Easy Strawberry Coulis Recipe

Strawberry coulis is a simple strawberry sauce made by simmering down fresh or frozen strawberries which intensifies the strawberry flavour.

This tasty sauce is the perfect accompaniment to pancakes, ice cream, cheesecake, and other desserts.

The easy strawberry coulis sauce is a great way to use up a glut of strawberries or frozen strawberries and you can preserve it to last for ages!

Fruit coulis vs compote

The word coulis is a french word for a smooth sauce, either a fruit purée or made from crushed and strained fruits. A strawberry compote on the other hand is a chunky strawberry sauce.

This simple strawberry coulis is lovely and smooth. Cooking the strawberries down first brings intense strawberry flavor. I push the simmered berries through a sieve to remove the seeds (though you can easily puree it using a stick blender or a food processor too and keep the seeds in there.)

The beauty of this recipe is that if you want a chunky thick sauce, you can skip the straining or pureeing part and turn this strawberry coulis into a compote for even less work!

The ingredients

The ingredients in this easy recipe are so simple – You only need 4! The ingredient quantities are written in the recipe card below but here is a rundown.

• Fresh or frozen ripe strawberries.
• Granulated white sugar, only a small amount of sugar to complement the strawberries. You could use another sweetener if you like, such as maple syrup or honey.
• Lemon or lime juice
• Pinch of salt

Just like in my strawberry milk recipe, the best strawberries to use are those that are at their most ripe and most flavourful.

This doesn’t mean they have to be the biggest or look the prettiest. This recipe is great to use up the uglier strawberries or bird pecked ones that you don’t want to eat fresh.

In summer strawberries can be at their best, juicy and sweet, but in the cooler months, frozen strawberries will trump the fresh ones. Frozen strawberries are usually frozen at their peak ripeness and sweetness.

Equipment

For this homemade strawberry coulis recipe, you’ll need a fine sieve to push the cooked strawberries through, and a large wooden spoon or spatula to push them through with. This makes a smooth sauce with perfect consistency.

Alternatively, an immersion blender can be used to puree the strawberry mixture together for a slightly more textured strawberry sauce. 

Yield

500g of frozen or fresh strawberries makes around 400-500ml of strawberry coulis depending on if you’re pureeing the berries or pushing them through a sieve.

Easy steps to make the strawberry coulis

Remove the top green leafy part of the strawberries and roughly chop them into small pieces. Combine the strawberries in a medium saucepan over low heat along with sugar, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt.

Cook over low heat while the juices of the strawberries start to release. Stir at regular intervals as the strawberries come to a simmer.

Once simmering, over low heat, cook the strawberries for around 15 minutes until the strawberries begin to break down. You can turn the heat up to medium heat, but this does run the risk of the strawberries burning.

Remove the berries from the heat. At this point, it is strawberry compote, and the chunky sauce can be left like this. To make the strawberry coulis, it needs to be strained or pureed into a smooth sauce.

Making strawberry coulis without a blender

Pushing the sauce through a sieve makes a really smooth strawberry sauce. Balance a sieve over a bowl and carefully tip in the strawberries.

Push them through a fine-mesh sieve with a wooden spoon or spatula, rubbing them along the bottom of the sieve. 

Take your time doing this to get all the strawberry pulp you can. Scrape the bottom of the sieve to get all the pulp that’s accumulating there. A few seeds will escape through the sieve but the majority will stay behind.

In the end, there should only be about a tablespoon or two of pulp remaining. Pour the finished sauce into clean jars.

Pureeing

Alternatively, let the sauce cool to room temperature, then use an immersion blender to puree the sauce together until smooth. Pour the finished sauce into clean jars.

How to thicken strawberry coulis

The coulis will thicken up a bit as it cools, but it stays like a sauce consistency. If you want to thicken your coulis, even more, you can stir through a cornstarch slurry or add in chia seeds which act as a gelling agent.

A cornstarch slurry is a mixture of cornstarch mixed with cold water. Mixing it with cold water stops the cornstarch from becoming lumpy. Once you have strained or pureed the sauce, add it back to a saucepan. Mix together well 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Add this to the puree and bring it back to a boil, whisking regularly. As it boils the cornstarch will become clear and the coulis will thicken. 

Storing strawberry coulis

Cooled strawberry coulis will store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week. Alternatively, it can be frozen for up to 3 months or canned for long-term storage.

Different ways to use the strawberry sauce

• Swirl it in vanilla ice cream
• Drizzle over panna cotta (this healthy panna cotta is one of my favourite breakfast recipes)
• Dollop it over a vanilla cake or pound cake
• Use as a strawberry sauce for cheesecake
• Add to a strawberry smoothie
• With french toast
• On overnight oats
• Drizzled over pancakes and waffles

Preserving strawberry coulis

To store the coulis long term they will need to be canned in a hot water bath.

Pour the coulis into washed clean preserving jars, leaving about 1cm space between the coulis and the top of the jar. Wipe the rims of the jar clean and add on the lids.

Lower the jars into a large saucepan of water, with a rack or similar at the bottom to keep the jars from sitting directly on the bottom of the pot. If you don’t have a rack, you could use the lids of your spare preserving jars instead. Add more water so the jars are covered by about 2cm of water.

Bring the water to the boil, and once boiling keep it at a rolling boil for 15 minutes. Remove the jars from the water and allow them to cool down completely.

Once the jars are cooled, check that they are sealed properly. Label the jars and store them in a cool, dark place for up to 12 months. 

Strawberry Coulis FAQs

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Strawberry Coulis

Yield: 400ml

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Strawberry coulis is a delicious strawberry sauce made by simmering down fresh or frozen strawberries.

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Ingredients

• 500g fresh or frozen strawberries
• 100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Hull and roughly chop 500g of fresh or frozen strawberries. Add them to a saucepan over low heat along with sugar, lemon juice, and salt.
2. Cook over low heat while the strawberries begin to release their liquid. Stir occasionally as the strawberries come to a simmer.
3. Once simmering, over low heat, cook the strawberries for around 15 minutes until the strawberries begin to break down. Frozen strawberries may need 2-3 minutes extra to reduce some of their excess water.
4. Remove the berries from the heat. At this point, it is strawberry compote (a chunky strawberry sauce), and the sauce can be left like this. To make the strawberry coulis, it needs to be strained or pureed into a smooth sauce. Pushing the sauce through a sieve makes a really smooth strawberry sauce. Balance a sieve over a bowl and carefully tip in the strawberries.
5. Push them through the sieve with a wooden spoon or spatula, rubbing them along the bottom of the sieve.
6. Take your time doing this to get all the strawberry pulp you can. Scrape the bottom of the sieve to get all the pulp that's accumulating there. A few seeds will escape through the sieve but the majority will stay behind. In the end, there should only be about a tablespoon or two of pulp remaining. Pour the finished sauce into clean jars.
7. Alternatively, let the sauce cool a bit, then use a blender to puree the sauce together until smooth. Pour the finished sauce into clean jars.
8. The finished coulis will store in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to a week. Alternatively, it can be frozen for up to 3 months, or canned for long-term storage.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 21Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 14mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 0g

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