15 Creative Ways To Use Up Fresh Strawberries

Summer is strawberry season. It's when those tart, underripe berries transform into sweet, juicy morsels of deliciousness. But all too often, summer brings a short-lived bounty of strawberries to your kitchen, and suddenly, you have a lot of berries you need to eat — and quickly. After you've consumed several bowls of these berries, you may tire of the fruit in its natural form. That's why you want to consider other ways of using those leftover strawberries to prevent waste, and this is where creativity comes into play. 

We spoke to Culinary Advisor and Chef Kevin Ashton of Restaurantji, Food Blogger Kelsey Patterson of Sigsbee Street, and Restaurant Owner Ranveer Brar to get some useful tips for employing those fresh strawberries sitting in your fridge. If you're ready to advance your strawberry game, challenge your culinary capabilities, and create sumptuous eats, you've come to the right place. Let's get into these expert recommendations. 

Sometimes, you just have to get creative when using fresh ingredients, daring to combine elements you may have presumed do not complement one another. That's exactly the idea behind making this fruity butter with fresh strawberries. It's a great way to get rid of those extra strawberries while making a spreadable condiment that can make your toast and baked goods taste better than ever.

Start by washing your strawberries, then mashing or dicing them until they're fine enough to mix well with butter. You can add some lemon juice or cinnamon to the strawberries to enhance their flavor if you want to make things a little more interesting. Then, take your strawberries and put them into a food processor with unsalted butter. You can add salt later if you want, but using the unsalted variety lets you have more control over the salt content. Process those ingredients until they're well combined, and you'll have a fruity spread that'll enhance the flavor of anything you put it on.

A good garnish can take a boring cocktail or glass of wine and transform it into something that looks like it belongs in a ritzy restaurant. If you're looking for a way to improve your cocktail game, you have to try making strawberry Prosecco cocktail garnishes. To do this, macerate or soak your strawberries in sugar and Prosecco. The sugar adds a nice sweetness to your strawberries, while the effervescence of the Prosecco will infuse the fruits with alcohol, making them softer.

Let your fresh strawberries macerate for about 45 minutes, and you'll be left with a delicious strawberry syrup you can add to a basic glass of sparkling wine, along with sweet, juicy strawberries that you can incorporate into any drink of your choice. If you want to keep things simple, just enjoy them with what's left over from the bottle of Prosecco. You can never go wrong with a beautiful, subtly fruity cocktail.

When you want a frozen treat that feels a bit healthier than your average ice cream, you may want to give "nice" cream a try. This ice cream look-alike is made with bananas as a base and can also include fresh strawberries for a fruitier flavor profile and a beautiful pink hue. According to Kevin Ashton, fresh strawberry nice cream "is all fruit, dairy-free, and doesn't contain added sugar. It bursts with a sweet berry flavor, making it a perfect and refreshing summer treat."

Wondering how to make it for yourself? Chop up your fruits, freeze them until their completely solid, and then let them thaw for about 20 minutes. Transfer your strawberries to a food processor and pulse until they're chopped into tiny pieces, add frozen bananas and lemon juice, and keep blending until everything is smooth. Then, all that's left to do is enjoying this frozen treat. "You can serve the ice cream alone or top it up with more fresh strawberries," suggests Ashton.

If you're from the U.S., you probably think of pasta solely in flavorful terms, but in Poland, pasta doesn't have to be served in a savory, salty format. In fact, fruit can be incorporated into pasta dishes for a sweet, carb-fueled treat. Enter Poland's makaron z truskawkami, which basically translates to "pasta with strawberries." To make this fruity concoction, you'll smash up some strawberries and combine them with sour cream and sugar to make a fruity pasta sauce. Add that to your noodles, and you'll have a unique dish that every pasta lover should try. 

Don't be afraid to add some sliced strawberries on top to enhance that flavor and make the finished product a bit juicier. You can eat makaron z truskawkami for lunch or as a dessert, depending on how big of a sweet tooth you have. Strawberry pasta may not be for everyone, but it's definitely a fun recipe to try when you have some extra strawberries on hand.

When it comes to fruity baked goods, blueberries and raspberries are often the stars of the show. Plenty of muffin, scone, and cupcake recipes call for these summertime fruits. But just because you don't have those specific berries on hand doesn't mean you can't bake a fruity treat, notes Kelsey Patterson. Strawberries can work just as well as raspberries and blueberries in a wide variety of baked goods.

