Sure, you can buy fruity dairy-free syrups, but most are made without any actual fruit! Mainstream brands use high fructose corn syrup and flavor, but you can make your own at home with just a few simple ingredients. And it isn’t a laborious process. This fast and easy vegan strawberry syrup recipe is ready in just 15 minutes!
Easy Vegan Strawberry Syrup for Pancakes, French Toast, and Ice Cream
This easy vegan strawberry syrup recipe was originally shared with us by a food writer named Paul England, back in 2007. We’ve updated this post, but still want to share his brief story behind it.
As a child growing up, I enjoyed reading The Little House On The Prairie books. I was amazed at what they did to survive. A child of the seventies, all I knew were supermarkets. Sure, my parents and grandparents told me stories about how it was when they were growing up but stories about the someone getting the first car or TV in the neighborhood didn’t compare to the seemingly outlandish concept of having to hunt and grow everything you were going to eat for the next year.
My young mind fell in love with the concept of being able to make my own maple syrup. We had maple trees in the front yard, we could do it too, right? Luckily my parents put a quick end to that concept before the maple trees in our yard and the red maple trees in the other yards were harmed. But I still had the dream.
When I grew up, I’m going to have lots of land with lots of maple trees and I’m going to make my syrup! Alas, that dream has yet to come to fruition. I live in an exurb of Chicago, surrounded by strip malls and townhomes. Yeah, there is a maple tree in one of the common areas but I think if I stuck a tap in it and hung a bucket, it would probably end up bent over like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. Come to think of it, there’s probably something in the bylaws of homeowners association against it too.
However, despite the lack of maple trees and an angry homeowners association, I can still make my own syrup. The farmer’s market season started here [a few]weeks ago and there is a great selection of fruit. Containers of cherries and blueberries were at most of the stands and this week strawberries started making an appearance. Besides being just plain good to eat, they work well in jellies and jams, but they also make very good syrups.
Special Diet Notes: Easy Vegan Strawberry Syrup
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, peanut-free, vegan, plant-based, and vegetarian.
- 1½ cups chopped strawberries
- 1½ cups light corn syrup (can sub golden syrup or light agave nectar)
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup cornstarch (can sub arrowroot starch)
- 2 tablespoons cold water
- In a 2-quart saucepan combine the strawberries, corn syrup, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the water and cornstarch until the starch dissolves.
- Once the syrup simmers, add the cornstarch slurry. Continuously stir until the syrup starts simmering again and goes from cloudy to clear, about 3 minutes.
- If the berries are not broken down enough, use an immersion blender or run the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer before serving. Serve warm.
- Completely cool leftovers and store in the refrigerator for up to a few weeks.
Vegan Recipes to Drizzle with Homemade Strawberry Syrup
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