I’ll bet you are thinking, “What the heck kind of homemade strawberry syrup can she be making here?” But stick with me, I know you will adore this recipe. It’s cheap, easy, delicious, needs no cooking, and it’s made from cast-off strawberry tops that would normally go into the trash or compost heap! Sound good? Heck yeah!
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I’ve been known to share low waste tips. What can I say, I’m a trash-to-treasure kind of girl. Most people consider strawberry stems and tops to be trash, but I love making this homemade strawberry syrup treasure out of them!
Homemade Strawberry Syrup from the Tops
Are Strawberry Stems Edible?
There is some controversy about whether or not strawberry stems are edible. According to this article on SpoonUniversity.com, they are!
There are some that would even go as far to say that they are actually healthy helpers of arthritis pain. You can decide based on your own research whether you want to use tops or whole fruit for this strawberry syrup recipe.
Whatever you decide, choosing organic strawberries (or tops) for this strawberry syrup is prudent due to the pesticide load in non-organic.
Homemade Strawberry Syrup
Ingredients
- 2 quarts of strawberry tops from organic strawberries or 1 quart organic strawberries
- 1/2-1 cup sugar granulated
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice or juice from half a lemon
Instructions
- In a bowl combine strawberry tops, sugar and lemon juice.
- Stir around to incorporate the sugar and lemon juice evenly with the strawberries.
- Cover and allow to macerate in the refrigerator until the next morning.
- Add all of the contents in the bowl to your blender.
- Blend everything up, then put it all through a metal sieve to strain.
- Use a silicone spatula to scrape the inside of the sieve, allowing the juice to run through the small holes. (You may need to scrap the outside of the sieve to get all of the strawberry goodness into your bowl.)
- Once all of the juice has drained and all you have left is a lump of ground stems and pulp, give it to the chickens (remember that there is likely still some sugar left, so if your chickens have had a sugary treat already, just add the waste to your compost pile).
Notes
Want more low waste tips?
banana peel fertilizer (banana peels)
perfect homemade croutons (stale bread)
using all of the harvest in creative ways (carrots, mint, other kitchen scraps)
You’ll love being able to get more use out of the things that would have otherwise been thrown away, and likely, it will jog your thinking on how to do it with more fruits and veggies.
This homemade strawberry syrup gives strawberry tops one more stop along the way before compost pile. Making this recipe will make you feel like a domestic farm goddess!
Wonderful! Thanks so much!
You are so welcome, LSM! Glad you can use the recipe!
Thanks for sharing this I was hoping you would.
I’m a strawberry and raspberry nut; this is going to be fantastic over waffles.
You are welcome, Carole! It’s such an easy recipe and tastes great when added to pretty much anything that tastes good with a strawberry compliment. Enjoy!
What a great use for the strawberry tops! I always feel bad for throwing them out. Thanks for this awesome recipe. 🙂
I know that feeling! I’m glad you could use the recipe, Kelsey–thanks for visiting!
This is a great way to use every part of your food. Never thought of using the strawberries tops this way. thanks for sharing. Visiting from Wildcrafting Wednesdays.
Thanks Marla! This is truly the best strawberry syrup I’ve tasted!
What a great idea and a great way to minimize waste. Thanks for sharing at the Weekend Blog Hop (myflagstaffhome.com).
Jennifer
I agree, Jennifer. It’s one of the things that makes me feel so victorious in the kitchen! 😀
What a great resourceful recipe. Thanks for sharing at the Recipe Swap.
My pleasure, Kathy, thank you for the opportunity!
Oh, wow! How very clever! I’d like to feature this tomorrow at Tuesdays with a Twist! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures
Thanks Marci, I’ll stop by! 😀
Once again you’ve got me thinking about using leftovers in a new way! My mind is spinning, this would work on peaches, pears or apples. I guess I better get cooking…Thanks for stopping by Front Porch Friday, we’re featuring your post this week. – Shelle
There are just SO many things we can do with our scraps, Shelle! A friend just told me about “peach pit jelly” which is made from, you guessed it–peach pits (probably the non-freestone variety that some of the fruit clings to). I LOVE finding ways to stretch food and make more from it, it’s a challenge for me. Apples scraps can be used to make apple cider vinegar, and I’ll bet you can probably squeeze some pear juice from your pear scraps as well, maybe to make a jelly or something like that! So many options! Thank you so much for featuring my post, I’m so honored. 🙂
I compost 90 o/o. Reading your stuff makes it feel like a sin. I am going to restructure some things to get that feeling off me. Thanks for sharing. You are a new hate way for me THANKS.
Oh my, don’t feel that way! Not a sin at all to compost your stuff! This is just another way to use it. 🙂
Thanks for sharing at Our Simple Homestead Hop!
This was my featured post this week 🙂
Thanks so much, Sandra! 🙂
This is excellent Kristi! My seventh sense (the frugal sense) was telling me there had to be something to do with the precious strawberry tops. Have you ever tried it with honey I wonder?
I would think that would work fine, JES, but I’ve never tried it. I’ll bet it would be fantastic!
Can this be canned?
I would assume that you could, but you would need to check with someone who understands the science of canning to know for sure. I usually freeze this until I’m ready to use it.