Julie Clark
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Easy Raspberry Sauce
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Use frozen or fresh raspberries to make this easy raspberry sauce with the secret ingredient of butter! It’s a raspberry reduction that gives a pop of color, perfect for cheesecakes, ice cream and pancakes.
One thing we’ve learned from our kitchen adventures over the past 25 years is that almost every dessert can be enhanced by a great sauce. This easy raspberry sauce is one of our all-time favorites. Even raspberry muffins can have a simple sauce on top.
This homemade raspberry sauce recipe, sometimes called raspberry coulis, is a true game-changer. I add a secret ingredient (spoiler: it’s butter!) to the dessert sauce that makes takes it to the next level. Perfect for special occasions or random summer Saturdays when you have fresh berries.
From our kitchen to yours:
- This raspberry sauce is incredibly easy to make. Even if you’re new to cooking or are feeling a little bit intimidated by the idea of creating a sauce from scratch, this recipe is takes just a few simple ingredients and less than 25 minutes.
- It solves a common problem many home cooks face. Too often, we find ourselves stuck in a cooking rut, using the same recipes and flavor profiles over and over again. The Easy Raspberry Sauce brings a fresh and fruity twist to both savory and sweet dishes.
- It’s versatile. Drizzle this delicious raspberry sauce over ice cream for an elevated dessert experience, add it to your smoothie bowl to make breakfast a bit more special, or even mix it into your savory dishes, like grilled chicken or baked ham.
What is raspberry sauce made of?
There are only 6 ingredients in this raspberry sauce:
- Raspberries. Are fresh raspberries or frozen raspberries best? You do not have to thaw frozen raspberries before cooking them. Frozen raspberries are conveniently available year-round and are typically frozen at their peak, retaining their nutritional value and flavor. For recipes like our Easy Raspberry Sauce, both fresh and frozen raspberries can be used.
If you opt for frozen, remember there’s no need to thaw them before use. - Cornstarch. This is what thickens the sauce.
✨ See the recipe card for full ingredients and amounts. ✨
How to Make Raspberry Sauce
This easy recipe is very similar to our homemade strawberry topping. Here’s how you make it:
- Place 1 ½ cups raspberries in a medium saucepan with sugar and water. Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture is at a gentle boil. Reduce the heat and add vanilla.
- In a small cup, combine the cornstarch and water. Whisk this together until it is smooth. Don’t just throw the cornstarch into the raspberry mixture or you’ll end up with little clumps of white cornstarch in your beautiful red raspberry sauce. And nobody wants that. Mixing the cornstarch with water first helps the cornstarch to completely mix in.
- Once the cornstarch and water are mixed, add it to the raspberry sauce. Cook and stir this mixture, letting it simmer until it is slightly thickened. Maybe 3-4 minutes, depending on how hot your mixture is.
- Then remove the pan from the heat and add butter. The butter is our secret ingredient that adds a delicious richness to the raspberry flavor.
- Let the mixture cool, then add the remaining raspberries (from the original 12 ounce bag) and stir gently.
How to Use Raspberry Sauce
Think of this raspberry dessert sauce as the perfect topping on:
- homemade pancakes. One of my favorite ways to use leftover fruit sauces.
- creamy cheesecake
- angel food cake
- old fashioned pound cake
- vanilla ice cream
- whole grain waffles or chocolate waffles
- baked French toast
- swirl it into oatmeal
- buttermilk biscuits
- chocolate mayo cake
- plain yogurt
- baked brie with puff pastry
- chocolate cheesecake or fudgy brownies
Can I use this sauce to fill a cake or cupcakes? The sauce as the recipe is written is slightly runny and I would not recommend using it as a cake filling. You could try lowering the water or increasing the cornstarch to make it thicker.
But you know what? The leftovers, I just ate with a spoon. 😋 There are countless different ways to experiment with this sauce.
Other Raspberry Recipes
Easy Raspberry Sauce
Use frozen or fresh raspberries to make this easy raspberry sauce. Perfect for cheesecakes, ice cream and pancakes!
Servings 10 servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Ingredients
- 12 ounces frozen unsweetened raspberries, divided about 2-2 ½ cups of raspberries
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together 1 ½ cups raspberries, sugar and water until the sugar is dissolved. Heat the mixture to boiling, stirring often. 12 ounces frozen unsweetened raspberries, divided, ¾ cup granulated sugar , ½ cup water
- In a small cup, combine the cornstarch and two tablespoons of water. Mix well. Pour this into the boiling raspberry mixture. Stir and boil over medium-low heat for 4 minutes or until the mixture has thickened a bit. 2 teaspoons cornstarch , 2 tablespoons water
- Remove the pan from the heat. Add the vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of butter and mix until the butter has completely melted. ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon salted butter
- Allow the mixture to cool for 15 minutes, then add the last of the raspberries and stir to mix. Cool to room temperature, then serve over whatever dessert you’d like!
Video
Notes
- Reduce the sugar. I’ve made this with ½ cup of sugar successfully.
- Add lemon. Lemon and raspberries go so well together. Use fresh lemon juice instead of water in the cornstarch slurry for a little bit of an acidic tang.
- Storage Instructions: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Can you freeze this sauce? Yes. This sauce freezes well. Store for up to 8 weeks in a freezer-safe container.
- Can I strain the seeds? Yes, if you’d like you can strain the raspberry seeds. If you want a completely smooth sauce, don’t worry about holding back raspberries to add in at the end. Add them all at the beginning, then strain out the seeds through a fine mesh sieve after you make the sauce.
- Makes 2 ¼ cups sauce.
- Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks.
Nutrition
Serving: 110g | Calories: 87kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 11mg | Potassium: 51mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 8.9mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Hi! salted or unsalted butter? Thanks!
Have you ever canned it?
This was AMAZING. I wanted the sauce less chunky so I just added all the berries at once and was so excited licking the spoon I forgot the butter. Didn’t matter, its delicious. My husband and I were doing a happy dance and are in love. I make yogurt and this is going to be the new favorite choice of mix in!
Does the recipe use 1 1/2 cups or 2 1/2 c berries? It says a different amount in the ingredient list than the intriguing and instructions
Have you tried it over chicken?
Would I be able to strain out the seeds?
I made this delicious Raspberry Sauce this afternoon to serve along with orange-flavored panna cotta for dessert tonight. I’m having trouble keeping my spoon out of the sauce, it’s so good. I was a little skeptical about adding cornstarch to thicken it, but it worked out just fine. And the addition of the butter really makes the sauce very rich. I’m sure this sauce will be a gorgeous paring with the orange flavor of the panna cotta. Yum!
For the raspberry sauce can I use stevia instead of regular sugar. I’m diabetic. Thank you.
Hi, this sounds very good, do you know if this same recipe will work for blackberries or strawberries
I thought that the only way I enjoyed pancakes was with real maple syrup but then I tried your recipe and… Wow! … absolutely wonderful and truly easy to make. My compliments to the creator of this great recipe!
This looks great. Do you have instructions for canning it ?
looks really good and easy to make how long does it last? I have tons of raspberries from the garden and i want to do something that I can save for later. Thanks
Has anyone tried freezing the sauce? I’d love to send some of this awesome stuff to my dad, but we live 1800 miles apart.
Thanks!
We made this this morning to top some sweet crepes, tasted fantastic! We added blueberries to it as well just to mix things up a bit and it turned out great
Mouthwatering recipe!! It looks so perfect and delicious. I will surely try to make Raspberry sauce. Raspberries are my favorite! Thanks Julie for sharing this post 🙂