The perfect summer drink for those fresh, ripe strawberries! This fermented strawberry soda is crisp & bubbly, strawberry sweet, and filled with nourishing, gut friendly probiotics!
A few weeks ago we visited our local strawberry U-Pick and loaded up 30 pounds of beautiful, bright red juicy strawberries!
It is always a bit of work tending to all those strawberries, but every year I never regret it. The girls always have a ball, and I can really tell they are starting to understand where their food is coming from.
Putting away about half of what we pick to the freezer to enjoy throughout the year is a big reward…and so is this amazing strawberry soda. It took about a week to ferment fully this year since it has been so cool, but it is always worth the wait.
This is a great recipe to use up strawberries that are starting to get too mushy to eat. You can also pull out strawberries that you have already frozen to make the soda. The hands on time is super minimal, and there is no need to have water kefir grains if you don’t have them. Just some simple whey dripped from some yogurt to culture it is all I use.
We don’t have “regular” soda around the house, so this is a big time treat for my girls – and I hope you can give it a try this summer. It sure puts a smile on the faces around here!
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Fermented Strawberry Soda
Ingredients
- 5 cups strawberries
- 1 cup organic pure cane sugar
- 7 cups of water
- 1/2 cup whey (Just scoop a container of plain whole yogurt into a dishtowel, tie it up onto a cupboard door and let it drip into a jar - the liquid dripped off is probiotic rich whey! The leftover yogurt in the towel is like Greek yogurt or cream cheese - yum! If you are dairy free you can use water kefir grains or a ginger bug.
Instructions
- Put the strawberries, sugar, and water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer about 15-20 minutes.
- Squish the strawberries in the pot (I use a potato masher), and pour the strawberry sugar water through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl.
- Add the whey to the strawberry sugar water in the bowl and stir. Pour the soda mixture into flip top bottles and set in a warm area of your home.
- After a couple days you can open a bottle to check for taste and let the fermented gasses out so it doesn't build up too much. Fermentation can take anywhere from 3 days to a week. Our home has been quite unseasonably cool this month so it took mine more like a week. Move the bottles to the fridge once they are ready.
For more nourishing drink ideas you can follow my Drinks board on Pintrest!
More real food recipes you might like:
Fermented Lemonade
73 Comments
How lovely. I wouldn’t have thought to try strawberry. Awesome.
I love this idea since sometimes I don’t catch my strawberries in time. I wonder what you can use instead of whey to ferment for us dairy free peeps.
Hi Anna – you can use water kefir grains or a ginger bug 🙂
how much of the ‘grains would you put? so not the kefir itsrlf, but the grains..right?
Chagit, you can see my post about how to do a second ferment on water kefir if you want to use that as your fermenting medium. https://www.raisinggenerationnourished.com/2016/06/water-kefir-basics/
I am loving these fermented drinks! I can’t wait to make this one. My Tiny Love is going to love this!
I LOVE the simplicity of this – definitely sharing and trying!
Thank you Dena!
Can you do this with honey in place of the sugar?
I’m wishing I had some yogurt or whey handy right now! I have berries that may be past using in the fridge.
Hi Ronica! I have not tried it with honey, but typically ferments thrive better using real sugar versus honey. The bugs in the whey need something to feed on and from everything I have read they just do better with sugar. The sugar content is much lower than what you add in there since the bugs eat it up 😉 You can let it ferment even further to make it less sweet.
Can you use something other than the flip top bottles? I do not have any of those on hand.
Hi Katherine! You can try a lidded Ball jar – you may not get all the fizz of having the flip top seal but it should still be good 🙂 If you end up liking it, you can find those flip top bottles at even regular grocery stores now 🙂
[…] Strawberry Soda […]
How many bottles does this typically fill?
Hi Ashley! You’ll get at least 4 of the bottles I linked in the post 🙂
Can less or no sugar be used…..the strawberries will be sweet enough without it.
Won’t the culture grow by feeding on the natural fruit sugars?
Hi Cathie 🙂 The probiotic bugs will not have enough to feed on with the fruit exclusively.
Ok, I’m sold! I totally expected this to be much harder, but it sounds so easy! I definitely want to give it a try! I am sure my kids will love it!
Awesome! Enjoy it!
[…] Fermented Strawberry Soda from Raising Generation Nourished {pictured} […]
Just wondering where you get the bottles from? Also, could coconut sugar be used instead of cane sugar?
Hi Rene! There is a link to the bottles in the post! Coconut sugar does not work as well at feeding the good bacteria as cane sugar which is why I tend to use cane sugar in my fermented drinks. Most of the sugar is eaten up by he probiotic bugs anyway 🙂
Oooh, this looks SO delicious, and healthy!
Looks so yummy I will have to try it. Question: would this work using rootbeer syrup instead of strawberries ?
Hi Norma – yep that should be ok.
I’m wondering why we need to use the flip-top bottle and can’t quite figure it out. Would mason jars work okay? What is it about the flip-top, is it the shape or the pressure from the lid, or…? Thanks for the recipe!!
Hi Rachel! I get a better fermented faster with the seal that a swing top bottle gives – you could use mason jars as well just might take a little longer to achieve the fizz. I hope that helps!
OMG. This sounds so good and refreshing! Plus, I LOVE that pic of your daughter. Gorgeous! Totally going to have to make this soon. May even add a splash of an adult beverage to spice it up. Thanks 🙂
This sounds like an amazing recipe! I’m looking forward to trying it. Can I use raw cane sugar?
Hi Geeta! Yep that would work but it will change the color to a more brown color from that kind of sugar.
