This strawberry simple syrup recipe is a great way to add the floral and fruity flavor of strawberries to cocktails, mocktails, and more! Once you make it, you’ll never want to be without fresh strawberry syrup in your fridge again!
It is a wonderful addition to this Strawberry Frozé recipe! Margaritas? How about a strawberry margarita?! Heck, you can even use it make strawberry milk or to jazz up your latte like in this recipe for an iced strawberry latte. I’ve been making simple syrups for homemade cocktails for over 10 years now. With that in mind, I’ve learned a few success tips for getting it right the first time.
🛒 ingredients
- strawberries – Use ripe and fresh berries whenever possible. Ripe berries will be deep red in color and won’t have white or light green areas at the top of the berry near the green stem. If you can’t find fresh berries, you can use frozen ones, but use the ones that are deepest red in color for the best taste.
- granulated sugar – plain ole white sugar will do the trick. If you’re looking to get fancy, you can use specialty sugars like maple sugar, coconut sugar, or demerara sugar. The darker the sugar you use, the more caramelized the flavor will be. For a nice, straightforward strawberry flavor, use regular white granulated sugar.
- filtered water – you can’t make a simple syrup without water! Filtered water will taste best, as it won’t be coming to a full rolling boil.
- lemon – In order to highlight the flavor of the strawberries a little more, I add the juice from half a smaller-sized lemon. It turns out to be about a tablespoon or so of juice. The zesty citrus brightens up the flavor of the strawberries, bringing the floral notes front and center!
🍳 instructions
Step 1: Remove the leaves from the berries and hull them. Slice and juice your lemon.
Step 2: Combine the water and sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, and heat to a simmer, until the sugar dissolves.
Step 3: Add in about 12 medium-sized berries and let the mixture gently simmer for 20 minutes. Also add in your lemon juice at this time if you are using it. The berries will lose a little color, and start to collapse a bit. That’s a good sign– it means the flavor is being extracted into the syrup!
Step 4: Allow the syrup to cool, then strain it through a fine-mesh sieve. Store it in an airtight container of your choice, such as a glass bottle, mason jar, or plastic squeeze bottle.
Now, you can add the sweet strawberry flavor to any beverage you choose. You can also freeze the excess to use later if you won’t be using it all within a week or two!
📌 how to use strawberry simple syrup
This recipe works best as a strawberry syrup for cocktails and other beverages. Simple syrups are the best way to sweeten both a hot and a cold drink. Simple syrup is thinner than pancake syrup and dessert sauces, so it will be too watery to top desserts with. You can still use it on food, but just be aware that it will be thin and may soak into porous foods like waffles and French toast quickly.
cocktails
Use this in place of regular simple syrup in any cocktail recipes. It works especially well in tequila, vodka, and rum-based cocktails!
- classic strawberry daiquiris – shaken, not frozen! Use this syrup in a traditional daiquiri recipe for a strawberry twist.
- strawberry mojitos – strawberry and mint are a delightful combination in a cocktail.
- strawberry frozé – this popular frozen summer cocktail is surprisingly easy to make at home!
non-alcoholic beverages
You can also use this strawberry simple syrup to sweeten non-alcoholic beverages and mocktails! I love using it in iced coffee. Here are a few of my favorite drinks to use this syrup in:
- strawberry lemonade – instead of using sugar in a lemonade recipe, use this syrup!
- homemade strawberry Italian sodas – check out this recipe for a creamy and sweet homemade soda.
- strawberry iced lattes – this strawberry syrup is one of my favorite things to keep on hand for my morning coffee!
- strawberry iced tea – sweeten your iced tea with this strawberry simple syrup for a delightfully refreshing beverage!
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💡 tips and tricks for getting it right
ℹ️ Troubleshooting Tips – If you allow your syrup to cook for longer, it will become a thick syrup, like a rich syrup, and the flavor will be more intense. It will also be considerably sweeter and may not mix as easily into beverages with just a spoon.
⚖️ Scaling Tips – This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to make a large batch, perfect for gifting to family and friends. If you double the recipe, be sure to use a larger pot so you have room for the ingredients!
🔆 top tip
You can make this recipe using fresh or frozen berries. If you are using frozen berries, use more berries to maximize the flavor in the syrup.
♻️ substitutions & variations
♻️ substitutions
Are you missing an ingredient? Need to make a substitution? Don’t worry. Here are some tried and tested subs for this recipe!
