Here’s the best easy, delicious sauce to make with a load of blueberries: blueberry compote! This idea was born out of a haul of summer blueberries we recently picked. This compote is one of our new favorite blueberry recipes because it’s so easy. It takes just 5 minutes to whip up, and the flavor is incredible. It’s pure, tangy blueberry, lightly sweetened with maple syrup! All you need is 3 ingredients and you can use either fresh or frozen berries. It’s absolutely perfect on pancakes…or melty vanilla ice cream, for that matter.
Ingredients for blueberry compote
Yes, all you need is a handful of ingredients for this blueberry compote! Alex and I love naturally sweet fruit sauces, so we often use maple syrup as the sweetener. Maple syrup gently sweetens recipes and adds an interesting nuance to the flavor. If you don’t have maple, you can substitute any type of sugar. This compote also works with honey or even agave syrup if that’s your sweetener of choice! Here are the ingredients for blueberry compote:
Blueberries, fresh or frozenMaple syrup (or sugar, honey or agave syrup)Vanilla extractWater
Use fresh or frozen blueberries…or berries past their prime
You can use fresh or frozen blueberries for this blueberry compote. They both have great flavor and you won’t find much of a difference in flavor or texture. Here’s another great thing: a compote is a great way to use berries that are a little past their prime. Because you’ll be cooking them down, it’s great for berries that are just past fresh (but of course, not moldy!). This is a nice way to cut down on food waste with fruit: just make a compote!
How to make a compote in 5 minutes
Making blueberry compote is so easy, you barely need a recipe. The nice thing about following a recipe, though, is it provides just the right sweetness. We found ¼ cup sweetener was just enough to sweeten 2 cups of blueberries. Here’s all you need to know to make compote:
Heat ingredients over medium heat in a saucepan.Cook about 5 minutes, until the blueberries break down and form a sauce. The blueberries contain natural pectin, which thickens the sauce as they cook down! If you want a thicker sauce, you could also dissolve 1 teaspoon cornstarch in 1 tablespoon water and add that to the sauce. But we find it’s thick enough au natural.
What’s a compote, anyway?
Is a compote just a sauce? Yes! A compote is fresh or dried fruit that’s cooked down into a sweet sauce. Usually the sauce is left fairly chunky, so you have the texture of chunks of fruit. It’s often served spooned over desserts, like cakes and and ice cream. But you can use it on pancakes or wafflesl too (see below).
Try this variation: blueberry sauce!
Here’s a variation on blueberry compote: this Easy Blueberry Sauce! There are a few differences between this compote and the sauce: the sauce is sweeter, and it’s also thicker. It’s thickened with cornstarch so it has a glossier shine. It also has a little lemon zest for a tangy nuance. We like both of them equally!
Ways to serve blueberry compote
This blueberry compote we created especially for our Lemon Blueberry Pancakes: and wow is it good on them! It’s the perfect sauce that’s just sweet enough. Here are some more serving ideas where it would be perfection:
More blueberry recipes
Got lots of blueberries? Here are our favorite blueberry recipes and blueberry desserts using this tasty fruit:
Try simple Blueberry Galette, Blueberry Pie, Blueberry Bars, or family favorite Blueberry CobblerMix up an appetizer of Blueberry Goat CheeseStart the day with Blueberry Baked Oatmeal or Blueberry French Toast CasseroleMake Blueberry Banana Muffins or whip up Blueberry PancakesGo for the Best Blueberry Smoothie or try Blueberry Cocktails
This blueberry compote recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free. 4 from 1 review
