Strawberry Reduction Sauce

An easy recipe for a strawberry reduction. This strawberry sauce can be used in baking or as a strawberry topping. 

Strawberry Reduction

When you want your strawberry puree to be thicker, you make a strawberry reduction sauce. There is a difference between strawberry reduction and strawberry puree. Strawberry puree is just blended strawberries, and a strawberry reduction is the strawberry puree simmered with sugar and lemon juice.

It takes only a few simple ingredients to make this strawberry sauce. Your choice of either fresh or frozen strawberries, granulated sugar, and lemon juice.

Strawberry reduction sauce is super easy to make. It takes only 15-20 minutes for strawberries to reduce. You can see just how easy it is to make in the detailed recipe photos or the recipe video.

Ingredients In Strawberry Reduction Sauce

Strawberries: You can use fresh or frozen strawberries to make this strawberry sauce. If using frozen strawberries, make sure to defrost them before pureeing.

Granulated Sugar: The sugar is not just a sweetener but helps thicken the sauce.

Lemon Juice: Lemon juice is totally optional, but it really brightens the flavor of the strawberry sauce.

How To Make Strawberry Reduction

I recommend making this several hours (or the prior night) before baking cakes or adding to batters. The strawberry sauce needs to be completely cooled before using in batters or as a topping.

• Wash the strawberries. I like to wash my strawberries in water mixed with white vinegar. (photo 1)
• Remove the stems of the strawberries and cut the strawberries in half. (photo 2)
• Puree the strawberries in a food processor or blender. I used my NinjaMaster Prep Pro System. (photo 3 & 4)
• Place the pureed strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice into a small saucepan and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
• Once bubbling, reduce the heat to low and let the strawberries slowly reduce stirring occasionally. Reduce for about 30 minutes. The strawberry sauce will be thick like tomato sauce. (photo 5 & 6)
• Allow the strawberry reduction to cool before placing it in an airtight container and refrigerating. Do not use hot or warm strawberry reduction in batters or for baking. The strawberry sauce needs to be completely cooled for use in baking or as a topping.

Fresh or Frozen Strawberries

You can use either fresh or frozen strawberries to make this reduction sauce. This makes it easy to enjoy strawberry baked goods or desserts all year long. Frozen strawberries are easy to find all year long, and they are usually picked and frozen when strawberries are the freshest. Using frozen strawberries can guarantee that the strawberries will be sweet.

When using fresh strawberries, it is important to buy bright red and shiny berries. Make sure not to buy strawberries that are too soft, shriveled, molded, or too wet. I always turn over the strawberries and look on the bottom of the container to look for liquid. If you see liquid in the bottom of the container, the strawberries may be too ripe. Also do not buy berries that are partly white, because that means they are unripe.

Best Way To Wash Strawberries

This is the best way to make sure your strawberries are clean is to soak them in a water and vinegar mixture. I promise your strawberries won’t taste like vinegar.

• Mix vinegar and water: Add 3 cups cold water and 1 cup vinegar to a large bowl.
• Soak 5 minutes: Add the strawberries and soak for 5 minutes.
• Rinse: Drain the strawberries and rinse with thoroughly cold tap water. This removes all vinegar flavor.
• Dry: Pat the berries dry with paper towels or a dry clean kitchen towel.

How To Use Strawberry Reduction

Baking recipes will often call for a strawberry reduction because the sauce has a concentrated strawberry flavor and less liquid than just pureeing strawberries. Strawberry reduction is also an amazing topping for pancakes and desserts!

How To Store & Freeze Strawberry Reduction

Store the leftover strawberry reduction in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. You can also freeze the strawberry reduction for up to 6 months and defrost it when needed.

Easy Strawberry Reduction Sauce

Do you have an excess of ripe strawberries? Make a strawberry reduction sauce. You can use the homemade strawberry sauce to add strawberry flavor to baked goods or for topping desserts (like cheesecake), making strawberry frosting, or as a topping for ice cream.

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