3 Recipes to Make the Most of Cheap Strawberries

Inflation may have driven up the price of pretty much everything, but one thing you can grab a bargain on right now is strawberries. The little red fruits are sprouting aplenty up in Queensland right now and to help you take advantage of the cheap punnets, we’ve gathered some great strawberry recipes.

Queensland Strawberries and Em Swanston have joined together to provide these recipes that will inspire you to use up every last berry.

Strawberry recipes to use while the fruit is cheap

All recipes are provided by Queensland Strawberries.

Strawberry Banana Bread Recipe

Serves 10

What you’ll need:

For the Banana bread:

• 2 eggs
• 2 large (over-ripe) bananas = 1 cup mashed
• 1 Tbsp vanilla
• ¼ cup almond butter
• ½ cup maple syrup – I use sugar-free monk fruit maple
• 2 cups almond flour
• 1 tsp coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda

For the strawberry swirl:

• 1 cup of strawberries, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon of monk fruit sweetener (or granulated sweetener of choice)
• A squeeze of lemon juice (about ½ a tsp)

Directions for strawberry banana bread:

For the strawberry sauce:

1. Add the strawberries, sweetener and lemon juice to a medium-size saucepan over high heat.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil, once boiling use a potato masher or fork to break down and mash the berries. Continue to cook for 5-8 minutes or until the sauce has reduced and thickened by ⅓.
3. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
4. If you want a smoother strawberry sauce you can pour it through a fine mesh strainer and use a spoon to press the liquid through, this will remove the seeds & make a nice, smooth, jammy sauce.

For the banana bread:

1. Preheat your oven to 175°C and a baking tray with baking/parchment paper and set aside.
2. Place eggs, banana, vanilla, maple syrup and almond butter into your blender or trusty ol’ food processor and blend until smooth, creamy and well combined.
3. You can just mash with a fork but I find the bread turns out lighter and smoother when you make it this way – 100% worth the washing up IMO but, #youdoyou
4. Add all remaining ingredients for your banana bread and stir to combine.
5. Pour ½ of your banana batter into a lined baking tray then dollop & spoon over your strawberry sauce. use a toothpick (or knife) to swirl the strawberry layer through the banana batter.
6. Top your strawberry swirl with the remaining banana batter and bake for 40-60 minutes until the top is golden and a toothpick has just a few crumbs attached when inserted into the middle.
7. If you feel like the top is browning too quickly just lightly cover with foil while it continues to bake.
8. Once cooked, set aside to cool in the tray for 10 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
9. Slice and devour!

Strawberry Jalapeno Salsa

Makes 2 cups

What you’ll need:

• 1 cup of strawberries, hulled and finely chopped
• 1 small red (Spanish) onion very finely chopped
• 1 green chilli pepper finely chopped – more or less to taste with or without seeds depending on how hot you like your salsa
• ¼ cup of coriander finely chopped
• A squeeze of fresh lime juice – approx 1 tsp
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions for the strawberry jalapeno salsa:

1. Place all ingredients into a small bowl and stir to combine.
2. If you are making this ahead of time, don’t add the lime juice until a few minutes before you are ready to serve as the acidity from the lime can cause the strawberries to break down a little after a few hours.
3. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
4. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge until you’re ready to serve/
5. Enjoy with your favourite salad, or with some grilled chicken, fish, steak, tempeh, tofu, or simply straight up by the spoonful or grab a big ol’ bag of your favourite chips and go to town.

Strawberry Shortcake Shake

Makes 1 Shake

What you’ll need:

• ½ cup of vanilla yogurt
• ½ cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or milk of choice ) – more or less to desired consistency
• 1 cup of strawberries – I used frozen
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon of almond butter
• ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
• A pinch of pink salt
• ¼-½ cup of ice – more or less to desired consistency

Optional add-ons:

• 1 Tablespoon of melted dark chocolate to swirl your glass – pure happiness
• 1 scoop protein powder for extra protein (I used vanilla )
• Cookies, crumbled – for serving, technically optional but so, so good

Directions for strawberry shortcake shake:

1. Place all smoothie ingredients into your blender and process until smooth, creamy and well combined.
2. Pour into a chilled glass or mason jar then top with toppings of choice.

Once you’re done with strawberries check out our guide to all the other fruits in season right now.