"Many baked goods have fresh raspberries or blueberries," says Patterson. "You can chop up strawberries and use them instead for a whole new flavor. This works great in everything from scones to muffins." Since strawberries are typically larger than a lot of other berries, you'll want to make sure you cut them into relatively small pieces so they don't overwhelm your baked goods. Don't be afraid to get creative with your baking. Strawberries may just add the sweet, fruity touch your favorite pastry recipes are begging for.

Not everyone likes super-sweet flavors, and for those people, consuming large amounts of fruit in a short time frame can be especially difficult. If you fall into this camp, you may want to try pickling your fresh strawberries. Not only does this process give your strawberries a tart flavor you can incorporate in salads and so much else, but it also allows you to preserve those fresh summer strawberries so you can enjoy them throughout the year.

All you're going to need to make fresh pickled strawberries is, of course, the strawberries themselves, in addition to granulated sugar, red wine vinegar, corn syrup, and salt. It's also important to have a candy thermometer and some sterilized jars on hand. These ingredients will yield pickled strawberries that are salty, sweet, and acidic all at once. The only problem is they're so delicious that it may be hard to make them last more than a month or so.

Whether your fresh strawberries aren't the most delicious you've ever had, or you're just looking for a way to upgrade an average bowl of fresh berries, this hack will make it easier than ever to eat all those strawberries you have on hand. Tossing berries with a bit of lemon juice and sugar will allow them to macerate, which results in a syrupy liquid that becomes almost a marinade for your strawberries. Even the blandest of strawberries really shine with this technique.

There are countless uses for your macerated strawberries. If you want to keep things simple, just eat them as is — that extra bit of sugar and acidity is enough to create a mouthwatering dessert. You could also put your macerated strawberries on top of yogurt or chia pudding, and they also taste great as a topper for French toast. Experiment with other uses for macerated strawberries, and you'll never be subjected to a bland strawberry experience again.

You want your salad to be full of veggies, of course, but you shouldn't be afraid to throw some fruit into the mix, either. That's exactly what Kelsey Patterson suggests if you're looking for interesting ways to use fresh strawberries. "Strawberries' fresh sweetness adds a burst to any salad recipe," Patterson says. Just chop them up into bite-sized pieces, and you have a fresh and sweet addition to any basic salad recipe. And they're not just there for flavor — "they also have a refreshing texture that blends well with the salad's crunch," the food blogger explains.

Of course, you'll want to think about how strawberries work with the other components of the salad. A salad that boasts a ton of different veggies can probably handle the addition of strawberries well, while a more basic salad with fewer ingredients, like a Caesar salad, may not be the best option for the inclusion of berries. And don't be afraid to add other fruits as well!

A lot of people just eat their strawberries plain, but that doesn't mean you should stray away from enjoying them with spices or herbs if you want a bit of extra flavor in your fruit. Salt, cardamom, and cinnamon can all add more flavor to otherwise pedestrian strawberries, but perhaps the best berry and spice pairing is strawberries with black pepper.

This combination works especially well because strawberries are quite acidic, and black pepper can help coax out more of their sweetness. That black pepper also adds the tiniest bit of spice, which makes the flavor of plain old strawberries really pop on the palate. Of course, you'll want to be careful about just how much black pepper you add to your strawberries, as too much can mask the strawberries' acidity, which can make their sweetness overwhelming and unbalanced. When you try this combo for the first time, make sure to add your black pepper slowly, tasting as you go, for best results.

It's always a bummer when you think you have a few days to finish that carton of strawberries in the fridge, only to find that they've gotten overripe way more quickly than you would have expected. But don't worry — you don't have to throw away your strawberries just because you didn't get to them at their peak freshness in time. Overripe strawberries are actually perfect for making strawberry-infused frozen desserts.

There are a few reasons why overripe strawberries are ideal for freezing. First of all, because they're mushier, they freeze better than their perfectly ripe counterparts. They won't contain the icy crystals that you might have noticed when you've frozen younger fruit. Additionally, overripe strawberries tend to be sweeter than the fresh variety, which means they can add a bolder, sweeter flavor to your dessert as opposed to a greener, acidic one. Whether you're planning on making strawberry popsicles, strawberry ice cream, or even strawberry sorbet, starting with overripe frozen strawberries is always a good idea.

