Simple Uses for Strawberries

 

When you have a large crop of strawberries from the garden or farmstand, you don't have time to casually include it in complicated recipes or to frantically figure out how to use it up before it goes bad without getting sick of it.  You want to make the most of your harvest and to actually enjoy it.

Here at Plant to Plate, we like to keep things simple!  Here are some of my favorite ways to use or preserve strawberries:

• Combine them with blueberries.  In many areas, the late strawberry season overlaps with early blueberry season.  If you get tired of eating raw strawberries alone, this can be a great way to change things up.  Strawberries and blueberries also complement each other in baked goods and can be frozen in the same bag for later use.

• Pair them with basil in a variety of contexts.  Keep in mind that basil will bring out more savory flavors in the strawberries.

• Use them as Walls in an Interesting Salad.  (Wondering why I capitalized those letters?  Read more about Interesting Salads here!)

• Make a Simple Salad.  Here are a few ideas of Simple Salad pairings with strawberries:
• Watercress and cucumber, especially with a yogurt-based dressing or a vinaigrette
• Cucumber and feta 
• Lettuce and cheese such as gouda, provolone, or cheddar.

• Add them to other salads.

• Top crackers, crostini, or toast with strawberries and cream cheese.

• Make a creative hummus.  Combine them with chickpeas, ginger, and your nut butter of choice.  Sweeten further with honey or maple syrup if desired.

• Make a creative salsa.  You can add strawberries to a few salsa variations:
• Jalapeño, red onion, and cilantro
• Pineapple, red onion, and cilantro for a milder, fruity version
• Habanero, garlic, cilantro, and fresh mint like peppermint or spearmint

• Add them to any chicken dish, especially along with avocado.

• Add them to a quickbread like strawberry bread or strawberry banana bread.

• Add them to other baked goods, alone or with chocolate chunks or chamomile, such as cookies, pancakes, muffins, and cupcakes.

• Make a smoothie.  The possibilities are nearly endless, but here are a few combination ideas:
• As the sole fruit along with milk or almond, coconut, or oat milk
• Banana
• Pineapple
• Dragonfruit
• Mango
• Peanut butter and honey as a PB&J-inspired smoothie

• Make infused water with strawberries alone or combined with one or more of the following:
• Cucumber
• Peppermint
• Lemon
• Lime
• Lemon balm

• Infuse them into strawberry sweet tea.

• Make a tea with the leaves. 

• Make a tincture with the leaves.  Strawberry leaf tincture is best with an herb:solvent ratio of 1:3 at 40% alcohol.

• Freeze them.  Strawberries can be frozen whole, or they can be halved or quartered and frozen.

• Make strawberry jam.

• Make strawberry-rhubarb jam.  This classic combination also works well with seasonal eating since early strawberry season overlaps with rhubarb season in many areas.

• Dry the leaves to save them for later.  Check out our How to Dry Your Herbs articles here for more information.

Further Reading

Growing strawberries?  Check out these quick facts like its best growing conditions, companion plants, and expected yields.

Strawberries are also featured in these articles:

• The Interesting Salad Protocol: How to Build an Interesting Salad
• Quick Facts: Growing Strawberries
• How to Preserve Your Harvest: Drying and Dehydrating

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