Simple homemade strawberry coulis has just three ingredients and about 10 minutes hands on time. A recipe to return to every year to elevate your desserts to restaurant quality.
Strawberry coulis
Strawberry coulis is a vibrant fruit sauce that adds a burst of flavour to desserts, breakfasts, and even savoury dishes.
Made from ripe strawberries cooked and then blended to a smooth consistency, with no need to sieve, and sweetened with sugar, this delicious sauce showcases the natural sweetness and tanginess of fresh strawberries, enhanced with a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten the flavours.
See also
- Strawberry compote preserves whole pieces of fruit: delicious and looks great!
- Even faster to make, as it isn’t cooked, is strawberry puree
- Cranberry compote is so easy to make in cranberry season
The problem with strawberries is that they really don’t keep, and they are far better for not being chilled, so you need to eat them on the day or the day after you buy them. making coulis will extend their life in the fridge by a few days, and can be frozen.
As well as delicious this strawberry coulis is so versatile: use as a topping for sweet dishes such as cheesecakes, ice creams, and waffles and pancakes.
Or swirl into yogurt or muesli for a breakfast treat. You can even drizzle over salads or use as the base of a dressing.
Coulis vs puree vs compote
What’s the difference between a puree, coulis and compote?
A puree contains whole fruit that’s been blitzed or blended, with added sugar and lemon juice. My coulis likewise has fruit, sugar and lemon juice, but the mixture is cooked before blitzing. Some coulis are sieved to remove pips, but
A compote is also cooked, but it’s not blitzed so contains larger pieces of fruit, or whole pieces, depending on the fruit.
Why make strawberry coulis
- Quick and easy to make – just three ingredients and no need to sieve
- Enjoy those delicious fresh, summery strawberry flavours in a wider variety of dishes than simply in a bowl with cream
- Makes fresh strawberries last a bit longer with very little effort
Strawberry coulis ingredients
- Strawberries – bright red, fresh and ripe strawberries of your favourite variety. You can use frozen fruit out of season.
If using fresh fruit, make this coulis as soon as possible after buying the fruit. I find strawberries deteriorate noticeably in 24 hours.
When buying strawberries make sure they are red all over, with no unripe patches. Turn the punnet over and look at the ones at the bottom too, as these tend to go bad first.
I don’t keep strawberries in the fridge because I find chilling them destroys the flavour. I buy little but often. - Sugar – I use golden caster sugar as I like the extra flavour, but regular caster is perfect too
- Lemon – juice only
No blender? No problem!
First, if you don’t have a stick blender, I recommend getting one. They are quite cheap, with a simple model selling for £15-£20. They are so useful for making soups and sauces, you’ll find it a great addition to your utensil drawer.
If you don’t have one, but do have a jug blender or automatic soup maker, then you can just use that. Add the whole mixture to the jug and blend until smooth.
The manual way to make this coulis is to mash the cooked fruit with a potato masher, and then for maximum smoothness, pass the sauce through a sieve.
If you have an old-fashioned mouli-sieve, then this is an ideal time to get it out of the cupboard.
How to make strawberry coulis – step by step
Before you start, read my step-by-step instructions, with photos, hints and tips so you can make this strawberry coulis recipe perfectly every time.
Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.
Step One – Wash the strawberries and remove leaves and hulls (if present). Cut up the strawberries if needed, into halves or quarters,, so that they’re all about the same size, and they’ll cook evenly. Put in a saucepan and add the sugar and lemon juice.
Helen’s Fuss Free Tip
For best results, roll the lemon under the heel of your hand on the worktop. This breaks down the membranes and release more juice.
Step Two – warm the fruit over a medium to low heat, stirring all the time. The strawberries will break down and release their juice. This will take about 5 minutes. Keep stirring so that the sweet mixture doesn’t burn.
Step Three – Once the liquid has been released from the fruit, take the coulis off the heat. Blitz with a stick blender until all the coulis is smooth, with no pieces of fruit remaining.
Check the sweetness, but as always, take care with hot sugary liquids! If necessary, add some more sugar, or lemon juice to reduce sweetness.
