Best Frozen Strawberries: Tasted and Reviewed

Depending on where you live, chances are, it’s starting to get hot out there! Perfect time to cool it right down with some refreshing, frozen strawberries. Not only are frozen strawberries ideal for those favorite dishes like smoothies, frozen yogurt, and fruit salads, but a partially frozen strawberry makes a perfect crisp strawberry fruit snack when eaten on its own! Like an all-natural Italian ice!

Surprisingly enough though, there are actually many frozen strawberry options to choose from. How to decide! Are all frozen strawberries created equal? As it turns out, not so much. We tested and evaluated a full dozen different brands and varieties of frozen strawberries so that we could nail down the best frozen strawberries in five different categories.

Stick with us and you’ll have no problem navigating the frozen fruit aisle the next time you’re in need of some refreshing, juicy, frozen berries.

Ranking the Best Frozen Strawberries

In our efforts to determine which are the best frozen strawberries around, we sought out the following 12 top brands and varieties!

• 365 Whole Foods Market Organic Whole Strawberries 
• 365 Whole Foods Market Whole Strawberries 
• Campoverde Jumbo Strawberries 
• Cascadian Farm Premium Organic Strawberries 
• Dole Whole Strawberries 
• Earthbound Farm Organic Strawberries 
• Food Club Unsweetened Whole Strawberries 
• Full Circle Market Organic Whole Strawberries 
• Good & Gather Organic Whole Strawberries 
• Goya Whole Strawberries 
• Trader Joe's Grade A Fancy Strawberries 
• Trader Joe's Organic Strawberries 

But First, Some Frozen Fruit Announcements

Before we get into the categories and their respective winners, let’s first cover a few of the basics about our frozen strawberries.

Serving Size

The measure of a serving size varied rather greatly across all of the different frozen strawberries we tested. Many brands had a common serving size of one cup, while others were 1.25 cups, while yet others measured "by the berry", offering serving sizes such as “7 pieces”. In any of these scenarios, the total weight of a frozen strawberry serving size hovered around 140 to 155 grams.

Ingredients and Allergens

All of the frozen strawberries tested had only a single ingredient: strawberries!

Some of the packages boasted that they are “unsweetened” or “gluten-free” but the fact is, all of the frozen strawberries we included were free of any additives whatsoever, including added sugars, allergens, and gluten.

Be sure to read the packaging carefully though as there are other frozen strawberries products which may not consist of 100% strawberries like the ones we included here.

Frozen Strawberries Nutrition

Since the serving size of all the different frozen strawberries we evaluated is fairly standard in terms of weight, and each of the products contain berries and only berries, you can bet that some factors of the frozen strawberries nutrition are the same across the board! The number of carbs in frozen strawberries was about the same, with each brand containing 12 to 13 grams of total carbohydrates per serving. As far as frozen strawberries’ calories are concerned, this was fairly predictable across the board as well, with each variety keeping in the range of 45 to 60 calories per serving.

How Long Do Frozen Strawberries Last?

Since most customers choose frozen strawberries over fresh strawberries for the reason that they have a much longer shelf life, it is important to know exactly how long this shelf life is. Most of the packages of the products we tested included expiration dates which were 1 to 2 years into the future! However, in our experience, the berries really only maintain the best quality for about a year. After this point, it’s likely that freezer burn will have impacted the taste and texture of your frozen strawberries.

How to Thaw Frozen Strawberries

As with many frozen foods, the best way to defrost frozen strawberries is to place them in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours before you would like to use them. This helps to prevent the berries from getting mushy, which we found to be an inevitable outcome when making use of the microwave defrost setting (as many packages recommended to do, we might add).

Another method: place the bag of frozen berries (or a few frozen berries in a resealable plastic bag) in a bowl of cold water. Replenish the cold water as needed until the berries are defrosted! Either way, don’t defrost the strawberries directly in the water as we found this washes some of the flavor and color away.

1. Best Looking Frozen Strawberries:

Dole Whole Strawberries

It’s a sad truth that a previously frozen strawberry will never look quite as good as a fresh one. However, during our evaluations, we certainly found that some looked better than others, and some even came surprisingly close to the beauty of a fresh, perfectly ripe strawberry! While there is of course far more to a frozen strawberry than merely its looks, in regard to this category, it’s allllllll about appearances!

About Dole Whole Strawberries 

Backed by perhaps the most famed name in the fruit industry, it should come as no surprise that Dole Whole Strawberries are, in a word, beautiful. Easily the best looking berries out of all of the brands and varieties we tested, in both their frozen state as well as defrosted. Literally every berry in this bag was perfect! No blemished, broken, or crushed berries to be found. On top of the good looks, their taste and texture was respectable, and the resealable bag these frozen strawberries are packaged in felt heavy duty enough to go a long way towards keeping those berries fresh, even after opening. All of this perfection made us wonder what’s going on over there at Dole, and after a brief tour around their website, we found even more wonderful things about these frozen berries! The company itself is sustainability driven and working towards a series of improvement objectives, including a goal of net-zero carbon by the year 2030 and zero processed sugar by 2025, among others. These sustainability efforts make that bag of frozen strawberries all that much more beautiful!

Despite these longer-term goals, we were somewhat disappointed at the lack of sustainable choices from this company right now. Many of their fruits and vegetables, our frozen strawberries included, aren’t available in organic options. In addition, this bag of berries is labeled as a product of Turkey, and while many of the frozen strawberries we looked into are imported, many folks prefer to support growers and producers which are closer to home.

