30-Minute Strawberry Coulis (Professional Strawberry Sauce)

Make this easy homemade strawberry sauce to top your favorite cheesecakes, pancakes, french toast, or add it to cocktails or make pink lemonade. I've been making this homemade strawberry coulis for the better part of 20 years. And it's the only strawberry sauce you'll ever need. Don't waste your money on storebought syrups or sauces that are filled with who-knows-what.

All you need is frozen or fresh strawberries, lemon juice, a squeeze of fresh orange juice, and sugar to make this quick and professional strawberry coulis (pronounced koo-lee). The best part -- this sweet sauce tastes great served warm or cold on just about anything and adds a bright taste of summer to desserts and pancakes. Plus, making it at home allows you to control the sweetness. Double the recipe for larger crowds and freeze for an easy dessert topping anytime.

What is a Fruit Coulis?

Fruit coulis is a super delicious sauce that's been puréed and strained through a fine-mesh sieve, cheesecloth, or chinoise to remove any seeds or skins resulting in a perfectly smooth sauce. It can be drizzled over cheesecake, pancakes, or used for plating a fancy dessert. 

Homemade Strawberry Sauce (Coulis) Ingredients

All you need to make homemade strawberry coulis is frozen or fresh fruit, freshly squeezed lemon, a little orange juice (optional ingredient but highly recommended), and sugar. When you see how easy it is, you'll never go back to the store-bought stuff.  First, understand how naturally sweet or tart the fruit you're using is. You may need to add more (or less sugar) to get the right balance. A typical bag of plain frozen strawberries (without added sugar) as I've used in this recipe is somewhere in the naturally sweet-but-not-too-sweet range. Alternatively, if your bag of berries is really sweet, you may need ta add less sugar and/or a little more lemon juice. Don't be afraid to play around with the flavors and adjust them to your preferences.

• fresh or frozen strawberries (or Boiron strawberry purée)
• sugar
• freshly squeezed lemon juice
• freshly squeezed orange juice

With fruit sauces, it's easy to play around with the level of citrus and sugar you add. Use the below ingredient amounts as a guideline depending on how naturally sweet (or not) your fruit is.  Just add a little more (or less) sugar and lemon juice to taste as necessary. Also, you'll notice I often use a splash o freshly squeezed orange juice because it really brings out the strawberry flavor in an unexpected way.

How to Make Homemade Strawberry Coulis Sauce From Scratch -- Cook, Strain, and Serve. 

Making strawberry coulis sauce (or any fruit sauce) at home is really quick and easy. Follow these simple steps and take your desserts up a notch.

1. Measure the ingredients. In a small heavy-bottomed pot, add the fruit, sugar, lemon juice (and orange juice if using).
2. Cook the sauce. Heat the mixture to a boil and cook stirring frequently adjusting the sugar and lemon juice according to taste until the sauce coats the back of a spoon (as seen in the berry sauce photo example below).
3. Purée the mixture + sieve (strain) it. Add the just slightly cooled mixture to the bowl of a food processor or high-speed blender (or use an immersion blender) and purée until smooth and no fruit chunks remain. Pass the mixture through a sieve (fine mesh strainer) to remove any seeds or solid pieces to achieve a perfectly smooth professional fruit coulis sauce.  Serve coulis hot, at room temperature, or cold, and Enjoy!

*If using Boiron or other unsweetened strawberry purée, you will not need to strain the sauce to achieve a coulis consistency because these products have been strained. 

Example of how fruit sauce should coat the back of a spoon when it's finished cooking

What Should the Consistency of Homemade Coulis or Berry Sauce Look Like?

We love a good homemade fruit sauce around here and getting a perfect consistency depends on your preferences and how thick or thin you'd like the finished sauce to be. We enjoy a traditional pourable/squeezable sauce that's not too thin (runny), nor too thick (jam-like).  It needs to be easily dispensed but not glide straight off of whatever you just drizzled it over. (*see below images of the fruitti di bosco sauce for how to strain it and turn it into a seedless, skinless professional berry coulis).

