Refreshing and bubbly, Homemade Strawberry Soda is flavored with a quick and easy syrup boasting just three simple ingredients. This homemade strawberry syrup is also delightful over ice cream, pound cake, waffles, and more! 
We don’t really keep soft drinks stocked in the refrigerator at my house, but sometimes it’s nice to have a little something to drink that’s sweet, refreshing, and bubbly. On those occasions, I like to grab a bag of frozen strawberries out of the freezer and whip up a batch of strawberry syrup. With just strawberries, water, and sugar, it’s a snap to make, and mixed with chilled seltzer, it tastes like summer in a glass. Homemade Strawberry Soda is yummy with or without ice, and I even like adding a squeeze of fresh lime juice to mine for an extra layer of flavor.
On top of all of that, can we talk for a minute about how gorgeous this color is?! I love that you can achieve this beautiful shade of red with all-natural strawberries and no food coloring! Now this carbonated drink doesn’t shy away from the sugar, so it’s certainly not health food, but at least it’s not full of preservatives, additives, and artificial dye. It’s a treat that I don’t mind allowing my kids every once in awhile…and I rather enjoy it, too!
Before I sign off, no conversation about soda would be complete until we discuss what people residing in different parts of the country call it! Do you refer to a sweet, carbonated beverage as soda, pop, soda pop, a soft drink, or something else? In my part of Texas, we actually refer to any soft drink as coke.
“Would you like a coke?”
“Sure.”
“What kind?”
“I’ll take a Sprite.”
Weird, I know. But despite my Texas-speak, it wouldn’t have made sense to call this recipe Strawberry Coke when it doesn’t actually involve cola, so soda it is… 😉
If the weather is already warm and sunny where you reside, I hope you’ll kick up your feet on the patio one day soon with a glass of frosty Homemade Strawberry Soda. And if your front lawn is still blanketed in snow…well, make yourself a glass of this soda anyway and maybe spring will finally get the hint!
Homemade Strawberry Syrup {for} Strawberry Soda
Ingredients
- 16 ounces frozen strawberries thawed
- Water
- 1 cup sugar
- Seltzer chilled
Instructions
To make Strawberry Syrup:
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With a slotted spoon, scoop thawed strawberries into a medium pot and mash with a potato masher or fork. Pour reserved juices from thawed strawberries into a measuring cup. Add enough water on top of strawberry juice to equal 1 1/2 cups of total liquid. Add liquid to pot with strawberries and turn heat to high. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
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Set a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl and strain strawberry juice into bowl, pressing on strawberry pulp to ensure that all juice has been extracted. Discard pulp. Return juice to pot, stir in sugar until dissolved, and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and skimming off any foam that may appear.
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Remove syrup from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.
To make Strawberry Soda:
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Measure one part chilled strawberry syrup to two parts chilled seltzer. Taste and increase syrup or seltzer, depending on your preferences. Pour over ice or serve as-is.
Recipe Notes
You may use fresh, very ripe strawberries instead of frozen strawberries if that's what you have available. Just hull and dice them before mashing, and use a full 1 1/2 cups of water in which to cook them.
If desired, strawberry soda may be enhanced with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.
Strawberry syrup can also be used over vanilla ice cream, pound cake, waffles, pancakes, French toast, etc.
Adapted from AllRecipes.com