- frozen berries – you can 100% use frozen strawberries to make strawberry syrup. You may need to simmer for just a bit longer, or use more berries to get the same flavor. I like to buy extra berries from the grocery store when they are in season and on sale, then freeze them myself so I know they’re full of flavor.
- use another sugar – you can use another sugar, like brown sugar, demerara sugar, or even coconut sugar. You can also use honey or maple syrup if you don’t have granulated sugar on hand. If you are using a liquid sweetener like agave, honey, or maple syrup, a good rule of thumb is to use 1/8th less than you’d normally use, since they are all sweeter than sugar by volume.
- minty – add a sprig of mint to the syrup as it simmers, for up to 10 minutes, for a minty variation on this syrup.
- basil – strawberry and basil go SO WELL together. Add about 10 whole leaves of basil when the syrup is simmering to make a strawberry basil simple syrup!
🧰 equipment needed & storage tips
🧰 tools needed
Check out this post for the ultimate guide of essential tools for making homemade simple syrups!
- fine mesh strainer – use a non-reactive fine mesh strainer to keep larger strawberry pieces out of your simple syrup.
- saucepan – I love our All-Clad d5 cookware because it heats evenly and retains heat well. I use a 1.5 quart saucepan for this recipe, and it works great. Use any non-reactive heavy-bottom sauce pan you have!
- measuring cup – you’ll need to measure your ingredients, and a glass measuring cup does the perfect job.
- storage container – These glass stopper bottles are great for storage, and they look great, too. For versatility, you cannot beat the plastic squeeze bottles by OXO. I love portioning out simple syrups and freezing them for later in the year.
- silicone spatula – a silicone spatula is a great tool to use for making simple syrups because it doesn’t absorb or give off flavor while heat-cooking. It also stays cool to the touch, so you don’t need to worry about it getting too hot to hold. I love using spatulas like ones from GIR.
🫙 storage tips
Your strawberry simple syrup will stay in the fridge in an airtight container for up to two weeks, or up to three months in the freezer.
Check out some freezing tips here in this post all about how to freeze simple syrup! 🤓
💬 q+a
No way, you can actually use frozen strawberries, too. Increase the quantity to about 15-20 berries to accommodate for any loss of flavor.
This syrup will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to two weeks in the fridge. You can portion the syrup out into ice cube trays and freeze for longer storage.
Yes, you can use the whole berry, leaves and hulls included, but this will impact the final flavor. In order to get the most berry-forward flavor, trim your berries of the green leaves and hulls. Strawberry hulls do not have a pleasant flavor, and they can actually impart a bitter flavor to your final product if the berries are not ripe.
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Strawberry Simple Syrup (Easy Syrup For Drinks)
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Equipment
- 1 1.5-quart saucepan non reactive metal, like stainless steel
- 1 paring knife
- 1 fine mesh sieve non reactive metal, like stainless steel
- 1 squeeze bottle or other airtight container
Ingredients
- 12 strawberries medium-sized, washed & hulled.
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed, from half a small lemon
Instructions
- Prep the berries. Rinse, trim, & hull 12 medium-sized strawberries, then roughly chop them.
- Combine sugar and water. Combine 200 g of granulated sugar (1 cup) and 236 g of water (1 cup) in a saucepan.
- Dissolve sugar. Heat the pan over medium heat to dissolve the sugar in the water. Be careful not to bring it to a boil.
- Infuse berries. Add the strawberries to the sugar and water mixture, and let them gently simmer over medium-low heat for 15 – 20 minutes. The liquid will reduce a bit, increasing the viscosity and making the syrup thicker.
- Add lemon. Juice half of a small lemon into the mixture, you should have about one tablespoon of lemon juice.
- Cool syrup. Remove the pan from heat. Allow the mixture to cool. This should take about 30 minutes. For rapid cooling, you can place the saucepan into a larger bowl that has been filled with ice cubes and cold water.
- Strain berries from syrup. Once cooled, strain the mixture using a fine-mesh sieve into an airtight container.
- Bottle and store. Store in the fridge for up to two weeks, or freeze for longer storage.
Nutrition Information
The information provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition facts calculator and actual nutrition facts may vary.
I made this strawberry simple syrup from strawberries I had left in my freezer from last year, and it turned out so good! I mixed with with water and lemon juice to make the best strawberry lemonade! This syrup is full of the natural flavor of strawberries, and I’ll definitely be making it again!
Thank you so much for your review, Carissa, I’m so glad it turned out well for you!💕 Your strawberry lemonade sounds amazing! 🍓🍋