Deliciously light and fluffy, this whipped strawberry mousse recipe is the perfect dessert for almost any occasion!
Easy strawberry mousse recipe
Whip this simple dessert up in minutes, with just three ingredients!
Guests will fall in love with the impossibly smooth and creamy texture, and it’s a wonderful way to use up a bounty of fresh summer strawberries.
Serve the thick strawberry mousse at parties, summer barbecues, romantic date nights, or any time you’re craving a quick dessert that’s sure to impress everyone who tries it.
Use leftover strawberries in this Strawberry Bread
Strawberry cheesecake mousse FAQs
Fresh or frozen strawberries
The recipe can be enjoyed all year long, not just when strawberries are in season.
If you opt for frozen strawberries, be sure to fully thaw the berries. Pat off any ice crystals and excess moisture before beginning, to avoid runny or watery mousse.
Can you use other berries?
Absolutely, this strawberry treat will also work with fresh or frozen raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or pitted cherries.
Substitute the two large strawberries for three cherries, four raspberries or blackberries, or seven blueberries. To achieve a smoother texture, you can strain raspberry or blackberry puree to remove the seeds.
If you experiment with other fruits, such as orange, banana, mango, pineapple, or fresh figs, be sure to report back with your results.
Vegan strawberry mousse
For dairy free mousse, choose the coconut cream option or a plant based cream cheese, such as Tofutti or Trader Joe’s vegan.
The recipe is already vegetarian (without gelatin) and egg free. It can be made with no refined sugar if you blend coconut sugar or date sugar until it reaches a powdered sugar texture.
Can the recipe be made ahead of time?
Yes, this is a great make-ahead dessert. I actually recommend making it ahead of time, because the classic strawberry mousse will thicken as it sits.
The dessert will keep for up to four or five days if properly stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Once in the container, the berry mousse is portable and non messy, making it a great option to bring to baby showers, brunch or tea parties, book clubs, or other events.
Still craving strawberries? Try a Strawberry Smoothie
Above, watch the simple strawberry mousse recipe video
Ingredients for the strawberry mousse dessert
The recipe calls for cream cheese or coconut cream, powdered sugar or a similar sugar free alternative, optional plain regular or Greek yogurt, and optional vanilla bean paste.
Unlike many other strawberry mousse recipes, this one is naturally eggless and dairy free, with no gelatin, Cool Whip, condensed milk, heavy cream or whipping cream, mascarpone, agar agar, or strawberry Jell-O.
The strawberry recipe can be vegan, gluten free, paleo, keto, and added sugar free.
For a keto strawberry mousse with no sugar added, you can use a powdered monk fruit or allulose blend, erythritol, or powdered xylitol. I have not tried stevia and believe using such a small amount would result in a runnier, thinner texture.
How to make strawberry mousse
Read through the recipe instructions, and gather your ingredients.
If using the cream cheese option, let this ingredient come to room temperature so it will be easier to blend and will yield a smoother final result.
If using the coconut cream option, open the can to make sure its contents are thick and creamy, not rock solid. Every now and then, you may encounter a can with hard or flakey cream. Unfortunately, such cans will not work well to make mousse.
To make the recipe, first cut the stems off of the strawberries. Blend or mash the berries until they are fully pureed.
Add all remaining ingredients, and blend until smooth. If you are making mousse with hand beaters, look for stiff peaks to form.
A food processor, hand mixer, or a good blender will give you the fluffiest, airy strawberry mousse, because they whip air into the recipe. If you only have a fork, it can work as long as you do not mind that the texture will not be nearly as light and fluffy.
After blending the no bake recipe, transfer the strawberry cream to glasses, bowls, or cups. The mousse dessert will thicken considerably as it chills.
More serving suggestions are listed below.
Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight covered container for up to four days. While you technically can freeze the dessert, it will no longer have the best creamy texture.
Serving suggestions
This fancy homemade strawberry dessert can be served so many ways.
Layer it into parfait glasses with Coconut Whipped Cream, diced strawberries, and sponge cake, turning it into beautiful pink strawberry shortcake parfaits.
Or use a star piping tip to pipe the recipe into cups or glasses and make individual mini strawberry mousse cups, garnished with sliced strawberries and graham crackers, mini chocolate chips, or crushed Oreo cookie crumbs.
Add thick and creamy strawberry mousse filling to the centers of Oreo Cupcakes or traditional Healthy Blueberry Muffins. Or eat it right out of the bowl with a spoon.
The whipped mousse is also a wonderful frosting for brownies or a decoration on top of cakes, pies, tarts, or cheesecakes instead of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Try layering it with Homemade Nutella
Strawberry Mousse
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese or coconut cream
- 4 oz yogurt or additional cream cheese or coconut cream
- 1 cup powdered sugar or sugar free alternative
- 5 medium size strawberries
- optional 1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste
Instructions
- If using cream cheese, let it come to room temperature. Or if using coconut cream, open the can to make sure its contents are thick and creamy. (On the rare occasion you encounter a can of coconut cream that is hard and flakey, unfortunately these cans will not work well for mousse.) Remove stems from the berries and blend or mash until pureed. Add all remaining ingredients, and blend until completely smooth, using a food processor or blender, or a hand mixer. Transfer to serving dishes, and refrigerate. The mousse will thicken considerably as it chills.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Easy Mousse Recipes
That picture of you is just stunning!!!
