Deviled strawberries went viral on TikTok, this is our upgraded version of the idea. Cream cheese & balsamic are FANTASTIC with strawberries, especially in this format!
This time of year in Hamilton is always super tasty - it’s the start of berry season!
It’s already strawberry season, and locally grown fresh strawberries are already popping up at the farmers market.
We’ll usually buy more than one tub of those juicy strawberries, as one always seems to mysteriously disappear before we even make it home from the market.
Soon, it’ll be blueberry and raspberry season, and ALSO blackcurrant season, but for now .. I think it’s time to share my deviled strawberries recipe!
This is actually my second recipe to be inspired by a viral tiktok recipe, the first being my Sushi Bake. (Have you tried it? BIG favourite in this house!).
The tiktok version took vague inspiration from a deviled egg platter, and reimagined it in a different medium - strawberries!
This made for great appetizers - or light desserts - for Valentine’s day, mother’s day, or just any time you want to indulge your sweet tooth with some (ideally!) seasonal, easy treats.
My Version
The thing is... they were strawberries with a creamy filling piped in, and that was it, as far as resembling the source inspiration!
“Deviled” refers to seasoning, and - while I’m not putting smoked paprika on strawberries - I figure a “deviled” strawberries needs more flavour than just cream cheese and whipped cream, IMHO.
Also, the popular versions of the recipe just discard the strawberry that gets scooped out to make room for filling! Can you imaging tossing the egg yolk out? Nah.
So for my recipe, the scoops and sliced strawberry bits get blitzed into the filling.
As with how I make deviled eggs, any “eggs” (strawberries) that aren’t suitable for filling also get chopped up and added to the filling.
Shell didn’t come off cleanly, leaving an ugly egg? Toss it in the food processor.
Get a little too aggressive with scooping the strawberry out? Toss it in the food processor.
I’ve always loved balsamic with strawberries, and it goes so well in this recipe, really elevates the idea.
In the end, you’re looking at under half an hour of work, to make a large tray of this amazing summertime treat. Gotta love easy party food ideas, right?
Hope you love it as much as we do!
Pro Tip: If you find yourself with a bit of leftover cream cheese mixture after filling your strawberries, it makes an excellent fruit dip!
Ingredients
This recipe takes only 6 simple ingredients to make:
Large Strawberries
You’ll want to use ripe strawberries for this, as the flavour will be the best.
The number of strawberries you get will depend on the size of the strawberries you’re using.
I find that a 1 lb tub of strawberries usually has about 10-12 large ones, this recipe uses 2 lbs.
Cream Cheese
For us, I use just a regular package of cream cheese, softened to room temperature.
If you prefer, you can use light cream cheese, Neufchatel, or even a vegan cream cheese substitute.
Sugar
I use basic white granulated sugar for this when I’m making it for company, and an Erythritol / Monkfruit Blend Sweetener when I’m making it just for us, as I’m on a keto diet at the moment.
Brown sugar also works well - my grandma use to dip strawberries in softened cream cheese, then in brown sugar. So good!
Heavy Whipping Cream
... AKA Heavy cream, or Whipping cream. You’re looking for 32-35% fat content.
Balsamic Vinegar
We usually use a pretty basic balsamic for this, sometimes a fig balsamic.
If you don’t want the slightly brownish tinge on the filling - or just want to get fancy with the flavours - you can use a flavoured white balsamic for this.
Some of my favourites are Lemon White Balsamic Vinegar, Mango White Balsamic Vinegar, and Peach White Balsamic Vinegar.
Salt
Just regular table salt, usually.
You can use sea salt or pink Himalayan salt, but there’s so little of it in this recipe, it won’t be noticeable.
Deviled Strawberry Variations
Not as into balsamic vinegar? One great thing about this recipe is that it’s super customizable!
Here are a few other ways I like to do deviled strawberries.
Strawberry Cheesecake
Skip balsamic, add 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract and 2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice instead.
Once they’re piped, top with a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs.
Note: ½ cup graham cracker crumbs is usually plenty, I recommend using my Gluten-Free Graham Crackers recipe.
Note: If I want different toppings - like birthday cake sprinkles, or a sprinkle of coconut flakes - I’ll usually make the Strawberry Cheesecake filling, rather than the balsamic one.
Chocolate Cheesecake
For a creamy chocolate cheesecake filling:
Make the “Strawberry Cheesecake” substitutions, but melt ½-1 cup of chocolate chips and blend it in to the cream cheese mixture, before adding the whipped cream.
Nutella Deviled Strawberries
Cut the amount of cream cheese in half, add ½ cup Nutella in its place.
(REALLY like Nutella? Skip the cream cheese entirely, use 1 cup of Nutella!)
Savory Strawberry Bites
Skip the sugar. Swap all or part of the cream cheese out for an equal amount of goat cheese.
Garnish with ribbons of fresh basil leaves.
Keto Deviled Strawberries
Living la vida low carb? Making these keto is not only easy, it tastes exactly like the full sugar, real thing!
Use the main recipe as-is, but swap out the sugar for your favourite granulated sugar substitute.
