Easy Strawberry Coulis Recipe (No Cook)
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Brighten up your favorite desserts with this no-cook, homemade Strawberry Coulis. Made with just three ingredients, this sauce is perfect drizzled over cheesecake, ice cream, crèpes, or pancakes!
When I was in pastry school, I learned a base recipe for classic berry coulis, good for everything from raspberry coulis to blackberry coulis to strawberry coulis. This strawberry version is probably the best known in French cuisine, and also one of the most delicious.
And despite its fancy name, a fruit coulis is basically just a sweetened purée. My version of this traditional French recipe is made without heating the berries—it’s an easy preparation that allows the pure berry flavor to shine through.
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Why Make This Recipe
- Fresh Strawberry Flavor: No artificial syrups here—just ripe strawberries pureed into a vibrant sauce.
- Quick & Easy: This simple recipe involves just 5 minutes of prep and a quick purée.
- So Many Uses: Spoon it over everything from cakes to yogurt parfaits, or blend it into a smoothie.
- Freezer-Friendly: Make a batch now and save some for later.
🥗 Ingredients for Fresh Strawberry Coulis
- Strawberries: This sweet sauce shines with ripe, juicy berries. Fresh berries are best, but you can use frozen when good-quality fresh berries aren’t available.
- Extra-Fine Sugar: This type of sugar, also called caster sugar, is best for this no-cook recipe because it dissolves so well into the sauce.
- Orange Juice: Fresh OJ adds a tiny bit of citrus flavor and mellows the strawberry flavor just a touch. Substitute lemon juice, especially if your strawberries are super sweet!
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Trim off the tops from 1 pound of fresh strawberries. Chop the strawberries roughly.
2. Add strawberries to a food processor, along with ½ cup extra-fine sugar and 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice.
3. Purée for 20 seconds, then scrape down the sides with a spatula. Purée again for another 20 seconds, until smooth. The coulis should be a deep raspberry color.
4. Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove seeds and any hard or unripe pieces of strawberry.
Put into an airtight container like a mason jar and store in the refrigerator.
Storage Tips
You can keep strawberry coulis in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. This coulis also freezes well, for up to 3 months. Try pouring it into an ice cube tray to freeze in small amounts. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before using—you may need to whisk it well to bring it back to the perfect consistency.
🧐 Recipe FAQs for Strawberry Coulis
Yes, you can, and you should if you can’t get ripe, in-season strawberries. Thaw the frozen strawberries first, and drain excess liquid before puréeing. (Leaving that liquid in will taste fine, but it will give you a runnier sauce.)
A coulis and a purée are almost the same. Coulis is a French word that means a strained purée. A regular purée is not strained. It is also more common for a coulis to have added sugar.
Straining the strawberry puree gives you a silky-smooth sauce with intense strawberry flavor and no gritty seeds or unripe pulp. That said, if you try the unstrained purée and are fine with the texture, just skip straining it!
👩🍳 Expert Tips
No food processor? Try using a regular blender or an immersion stick blender instead. You’ll get a delicious strawberry sauce either way.
This coulis is fairly thick—pour slowly through the sieve and push down on those solids with a sturdy spatula.
Want to use regular granulated sugar instead of super-fine sugar? Granulated sugar will dissolve the best if the mixture is cooked. Combine sugar and strawberries in a saucepan and cook gently over the stovetop for about 8-10 minutes over medium heat. Stir to make sure sugar is totally dissolved.
You can also choose to cook the coulis if you want a thicker sauce. Put it in a saucepan and simmer for a few minutes to reduce and thicken it.
Now that you’ve got your strawberry coulis, how will you use it? You can use a coulis as a base for a berry mousse. It is also the perfect sauce to top cheesecakes, chocolate cake, angel food cake, waffles, pancakes, ice cream, panna cotta, French crêpes, and more. Stir into yogurt and add some Pumpkin Seed Granola on top. Use it in a Strawberry Smoothie or a strawberry milkshake. You can even add to mocktails or cocktails.
Other Strawberry Recipes
Got extra strawberries? After making this homemade strawberry coulis recipe, you’ll want to try one of my other favorite strawberry recipes:
If you try this easy Strawberry Coulis recipe, I would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to me.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I’d love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
📖 Recipe
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Homemade Strawberry Coulis
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh strawberries
- ⅓ cup superfine sugar (2.3 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
Instructions
- Trim off strawberry tops, then chop the strawberries roughly.
- Add to a food processor, along with the sugar and the orange juice.
- Purée for 20 seconds, then scrape down the sides with a spatula. Purée again for another 20 seconds, until smooth. The coulis should be a deep raspberry color.
- Strain through a fine sieve to remove seeds and any hard or unripe pieces of strawberry.
- Store in a mason jar in the refrigerator, or in another airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this simple Strawberry Coulis recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I’d love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