Aw thanks, Cindy!
What variety of strawberry is that? They look great!
Honestly, I’m not sure. I bought the plants from a local nursery… and had a lot of gardening help from my roommate! 😉
Chocolate! I can’t stand vanilla and strawberry flavored ice cream for some reason, especially the artificial strawberry 🙁
Also, strawberries are one of the hardest plants to grow!! Those are some impressive strawberries! 🙂
Looks wonderful!
Can’t wait to try this for a decadent cake frosting! 😀
Well, wouldn’t you know, we just bought a can of coconut milk last night at our (only) neighborhood organic market! Something strawberry-flavored sounds like the perfect thing now that the warm weather is returning to D.C. (we had a break with a nice, cool week)!
Also, just wanted to comment to tell you how adorable you look in your photo. :o)
Aw thanks, Nicole! 🙂
We had a cool week too… I seriously doubt it’s going to last, though :-?.
CHOCOLATE ALWAYS!!! Nom noms!
Thank you for referencing the reader comment re: good sat fats vs. bad ones. I’m only recently learning about that and her biological explanation really helps my brain absorb this info.
Does anyone else notice that current research is exposing the man-made stuff to be bad for your body, while the natural counterpart turns out to be beneficial? Not just for fats, but salt too. You all probably know this already. I grew up being told that salt increases your blood pressure. Turns out that is only table salt. Sea salt, on the other hand, actually regulates BP and encourages better blood circulation!
Hi Heather –
I can tell you that sometimes when I feel terrible, run down and dizzy it is often because my salt intake is probably too low.
Just an FYI, salt only affects a (relatively) small percentage of people in that way… and it’s people who already have high blood pressure. For most people (I think its 80-90%), salt will not have an effect on your blood pressure. Table salt or sea salt!
Well, strictly speaking, salt will affect your blood pressure, no matter what (as your intake of sodium and potassium and other minerals directly affects your fluid balance, as well as sparking various chemical signals in your cells), but you’d have to eat way, way more than you’d even want to to put yourself into dangerous territory. Speaking as someone who sometimes has *low* blood pressure, sometimes I have to eat unpalatably salty things to not feel woozy (especially if I want to donate blood– just a big meal won’t do it; it has to be a big, salty meal!).
I have the same problem. I have been diagnosed with a form of “dysautonomia” which gives me blood pressure issues. The #1 suggestion by all the doctors I’ve seen has been to eat a lot of salt in combination with a lot of water. It increases blood volume.
My grandmother actually set off the BP monitor once because her blood proessure was too low. Turns out it’s because the hospital (where she was staying for an unrelated problem) was feeding her their standard low-salt diet, and she (and my mom and I) has low bp to begin with and actually needs more salt than the RDA, not less. People are not made in a black-and-white mold, and we all need different things! Sometimes society (doctors, the media, teachers, etc.) forgets that. 😕
That is good to know — I used to donate blood regularly but stopped because the last few times I’ve come very close to passing out after (not fun). My blood pressure is low to start with, but I always figured it was dehydration that caused me trouble. Next time I’ll try the salty big meal with extra water!
Definitely a chocolate girl FOR LIFE!
How simple was THIS?! I had a can in the fridge and some strawberries and made this in less than 5 minutes for the kids (ok and maybe I had a couple bites – lol). DELICIOUS!
As I’m looking at the recipe, I’m wondering….could you make this and put it in the ice cream maker for strawberry ice cream? It seems like it would work out. 🙂
I bet you could! If you try it, please please report back! 🙂
Im a chocolate girl!… I have no strawberries right now but i have some raspberries in the fridge, along with a can of coconut milk waiting for me to fix it up! Thinking of doing raspberry chocolate frosting shot! Your strawberries are beautiful, did you grow from seeds? How long did they take to grow? I have a plant that has sprouted, super excited to see it grow! Thx for the recipe.
I actually bought plants from a local nursery. I figured I had a much better chance that way… at least the plants were already grown! 😉
Katie your a genius! I have just recently discovered your blog and im so excited to try some of your recipes! I wanted to ask, when you use oil in your recipes what kind do you typically use?
Depends on the recipe. For savory recipes, I often use olive oil. For baking, it’s almost always virgin coconut oil :).
Oh, and I love sesame oil for flavoring. But I so rarely remember to use it :-?.
Chocolate!!! But only if it’s dark. None of that white chocolate or milk chocolate for me. Yuck, tastes like a lie lol.
I would not rely too much on that Huffington Post article. The doctor who wrote it has gotten into trouble multiple times by the FDA.
http://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/mercola.html
http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2006/ucm076069.htm
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/EnforcementActivitiesbyFDA/CyberLetters/ucm059189.pdf
all three together, Neapolitan frosting shots…yes! I think I am going to try a pistachio one too, just for fun 🙂
Just tried these… They are amazing! I used tofu for mine and it turned out great… Also, you have hooked my brother to this recipe. He liked it so much because of the picture of who made. Haha
*who made it
How do you get your coconut milk to thicken up. Ive tried this a few times, opening the can and just leaving it in the fridge overnight. Ive tried leaving it in for almost three days once and still liquid! I mean, there’s nothing wrong with coconut milk on its own, but these look delicious!
PS: i did use full fat milk…