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DIY 3 Ingredient Strawberry Pancake Syrup

How to make homemade DIY strawberry syrup

A version of this recipe has been on my blog for several years, but it’s waaay back in the archives.  

And it was sharing a post with the orange julius recipe, which made it sort of inconvenient to just look up the strawberry syrup recipe.

(I discovered this when I went to look it up myself!)

Also, I’ve modified the recipe a bit to be lower in sugar, so it needed updating anyway.

This syrup is quick to make, it only requires three ingredients, it has no high fructose corn syrup, and it’s a lot cheaper than the ready-made strawberry syrup you can buy in the store.

homemade strawberry syrup ingredients

A cup of sugar ($0.21) and 2 cups of frozen strawberries ($1.04) yields almost a quart of syrup.  

The water and the teeny amount of electricity you need to make this are negligible in price, so I’d say a quart of this costs right about $1.25.

You can use fresh strawberries to make this, of course, but frozen berries are available year round, and they are almost always cheaper than fresh anyway.

(I might also point out that they are frequently fresher than “fresh” strawberries, given that they go from plant to freezer very quickly, whereas “fresh” berries take days to get from the plant to your grocery store.)

To start out, thaw 2 cups of frozen strawberries and then use your food processor or blender to puree them.

blend frozen strawberries

You can leave a few berry bits if you’d like, or you can process the berries until they’re completely smooth.

Scrape the berries into a small saucepan and add 1/2 cup water and a cup of sugar.

add sugar

The original recipe called for 2 cups of sugar, but I’ve decided that’s unnecessarily sweet.   A cup works just fine.

strawberry syrup DIY

Bring the syrup to a gentle boil over medium heat, and boil for 5 minutes, or until the syrup has thickened a bit.

It’ll be bright red at first, and then it’ll darken as you cook it.

strawberry syrup DIY

This is not a super thick syrup when it’s hot, but as it cools down, it’ll thicken to the consistency of real maple syrup.   My kids like it either way!

DIY strawberry syrup recipe

To store leftovers, pour the syrup into a glass jar and keep it in the fridge.

The longest we’ve kept ours is a week, but I imagine it’d last longer than that, given that it is similar to jam, and jam keeps for ages.

How to make strawberry syrup

I imagine you could make this with other frozen fruits too.   Peaches would definitely work, and raspberries would too, as long as you don’t mind seeds in your syrup.

Now I want to go scout out some frozen peaches!

strawberry syrup DIY

Homemade 3 Ingredient Strawberry Syrup

Yield: 3 cups
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

This DIY homemade syrup costs a fraction of the prepared kind and it's really quick to make.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups fresh or thawed frozen strawberries
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup water

Instructions

  1. Using a food processor or blender, process strawberries until smooth.
  2. Pour berries into a saucepan; add the sugar and water.
  3. Bring to a boil over medium heat; lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
  4. Serve warm, or let cool to room temperature and refrigerate for future use.

If you’re looking for other cheap and tasty breakfast recipes, try this syrup on buttermilk waffles, buttermilk pancakes, or whole wheat buttermilk pancakes.

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Suzan

Saturday 24th of August 2019

How timely. Tonight I made just over 15 jars of strawberry jam. I might make some syrup if the berries remain cheaper.

Siena

Saturday 6th of May 2017

Has anyone added this to milk? My kids love strawberry milk.

Leslie

Sunday 26th of March 2017

THANK YOU for this...I kept looking for an alternative to the store bought corn syrup junk for my kids. I made this with organic frozen strawberries and my kids were practically licking their plates. Now I know what my kids are eating!

Debbie N

Sunday 12th of June 2016

Thanks. I bought some strawberries that ended up being too sour to eat plain. I tried this recipe with a little extra sugar and it came out great. We all loved it. I will definitely be making it again. Thanks for saving my strawberries.

Kristen

Sunday 12th of June 2016

Awesome! So glad that you were able to save your strawberries.

Jane

Wednesday 10th of February 2016

Strawberry purée is great, usually make it with orange juice, frozen strawberries, sugar & cornflour..you can use whatever berries you have. I often use it as a topping for pavlova, with whipped cream. Goes down a treat & is cheap & chearful to make:)

Jenny

Sunday 25th of August 2019

I’m surprised that no one’s asked what Pavlova is! I make mine with stevia so it’s low-carb, high-protein! A little cocoa powder is good, too!

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