Strawberries can be a delicious addition to any sweet breakfast spread, but don't think you have to eat them raw and plain to incorporate the fruit into your first meal of the day. When you cook your strawberries to give them a jam-like consistency, you can easily spoon them over a wide variety of breakfast dishes for an extra dose of flavor.

This is one of Kelsey Patterson's favorite ways to use fresh strawberries. "Cook down your fresh strawberries on the stove for a few minutes with some sugar," she suggests. This will break them down slightly and create the perfect sweet syrup to add to your pancakes, waffles, yogurt, or oatmeal." Whether you're hosting a weekend breakfast with waffles or pancakes galore, or you're trying to keep things a bit lighter and fresher on a weekday with yogurt, chia pudding, or oatmeal, some cooked, jam-esque strawberries can deliver the perfect amount of sweet and tart flavor to your dish.

A strawberries and cream dessert is one of the most basic sweet treats you can make with fresh strawberries. But you don't have to stick to plain old strawberries and cream if you're tired of eating the same old dessert repeatedly. Why not get creative with the dish and try something new? There are so many ways to upgrade an average dish of strawberries and cream.

If you want to transform your strawberries and cream dessert into a breakfast, try combining fresh strawberries with whipped cream cheese. Put it on a bagel, and you have a delicious way to start off your day. You can also swap out the cream for some Greek yogurt for a healthier and higher protein dessert option. Clotted cream, a particularly thick kind of cream, also pairs beautifully with strawberries and offers a more substantial alternative to the standard. Additionally, you can add a dollop of sour cream to your strawberries and a sprinkling of sugar for a more acidic twist on the original dessert. The choices are endless!

Fresh strawberries are at their best during summer. Buy a carton of strawberries during the winter, on the other hand, and you're almost bound to be disappointed. So, what if you could capture that fresh summer strawberry flavor to enjoy year-round? That's possible when you dry strawberries in the oven for flavorful sweetness all year to make a fruity, crunchy snack.

It's easy to dry out your strawberries. Start by slicing the berries into relatively thin, uniform pieces. You'll want these slices to be the same width so all of your strawberries dry at the same rate. Then, place them in the oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit, flipping them over after two hours. After a long stint in the oven, the strawberries will dehydrate. Once they're dry, you can store them in a cool, dry place where they'll last for months on end. Of course, you can snack on these crunchy strawberries on their own, but they're also great toppers for oatmeal, yogurt, salad, and more.

Caprese, a celebrated Italian salad consisting of tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil, is a simple but deeply flavorful dish. But just because it's a classic doesn't mean you can't switch things up if you want to make your salad more interesting. Instead of using fresh tomatoes for your caprese salad, why not swap them out for some strawberries? 

According to Ranveer Brar, "[S]liced strawberries and fresh mozzarella cheese chunks with balsamic reduction on top create quite a balanced taste between sweetness and sourness." That sweet and sour mixture of flavors is a winning combo every time. Plus, it looks especially vibrant on the plate. Brar says that this dish makes for a beautiful appetizer or light summer lunch, depending on how much you prepare. It's super simple to make and comes together in just a few minutes, so it's also ideal for those times when it's simply too stressful to turn on the stove or the oven during the hottest months of the year.

The 1980s was a quirky time in American food culture. From strange Jell-O creations to frozen ready-to-eat favorites like Totino's pizza rolls, it was a decade of head-scratching meals. But perhaps no dish was more of a stretch than the strawberry risotto you may have forgotten about. It appeared on many Italian restaurant menus, and although it's long been lost from most of our memories, you can still make your own pink risotto at home if you want to see what the hype was all about.

White wine and strawberries come together for a balance of sweetness and acidity, which harmonizes the dish. This recipe isn't all sweet, though — it also calls for Parmigiano Reggiano cheese as well as onions and vegetable broth. The inclusion of both sweet and savory elements isn't one that everyone will embrace, but it's an interesting combo that tastes better than it sounds. It may not be a dish that you will eat on a weekly basis, but the risotto's beautiful pink color is undoubtedly impressive at a dinner party.