5-Minute Strawberry Sorbet Recipe

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Sorbet is a creamy and sweet frozen dessert often served as a palate cleanser between meal courses or as an ice cold, refreshing summer dessert. Like ice cream, sorbet is normally churned, but unlike ice cream, sorbet doesn't typically contain dairy or eggs, making it a great solution for those with dietary restrictions or allergies. 

Making strawberry sorbet is one of a few creative frozen strawberry hacks that's perfect for summer. I wanted to make a quick version of sorbet that would be ready in 5 minutes, so I made some modifications to the classic procedure. First, the strawberries must be frozen, and I've added half a frozen banana to help make it creamier. Second, I've called for raw honey and granulated sugar, which are firmer than liquid sweeteners, making the sorbet less runny and cutting down on the time it would take to make simple syrup.

Finally, you'll need a high speed blender or food processor because frozen strawberries are quite hard. A regular blender will also need more water to get it moving, but too much dilution will make the sorbet too liquidy. If you don't have a high speed blender and find the sorbet too soft, just freeze it for a few hours before serving. Even with a high speed machine, work quickly and serve the sorbet immediately after making it. The final product should be soft but still scoopable, and not to mention fruity, sweet, and delightful on the palate — refreshing no matter the time of year.

For this recipe, you will first need frozen strawberries. You can choose to buy the strawberries already frozen or clean, hull, slice, and freeze fresh strawberries yourself (just avoid these mistakes people make when freezing fresh fruit). You'll also need frozen banana, raw honey, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and salt.

Place the frozen strawberries, frozen banana, honey, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, lemon juice, and salt in a blender.

Quickly pulse until blended smooth, adding 1 teaspoon of water at a time just to make the blender work. Add as little water as possible.

Taste and blend in 1 more tablespoon of granulated sugar for a sweeter flavor, if desired.

Transfer the sorbet into serving dishes with an ice cream scooper. Serve immediately.

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One way to customize sorbet is to switch up the sugar. For a 5-minute version, you could use all granulated sugar and leave out the raw honey. If you don't need it to be ready in 5 minutes, liquid sweeteners like simple sugar, agave syrup, liquid honey, and maple syrup are good alternatives. So is fruit juice, which can be used instead of water. To add complementary flavors to the strawberries, try adding ingredients like mint, basil, ginger, vanilla extract, lemon or orange zest, or amaretto. You can also play around with the flavor by changing the acid. Try balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, lime juice, or orange juice instead of lemon juice.

You can easily customize this recipe by using other kinds of fruit. The basic recipe will stay the same, but you can sub other fruits like pineapples, raspberries, mangoes, pears, peaches, plums, watermelons, cherries, or apples. Or, reduce the amount of strawberries and add a second fruit. Most fruits pair well with strawberries. Just make sure the fruit is frozen.

Citrus fruits like lemons, limes, and grapefruits (just use their juice) also make delicious sorbet, but you'll need to increase the amount of water so the sorbet isn't too tart. Citrus sorbet isn't a candidate for the 5-minute version because it's mostly liquid and will need to be frozen before it can be scooped.

Some people are confused about the difference between sorbet and sherbet. After all, they are similar desserts with similar names. Both desserts are also have names that are commonly mispronounced, perhaps adding to the confusion between the two. Names aside though, sorbet and sherbet are indeed distinct dessert entries, though like any frozen treat, there are also some similarities.

Sorbet, as we've seen in this 5-minute strawberry sorbet recipe, is a frozen dessert made with fruit and sugar. Those can be the only ingredients, or it can be enhanced with other ingredients like water, an acid, flavorings, herbs, spices, and so on. Sorbet is traditionally churned in an ice cream maker like ice cream. It has a smooth texture and a pronounced fruit flavor.

Sherbet is similar to sorbet in that it's a sweet, fruit-based frozen dessert, but unlike sorbet, it contains dairy. This could be milk or heavy cream. Sherbet also has a smooth texture, but it's a little creamier than sorbet. Sherbet could be likened to ice cream, but a less fatty and more fruity version. Sherbet is also made in an ice cream maker, but both sorbet and sherbet can be made without one by tweaking the ingredients and the process, like we see in this recipe.

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