Description
This Homemade Huckleberry Sauce is sweet, tart, and ready in about 15 minutes on the stovetop. Made with just five simple ingredients and fresh or frozen huckleberries, it’s perfect over pancakes, waffles, ice cream, cheesecake, or yogurt.
Ingredients
2 cups huckleberries (fresh or frozen)
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional, for a thicker sauce)
2 tablespoons cold water (optional, for the cornstarch slurry)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
1. If using fresh huckleberries, rinse and pick through them, discarding stems, leaves, and any shriveled berries. If using frozen, add them straight from the freezer without thawing.
2. Add the huckleberries, sugar, water, lemon juice, and salt to a 2-quart saucepan. Stir once to combine.
3. Heat over medium until juice pools around the berries and the mixture begins to bubble at the edges, about 3 to 4 minutes. Frozen berries may take 1 to 2 minutes longer.
4. Reduce to medium-low and simmer 10 to 12 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes. Around the 5-minute mark, press about one-third of the berries against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon. Leave the rest whole.
5. Test doneness by dragging a spoon through the center of the pot. The sauce should take a moment to flow back into the gap. If it rushes back immediately, simmer 2 to 3 minutes more.
6. Taste and adjust. Add up to 1 more tablespoon of sugar if the berries are especially tart.
7. For a thicker sauce, whisk the cornstarch into the cold water until smooth, then stir it into the pot and cook 2 minutes more, until glossy rather than cloudy. Skip this step for a thinner, syrupy sauce.
8. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, if using. Cool 30 minutes before serving warm. The sauce continues to thicken as it cools and reaches full thickness after about 2 hours in the refrigerator.
Notes
Total time includes 30 minutes of cooling. Active time at the stove is only about 20 minutes.
The sauce always looks thinner in the pan than it will be once cooled. Do not over-thicken based on how it looks hot.
Always whisk cornstarch into cold water before adding it to the pot, or it will clump.
Wild blueberries are the closest substitute. Regular blueberries work too, but reduce the sugar to ⅓ cup.
Fresh lemon juice makes a real difference over bottled.
This is a refrigerator sauce and has not been tested for safe home canning. Use a tested berry-canning procedure for shelf-stable jars.
Store in the refrigerator 1 to 2 weeks, or freeze up to 3 months. If freezing, consider skipping the cornstarch and thickening after thawing.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Sauces & Condiments
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 55 kcal
- Sugar: 13g
- Sodium: 25mg
- Fat: 0g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 14g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 0g
- Cholesterol: 0mg