5 Minute Sugar-Free Cherry Sauce Recipe {Paleo, Vegan, Grain-Free}

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When you guys see how simple (and tasty) this easy cherry sauce recipe is, you are going to fall so hard in love with it.

I originally made this cherry sauce recipe to go on top of my coconut flour waffles, and now my children request it whenever I make the waffles. I oblige because I love it just as much as them, and this simple cherry sauce is completely sugar free. I also make this cherry sauce without cornstarch because I prefer to use arrowroot instead.

That makes this cherry sauce Paleo, sugar-free, gluten-free, grain-free and sugar free (but still full of flavor!). Whew!

When I say this cherry sauce is sugar free, I don’t mean it has stevia or xylitol, or any other sugar substitute added. I am not completely convinced these substitutes are healthy sugar alternatives and I avoid them. So what I mean is that there is absolutely no sugar or sugar substitute in this recipe.

Most fruit and cherry sauce recipes have some type of sugar in them, but I have never understood why since fruit is nature’s candy! I find cherries to be plenty sweet on their own, so you won’t find ANY sweeteners in this recipe. We use this sauce as a topping for our coconut flour waffles instead of syrup for a completely sugar free breakfast that tastes like a treat. WIN!

The thing that makes this cherry sauce recipe so simple is that it uses frozen cherries instead of fresh. Yes, fresh cherries would probably be even MORE delicious, but who has time to pit a bowl full of cherries when you are trying to get breakfast served to a gang (3 counts as a gang, right?) of hungry kids? Not me!

I buy the giant bag of organic frozen cherries from Costco and they are amazing in this recipe. They are the dark, sweet variety – you want to make sure you use sweet cherries, not tart in this recipe. (These frozen cherries are also amazing in smoothies, chopped and added to oatmeal, by themselves eaten straight from the freezer…..I could go on for days. We are super in love with frozen cherries around here).

You could also make this with frozen (or fresh if you prefer!) blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or a combination of any of those. I’ve used the exact same method with blueberries and it turned out wonderful. My family prefers the cherry sauce, so that is what I typically stick with.

What is Arrowroot Powder used for?

Arrowroot is, in my opinion, far under-utilized in most kitchens! It has been getting lots of love from me lately as a thickener for sauces and in all of my grain-free baked recipes to enhance the texture of baked goods. I avoid many corn products because I am not interested in feeding my family GMO’s, so arrowroot is a wonderful alternative to cornstarch.

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5 Minute, Sugar-Free Cherry Sauce Recipe

This quick and easy sugar free cherry sauce uses only a few ingredients, comes together in minutes and is delicious on top of waffles, pancakes, ice cream or desserts.

Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups frozen pitted sweet cherries
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbs water
• 1 tbs arrowroot powder

Instructions

1. Add frozen cherries and vanilla to a medium saucepan and heat over medium/high heat just until boiling and all cherries are defrosted
2. Mix arrowroot powder in a small bowl with 2 Tbs water until it is dissolved
3. Add arrowroot mixture to just boiling cherries
4. Stir sauce until thickened. This should happen very quickly if the cherries are boiling.
5. Remove from heat once desired thickness is reached and serve

Recipe Notes

makes about 1 and 1/3 cups finished cherry sauce. This is enough for 4-5 waffles for us.

 Looking for a healthy recipe you can top with this cherry sauce? Try my coconut flour waffles – its the perfect combination.