[…] I spent the day freezing the majority of the strawberries, we made some strawberry water kefir (here is a lacto-fermented version), and we have my biggest bowl filled to the brim to enjoy eating fresh through the next week or […]
My first batch didn’t work and turned moldy. I’m wondering if it’s because the strained liquid needs to cool before adding the whey?
Couple of questions! I used whole fat plain Goats milk yogurt to get our whey because we’re off dairy as much as we can and find that goats milk is a little easier on us. Will that matter??? And how do you know when they’re ready? I made them on Sunday and we’ve had the AC on this week but not super cold. Thanks!!
Hi Bethany! Yep that should work! Give it a taste and see what you think – it is pretty forgiving 🙂
I just looked and my first batch is getting mold in it as well. I am thinking it was too hot when I added the whey?? Hated to throw it out.. :(. Any thoughts?
Hi Joan! I am sorry to hear that happened! I have never had a problem with molding so it is hard to say but it possibly could have had to do with that. Maybe it is also warmer where you live and it didn’t need to sit out as long? The jar really needs to be very clean as well. I hope that helps!
Can the bottles stay unrefrigerated in a cooler place? I want to make this but will be on vacation for a week and won’t be able to move to fridge.
I also just made a batch of lemonade soda. Wondering about need to move them to the fridge too. Thank you. This is my first attempt!!
They really should be moved to the fridge once they ferment to your taste because it will just keep brewing/getting stronger without the cool fridge. The lemon soda can be moved to the fridge once the taste is to your liking! It will continue to brew and get stronger if you leave it out. I hope that helps!
It’s been a full 7 days and it doesn’t seem like anything is happening. This is all new to me. I was short about 1 oz of whey, and thought it would be okay since you said the recipe is forgiving. I used canning jars and ordered the flip top bottles. After 4 days, I added the missing whey and 2 1/2 tsp sugar to feed the whey and poured into to the flip top bottles. What can I do to get the fizz? Still has nice sweet taste.
A few thoughts to run through – first, what is the source of the whey? Also what is the temperature where you live?
Shouldn’t the strawberry mixture cool before you add the whey?
Hi Rebecca! By the time you get it through the fine mesh strainer it is cooled enough to add the whey and not destroy any of the bacteria.
Also, do you need to leave any room while filling the bottles? I am worried the ferment will cause alot of pressure. I just made it and left a couple inches…
I leave a couple inches of headspace, yes 🙂
I would say that if the liquid is about body temperature it’s safe to add the whey/ginger bug/kefir grains.
I made this and on day 3 three of my bottles looked dark but one bottle was much lighter and I could see bubbles I opened it and it exploded like champagne. Almost half came out. The other three had no visible change- no fizz and no color change. Any ideas?
Further to my comment above… I made this one week ago and as I stated the one jar got very fizzy and exploded out and the other three jars went moldy after a week with absolutely no fizz. I used fresh picked berries and I got the whey from kefir I had. I accidentally used a little bit too much whey but other than that I followed exactly. I used organic cane sugar and I even sterilized all the jars etc. What went wrong? My house is about 23 degrees celsius. Was it too warm? Has anyone else made this with success?
Oh and I waited until the mixture was body temp before adding the whey because I didn’t want to kill anything.
is it Non-Alcoholic?
There is a small amount of alcohol produced by the fermentation. Usually about 0.30% to 0.60 percent.
Do you let the strawberry mixture cool before you add the whey? I imagine it would be too hot for the probiotics if you add it in right away?
Hi Kris! Yes let it come to room temp 🙂
Could you use Juice from kombucha? Can’t have dairy and don’t have kefir.
You can do a second ferment on your kombucha using strawberries, yes!
This looks so delicious.. I have seen many fermented sodas when doing research on fermented foods recently, but this is the first use of strawberries i’ve seen! And it may just be the best one i’ve found! I can’t even imagine the flavor that must be infused when you use the strawberries in this way. I hope I can get my family on board with this, it looks so easy to make and delicious to boot. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
You’re welcome Billy!
Mine didn’t turn out fizzy, what did I do wrong? Is it because it’s not fermented enough or is there something else?
Hi Kate! I could just need more fermenting time!
Hi Kate,
Last month, I did my first batch of kefir lemonade soda, using kefir whey and swing tops for second ferment. Not even 24 hours into 2nd ferment, it was fizzing out of the bottles! Month later, second batch. . . . .(first batch was soooo good), 48 hours into 2nd ferment, and NO fizz. Ugh!
Does only pure sugar work or can something like Splenda or Truvia be used?
Hi Carisa! Yes, the bacteria will only feed on sugar. It will not work with Splenda or Truvia.
[…] Fermented Strawberry Soda from Raising Generation Nourished […]
[…] Fermented Strawberry Soda […]
Have you ever made the soda in half gallon jars?
I haven’t Kendra, but I don’t see why you couldn’t do it.
[…] Probiotic Strawberry Soda […]
Hello, I tried this recipe and it’s starting to fizz! I extracted my whey from buttermilk. My only concern is that each container has a white growth on the top… is this just the whey doing it’s thing similar to a Kombucha scoby? Should I be worried about this and how can I be sure it is safe to drink. Thanks in advance :>
That’s right Randy – just like a kombucha scoby, that film is fine. If you see green fuzz or it smells off, then you would want to be concerned, but it should be fine otherwise 🙂
[…] Fermented Strawberry Soda […]
[…] is a perfect way to use them up. Mushy strawberries don’t mean that they’re unusable. Making fermented strawberry soda requires little time and minimal […]
HI! I love this recipe. I have really good quality organic sour cream. Can i use that for the whey instead of yogurt? Thank you. Cant wait to try this!
Hi Kat! I have never tried straining off sour cream – curious how much whey you get off that, but yes that should be fine!
[…] Fermented Strawberry Soda […]