Step four – Allow to cool, and transfer to your serving jug for immediate use, or an airtight container for keeping in the fridge or freezer.
Serving suggestion
Strawberry coulis is a great addition to many dishes.
At breakfast, add to cereal, muesli, porridge or use it to top pancakes, waffles or French toast. Or, simply swirl it into a bowl of yoghurt.
Add to a helping of ice cream, or an ice cream sundae or for a more retro delight, a knickerbocker glory or banana split.
Use instead of cream on top of dessert. Rhubarb crumble with strawberry coulis? Delicious! Use as a topping for cheesecake or a pavlova or filling for a meringue roulade.
Variations
- For an added floral flavour, add some elderflower cordial. A good glug should do it.
- Not enough strawberries? Add some other seasonal berries for a mixed fruit coulis.
Storage
Fridge – Allow to cool, transfer to an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to five days.
Freezer – Once cool transfer to a airtight container and freeze. The sugar content means the coulis will not freeze solid; keep the container upright or the sugary juice will slowly leak out and make the everything beneath it sticky.
Defrost overnight in the fridge before use.
Hints and tips
- Choose your strawberries carefully. Check for bruises and white patches. We even pay attention to the weather; preferring to buy berries after a long period of sun, rather than rain.
- The strawberry season is now much longer, and good-tasting fruit is available in the UK from June to at least August. Outside that season, don’t despair! This recipe works well with frozen strawberries.
- You may wish to to thicken the coulis with some cornflour.
Remove a couple of tablespoons of coulis and place in a small bowl. Add a teaspoon of cornflour. Stir together to mix well. Pour back into the coulis and mix in.
Don’t add cornflour to the whole pan of coulis, because you will get lumps! - Check the sweetness. Depending on the sweetness of the strawberries, you may wish to add some more sugar. If too sweet, then add a drop or two of more lemon juice
FAQs
A fruit coulis is fruit cooked lightly in a little sugar and the juice of the fruit, forming a syrup. the mixture is then blended until smooth. Unlike a puree, the fruit is cooked, and unlike a compote, it’s blended into a liquid rather than left with whole pieces of fruit.
No. This strawberry recipe will make fresh strawberries last longer than when kept as whole fruit, when kept it in the fridge.
It is not a preserve like strawberry jam or jelly, which can last unopened for a couple of years.
Keep your strawberry coulis chilled and enjoy when it’s fresh.
If you need thicken the coulis, use a little cornflour slurry. Add cornflour to a small quantity of liquid, and stir in until all dissolved.
Add this mixture back into the bulk of the coulis. Never add cornflour to liquid; you will get lumps.
Coulis is more likely to need thickening if you are using frozen berries.
More fruit recipes
- Blueberry compote is perfect to serve on some brunch blueberry pancakes
- A less common compote is gooseberry compote. A great change from fool!
- Rhubarb compote adds a little ginger for a hint of heat.
- Explore more fruit recipes
Strawberry Coulis
Ingredients
- 300 g (1 pint) strawberries (1)
- 75 g (0.33 cup) caster sugar (2)
- 1 tbsp (1 tbsp) lemon juice (fresh)
Instructions
- Wash the strawberries and remove the leaves and hulls. Cut larger berries into halves or quarters.300 g strawberries
- Put the strawberries in a saucepan and add the sugar. Juice the lemon and add the juice to the pan.75 g caster sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring all the time. The strawberries will release their juice and this will combine with the sugar to make a thick syrup. This takes about 5–10 minutes.
- Take off the heat and blitz with a stick blender until completely smooth. If you don't have a stick blender, you can use a jug blender.
- When you are happy with your coulis, use immediately or transfer to a storage container, cover and store in the fridge once cold.
Notes
- Strawberries When buying strawberries make sure they are red all over, with no patches of unripe white fruit. Turn the punnet over and look at the ones at the bottom too, as these tend to go bad first.
- Sugar I use golden caster sugar for an extra layer flavour, but any white sugar is fine, as it’s all blended together. I do find soft dark and muscovado sugars too strongly flavoured for this use.
Sarah
ideal now strawberry season has started – I served this over ice cream at the weekend