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Strawberry sauce on top of a cheesecake.

Strawberry Topping for Cheesecake

This sweet, tart strawberry topping was made for our creamy cheesecake, but don't just stop at using it just for cheesecake! Try this recipe as a strawberry dip or sauce with vanilla ice cream and top off some pancakes, waffles, pound cake... the list goes on.
If using frozen strawberries you do not need to thaw them. 
4.50 from 26 votes
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes
Total Time: 17 minutes
Servings: 2 cups
Calories: 75kcal
Author: Dahn Boquist

Ingredients

  • 4 cups 1 pound fresh or frozen strawberries
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons instant Clearjel or 1 tablespoons cornstarch
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Optional: 2 to 3 drops of red food coloring

Instructions

  • Wash and hull the fresh strawberries. Slice the larger strawberries into halves or quarters (leave smaller strawberries whole). Add the strawberries to a saucepan.
  • In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, clearjel (or cornstarch), and the salt. Whisk well to distribute the cornstarch or clearjel into the sugar. 
  • Add the sugar mixture to the strawberries and stir to coat the strawberries in the sugar/starch mixture.
  • Add the lemon juice to the saucepan and cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Use a spoon or fork to break up some of the strawberries as you stir. 
  • Bring the strawberry sauce to a simmer and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and food coloring if using. Allow the sauce to cool completely. If you are using cornstarch, the sauce will thicken a bit more once it is cold. 
  • If you want to smooth the sauce out, you can use an immersion blender to puree it. 

Notes

  • If your strawberries are not very sweet, increase the sugar to 1/2 cup. 
  • To prevent lumps, stir the cornstarch or Clearjel into the sugar then stir that sugar mixture into the strawberries. Make sure the strawberries get coated in the starch mixture. You don’t need to make a water and cornstarch slurry if you use this method. 
  • If you use Clearjel, you will notice that the mixture will get a bit thick and gloppy during the first couple of minutes. Just continue stirring and mashing a few strawberries and as the strawberries break down the sauce will smooth out. 
  • Make sure you simmer the sauce for 5 minutes, especially if you are using cornstarch.
  • If you plan to freeze the strawberry sauce, we recommend using Clearjel. If you use cornstarch the sauce will not freeze as well and the starches will break down when you thaw it, creating a runny sauce. Clearjel will not break down when it goes through the freezer and then thaws. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1/4 cup | Calories: 75kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1g | Sodium: 20mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 13g