A compote is a simple preparation of fruit and sweetened juice. In this recipe, the blueberries are cooked briefly with sugar, creating a lighter syrup than that of a topping or sauce. It's quick and easy, and you can use fresh or frozen blueberries. Use it on pancakes, porridge, muesli, rice pudding, french toast, yogurt, shortcake, and other desserts.
3-ingredient sauce recipe
A compote has two ingredients, fruit and sugar, and even that's debatable because you can make it with just fresh fruit and water, cooking it long enough to let the natural sugars from the fruit be released and sweeten the mixture.
The addition of tart lemon juice brings out the flavor of the blueberries, which, let's face it, can be bland sometimes depending on the time of year. It's an optional ingredient but I strongly feel that some acid helps make a more tasty blueberry compote.
Uses for blueberry compote
It's a lighter topping than a simple blueberry sauce, not overly sweet or thick, but can be used similarly.
- Morning pancakes or waffles: they soak up the blueberry juice.
- Granola with yogurt, parfaits and muesli: layer natural yogurt with compote and natural fruit or granola.
- Porridge, baked oatmeal or other forms of morning oats.
- Chia pudding.
- Cheesecake: it's a lighter alternative and great for hot weather and no-bake cheesecake.
- Smoothies: add a tablespoon or two next time.
- Ice cream: use it to drizzle or swirl in between layers of plain vanilla ice cream before freezing. You'll get wonderful ripples without adding too much extra sweetness.
FAQ
Yes, you can. Put in a freezer-safe airtight container. It will last for a month.
Compotes keep for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It depends on how much sugar you use, as it's a natural preservative for fruit. Simple compotes like this one tend to use a small amount of sugar, so make sure you store it well covered.
Ingredient Notes
Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- Blueberries: use fresh blueberries whenever I can, which is usually year-round. This is a forgiving recipe, so it's a great way to use those blueberries that are not in their prime or when the blueberry season is over. And it also works well with frozen ones.
- Sugar: white granulated or brown sugar can be used.
- Lemon juice: it's an optional ingredient and is used in a small amount, but adds a hint of lemon that brings freshness and flavor to the mixture. Orange juice can also be used. I give options in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Kitchen Notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Storing: keep the compote refrigerated in an airtight container or a bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap. You can also freeze it for a month (in a safe container) and let it come to room temperature before using it.
- Uses: this simple blueberry compote recipe is lighter than a regular sauce. It's one of those easy recipes that's the perfect topping for breakfast food like waffles, pancakes, porridge or oatmeal (my favorite way), chia pudding, french toast, or granola and plain yogurt, and also for desserts like vanilla ice cream, pound cake slice with a dollop of whipped cream, or cheesecake.
- Amount of sugar: you can adjust the amount of sugar you add, depending on how sweet you want the finished sauce. But a fruit compote uses less sugar than a jam or thick blueberry topping with cornstarch.
- Amount of liquid: if you find that after a stay in the refrigerator or freezer, the liquid in the compote is less than you want, simply add a tablespoon of water at a time until you have the desired consistency. Keep in mind that the sweetness will be diluted a little with each addition. Another way of adding extra liquid is to make a simple syrup with half a cup of water and 2 tablespoons of sugar (medium heat until it boils) and add it to the compote you already made.
- Other sweeteners: if you don't want to use sugar, you can add honey or pure maple syrup or some other type of sugar syrup you like to the saucepan with the berries and the water.
- Flavorings: citrus can be used to flavor this homemade blueberry compote recipe. Add some orange zest or lemon zest at the beginning or a few drops of vanilla extract (or orange liqueur for a more sophisticated flavor). A little ground cinnamon goes well with it too.
How to make blueberry compote
This is a super easy recipe with just a handful of ingredients that takes 5 minutes to make.
Can you overcook compote? Yes, you can. The fruit will turn mushy and start to disintegrate. A compote is best with large chunks of fruit that are just beginning to soften. In the case of berry compotes, the fruit is left whole.
Start by making a simple syrup by placing the water, sugar, and lemon juice if using in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Let it boil, and add the blueberries when it's bubbling.
Let the mixture come to a simmer (do not boil rapidly or it will crush the blueberries too much) and stir them a few times.
When the blueberries start to shrivel and soften, that is your cue to remove them from the heat source.
The syrup can be as thick or thin as you like. If it's too thin, transfer the berries from the saucepan to a bowl with a slotted spoon, and reduce the syrup further by cooking it for a minute or two more.
Pour the thickened syrup over the reserved blueberries and let it cool down until ready to refrigerate.
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Blueberry Compote (3 ingredients)
Ingredients
- 1 pound blueberries, fresh or frozen without thawing
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, optional, but adds some nice acidity
Instructions
- Wash the blueberries and reserve, no need to dry them.
- Put the sugar, water, and juice if used in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat.
- Add the fruit and cook on medium-low heat until it comes to a slow simmer stirring a few times until the liquid starts to thicken and the berries soften slightly. You can cook them more or less depending on how soft and not you want the blueberries. Being so small and watery, they do soften quickly.
- Transfer the fruit to a bowl leaving the syrup in the saucepan. Using a skimmer for this step makes it very easy.
- Cook the juice a minute or two more so it thickens further and add it to the fruit. Let the mixture cool down and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap or put it in an airtight container or glass jar before refrigerating it. It lasts several weeks in the fridge.
- Use it cold, at room temperature or warm, it's really up to you depending on what you serve it with.
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