May is Strawberry Month! Last year to celebrate I made Tipsy Strawberry Preserves, this year when Walmart asked me to come up with a recipe highlighting strawberries I made homemade Strawberry Syrup!

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe

This delicious syrup has just a few simple ingredients. Strawberries. Water. Sugar. Lemon juice. You know what all of those things are, and you can pronounce every single one of them, so while a sugary syrup probably can’t be classed as “health food” I would consider it a healthy food!

To create my syrup I used the Ball Blue Book recipe for blueberry syrup and just substituted strawberries. You cook the berries in water with a splash of lemon juice. Then you strain the berries through a jelly bag (you can use a colander and either several layers of cheesecloth or a flour sack towel instead–personally if I’m skipping the jelly bag then I prefer the flour sack towels reserve them ONLY for straining). While the juice is straining you create a 1:1 simple syrup. Combine the two together and you have strawberry syrup!

Making Strawberry Syrup

This is a thinner syrup (strawberrys have far less natural pectin then blueberries)–if you want something thicker like maple syrup you will have to reduce it down or thicken it (although if you add a thickening agent you can’t can it). The syrup can be kept in the fridge for several weeks ( love the glass bottle with a stopper I found in the kitchen department of my Walmart for that) , or you can can it in a Hot Water Bath Canner for 10 minutes.

Strawberry Syrup Recipe for Pancakes

This syrup is delicious poured over pancakes, poundcake, angelfood cake or drizzled over with sliced berries and used to make a truly delicious strawberry shortcake.

Strawberry Syurp Soda

But hands down everyone’s favorite way to use this syrup in our house is to make homemade strawberry soda! You simple mix the syrup half and half with seltzer and you’ve got a fresh, springtime drink (and again–you know exactly what’s in it!)

Strawberry Syrup

Ingredients

8 C sliced strawberries
1 1/2 C water
1 tsp lemon juice
3 C Water
3 C Sugar

Instructions

Combine sliced berries, 1 1/2 C water and lemon juice in a pot and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes.
Drain juice from berries using a jelly bag or a colander lined with several layers of cheesecloth or a flour sack towel. Do not squeeze!
Make a 1:1 simple syrup by combing remaining water and sugar in a pot and heat until all sugar is dissolved.
Mix strawberry juice and simple syrup. If canning bring to a boil and then follow boiling water bath canning procedures (processing for 10 minutes). If not canning, simply refrigerate and enjoy!