Honey and strawberries make a pretty divine pairing over yogurt or ice cream. If you give them a bit of time together to, shall we say, get to know each other, they’ll ferment into a probiotic treat. Honey fermented strawberries can be spooned onto just about anything from baked goods to fresh yogurt.
With a bit of mashing, fermented berries are just like a healthier version of jam.
Most recipes for fermented fruits will tell you never to use strawberries. According to Nourishing Traditions, they’re too acidic. Other sources say that they’re too soft. Hogwash!
You can ferment pineapple chunks just fine, so I won’t buy that they’re too acidic. They may be too soft, but that’s more of an argument to use smaller, homegrown berries or better yet, a few wild foraged strawberries.
Starter Cultures for Fermented Berries
Most raw fruits and vegetables don’t need a starter culture. You can make sauerkraut with just cabbage, salt and water. No problem.
Fruits are different. They do have naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria on their skin, but they also have plenty of yeast.
Without a starter culture, the yeasts will get the upper hand and you’ll have a bubbly alcoholic ferment on your hands. There’s nothing wrong with that, and I make plenty of small-batch meads.
But…if you’re trying to make a lacto-ferment, you need to give the lactic acid bacteria a little bit of a head start.
The easiest way to do that is with whey. Just 2 tablespoons of fresh whey from a tub of yogurt is plenty to innoculate a pint of fermented strawberries.
If you’re avoiding dairy, you can also use probiotic capsules. Just break open the capsule and mix it with a bit of water first so that it doesn’t clump.
Adding fresh whey to create lacto-fermented strawberries.
How to Ferment Strawberries
The basic instructions for fermenting berries say to mix the berries with honey, whey, water, and a bit of salt. Fill a pint mason jar with strawberries, leaving at least 1 inch of headspace.
To make a brine, mix 2 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp of whey (or 1 probiotic capsule), 1/4 tsp salt, and roughly 3 tbsp of water. Pour the starter culture over your berries, and top with additional water to completely cover the strawberries.
If you’re an avid fermenter, you likely have a mason jar fermentation kit. If you don’t have one, but you plan on doing a lot of fermenting, they’re a great investment.
Strawberries only need a very short ferment, so you can get away with just covering them with a towel on the countertop. Strawberries only need 1-2 days to ferment at room temperature before they can go in the refrigerator. After about 2 days, they can start to become a bit alcoholic and they’ll lose their sweetness as more of the sugars are consumed.
It is important that the berries stay submerged in the liquid, so use a fermentation weight. They come included in most mason jar fermentation kits, or you can try weighing the berries down with a ziplock bag filled with water.
It’s much less elegant, but it gets the job done.
Fermenting Berries for Preservation
This quick ferment with water and whey won’t keep long. I’ve kept them in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks without issue, but this ferment isn’t made for preserving.
There’s another Finnish technique that they discuss in Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning that can be used for long-term preservation. That technique has you submerge the fruit in honey. Nothing else, just fresh honey.
It lacto-ferments, but if kept in a cold cellar or back closet, it should keep berries fresh and mildly fermented all winter long. I’m hoping to try this technique with blueberries this year.
You can also make alcoholic berry ferment, like this berry mead. That will preserve the berries for years if done properly.
Fermented Strawberries
This quick lacto-ferment adds probiotics to berries, and leaves them sweet and tangy, perfect for topping yogurt or baked goods.
Ingredients
- 2 cups strawberries
- 2 tbsp whey, (or 1 probiotic capsule dissolved in water)
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp water, (approximate, plus more to fill)
Instructions
- Fill a wide mouth mason jar with strawberries, leaving 1-inch headspace
- Combine all other ingredients and mix for a fermentation liquid.
- Pour the liquid over the berries, and top with additional water to cover.
- Add a fermentation weight to keep the berries submerged.
- Close with a mason jar fermentation kit (if you have one) or cover with a towel.
- Ferment at room temperature for 24 to 48 hours. Once the ferment is complete, close the jar with a standard mason jar lid and store in the refrigerator. Strain to use, or use in the brine.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1 gramsAmount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g
Fermentation Recipes
Looking for more fermentation recipes?
