purée.
How to serve Puréed Strawberries
There are so many ways to use this purée sauce. For example, you can use purée sauce on:
- Strawberry topping for cheesecake adds fantastic flavor to your next vegan cheesecake
- Strawberry purée for cocktails — imagine a drizzle of strawberry sauce over this frozen piña colada
- Even a vegan chocolate cake recipe can be enhanced with some strawberry purée — Imagine individual servings with this sauce drizzled around the sides
- Of course, a vegan pound cake is simply begging for strawberries!
Reader Reviews
★★★★★
Judy
I made this and it was so simple! I’m not handy around the kitchen, but even I could make this!
More Strawberries Recipes
If you’re wondering what to make with strawberries, you’ve come to the right place! Here are some more favorite strawberry recipes:
Of course, you can drizzle strawberry sauce over a number of desserts, like this vegan chocolate cheesecake.
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Strawberry Puree
Ingredients
- 14 oz bag frozen strawberries
- 3 tablespoons agave nectar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Place the frozen strawberries in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on defrost for 3 minutes, until the strawberries are tender.
- Transfer the srawbeeries to a blender and add the sugar and lemon juice. Blend in short bursts. Use a rubber spatula to push ingredients from the side of the bowl. Pulse again until smooth.
- Pour the strawberry puree into an airtight container. This will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze this puree for up to 1 month. To thaw, set on the counter at room temperature for up to an hour or use your microwave's defrost setting.
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Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2020 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
I made this and it was so simple! I’m not handy around the kitchen, but even I could make this! We served it on waffles.
Can you imagine when you come back home, feeling hot and have a cream is poured strawberry on the top? The sour of strawberry wakes us up. I like to use frozen strawberry because ice broke its structure when blending it easy to become smooth.
This is so true, Jason! Frozen strawberries are a bit smoother when processed!