This delicious strawberry syrup recipe is my favorite thing to make at the peak of strawberry season! Plus, you’ll have the added benefit of knowing what went into your syrup– just three ingredients, all natural, nothing artificial. Sugar acts as a natural preservative, so all you need to do is refrigerate. The syrup will last for weeks (but it’s so addicting, it never lasts that long in my kitchen!).
Homemade strawberry syrup can be used for a number of purposes. It is most commonly added to beverages and cocktails like my strawberry basil martini to give them a strong, sweet strawberry flavor.
Try adding it to lemonade to make strawberry lemonade or seltzer to make a strawberry spritzer. It makes a lovely addition to cocktails and mocktails. Add it to your favorite ice cream float or sundae. You can also drizzle it on pancakes or waffles as an alternative to maple syrup. So many possibilities!
Recipe Ingredients and Notes
Please be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the complete details!
- Fresh Strawberries – I don’t recommend using frozen strawberries for homemade simple syrup. They’re likely to be too watery and may make the syrup bland.
- Water – This is used to boil the berries and forms the base of the syrup.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar enhances the natural sweetness of the berries and provides the proper texture for the syrup. I don’t recommend using any other types of sugar for this strawberry syrup. However, you could try natural sweeteners such as maple syrup, coconut sugar, or agave.
How to Make Strawberry Syrup
- Prep the berries. Rinse the strawberries, and hull them with a paring knife. Then, slice them into bite-sized pieces.
- Cook. Transfer the berries to a medium saucepan, cover them with water, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook to break down the berries.
- Strain. Pour the strawberries into a fine mesh strainer or sieve, straining the liquid into a clean pot. Discard the berries.
- Boil. Add sugar to the strawberry liquid, and bring the mixture back to a boil, allowing the sugar to dissolve.
- Serve. Skim any foam from the top, allow the syrup to cool completely, and enjoy!
Tori’s Tips for the Best Taste and Texture
- Skim the foam. Make sure to skim the foam from the top of the syrup throughout the cooking process for a clear syrup.
- Don’t press the strawberries. It’s tempting to try to smash the strawberries to obtain more juice, but this will make the syrup cloudy!
- Adjust the thickness. For a thicker syrup ideal for pancakes and waffles, let the mixture simmer a bit longer after the sugar dissolves.
Homemade Strawberry Syrup
Ingredients
- 2 pounds strawberries
- 1 quart water (4 cups)
- 2 cups sugar
Instructions
- Rinse the berries clean, then hull them with a paring knife by slicing around and pulling out the stem.
- Slice the strawberries into smaller pieces.
- Place the strawberry slices in a medium saucepan.
- Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a medium simmer and let the strawberries cook for about 20 minutes. Skim any foam that rises to the top.
- After about 20 minutes, the strawberries will have lost most of their color and the water should be deep pink/red in color. Remove from heat.
- Strain the strawberry liquid through a fine mesh strainer into another clean pot, separating the solid berries from the liquid. DO NOT press down on the solids to extract more juice; it’s tempting, but doing this will make your strawberry syrup cloudy.
- Once the strawberry liquid has been strained, discard the solid berries. Add 2 cups of sugar to the strawberry liquid. Bring back to a boil, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar into the syrup. Let the syrup simmer for 5 minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved, skimming any additional foam that rises to the top.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely. Pour into a glass container, seal, and refrigerate. The syrup should last for several weeks.
- Note: if you prefer a thicker syrup for use on pancakes or waffles, you can simmer it for several minutes longer until the liquid reduces and thickens more. The consistency as written is perfect for mixing into beverages.
NOTES
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
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FAQs
Yes, this method works with other berries. Try my homemade raspberry syrup. Or, use blackberries or blueberries instead.
If you’re looking for even more ideas, this simple syrup recipe makes for a great addition to certain salad dressings – like to make a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette. Or, use it as an alternative to store-bought syrups with ice cream, challah French toast, yogurt bowls, or cake, cheesecake.
Can I use this syrup for flavoring a cake?
Hello!
I am curious if you have any ideas of something that could be done with the extra strawberries as opposed to just throwing them out!
Thanks!
Hi Frankie, I like to use them as a topping for ice cream or Greek yogurt. You can also blend them with ice cream to make a strawberry milkshake!
You could also blend them with frozen bananas for vegan n’ice cream 🙂
Would this work for a cake flavoring?
