Homemade blueberry sauce is the perfect topping for pancakes, cheesecake or ice cream. You can make it with fresh or frozen berries, and it comes together in under 15 minutes. Sweet & juicy – this fresh blueberry sauce recipe will transform any dessert.
This easy homemade blueberry sauce is the perfect topping for just about anything. It transforms everyday pancakes into a restaurant-worthy fare, or a simple (even store bought) cheesecake into a complete showstopper.
It’s so much better than just topping your dessert with fresh blueberries. It’s juicier, sweeter, and the liquidy parts can drizzle into every little nook and cranny of your waffles or ice cream sundae.
How to Make Homemade Blueberry Sauce
To make the sauce, you only need a few ingredients:
- Blueberries
- Lemon juice
- Sugar
- Water
- and cornstarch
I love using a little lemon juice because it adds just a hint of tartness that pairs perfectly with the sweet berries. If you prefer you could use orange juice instead, or even substitute it for water. But I love what the freshly squeezed lemon juice adds to the sauce.
The blueberries, lemon juice, sugar and some of the water all go into a medium saucepan over low heat to gently boil. Then add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to 2 tablespoons of water to dissolve it, and then stir it into the blueberry mixture.
The blueberries will start to soften and the skin will pierce as the sauce thickens. The longer you boil the sauce, the more it will thicken and the less the berries will hold their shape.
I like to serve blueberry syrup/sauce warm over pancakes, waffles or ice cream. Or let it cool and top on cheesecake. As the sauce cools it’ll thicken even more. Below is where I made a batch of this blueberry sauce with field blueberries and topped it on lemon cheesecake. It was divine to say the least.
Now for some questions:
Can I use frozen berries? Yes – absolutely. It may take a bit longer to boil down because they’ll have more liquid due to freezing.
Can I use fresh berries? Yup, yup.
Can I make blueberry sauce without cornstarch? Yes, but it won’t be as thick.
How can I thicken blueberry sauce without cornstarch?
- boil it down for longer
- add a little less water (¼ cup instead of ⅓)
- add a little more sugar (1 or 2 extra tablespoons)
What to put this blueberry sauce on:
- New York Cheesecake
- No Bake Cheesecake
- Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes
- Ultimate French Toast
- French Toast Casserole
Blueberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 cups blueberries , fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Add the blueberries, lemon juice, sugar and ⅓ cup water to medium saucepan over low-medium heat.
- Let the sugar dissolve and bring to a gentle boil to soften the berries while stirring occasionally.
- In a small cup dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of water.
- Add the cornstarch to the blueberry mixture and stir to dissolve.
- Gently boil for 5-10 minutes to thicken the sauce. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Remove from the heat and serve immediately over ice cream, pancakes or waffles. Or let cool and serve over cheesecake.
I’m a sucker for blueberries, so this homemade sauce is a must try for me, love the idea of adding the lemon juice to add a bit of tartness…great recipe
I just made half of this because I made a small 6 inch NY cheesecake. I also used frozen blueberries and it was absolutely delicious!! Cannot wait to have it later on the cheesecake, bookmarking this recipe! Thank you!
Can Stevia be used in place of sugar?
I think that would be fine with this recipe
I’ve made this recipe several times and my husband thought I purchased it from the store. It’s absolutely amazing! The only thing I change is I use 1 tbsp of lemon juice instead of 2.