Raspberry Sauce Recipe: The Healthy Lacto-Fermented Version!

This delightful Lacto-fermented raspberry sauce recipe has a natural “tang” to it, but is also sweet! It is slightly bubbly and fizzy, as you would expect for a sauce that is Lacto-fermented. 

Lacto-fermentation is an old-fashioned food preservation technique that relies on beneficial bacteria to preserve food. It is not cooked or canned, so has all the vitamins and health benefits of the raw ingredients. It also has natural probiotics, making it a great recipe to promote good gut health!

Lacto-fermentation is usually used with vegetables. While less common, fruits can be cultured or lacto-fermented for similar health benefits and a unique flavor profile that is more tangy than sweet.

This cultured raspberry sauce recipe is one of our new favorites to make with the fruit from our family raspberry patch! We also make canned honey sweetened raspberry jam, which lacks the health benefits but has the advantage of being shelf stable.

 

Lacto-Fermented Raspberry Sauce Recipe

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Makes approximately 2 cups, or 2 jelly jars of raspberry sauce

• 3 cups fresh raspberries
• 3 T whey
• 6 T raw honey, divided
• ¾ tsp sea salt or Himalayan salt (non-iodized)

Wash berries in cool water. Do not wash in vinegar, as this can affect the natural fermentation process with this raspberry sauce recipe. 

Mash berries together with the whey, 3 T of the honey, and the salt. Pour into clean jars, cap, and let sit on the counter for 2 days.

If any mold appears on the surface, just scoop it off. After two days, transfer the jars to cold storage. A root cellar or cool basement works well, but you can also just stick them in the fridge until you are ready to eat your raspberry sauce!

 

Before Serving:

The sweeteners you put in your raspberry sauce recipe at the beginning will be “eaten” by bacteria during the fermentation process, leaving the raspberry sauce quite tart. 

To make the sauce a little sweeter, add the remaining honey to the jars just before eating. I add 1 ½ T per jar, but feel free to add more if you want it to be sweeter!

Enjoy this lacto-fermented raspberry sauce recipe on pancakes or waffles, poured over ice cream, or served with crackers and a soft cheese.

Typically Lacto-fermented fruits are best eaten within a few months, but we’ve found with a good storage temperature, they can last more than 1 year. One thing to keep in mind with fruit fermentation, however, is that ferments can develop an alcohol content over time. Better to use them quickly if you don’t want the alcohol 😉

 

How to Make Whey For Fermenting Fruit

Typically, lacto-fermented veggie recipes use lots of sea salt to keep the food from spoiling until enough beneficial bacteria have been created.

When fermenting something that isn’t supposed to be salty, like this raspberry sauce recipe, you can substitute whey for most of the salt.

This is an important ingredient to preserve this raspberry sauce recipe, so don’t omit it!

Powdered whey does not work, but you can use whey leftover from cheesemaking. You can also make your own whey by straining the liquid off yogurt, or by setting raw milk out overnight and then straining off the liquid part the next day.

The liquid is whey, and will typically last around 6 months in the refrigerator.

 

If you’d like to learn more about lacto-fermenting fruits, Cultures for Health has some helpful information. I’ve also found some great recipes in Nourishing Traditions!