Add a burst of fruity flavor to any drink with this easy-to-make Strawberry Simple Syrup! All you need are 3 ingredients and 30 minutes. It's perfect in cocktails, mocktails, lattes, or drizzled over anything sweet like ice cream, pancakes, waffles, french toast, or oatmeal!
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Why You'll Love This Syrup
Strawberry syrup is such a great syrup to have on hand for both cocktails and mocktails! You can add it to sparkling water to make your own soda or use it in lattes. In cocktails, it works great with vodka, gin, or tequila wherever you'd normally add simple syrup.
You can drizzle it over pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, or anything you'd drizzle maple syrup on! Try it on these Pink Waffles with Strawberry Syrup or these Pink Pancakes.
Easy and simple - All you need are fresh strawberries, cane sugar, and water. You can also add a bit of vanilla extract for extra flavor but it's not necessary. It couldn't be more simple! Just simmer everything together and strain the syrup into a glass jar.
Ingredients
- Strawberries - Fresh strawberries are ideal whenever possible but frozen strawberries can also be used if necessary. They just won't provide as much flavor as fresh strawberries do when they're in season.
- Cane sugar - Cane sugar is the best option here because it has a neutral flavor that doesn't overpower the strawberries. If you prefer, you can use maple syrup, agave, or other sugar alternative that works in a 1:1 ratio.
- Water - Add water in a 1:1 ratio with the sugar.
- Vanilla extract - I like using regular vanilla extract but vanilla powder, vanilla bean paste, or seeds from a fresh vanilla bean all work great. It adds a little bit of flavor that goes really well with the strawberries.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Into a small saucepan, add chopped strawberries, cane sugar, and water. Bring everything to a boil stirring often to make sure the sugar dissolves.
Lower the heat and simmer the syrup for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
Take off the heat and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. This will help the syrup absorb even more strawberry flavor. The longer the berries sit in the syrup the more flavorful the syrup will be.
Strain the syrup into a large measuring cup through a fine mesh strainer and stir in the vanilla extract if using. Make sure you get as much syrup out of the strawberries as possible by pressing them down into the strainer.
Pour the syrup into an airtight glass jar and store the syrup in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Strawberry pulp: Don't throw it away! You can use the leftover cooked strawberries as you would strawberry jam. They're sweet and from cooking in the sugar and make a great topping for oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, or spread on toasted bread with some nut butter.
Where to Use Strawberry Syrup
- Cocktails - This syrup goes really well with any vodka, gin, or tequila cocktails. You can also add it to this Chambord and Champagne Cocktail instead of raspberry syrup.
- Non-alcoholic drinks - The easiest drink you can make with this syrup is strawberry lemonade (water, lemon juice, and strawberry syrup), or you can add it to iced teas for extra flavor and sweetness. Try it in this Iced Raspberry Passion Tea Lemonade, just swap the raspberry syrup for this strawberry one.
- Lattes - Try it in this Iced Strawberry Oat Matcha Latte, it's so delicious! Or even in just plain milk for easy strawberry milk.
- For drizzling - You can drizzle the syrup over ice cream, add it to ice cream if you're making your own, or drizzle it over pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, or french toast.
FAQs
Yes, you can use anything that can be used in a 1:1 ratio with regular sugar. Keep in mind the flavor will change based on what kind of sugar you use.
Yes, the flavor just won't be as strong as from fresh strawberries (this also depends on the quality of your frozen strawberries). I recommend letting the strawberries thaw in the fridge first and draining any excess water before using them for making the syrup.
More Homemade Syrups
Lots of coffee and latte drinks on the website are made with homemade syrup but I picked four that would be great for the summer in similar drinks. The hibiscus especially is my favorite for cocktails! To see all the latest drinks (and syrups) head over to the drinks category.
- Raspberry Simple Syrup
- Hibiscus Margarita (hibiscus syrup)
- Iced Honey Almond Milk Flat White (honey syrup)
- Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade (peach syrup)
📖 Recipe
Strawberry Simple Syrup
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cooling Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 ½ cup 1x
- Category: Syrup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
You can use this syrup in cocktails, mocktails, or simply drizzled over anything sweet like ice cream, pancakes, oatmeal, waffles, or french toast.
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped fresh strawberries (6-7 strawberries)
- 1 cup cane sugar*
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- Into a small saucepan, add chopped strawberries, cane sugar, and water.
- Bring everything to a boil stirring often to make sure the sugar dissolves.
- Lower the heat and simmer the syrup for 15 minutes.
- Take off the heat and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. This will help the syrup absorb even more strawberry flavor.
- Strain the syrup into a large measuring cup through a fine mesh strainer and stir in the vanilla extract if using.
- Pour the syrup into an airtight glass jar and store the syrup in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Notes
*Sugar: Cane sugar is the ideal choice here because it’s flavorless. You can use maple syrup or agave if you don’t have or don’t want to use cane sugar. I don’t recommend brown sugar or dark brown sugar because the flavor would overpower the strawberry flavor too much. If you use agave, you might want to use only ¾ cup because it’s sweeter than sugar.
Keywords: strawberry simple syrup
Jenna
I made this syrup for the oat matcha latte recipe and it was perfect! So good with fresh strawberries.