10 Ways to Use Strawberry Tops + Greens

Uses:

• Make strawberry vinaigrettes for salads. Just replace the vinegar called for with strawberry vinegar and enjoy a refreshing change!
• Make shrubs for cocktails.
• Add a little to your favorite seltzer water.

If you’ve hulled the strawberry (I use this handy strawberry huller), and have mostly green tops left, you can dry them, then add strawberry tops to green powder.

It is a great way to use dark leafy greens, but you can add your strawberry tops to the mix! Even if strawberry flesh is attached, it does not add much sweet flavor to affect the taste of the green powder in your savory meals!

Directions:

1. Top strawberries (I love using this strawberry huller to make things easier).
2. Place on dehydrator trays
3. Dry at 95°F/35°C until crunchy and breaks easily
4. Powder in a coffee grinder or bullet blender, or large blender.
5. Store.
6. Add a teaspoon or more to any savory meal, smoothies, etc.

Simple Strawberry Vinaigrette

This quick and easy vinaigrette will make summer salads lovely!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup strawberry-infused vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey if you prefer it a little on the sweeter side; adjust as you need.
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients into a bullet blender or blender until fully processed
2. Refrigerate until ready to use. Store in an airtight container for about a week.

Serve:

• Serve on a dark leafy green salad with strawberry pieces and shredded parmesan for some salty highlights;
• Use to create a fruit salad with berries, bananas, and orange slices;
• Marinade chicken;
• Use with pasta salad, olives, and feta cheese.

Strawberry Simple Syrup

Ingredients

• 3 Cups Strawberry Tops
• 1 Cup Water
• 1 Cup Sugar
• Lemon juice, optional

Directions:

1. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a saucepan on medium-high heat
2. Once boiling for five minutes or so, decrease the temperature to simmer
3. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice if desired to brighten flavor.
5. Strain through a fine mesh strainer or colander, making sure not to try to press out the juice as it can turn the syrup cloudy.
6. Allow the syrup to cool, then store it in an airtight container in the fridge for a week or so.

Uses:

• Flavor tea
• Use in lemonade to make Strawberry lemonade
• Use to make cocktails
• Make strawberry milk

Strawberry Top Tea

While you can toss the tops of strawberries into your favorite tea to steep, adding some interesting ingredients will elevate it to something extra special!

If you haven’t tried it, Harney and Sons Parish tea is my new favorite!

Strawberry Extract

Instructions

1. Rinse and pat dry strawberries.
2. Discard the stems.
3. Slice the strawberries.
4. Place strawberries in quart size canning jar. 
5. Fill jar with Everclear (faster extract) or vodka, ensuring the strawberries are fully submerged.
6. Cover with a canning jar lid and ring.
7. Allow strawberries to extract for 3 months; store longer for a stronger flavor
8. Strain the remaining strawberries (they will be mushy) and compost.
9. Pour into your favorite jars to store or give away!

Infused Water

You can add extra flavor, vitamins, and minerals by putting a few strawberry tops into water. If you use dried strawberry tops, give them plenty of time to infuse your water as they take a little while to rehydrate and release their goodness!

Strawberry Top Ice Cubes

Freeze them first, and have strawberry ice cubes to add to tea and water! As they defrost, they’ll infuse your drink with strawberry goodness!

You can remove the greens (and don’t forget to dry the strawberry greens for green powder!) and flash-freeze the strawberry tops. Then store in an airtight container in your freezer.

What is flash freezing?

Flash freezing is a way of individually freezing items so they don’t stick together when stored in the freezer. This stops fruits from freezing in one mass group.

1. Place strawberry tops in a single layer on a baking or cookie sheet.
2. Put the baking sheet into the freezer overnight.
3. Place strawberry tops into an airtight container and return them to the freezer.

Animals

Whether you have chickens, rabbits, or guinea pigs, these are a good treat. We dehydrate the tops to give to our rabbit but do so sparingly. We also give her fresh, but she enjoys the dehydrated ones when we don’t have fresh ones.

If you feed your pet dehydrated foods, do it in small quantities (or as prescribed for the particular animal and make water readily available).