Last Updated on March 4, 2022
Are you looking to sweeten strawberries without sugar? Let us give you some tips and tricks to sweeten them using other ingredients. In fact, there is good news! Many of these ingredients you may have handy!
As we know, strawberries lack sweetness, and certainly, the simplest way to sweeten them would be to put them in regular, granulated sugar. However, many people are trying to reduce sugar in their diet.
Fortunately, a variety of healthy options can be used to sweeten strawberries, such as using natural sweetener techniques, or adding sweeteners and serving them with other sweet fruits in a variety of combinations.
Let us show you the way!
Sweet, Sweet Strawberries
The wild strawberry has been known since prehistoric times and was consumed by Greeks and Romans. Currently, they can be found all year round thanks to greenhouse crops, but seasonal strawberries, raised in the most natural way possible, are always preferable.
Strawberries are high in fiber and contain very little sugar, they have 1g of sugar in 1 medium-sized strawberry. They’re also a good source of vitamin C and K.
Analyzing its nutritional values, for every 100 grams of strawberries we have:
- Calories: 40 kcal
- Protein: 0.7 g
- Fat: 0,5 g
- Carbohydrates: 7 g
- Fiber: 2.2 g
Another important fact is, that in 200 g of strawberries, there is 17% iron and 9% magnesium. It also provides potassium, calcium, phosphorus, manganese, copper, and silicon.
Strawberries varieties
There are more than 20 varieties around the world, here you have some of them:
- Albion
- Allstar
- Alpine
- Aroma
- Camino Real
- Diamante
- Camarosa
- Hood
- Jewel
- Northeaster
- Quinault
- Rosa Linda
- Garden – the most common one in America.
- Sweet Charlie – it has a high sugar ratio, a very distinct sweet taste.
How to Make Sweet Strawberries?
The quickest and easiest path to sweeter chopped or sliced fresh strawberries is stirring them with a spoonful of sugar, then let them sit for 10 minutes. On the other hand, with frozen strawberries the process is a little different due to when they defrost, their consistency is already soft.
If you put fresh strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle some sugar, in a few minutes the strawberries will release their juice. This is called osmosis, which is the movement of liquid from the strawberry interior. This process is also called Maceration, which helps in conservation -shelf life-.
Maceration with fruit can also be made with liquor or balsamic vinegar. But in this case, we are using sugar.
Sweeten strawberries with sugar
Sugar enhances the flavor of many fruits, but it doesn’t add any nutrients. Adding sugar to strawberries makes them water. The result is a syrupy, delicious, but not cloying sauce.
The rule of this is to mix 1/4 cup of sugar for 10 ounces of sliced strawberries. If you’re using frozen strawberries, you will need 1/2 cup of sugar per 250 grams of berries.
Sweeten strawberries without sugar
Sweeten strawberries without sugar? Don’t worry, you may have a few doubts about this, but let us walk you through it.
Sweetener #1: Powdered sugar
Another way is to use powdered sugar. In a bowl, we put some sliced strawberries and one teaspoon of powdered sugar, depending on the sweetness preferred. You can use them as a topping now to garnish any dessert, or eat them straight up!
Sweetener #2: stevia
Can we actually macerate strawberries with stevia? The answer is yes! Put a jar of sliced strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle them with 1/4 cup of stevia extract.
Your berries will turn into a milky white color at first, but this is part of the process, this milky appearance will go away as the strawberries macerate.
Sweetener #3: Dates and nuts
Combine strawberries with dried fruits and nuts to sweeten and improve their flavor. Dates are an exceptionally sweet natural sweetener that enhances the sweetness of strawberries. It is important that the dried fruit is natural, not treated with sulfates.
Sweetener #3: Processed sweeteners
If you want to use them as an alternative to sugar, the recommended ones are:
- Saccharine. Can be used in cooking but at high concentrations causes a bitter aftertaste.
- Aspartame. At high temperatures, over 100 degrees Celsius, it can give off metallic flavors.
- Cyclamate. Resists high temperatures. It’s usually mixed with saccharine.
- Acesulfame K. Is a stable sweetener at high temperatures.
- Neotame, E-961. It’s moderately stable to heat.
Sweetener #4: Sweet vegetables
Sweet potato, carrot, beets, corn, carob, licorice, rice, sweet onion, roasted or cooked, intensifies its sweet taste.
You can choose naturally sourced sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, agave syrup, or barley malt too.
Sugar Facts we Need to Know About
We are currently witnessing a love-hate relationship in reference to sugar. We already know that, like everything, excesses are the ones to avoid. But many times we become blind when consuming it.
When we are told not to abuse sugar or that the maximum amount recommended throughout the day is 25g, and we learned that already a single can of soda has 40g… there we do blame ourselves.
Many people are not used to the authentic and natural flavors of food, unfortunately. Because consuming a can of fruit in syrup that is already sweetened, tastes “better”. So, we should start with appreciating food as it is, as well as its appearance, color, aroma, smell, taste, texture, and roughness.
How do we sweeten without adding sugar then? There are a lot of natural or artificial sweeteners, yes, but we are only giving our body what he asks us by using a different format. So we end up falling into the same mistakes; excesses.
So if you plan to sweeten your fruit with something other than sugar, always choose natural products and avoid falling into excesses.
Let’s re-educate our palate!
In Conclusion
In this post, we’ve gathered relevant information for you, about strawberries and sugar, as well as the mixture of these two. As well as some ideas of how we can make strawberries sweet in different ways. Go ahead and try them all to compare!
And don’t forget to preserve the naturally sweet taste of strawberries by washing them well just before serving!
Read more about How To Tell If A Strawberry Is Bad