- Mesophilic Yogurt: Making Yogurt at Room Temperature
- How to Make Kvass
- How to Make Sauerkraut
- Lacto-Fermented Pickles
- How to Make Fermented Hot Sauce
Sarah
Would a ginger bug work instead of a probiotic capsule or whey?
Ashley Adamant
I’ve never made a ginger bug, so I had to do a bit of research. The internet tells me that a ginger bug is a lactic acid bacteria culture from the ginger, so that’d be perfect. As far as I can tell, a ginger bug is a good starter option for this.
Kristine
Can I use thawed frozen strawberries? Also would this recipe be good for pineapple chunks? And making the fruit into cultured fruit leather? Thanks!
Ashley Adamant
Yes, thawed frozen strawberries would work fine, though they’ll likely be mushier when it’s finished. If you’re making cultured fruit leather and mashing them up any way that’d work great. Yes, you can use just about any fruit in this recipe, including pineapple chunks, but the time to completion may change depending on the fruit. I’d say just keep an eye on it if you try pineapple because it may take a different amount of time to culture.
Sarah
If mashed would this work for jam? How’s long might it last?
Ashley Adamant
Mashed fruit would work fine for this, as would previously frozen and then thawed fruit. It’ll be more like jam obviously, but really tasty. How long it lasts depends on the storage conditions. I’d get it into the refrigerator quickly after the initial ferment so it doesn’t start alcoholic fermentation, but in the fridge, it should last quite a long time. I’ve never tested it, so I can’t say exactly, but much longer than fresh fruit.
Michele Michener
I would like to know what to do with the strawberries once they are fermented. Can I bake them into a quick bread?
Ashley Adamant
You can do just about anything you’d like with them. Bake them into quick bread is a good option, but will remove the probiotic parts (in the cooking). We mostly eat them on yogurt, or mash them into an uncooked jam, or mix them into cereal.
Monica
I made these and had them over ice cream. So yummy. The leftover syrup/brine was even better than the berries. I mixed it with sparkling water and a bit of cider vinegar for a strawberry shrub mocktail. Just an idea for those of you going “sounds cool, but else do I DO with it?”
Admin
Yum, thanks for the tip! I’m so glad you liked it!
Pawan
Hey there! I am wondering if I can make this with mixed berries, and if it is possible to make with no honey as I am trying to reduce my sugar intake. Thank you!
Ashley Adamant
Yes, you could do it with mixed berries, and the honey is optional since the fruit have their own natural sugars. Enjoy!
Jess
Many thanks for the recipe! I’m trying it out on a little jar of strawberries with whey from a batch of raw milk clabber I made recently. Oddly, a white scum has begun to form on top of the brine. Has this ever happened to your berries? I’m pretty sure it’s due to the LABs, not any kind of mold, but I was curious if you had experienced anything similar.
Administrator
My guess would be kahm yeast. You can skim it off the top or just stir it in.
Carolyn
Can I use whey powder instead of whey? I live alone so don’t need as much as others so have less.
Administrator
Whey powder should work just fine.
MaryLou Dennis
I’ve been fermenting other fruits and vegetables and even some Meats. Would some of the brine from my blueberries work to jumpstart the fermenting in the strawberries? It was made with salt and water over the blueberries that have been fermenting for a couple weeks or more. I’ve already been eating them because they have fermented and they are delicious. So I was wondering if the brine that the blueberries are sitting in would work in place of whey? And when you say that whey powder would work, are you talking about the whey protein powder that I buy to add to drinks? I do have some of that
Administrator
The brine from your blueberries should work fine for this. If you are using that you shouldn’t need to add the whey also. The whey powder should be fine as long as it is just whey and doesn’t have other additives in it.
Jennifer
I read that I can do this ferment without whey to make a strawberry topping? Will the taste still be the same if I do not add whey? Is this lactic acid ferment or acetic acid ferment?
Administrator
I am not entirely sure exactly how different it would taste if you use something different than the whey. This is a lacto-ferment so anything with lactic acid bacteria will work.