This easy and simple raspberry sauce or raspberry coulis is made with just 3 ingredients - fresh or frozen raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice. It's the perfect topping for cheesecake, ice cream, cakes, and other desserts!
This 5-minute raspberry sauce or raspberry coulis is a bright, fruity sauce made of raspberries cooked with sugar and lemon juice. The raspberry seeds are then strained using a fine mesh sieve resulting in a beautiful bright red sauce that's full of raspberry flavor.
This sauce is excellent on any dessert, such as cakes, ice cream, and pancakes. It's especially delightful on cheesecake as shown in my recipe for raspberry cheesecake.
As raspberries are naturally tart, a bit of sugar is needed to balance out the flavors. You can use any sweetener you'd like, but plain white sugar lets the intense raspberry flavor shine. A squeeze of lemon juice adds extra brightness to this sauce.
Ingredients for Raspberry Sauce
Step by Step Photos
- Add the raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a saucepan and heat over high heat to bring to a boil.
- Using the back of a spoon or a masher, break apart the raspberries to release their juices. Once it boils, turn off the heat. Taste and adjust with more sugar or lemon juice if needed.
- Strain the raspberry seeds using a fine mesh sieve or strainer to get a smooth, silky sauce. Be sure to firmly press all the raspberry pulp through because that is what thickens the sauce. Note: Some recipes call for pureeing the sauce first, but I find that unnecessary, making it harder to strain the seeds out since they become smaller in size.
- You should end up with a thick and smooth sauce that can be used warm or cold. If you'd like a thinner sauce, I recommend adding just a teaspoon of water at a time. Keep in mind the sauce thickens as it cools.
To check the viscosity, drizzle a bit onto a cool plate and run a spoon through it. You should be able to see the trail left behind by the spoon as pictured above. Note: I did not add any water to the sauce.
Serve this homemade raspberry sauce or coulis with cheesecake, sponge cake, chiffon cake, roll cake, panna cotta, ice cream, waffles, pancakes, pound cake, angel food cake, and more!
More dessert sauces:
Recipe
Easy Raspberry Sauce
☑ Ingredients
- 12 oz raspberries - fresh or frozen; about 3⅓ cups
- 4 to 6 tablespoons granulated sugar - adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice - or more
Instructions
- Heat: Add the raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice to a saucepan and bring to a boil while mashing the raspberries to break them down. Once it boils, turn off the heat and adjust with more sugar or lemon juice as needed.12 oz raspberries, 4 to 6 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- Strain: Strain the raspberry sauce through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Press firmly to extract all of the pulp as that is what thickens the sauce. If desired, thin with a teaspoon of water at a time, keeping in mind the sauce thickens as it cools (the sauce in the photo was not thinned). See Note 1.
- Serve: Add to cheesecake, cakes, ice cream, or other desserts. Enjoy!
✎ Recipe Notes
- Straining: Some recipes call for pureeing the sauce first, but I find that unnecessary, making it harder to strain the seeds out since they become smaller in size. However, you can puree the sauce if you prefer.
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is an estimate, calculated using online tools.
Raspberry coulis is a sauce made from pureed or strained raspberries. All coulis are pureed or strained resulting in a smooth texture. Compotes on the other hand don't require straining or pureeing the fruit so they have a chunkier texture.
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