• The sauce should coat the back of a spoon and when you swipe a finger through it, the swiped area should remain clean without any sauce dripping down into the just-swiped area.

Ways to Customize Homemade Strawberry Coulis Sauce

• • Add citrus zest. Incorporate the zest of a lemon, lime, or orange for a little extra citrus flavor without adding more acidity.
  • Add citrus juice. Use freshly squeezed lime, satsuma, mapo, or even orange juice instead of lemon juice to create a slightly different flavored sauce.
  • Make a multi-berry or fruit combination sauce. Add diced mangoes, pineapples, etc. for a slightly different flavor and texture to your sauce.
  • Add in a few spices. Sprinkle a little cinnamon, cardamom, or even cayenne pepper into your berry sauce to give it an extra kick.
  • Substitute flavored sugars for regular white sugar. Use lemon sugar, vanilla sugar, strawberry sugar, or even blood orange sugar to substitute regular sugar.

Ways to Use This Easy Homemade Strawberry Coulis  

If make a lot of easy strawberry recipes around here, so if you're looking for more fruit sauces or a little inspiration for how to use this coulis recipe, below are a few of our favorites to try.

• 30-Minute Strawberry-Apricot-Nectarine Jam (Without Pectin)
• How to Make The Best 15-Minute Homemade Strawberry Jam Sauce
• 15-Minute Easy Homemade Strawberry-Blood Orange Sauce
• Strawberry Shortcake Scones w/Clotted Cream 
• The Best Father's Day Key Lime Pie w/Biscoff Cookie Crust
• Super fluffy Classic pancakes
• Double Strawberry Cheesecake with Biscoff Cookie Crust
• White Chocolate Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta
• Best Ever All-Natural Strawberry Cheesecake Crostata
• Super Easy Classic Vanilla Bean Cheesecake 
• Easy Classic French Crêpes
• Easy Strawberry jam Tart  (Crostata di Marmellata di Fragole)
• Best All-Natural Triple Strawberry Cake (Made 100% From Scratch)
• Easy Classic Italian Crostata di Marmellata (Italian Jam Tart)

Let's get started!

Recipe

Homemade Strawberry Coulis (easy strawberry sauce)

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• Author: Kelly
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: 10 ounces 1x
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Everyone loves this strawberry sauce! Don't waste your money on storebought syrups or sauces that are filled with unnecessary "stuff". All you need is frozen or fresh strawberries, lemon juice, and sugar. Double or triple the recipe for larger crowds and refrigerate or freeze leftovers and thaw to enjoy.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 10.5 ounces fresh or frozen strawberries (or Boiron strawberry purée) (300g)
• 3 tablespoons sugar (or more to taste depending on the natural sweetness of the fruit) (40g)
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (14g)
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed orange juice (optional but recommended) (12g)

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Instructions

1. Measure the ingredients. In a small heavy-bottomed pot, add the fruit, sugar, lemon juice (and orange juice if using). 
2. Cook the sauce. Heat the mixture to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer and cook stirring frequently to avoid scorching, adjusting the sugar and lemon juice according to taste until the sauce coats the back of a spoon (as seen in the berry sauce photo example in the post). 
3. Purée the mixture and pass it through a fines mesh strainer (sieve). Add the just slightly cooled mixture to the bowl of a food processor or high-speed blender (or use an immersion blender) and purée until smooth and no fruit chunks remain. Pass the mixture through a sieve (fine mesh strainer) to remove any seeds or skins for a smooth professional fruit coulis sauce.  Serve coulis hot, at room temperature, or cold, and Enjoy!

Notes

• If using Boiron or other unsweetened strawberry purée instead of actual strawberries, you will not need to strain the sauce to achieve a coulis because these products are already seedless.
• If you don't care if your sauce is smooth or not, you may use the strawberry sauce as soon as it coats the back of a spoon without puréeing it or straining it. It'll be what I call a strawberry jam sauce rather than a professional strawberry coulis but just as tasty.

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Category: Sauces + Spreads + Dips
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: American

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 2 tablespoons

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Easy Homemade Strawberry Coulis recipe step-by-step photos