Love, love, love. This recipe saved my bacon. We needed extra Strawberry Syrup for our vintage cocktail caravan bar and all local shops had sold out AND we like we needed it yesterday!!!! Perfect recipe and perfect result. Thank you, totally converted ?
You’re welcome! 🙂
First of all thanks for posting this. I am also curious if Stevia would work with this recipe? I am pretty sure it wouldn’t preserve the syrup like sugar would but I am wanting to mix this with seltzer water to make a natural strawberry soda so preserving it wouldn’t be all that important for me. If nobody has tried this recipe using stevia I will post my results here once I try it out.
Mrs.Tori Avey, first of all I know I’m responding to an old post. However, I would like say thank you for this simple but brilliant recipe. I was trying to find something like this, because I am allergic to grenadine. Now, I can make all different foods with this special treat. One in particular, “Shirley Temple”, the allergy wouldn’t allow it. Anyway, thanks a bunch!!
It is very much like grenadine, so happy this is a workable substitute for you! Grenadine contains high fructose corn syrup. I like that this is all-natural, what you see is what you get. 🙂
What is the yield range that this should give? 2 cups? 1 quart? etc… Thanks!
Candace, as it says on the recipe card it makes 3 1/2 cups.
I decided to try your recipe since I am going to use the syrup to make a natural soda. I was really impressed with the great red color. I didn’t want to discard the pulp so I just placed them in my blender and added another cup of sugar and got a nice creamy strawberry spread, although not as red as my syrup. Perfect syrup.
Love this recipe! I tried it last year and it was a huge hit. I also made a separate batch with splenda since my mom was diabetic. I wound up adding a little cornstarch to thicken it and had my husband do the tasting because I hate that stuff!! I wait until the organic strawberries go on sale and hull them and freeze them and it works great. I am wondering if I use raspberries this year, do you do the same thing? If you push on the raspberries will it make it cloudy? Or do I just leave them alone like the strawberries? Thanks
Hi Linda, the process for raspberries is quite similar, here is a link that explains it in detail: https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2013/08/homemade-raspberry-syrup/
Hi, can this syrup be used in frozen drink machines to replace the store bought syrup?
Hi Traci, I’ve never used a frozen drink machine so I’m not sure what the syrup is like, or how sweet it is supposed to be. It might be worth a try, but I can’t promise what the results would be.
Can you use Splenda instead of sugar?
If you do use Splenda it will sweeten the mixture like sugar, but the syrup will not thicken the same way.
I made this syrup and really enjoyed it in lemonade. I am curious to try it without cooking the strawberries to try to get a fresher taste (as someone who made lemon syrup without cooking said it’s the difference between a marmalade/jam taste and a fresh lemon taste.) I have a juicer so I plan to juice some berries and then add the juice to cooled plain simple syrup.
Hi! I tried this with my sister and we didn’t have any strawberries so my mum said use plums cause we have a huge plum tree. It worked. Very well. Delishius as my sister would say.
Hi, I’m making this as we speak. Thank you so much for this! Do you have any idea what I can do with the leftover strawberries? I’d hate to waste them.
Hi Debbie– you can use them as a topping for ice cream or yogurt, or make parfaits with Greek yogurt and granola, layering the fruit, yogurt and granola interchangeably. 🙂
I love the natural, but the sugar is not an option for me. Can I use Stevia as sweetener?
Hi Lupita– yes, but the syrup will be a lot more liquid and will not thicken in the same way that it does with sugar.
Is this syrup can be used for flavouring ?
Tried with bananas as well with success. Thanks for instructions!
I made this last month- it is delicious! I used seltzer water and the syrup to make strawberry soda for my kids and they loved it! It also makes a really delicious strawberry lemonade.
I’m wondering if I could use this same process with peaches? I have a ton of farm fresh peaches in my kitchen right now, and I’d like to preserve them in a way other than jam.
Thanks for your help!
I love your easy and clear instructions. Very well done.
Are there any rules for extracting? I would like to make different flavored syrups to add to seltzer water to make carbonated beverages without all the garbage. Since I will be diluting it, I would love the flavor to be strong. That said, I saw somewhere else where the fruit/herb was boiled WITH the sugar and water, then particles strained out. Is that essentially the same as your method of boiling the fruit/herb, straining, then boiling again with sugar? Also, is it just trial and error to determine the flavors strength? Or is there a ratio that needs to be followed?