This recipe makes roasted strawberries in a light sauce, perfect for pouring over ice cream, pancakes, or brownies. You can cook them in a larger pan for a slightly thicker, more syrupy sauce.
Before you roast strawberries, I have one caveat. Ripe, flavorful strawberries are best fresh and not cooked! They will not become more flavorful from roasting - because for strawberries in particular, the heat cooks off too many of their characteristic flavors (and aromas).
That said, when you get bland or under-ripe berries, roasting can improve their flavor because we add those missing flavors right back in.
- Sugar replaces their missing sweet flavor
- Lemon juice adds in some acid
- Rose water (if you have it) mimics the floral notes in strawberries
I explain this in more detail after the recipe.
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Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs strawberries
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ fresh lemon about 1 tablespoon squeezed juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon rose water (optional) or orange blossom water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375℉. Get out an 8x8 glass or ceramic pan (you can use a 9x13 for a slightly thicker sauce, as more water will evaporate). Metal pans can react with the acid (unless they are stainless steel).
- Wash and remove stems from strawberries. Cut large strawberries into quarters, and medium ones in half.
- Mix strawberries with sugar and lemon juice. You can do this right in your pan.
- Roast for 25-35 minutes, until the berries are as tender as you want them.
- Remove from oven and stir in vanilla extract and rose water (if using). Add these after roasting because the flavor cooks off in the hot oven.
- Use warm or chilled. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. It should last a couple of weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
Serving size
The serving size is highly dependent on what you're using it for, and personal preferences. Do you want a modest amount of roasted strawberry sauce on your ice cream, or do you want it to be swimming in strawberries?
Most recipes that call for 2 pounds of strawberries list it as anywhere from 4 to 12 servings. It seems like 2 pounds (which is 2 of those larger containers), should make a lot of roasted strawberries... but they cook down a surprising amount.
A 1 pound container of strawberries cut in half (right), next to an 8x8 pan with 1 pound of cut strawberries.
2 pounds of strawberries in an 8x8 pan.
Even with that many strawberries, I can definitely see how you might only get 4 servings if you want to smother something with them. However, 12 servings is just a tiny dollop and feels really stingy.
I settled on 6 servings. The servings aren't too large, but still feel substantial. Depending on what you want to use the roasted strawberries for, you can easily scale this recipe.
photo: strawberry comparison for 1 v 2 pounds
- Double it: use an 8x8 or a 9x13 pan
- Triple it: use a 9x13 pan
- Quadruple it: use a 9x13 pan
Note that if the strawberries reach the top of the pan, you might want to put a baking sheet under it, in case the sauce bubbles up while cooking.
Fresh vs roasted strawberry flavor
For the best flavor, buy strawberries that are in-season from a local vendor (so they don't have to endure shipping). As I mentioned earlier, when they are at peak ripeness and flavor, they are best enjoyed fresh.
Research shows that strawberries, in particular, lose a lot of their flavor when exposed to heat. One of the major compounds that contribute to a strawberry's flavor are esters. They make up about 43% of the organic volatile compounds, and they have a very low boiling point. It's even lower than alcohol, which means those flavors cook off very quickly.
When you buy strawberries and the flavor is lacking, whether you got unlucky at the farmers market, or couldn't pass up the $0.99 sale at the grocery store, they can be saved.
The trick is to add in the flavors that are missing. Strawberries harvested too early won't be as sweet and are missing a lot of their characteristic flavor.
Alternatively, you can make macerated strawberries, which preserve some of the flavor while softening them (and sweetening them with sugar). America's Test Kitchen also talks about how heating strawberries breaks down their flavors.
I'm not trying to talk you out of roasting strawberries, I promise. I just want to make sure you are getting the most out of your seasonal fruit.
Sugar
Strawberries don't get sweeter once they are harvested, but they do continue to turn red. In fact, strawberries can be picked while mostly white and they will continue to turn fully red, maybe only showing signs of white at the shoulders by the time they reach the stores.
When harvested early, they are missing a lot of their sugars. To make up the actual amount of missing sugar, you'll want to add roughly a ½ cup of sugar, or even up to a full cup depending on how under-ripe the strawberries were to begin with.