Everything else - including the balsamic vinegar, in this amount - is keto friendly.
Equipment
There are a few pieces of equipment that you’ll need to make this recipe, but they’re all fairly common household items!
Sharp Knife - Just a basic paring knife works the best, IMHO.
Small Melon Baller - This is kind of optional. I couldn’t find mine when I made this batch, so I used a small measuring spoon. (¼ tsp, metal). It worked just as well as the melon baller, maybe even better!
Mini Food Processor - I use mine almost daily, it’s perfect for processing smaller amounts of ingredients. I find it harder to get a perfect consistency when using a regular food processor with under ~2 cups worth of ingredients. I use a KitchenAid 3.5 cup Food Chopper, love it!
Mixer - I use an electric mixer (Hamilton Beach 6-Speed Electric Hand Mixer, love it, no complaints!) for this recipe, but you can also use a stand mixer with a whisk / balloon attachment. I just find the hand mixer to be better for dealing with smaller volume, than my stand mixer.
Piping Bag - I use large, disposable pastry bags all the time, even for filling mini bundt cakes (Like my Gluten-free Keto Rum Cake and my
Gluten-Free Keto Paska).
For this, I also used a large coupler and 4b Star Tip - but that’s entirely optional!
How to Make Deviled Strawberries
The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, this is a pictorial walk through with additional info!
Prepare the Strawberries
Wash the strawberries, gently blot dry with paper towel.
Use a sharp knife to cut strawberries in half, lengthwise.
Cut a small sliver off the rounded back of each strawberry half, to allow the filled strawberries to rest flat on a plate. This will prevent them from rolling around!
Use a melon baller or paring knife to create a little hole in the middle of each strawberry half.
Place carved strawberries on a serving plate, blot cut/carved sides with paper towel, set aside.
Make the Cream Cheese Filling
Place all of the scooped strawberry centers & sliced strawberry cuttings into a mini food processor, along with the granulated sugar substitute and salt
Blitz until the strawberry cuttings are completely broken down into the sugar substitute.
Add softened cream cheese and balsamic vinegar to the mini food processor, blitz until well combined and smooth.
Fold strawberry cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream, until well combined.
Pipe the Strawberries
Set up a large piping bag with a coupler and star tip, if desired, and fill the piping bag with a good amount of cream cheese mixture.
Blot strawberries with a paper towel one more time, if needed, then pipe the filling into each center of the strawberry halves.
Tips
- These are best when served soon after being prepared. If you can’t serve them immediately, chill until you can!
- Very cold whipping cream whips up better than less-cold whipping cream. Some people even chill their bowls and beaters / whisk attachments, I don’t bother.
- If you don’t have a pastry bag, you can use a large ziplock baggie. Just fill it with the cream cheese mixture, and squeeze out excess air before sealing it.
Cut one bottom corner of the bag, and you’ve got an instant piping bag!
- For reference, I used a 4b Piping Tip to fill the strawberries in this post.
More Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes!
Looking for even more fantastic gluten-free desserts that *everyone* will love? Look no further!
Gluten-Free Brandied Apple Crisp
Gluten Free Butter Tart Bars
Gluten-Free Buttertarts
Gluten-Free Doughnut Holes
Gluten-Free Earl Grey Pie
Gluten-Free Fruitcake
Gluten-Free Lemon Bars
Gluten-Free Maple Pumpkin Pie
Gluten-Free Nanaimo Bar Brownies
Gluten-Free Puffed Rice Bars
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Mini Doughnuts
Gluten-Free Raspberry Bars
Gluten-Free Schmoo Torte
Gluten Free Sticky Toffee Pudding
Also, be sure to check out our collection of Gluten Free Cookie Recipes!
Share the Love!
Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you Instagram it, be sure to tag me - @BeyondFlourBlog - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!
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Deviled Strawberries
Equipment
- 1 Paring knife
- Coupler and star tip Optional
Ingredients
- 2 lb Large Strawberries
- ⅓ cup Granulated sugar
- Pinch Salt
- 8 oz Cream cheese softened
- 1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup Heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Wash the strawberries, gently blot dry with paper towels.
- Use a sharp knife to cut strawberries in half, lengthwise.
- Cut a very small piece off the rounded side of each strawberry half, to allow the filled strawberries to rest flat on a plate. This will prevent them from rolling around!
- Use a melon baller or paring knife to create a small cavity in the middle of each strawberry half.
- Place carved strawberries on a serving plate, blot cut/carved sides with paper towel, set aside.
- Place all of the scooped strawberry centers into a mini food processor, along with the granulated sugar substitute and salt.
- Blitz until the strawberry cuttings are completely broken down into the sugar substitute.
- Add cream cheese and balsamic vinegar to the mini food processor, blitz until well combined and smooth.
- In a separate mixing bowl - a medium mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment - use an electric mixer to beat the whipped cream until stiff peaks form.
- Fold strawberry cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream, until well combined.
- Set up a large piping bag with a coupler and star tip, if desired, and fill the piping bag with the filling mixture.
- Blot strawberries with a paper towel one more time, if needed, then pipe the filling into each prepared strawberry.
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