10 Ways to Use Strawberry Tops + Greens (2024)

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ByDarcy BaldwinUpdated

Never waste a strawberry top again! Strawberry tops are good for so many things like teas, powders, and more! And there’s no point in getting rid of the greens – they’re great, too!

10 Ways to Use Strawberry Tops + Greens (2)

Too often, when doing large or small strawberry preservation projects, we look at the tops as a nuisance and then toss them. Don’t!

Psst..don’t toss those cherry stems and pits, either!

Most people don’t even realize that the greens on strawberries are completely edible!

So whether you’re dehydrating strawberries, canning, or freezing them, you can save those tops for one of the following uses!

10 Ways to Use Strawberry Tops

So here are some ways to reduce the waste in your kitchen and use those tops of strawberries!

Strawberry-Infused Vinegar

While you can create fruit scrap vinegar from strawberry tops, this idea makes strawberry-infused vinegar easier. And it’s perfect for creating vinaigrettes, shrubs for co*cktails, putting into seltzer water for refreshing drinks, and more.

Instructions:

  1. Stuff a jar full of fresh strawberry tops.
  2. Fill the jar with white vinegar (you can also experiment and use rice wine vinegar, etc.)
  3. Place lid on jar.
  4. Put into the fridge for a few days to steep.

Uses:

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

Watch Me Make It

Green Powder

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.

Darcy’s Tip:

Instead of powdering, you can leave the tops dried as they are to give as treats to indoor animals like rabbits, or use to brew in hot tea.

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 co*cktails
  • 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!

Ingredients

  • 3-5 Strawberry Tops per cup; Use dry tops if you have dehydrated them; they will need a little more time to steep.
  • 1 teaspoon fresh herbs of your choice (mint, basil, lemon balm, etc.)
  • Water
  • Sweetener if desired

Directions

  1. Add five or more strawberry tops to a mug. A large mug needs more tops!
  2. Add a few leaves of fresh herb(s) of your choice.
  3. Pour boiling water into the mug.
  4. Steep for 5-10minutes.
  5. Add the sweetener of your choice.

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!

Strawberry Salsa

While this strawberry salsa recipe by Vitamix uses whole strawberries, you can save extra tops to help create this mix!

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).

Compost

Compost is not a waste of any food that we use unless you never use the compost and let it rot. It’s feeding the food that feeds us – the perfect recycling triangle!

More Strawberry for You!

Whether using strawberry powder, dehydrated strawberries, or pureed strawberries, these treats will make you happy!

10 Ways to Use Strawberry Tops + Greens (3)

Darcy Baldwin

Darcy Baldwin is the creator of The Purposeful Pantry. She is a Christ-follower and all-around geek who is passionate about teaching others dehydrating, freeze-drying, and other food preservation methods to stock their pantries well. Darcy is the author of .

10 Ways to Use Strawberry Tops + Greens (2024)

FAQs

10 Ways to Use Strawberry Tops + Greens? ›

My favorite way to use strawberry tops is infusing liquids, like water, vinegar, kombucha, and booze. Infuse water: Love that fancy, fruit-infused water at the spa? This is the easiest way to make it at home. Add the strawberry tops to a glass jar, cover with water, and let it sit for about an hour before sipping.

What to do with strawberry greens? ›

My favorite way to use strawberry tops is infusing liquids, like water, vinegar, kombucha, and booze. Infuse water: Love that fancy, fruit-infused water at the spa? This is the easiest way to make it at home. Add the strawberry tops to a glass jar, cover with water, and let it sit for about an hour before sipping.

What are strawberry leaves good for? ›

tl;dr. Most people throw away the leaves when they eat strawberries, but strawberry leaves aren't bad for you — they actually have a bunch of potential health benefits including improving heart health, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, boosting the immune system, and reducing blood sugar levels.

Can you eat the green top of strawberry? ›

Yes, you can eat the green tops of strawberries, although they are often not as palatable as the fruit itself. Some uses for strawberry tops include blending them into smoothies, infusing them into water for flavor, or using them to make strawberry-flavored vinegar or syrup.

How do you eat strawberry greens? ›

Strawberry leaves are completely edible and are high in antioxidants, vitamin C, calcium and iron. You can enjoy the green leaves in your salad or smoothies. My favorite way is to make a caffeine free iced tea. * I don't add any sweeteners, but that is up to you.

How to make tea from strawberry tops? ›

Grab a reusable tea bag or tea ball infuser. and place 3 to 4 strawberry tops inside. Once you boil and pour your hot water, let steep for about 5 minutes until it gets to a light. golden color.

How do you cook strawberry leaves? ›

Begin by taking the tops and placing them in a stockpot. Pour enough water to cover and turn the heat up until it reaches a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer for 10 or 15 minutes.

Can you make tea from strawberry leaves? ›

For one pot of tea, use ½ cup of fresh leaves or ¼ cup dried leaves in 2 cups of boiling water. Wild strawberry leaf tea has many uses: Drink it to treat diarrhea, dysentery, and hematuria, as well as for gravel and problems involving the urinary tract (Lust, 1972).

Do strawberry leaves have nutritional value? ›

“Strawberry leaves are full of vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, vitamin A, calcium, iron, and magnesium,” says Maeng. “These are all critical to incorporate into a well-balanced diet and can help boost your immune system.”

Can you boil strawberry leaves? ›

Once separated, combine your strawberry leaves with water and bring everything to a boil. Once it's boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and start your timer for 5 minutes. Don't overbrew your leaves!

Do strawberry leaves help with arthritis? ›

The leaves are also used to make medicine. People use strawberry for diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.

Can you eat strawberry mint leaves? ›

The stem, leaf and flowers of strawberry mint are edible. The flowers usually taste somewhat sweeter because they contain nectar. Strawberry mint is not the only fruit mint used in the kitchen.

What is the green top of a strawberry called? ›

The hull or calyx is the green leafy top of the strawberry, which is generally removed before cooking or serving.

What do strawberry leaves taste like? ›

Wild strawberry leaves have a mild, fruity flavor with fresh grassy, herbal notes and a mildly astringent finish.

Is strawberry good for stomach pain? ›

If you are wondering "what fruit to eat with stomachache?" then the answer includes: Banana; Butter; Papaya; Apple; Dragon fruit; Pomegranate; Guava, Strawberry... In fact, when you have stomach pain, you don't need to abstain too much because your body still needs enough nutrients for daily activities.

Can you eat strawberry spinach leaves? ›

Strawberry spinach is known for its edible leaves, berries, and roots. The leaves have a mild, earthy, and subtly bitter, spinach-like flavor and can be consumed in early or mature stages. When young, the leaves are typically incorporated into fresh preparations, including salads, sandwiches, and as a bed of greens.

How to prepare strawberry leaves? ›

For one pot of tea, use ½ cup of fresh leaves or ¼ cup dried leaves in 2 cups of boiling water.

How do you use wild strawberry leaves? ›

They can be turned into syrup, infused in vinegar or alcohol, made into jam, or frozen for later use. Strawberry leaf can be harvested any time between mid-spring when the leaves are fully developed and late summer when the leaves are still vibrant looking. They should be completely dried before using them in tea.

What can I do with red strawberry leaves? ›

If your strawberry leaves are turning red, they are likely dying. Some fungal infections can cause them to die. Other times, the leaves are just dying because they are old. Regardless, strawberry leaves turning red do not serve a helpful function for strawberry plants and should be removed and discarded.

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