I found that even with fairly plain tasting strawberries, ½ of a cup of sugar was more than plenty to make a delightfully sweet batch of roasted strawberries.
Brix - a measurement of sugar in fruit
Brix is an industry term for the amount of sugar in fruit. It's used by farmers to determine when their fruit is ripe enough to pick and by wine makers to harvest grapes at their optimal stage.
Underripe strawberries might arrive at the store measuring at 6 brix, whereas fully-ripened, fresh picked strawberries measure around 16 brix. Depending on where the under-ripe strawberries started, you'll want a ½ cup to 1 cup of sugar to make up the difference.
Lemon juice
As strawberries ripen and get sweeter, their acidity also decreases. However, acid still plays a role in their flavor. When we add a lot of sugar to the strawberries, it can cause overpower the acidic flavor profiles.
The main acid in strawberries is citric acid, which is why lemon juice is a perfect ingredient. You don't need a lot, just a tablespoon per batch should be enough to round out the flavor.
Rose water & orange blossom water
Strawberries are actually a member of the rose family (yep, the flowers). So I suppose it isn't surprising that strawberries have some floral aromas and flavors, even if they aren't obvious.
This is why rose water (or orange blossom water in a pinch) comes into play. You only need a tiny amount. I start you out with just ⅛th of a teaspoon for the entire 2-pound batch of roasted strawberries.
I actually split the batch of strawberries in half, stirring rose water into one of them, and leaving the other plain.
When I stirred it in while still warm, the rose flavor was definitely noticeable. Pleasant, but could be considered soapy by some people. After it chilled in the fridge for a few hours, the rose flavor was not detectable.
In fact, I don't think any of the tasters could tell a difference between the two batches. So I stirred in some more (essentially doubling the amount), and it was perfect. At that point, it was detectable, but blended in perfectly to the roasted strawberry flavor.
Just to be safe, stir in ⅛th teaspoon at a time!
Lastly, rose water is pricey. You might have luck finding it at the grocery store. If not, you can find it on Amazon (which is where I got mine). A tiny bottle is fine too, since you won't need much. Use leftovers in baking, tea, lemonade, or cocktails.
- Neilsen-Massey Rose Water (2 ounce) - A high-quality brand with a more concentrated flavor
- Cortas rose flower water (10 ounce) - Decent flavor, but not as concentrated as Neilsen-Massey.
If you have orange blossom water on hand (often used for cocktails), you can use that instead of buying a whole bottle of rose water.
The links above are affiliate links and I get a small commission if you buy something. I've tried both of those products and prefer the Neilsen-Massey, but it is more expensive.
Roasting & texture
First of all, the oven temperature is somewhat flexible. I actually roast the strawberries at 350F in this recipe for a chocolate torte covered with roasted strawberries.
Second, the timing can vary quite a bit for a bunch of reasons:
- Oven temperature (and insulation) differences
- How readily heat transfers through your baking dish compared to mine
- How full the baking dish is (more full = longer cook time)
- How soft you want the strawberries
Texture
Decide if you want your roasted strawberries to be somewhat firm or completely soft (maybe described as mushy?).
- Firm strawberries: check on their texture after 15 minutes of baking, then in 5 minute increments until they are done
- Soft strawberries: check on them after 25 minutes, continue cooking until they are really soft.
Note that cooking them for a really long time will make them leech the color out of the berries and into the sauce. The strawberries will look like a pale, unappetizing pink. They will still taste fine, though.
More recipes & resources
If you are looking for other roasted strawberry recipes, I found some ones that add in other flavors that pair well.
- Roasted strawberries with maple syrup and thyme by Waves in the Kitchen
- Balsamic roasted strawberries by Zoe Bakes
- Slow roasted strawberries in a jammy syrup, by Michelle Polzine
- Roasted strawberries with pomegranate molasses, black pepper, and basil from Rebecca Katz Kitchen
For more strawberry recipes, check out some of my favorites.
If you're wondering what else is currently in season, check out my calendars to see what produce is in season each month (and coming up soon).
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