Berry Sauce
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Packed with juicy berries and natural sweetness, this berry sauce recipe is perfect for dressing up both everyday and special-occasion treats.
Quick and easy to make, this mixed berry sauce is perfect spooned over cheesecake, vanilla ice cream, pancakes, crepes, or waffles. It’s thickened with puréed fruit rather than cornstarch, so the berry flavor really shines through. I like to reserve some of the whole fruit to stir into the purée before serving, but serve the berries on the side instead if you prefer.
“This is delicious and easy to do. Great with Jenn’s cheesecake, as a topping for a bowl of ice cream or on plain Greek yogurt for a sweet treat.”
What You’ll Need To Make Berry Sauce
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1: Simmer the berries with lemon juice and sugar. Combine all of the berries in a large bowl and stir gently. Transfer about two-thirds of the mixture to a medium saucepan (set the rest aside in the fridge for later). Add the lemon juice and sugar to the pan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat and cook until syrupy, about 5 minutes.
Pro Tip: If your berries aren’t super ripe or are particularly tart, you can bump up the sugar a touch—or add a splash of orange juice for a different flavor.
Step 2: Purée the sauce. Pour the hot berry mixture into a blender and blend until smooth.
Pro Tip: Take the center cap off the blender lid and cover with a kitchen towel to let steam escape—this keeps pressure from building up and making a mess.
Step 3: Strain. Set a fine mesh strainer over a bowl and pour the sauce through it. Use the back of a ladle to press the liquid through in a circular motion, leaving the seeds behind. (If you prefer a rustic, more textured sauce, you can skip straining altogether—but expect it to be seedy, thicker, and more jam-like.
Step 4: Chill and finish. Discard the seeds, then refrigerate the sauce until cold. Right before serving, stir in the reserved fresh berries. If the sauce is too thick, thin it with a little water, bit by bit, until it reaches the consistency you want.
Pro Tips for Berry sauce
- Berry flexibility: Feel free to tweak the berry ratios based on what you’ve got on hand or what looks best at the store—just keep the total amount the same.
- Make it boozy: Stir in a splash of Chambord, Grand Marnier, or port for a more grown-up twist.
- Storing: This sauce keeps well in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months..
- More uses: Try it over frozen yogurt, pound cake, or French toast, or swirl it into Greek yogurt or oatmeal.
More Recipes You May Like
Berry Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and thinly sliced
- 6 oz (1 dry half pint) fresh raspberries
- 6 oz (1 dry half pint) fresh blueberries
- 6 oz (1 dry half pint) fresh blackberries
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon
- ¾ cup sugar
Instructions
- Combine all of the berries in a large bowl and stir gently to combine. Spoon about ⅔ of the mixed berries into a medium saucepan; transfer the remaining berries to a small bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Add the lemon juice and sugar to the berries in the sauce pan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat and cook until the fruit is syrupy, about 5 minutes.
- Transfer the hot berry mixture to a blender and purée until smooth. Set a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. Pour the sauce into the strainer and use the back of a soup ladle and circular motions to force the sauce through the strainer and into the bowl. Discard the seeds that remain in the strainer. Refrigerate the berry sauce until cold or ready to serve.
- Before serving, add the reserved berries to the sauce and stir to combine. If the sauce seems too thick, add a few tablespoons of water, a little at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
Comments
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Is it ok to freeze this sauce if the 1/3 portion of berries, that you fold into the cooked sauce, is made up of frozen (now thawed) fruit along with the fresh? I always thought that you aren’t supposed to refreeze thawed fruits/vegetables (unless you then processed them).
Hi Lee Ann, I’m not 100% sure as I’ve never done that, but I think it should work. 🙂
At the start of the recipe you say combine the all of the berries. (Please fix you are giving me ocd)
LOL – just fixed it – thanks for pointing that out!
This has to be one of the most delicious berry sauces I’ve ever had. Made it today as written to go over cheesecake. Everybody raved about it. It’s perfectly balanced, not too sweet and not too tart.
We had friends visiting from out of town and I made this recipe for a New York Cheesecake. I have NEVER received more compliments than I did for this recipe! It will be my go-to recipe anytime I need a delicious fruit topping for anything. So happy that the fruit sauce thickened without adding Corn Starch. Thanks for this amazing recipe!
I want to make this sauce with dark cherries. They are frozen – Should I follow the same instructions just sub the frozen cherries.
Thanks
Yep – that should be fine – hope you enjoy!
Just made it tonight. Yum.
The filling was enough for 2×9” pre-made graham cracker crusts. Baked 1hr-15 in a gas oven.
I did have cracking in 1 pie and thought I over mixed based on the bubbles I saw when I poured the filling in.
Result was fantastic in taste and texture.
Made berry sauce with frozen berries and maple syrup.
Thanks, your recipes are winners. Photo presentation is helpful.
I made this to serve with a homemade cheesecake. I didn’t include the blackberries, but it was still delicious and was a big hit at our holiday gathering! Printing and keeping this one. It is so much better than using fruit pie filling. Thank you so much for the recipe!
I made this to top a vanilla Panna Cotta I made. So easy and the consistency and sweetness was perfect! I like that it is thickened only with fruit.
Hi Jenn
Can you tell me how long the sauce will keep or can I freeze it? It would be really good to keep and serve hot over ice cream I think. Love your recipes.
Thanks so much.
Jacqui
Hi Jacqui, Glad you like the recipes! I think this will keep for 3 – 4 days in the fridge and that it would freeze nicely.
Hi Jenn,
I very much want to make this to serve on top of your NY cheesecake when I visit my parents in Israel in 4 weeks. However given that I wont be able to find fresh berries there at this time of year, anyway I could get away with using frozen berries ? I do worry about compromising the flavor of the sauce and, by extension, the cheesecake so if you don’t recommend this sub could you recommend another type of topping for the cake ?
Thank you so much 🙂
Hi Malak, Frozen berries will definitely work!