Homemade Strawberry Sauce is a simple and delicious topping for a bowl of ice cream on a warm summer evening.
If I had to pick one food to eat for the rest of my life, the answer would obviously be ice cream. You’ve got dairy in there, protein, and you can add nuts to it or different fruits to add nutrients. You’ve got basically one million flavors, so you’ll never get bored! It’s basically the perfect food. Obviously I’m kidding….sort of.
Along with the variations of ice cream flavors themselves, you have an almost endless supply of topping options. My current obsession is this simple homemade Strawberry Sauce. It only takes 4 ingredients to make it, one of which is water, it only takes about 15 minutes from start to finish, and it’s an awesome way to use up strawberries that might be a little bit past their prime.
Why you should make Homemade Strawberry Sauce
Simple: with only 4 ingredients, this couldn’t be easier to make.
Quick: start to finish, including chopping the strawberries, this only takes about 15 minutes to make.
Sustainable: I cant be the only person who buys way too many strawberries at the store, and then cant eat them all before they go bad. Because you’re cooking them down by quite a bit, it’s less of a big deal if the berries aren’t as beautiful as their brothers and sisters. In fact, picking the ugliest berries is the way to go for this, and then the really pretty berries can be used as a garnish to trick your friends and family into thinking you’re fancy.
Delicious: again, because you’re cooking them, and with sugar, you don’t need strawberries that are perfectly ripe and in season. This is a perfect way to get your strawberry fix out of season.
Versatile: you don’t need to stick to ice cream with this sauce. It’s amazing scooped over pancakes or waffles. It would be great as a toast topping for breakfast. Dish it up with cake, or spoon over cheesecake. Or you could do what I do, and just eat it out of the bowl with a spoon. I won’t tell.
To Make Homemade Strawberry Sauce
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Start by chopping strawberries. You’ll want two cups of chopped berries, so measure after chopping, not before. I like to chop mine in various sizes, so that you get larger chunks of strawberries along with the silky smooth sauce.
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In a medium saucepan, add the chopped berries along with sugar, water, and lemon juice.
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Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and let simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
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Spoon the sauce into a heatproof container.
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Any unused sauce will keep in the fridge for up to a week.
Notes:
This isn’t a super super sweet sauce – if you like things sweeter, up the sugar to ⅓ of a cup instead of ¼.

1 ½ Cups
Sara Rauckhorst
5 Min
10 Min
15 Min
Homemade Strawberry Sauce for Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups of chopped strawberries
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Stir together strawberries, sugar, water, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened.
- Spoon into a heatproof container, cover and refrigerate.
Notes:
Unused sauce will keep covered in the fridge for 1 week.
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