This strawberry sweet tea recipe is simple to make and uses plump, fresh strawberries. The perfect refreshment on a hot summer day!
Why this recipe works
Making homemade sweet tea isn’t difficult. You start with making your strawberry simple syrup that produces a beautiful bright red color, then pour it into a pitcher with your tea bags and let it steep. It’s that easy!
A tall thirst-quenching glass of strawberry sweet tea is sure to cool you down in the heat. Whether it’s this strawberry tea or our peach iced tea, fruit-infused teas are something we like to keep in our refrigerator all summer long and are always a hit when served at potlucks or BBQs.
RELATED: you might also like this recipe – Iced Tea Cocktail
Ingredients you will need
Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable version at the end of this post.
Ingredient Info and Substitution Suggestions
STRAWBERRIES – You want nice ripe strawberries for this recipe. If you’d like to add more strawberries to your tea when serving, plan to purchase another bunch.
TEA BAGS – I prefer using Lipton Cold Brew Tea Bags. While we use Lipton, you can use any brand you like. If you do not have the tea bags we use in this recipe, you can simply make 1 gallon of tea with the tea bags you have according to their directions.
How to Make Strawberry Sweet Tea
These step by step photos and instructions are here to help you visualize how to make this recipe. You can Jump to Recipe to get the printable version of this recipe, complete with measurements and instructions at the bottom.
- Rinse the strawberries and remove the tops. Slice into four equal size portions. The type of cut does not matter.
- Add the strawberries, sugar, and water to a saucepan. Heat over medium to bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. The liquid will be deep red in color and start to thicken.
- Strain the liquid from the strawberry mixture into a large bowl. Allow the simple syrup to cool to room temperature.
EXPERT TIP: You can put the bowl in an ice bath to speed up the process. - Add the water and tea bags to your canister. Be sure to tape or trap the tags on the outside of the canister for easy removal. Allow to steep for 30 minutes to overnight depending on the flavor you would like.
- Remove the tea bags. Stir in lemon juice, strawberry simple syrup, lemon slices, and ice. You can add sliced strawberries to the tea before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, if you have store bought strawberry simple syrup you can substitute this for the homemade version in the recipe card.
While we use cold brew tea bags, you can still make this tea the traditional way. Simply brew your tea, cool it, then continue with the recipe.
This easy strawberry sweet tea recipe is bursting with fresh and fruity flavors. All you need are tea bags, strawberries, sugar, and water!
More Strawberry Recipes
- Strawberry Jam
- Strawberry Smoothie
- Strawberry Margarita
- Fresh Strawberry Muffins
- Easy Strawberry Lemonade
- Strawberry Daiquiri
- Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries
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Strawberry Sweet Tea
IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Print It Rate ItIngredients
Simple Syrup
- 2 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 16 oz strawberries reserve a few for garnish in the drink itself
Tea
- 6 cold brew tea bags Lipton Cold Brew Family Sized
- 20 cups water
- ½ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed, about 4 medium lemons
- 2 lemons sliced
Things You’ll Need
Before You Begin
- If you do not have the tea bags we use in this recipe, you can simply make 1 gallon of tea with the tea bags you have according to their directions.
- This made a VERY large batch, but as you’ll see the container itself was large. Keep the recipe for the simple syrup and feel free to add or reduce the tea mixture as necessary for your pitcher or canister. The standard measurement is 2 cold brew tea bags (which are slightly larger than traditional warm brew black tea bags) to 8 cups water. However, I used an extra teabag since ice will be added and will water down over time.
- The amount of strawberries listed is just that for the simple syrup and a few for garnish. If you would like MORE in the glasses or in the canister, allot for another 16 ounces. Note that it’s better to add the slices of strawberries to individual glasses compared to the canister because they can/will get soggy and unappealing to look at if in the tea for more than a few hours. The lemon slices on the other hand, can be in the canister for as long as there is tea.
Instructions
- Rinse the strawberries and remove the tops. Slice into four equal size portions. Type of cut does not matter.
- Add the strawberries, sugar, and water to a saucepan. Heat over medium to bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. The liquid will be deep red in color and start to thicken.
- Strain the liquid from the strawberry mixture into a large bowl. Allow the simple syrup to cool to room temperature. You can put the bowl in an ice bath to speed up the process.
- Add the water and tea bags to your canister. Be sure to tape or trap the tags on the outside of the canister for easy removal. Allow to steep for 30 minutes to overnight depending on the flavor you would like.
- Remove the tea bags. Stir in lemon juice, strawberry simple syrup, lemon slices, ice, and additional strawberries as desired.
Nutrition
This post was originally published here on April 22, 2021.
Amanda Davis
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Nuri says
Made this tea for my guest! It was definitely a hit!
Naomi Hernandez says
Just made this awesome strawberry tea it’s so delicious this is definitely a keeper thank you !!!
Jim K. says
Just tried this recipe now, a very refreshing tea idea!