Natural form

Ripe strawberries showing their characteristic heart shape, red color, and green calyx.

Establishes the defining visual identity of a strawberry — shape, color, surface texture, and attached calyx — so readers can recognize it at a glance.

Produce

Strawberry

Sweet, fragrant berries for desserts, salads, and snacking

Juicy and perfumed, strawberries crown a shortcake, brighten a salad, and macerate into a glossy compote. They're delicate — keep them dry, cold, and eat them quickly.

The strawberry is the bright herald of late spring and summer — fragrant, juicy, and perfumed, equally at home crowning a shortcake, sliced over cream, simmered into jam, or eaten warm straight from the patch. Fragile and quick to spoil, it rewards buying ripe (strawberries don't sweeten after picking) and eating fast. The best ones smell like strawberries from across the kitchen; the worst are watery, hollow, and pale.

Measured in: g
Storage: Refrigerate
Shelf life: 5 days

Find it in

Produce

Types & varieties

June-bearing

Big summer crop in one flush; the classic shortcake berry

Everbearing / day-neutral

Smaller crops spread across the season

Wild / Alpine (fraises des bois)

Tiny, intensely fragrant, prized

How to choose

Because strawberries don't ripen after picking, color and smell are everything: want fully, deeply red berries (no white or green shoulders), plump and glossy, with fresh green caps, and a real strawberry fragrance. Check the bottom of the punnet for crushed, leaking, or moldy berries — one furry berry spreads fast. Size doesn't equal flavor; small can be sweetest.

How to store

Strawberries are highly perishable and hate moisture. Keep them dry and unwashed, in a single layer or loosely in a breathable container in the fridge, and use within a couple of days. Pick out any that start to soften or mold immediately so they don't infect the rest. Wash only right before eating.

Store dry and unwashed in the fridge
Remove any moldy berry at once
Wash just before eating, not before storing

How to prep and macerate

Rinse gently in cold water, then hull (remove the green cap and white core) with a paring knife or huller. To coax flavor from less-than-perfect berries, macerate: toss sliced strawberries with a little sugar (and a splash of balsamic, lemon, or liqueur) and let them sit — they release a glossy, sweet syrup. A pinch of black pepper or basil is a classic flavor lift.

Common uses

Strawberry shortcakeStrawberries and creamJam and preservesPavlova and tartsSmoothies and milkshakesSalads (with balsamic, basil, feta)Coulis/sauceDaiquiris

Tips & pitfalls

Buy fully red — strawberries won't get sweeter after picking
Store dry and unwashed; moisture rots them fast
Macerate with sugar (and balsamic) to draw out syrup and deepen flavor
A tiny bit of black pepper or basil makes them taste more like themselves
Freeze a glut on a tray, then bag, for smoothies and sauces

Nutrition

32kcal

Energy

134 kJ · per 100 g

Where the calories come from

Protein 7%Carbs 85%Fat 7%

Protein

0.7g

1% DV

Carbs

7.7g

3% DV

Fat

0.3g

0% DV

Fiber

7% DV

Sugars

4.9g

of which

Sodium

1mg

0% DV

Notable micronutrients

Vitamin C65% DV

Folate6% DV

Vitamin B63% DV

Magnesium3% DV

Potassium3% DV

Vitamin E2% DV

Source · USDA FoodData Central · Strawberries, raw

View on FDC →

In the shops

Matched grocery products

Strawberry
440 g · Mercadona
€2.09
Strawberry
1.3 kg · Mercadona
€3.90
La Collita Strawberry Terrine 500 g
LA COLLITA · kg · Bonpreu
€2.59

Good to know

Peak season: Late spring through summer (local season is best)
Flavor: Sweet-tart, fragrant, juicy; doesn't ripen after picking
Origin: Modern berry is an 18th-century cross of American species
Nutrition: ~32 kcal/100g; very high vitamin C, manganese, antioxidants
How to buy: Fully red, fragrant, plump, glossy; fresh green caps; no white shoulders or mold

Substitutes