This is THE tastiest homemade strawberry simple syrup recipe! It’s the perfect syrup for cocktails, pancakes, cakes, iced tea, soda and basically anything you can think of. It’s so easy to make from fresh strawberries in less than 20 minutes. You’ll be pouring this syrup on everything!
Ways to use:
- Cocktails: If you want to make any type of strawberry flavored cocktail, this simple syrup is essential. Add in an ounce to your favorite cocktails to give them a strawberry flavor. Or, if a recipe uses regular simple syrup, substitute it for this one instead.
- Iced tea: Mix a few tablespoons into chilled iced tea for a refreshing strawberry iced tea.
- Bubble tea: Easily make your own strawberry milk tea (also called strawberry bubble tea) at home. It tastes just like the ones bought in the store but is a fraction of the cost.
- Soda: Make your own strawberry soda by adding a couple spoonfuls to 7up or sparkling water. Stir and serve with ice. This is the best lunchtime drink that kids will absolutely love.
- Pancakes & Waffles: This is a truly decadent breakfast syrup. Use it on its own or with maple syrup over fresh berries on your waffles and pancakes. Top with a dusting of icing sugar.
- Cakes: Plain simple syrup is sometimes used to keep cakes tasting fresh and moist when stored. Use this one instead for a strawberry flavored cake.
Ingredients:
- Strawberries: Fresh strawberries, rather than frozen, work the best for this recipe. You can use the ones that are starting to get mushy, since it won’t make a difference in syrup. If you can’t get fresh strawberries and only have frozen ones, you have to be careful not to add too much liquid when they thaw. See the expert tips section below.
- Sugar: Simple syrup is typically made with granulated sugar which is what gives the syrup a pure, sweet strawberry taste and smooth texture. You can use brown sugar as well but it will taste slightly more caramel flavored— which could be perfect depending on what you’re using the syrup for.
- Water: This is to add a bit of liquid to give the best syrup consistency.
How to store:
Store this syrup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to several weeks. Simple syrup can go bad but lasts a while before doing so. Always check the syrup before using and if it looks or smells off, discard it.
You can also freeze this syrup so it lasts 2-3 months. The easiest way to do this is to freeze it in an ice cube tray so you can defrost small portions at a time.
Expert Tips:
- Simmer for at least 10 minutes. When making plain, unflavored simple syrup, it is ok to stop heating the syrup once the sugar has fully dissolved. However for this strawberry syrup, maintaining a gentle simmer for longer lets the strawberry flavor fully infuse.
- Decrease the sugar if it’s too sweet. For cocktails and drink recipes, the sweetness is perfect and you can adjust by adding less syrup to a drink. But for pancakes, some people may find the syrup on the sweeter side. If you prefer a less sweet syrup, use ¼ cup to ⅓ cup sugar instead.
- Drain excess water from frozen strawberries. If you are using frozen strawberries, thaw them first and drain out any excess water. Too much excess liquid in the syrup can dilute the strawberry flavor.
- Save the strawberry chunks. After passing the syrup through a strainer, you can save the leftover mashed strawberry chunks and use them in plain greek yogurt.
Other simple syrup recipes to try:
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Strawberry Simple Syrup
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: ½ cup 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
The tastiest homemade strawberry simple syrup recipe! It’s the perfect syrup for cocktails, pancakes, cakes, iced tea, soda and basically anything you can think of.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Heat the strawberries, sugar and water on a saucepan over medium to high heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally. As the strawberries heat up and begin to break down, use a fork to mash them as much as you can. Continue to simmer and stir the strawberry mixture for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for a couple of minutes. Pass the strawberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove the strawberry chunks.
- Let the syrup fully cool to room temperature before using. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
Notes
- Let it simmer. Simmer the syrup for the full ten minutes to make sure the strawberry flavor fully infuses.
- Save the strawberry chunks. The strained out strawberry chunks make a great breakfast mixed into plain greek yogurt.
- Frozen strawberries: Before using frozen strawberries, thaw them and drain any excess liquid so the syrup does not become diluted.
- Storage: Store the syrup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to several weeks or for 2-3 months frozen.
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Syrup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tbsp
- Calories: 55
- Sugar: 13.6g
- Sodium: 0mg
- Fat: 0.1g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.1g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 14g
- Fiber: 0.4g
- Protein: 0.2g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Keywords: strawberry, strawberries, drink syrup, simple syrup
Seema Sriram
The syrup looks so beautiful I will love to have a look at this in the morning to make my day!!
★★★★
Priya Lakshminarayan
Love this strawberry flavored simple syrup. Plus that color would work so well in desserts!
★★★★★