Pros:

• Best looking frozen strawberries, hands down! Nearly perfect shape and texture on each.
• Great taste and flavor!
• Heavy duty resealable bag for maximum freshness.
• Dole is one company looking to the future, with a slew of sustainability efforts clearly outlined on their extremely informative website

Cons:

• No organic counterpart to these frozen strawberries, nor many of the other fruits and vegetables from Dole.
• These berries came all the way from Turkey--not exactly an option which supports your local farming economy!

2. Best Tasting Frozen Strawberries:

Food Club Unsweetened Whole Strawberries

Looks are great and all, but if you ask your taste buds, flavor is where we should be focusing! It’s inevitable that fruit experiences some changes in taste and texture after being frozen and defrosted, but some brands fared far better than others. As the naturally occurring water in fresh fruits and vegetables freezes into ice crystals, it expands and ends up damaging the inflexible cell walls which are responsible for the structure of the fruit. Frozen berries seem to, almost magically, maintain their shape when frozen, but upon defrosting, may take on more of a mushy texture which really affects the flavor of the berries as well. Therefore, it was important to take these factors into account when evaluating the entire taste experience of our frozen strawberries!

About Food Club Unsweetened Whole Strawberries 

Thankfully, we found Food Club Unsweetened Whole Strawberries to be the most delicious from flavor all the way through to texture! The flavor of the berries is nicely sweet and tart, with just that slight bit of astringency you’d expect from crunching into a fresh strawberry. While no frozen berry can be quite as good as a fresh one, we think that these come pretty darn close and held up nicely in terms of texture even after defrosting! These berries come in a handy resealable bag, which during our evaluations, it became clear was a pretty important factor for maintaining the taste of the strawberries, as we found that those berries which were in thinner, non-resealable bags had quite a freezer burned taste already. And, 1 serving of these frozen strawberries will give you 60 milligrams of vitamin C, which meets about 70% of your recommended daily intake!

One complaint about these frozen berries has to do with their labeling. While the “unsweetened” designation is in fact true, we think that it adds some confusion to the situation when shopping for frozen fruits. This could cause you to think that Food Club Unsweetened Whole Strawberries must be a better choice as compared to others, right? Wrong! Not only were all the brands and varieties we evaluated made up of whole, frozen strawberries with no additives, but we actually didn’t even encounter any frozen berries which had added sugar. Another downside to these frozen berries is that their serving size is “7 pieces”, yet the frozen berries were in a range of wildly different sizes. Without a food scale that measures by the gram, you may have trouble calculating a proper serving size of this product.

Pros:

• Best strawberry flavor! Perfectly balanced sweet, tart, and slightly astringent taste.
• Texturally sound and held up nicely to the defrosting process.
• Packaged in a resealable bag which really helps to prevent freezer burn, keeping them tasting fresh.
• 1 serving provides 70% the recommended daily intake of vitamin C!

Cons:

• Designation as “unsweetened” adds unnecessary confusion to the frozen fruit shopping experience.
• Serving size is tough to calculate as it indicates “7 pieces”, therefore you may need to weigh the frozen berries on a food scale in order to get an accurate measure.

3. Most Nutritious Frozen Strawberries:

Campoverde Jumbo Strawberries

There is an ongoing attitude that in the battle of fresh vs. frozen fruit, fresh is best in terms of nutritional benefit. However, studies actually show that not only are frozen strawberries just as nutritionally sound as fresh strawberries, but actually, they may provide even greater benefit! The results indicate that the levels of antioxidants found in berries both before and after freezing show no discernible change in the amount of these important compounds. In addition, it is thought that freezing the fruit may make certain compounds more bioavailable, meaning the human body has an easier time absorbing and making use of the nutrient. One of the frozen strawberry varieties we tested stood way out in the nutrition department, and just eating a few of these berries would make for a healthy fruit snack!

About Campoverde Jumbo Strawberries

The first thing you notice upon opening the bag of Campoverde Jumbo Strawberries is that they are HUGE. You never know with products that refer to themselves as jumbo-sized, but in the case of these strawberries, they are truly impressive. Despite their extra-large size, these berries actually had the lowest calorie content out of all strawberries we evaluated--coming in at just 45 calories per serving as opposed to the 50-60 per serving that every other brand we evaluated had! These berries also come in a great resealable bag (which is ideal because their large size means it might take you a bit to work your way through them) with plenty of recipes, ideas, and information on the bag. And last but not least, these strawberries are stacked with vitamin and mineral content. Each 5 berry serving contains: 23 milligrams calcium (4% DV), 1 milligram iron (4% DV), 220 milligrams potassium (4% DV), 85 milligrams vitamin C (90% DV!), 1 milligram manganese (25% DV), and 19 micrograms molybdenum (45% DV). You’re likely already familiar with many of these nutrients, but what about those last two? Manganese (not to be confused with magnesium) is vital for bone health, tissue repair, metabolic functions, and hormone regulation. Molybdenum is a trace element which is important for proper enzyme functioning as well as for breaking down toxins that enter the body.

The berries themselves aren’t the only super-sized thing about this brand–the package is huge too! We were able to scoop up a 3 pound bag of these frozen berries, but after some research it seems the only other available size is FIVE pounds, therefore this is not an ideal option if you have limited freezer space. Also, due to their large size, Campoverde Jumbo Strawberries take an extra long time to defrost, and sadly, once defrosted you may be disappointed by their flavor. Upon first glance you’d think each berry would be impossibly flavorful and juicy, but unfortunately we found them to be somewhat bland and watery, and much more tart than sweet.

Pros:

• Super impressive jumbo size berries!
• Lowest calorie content per serving--just 45 calories per 5 berries
• Packaged in a resealable bag with plenty of recipes and information on it.
• Tons of vitamins and minerals, giving you 90% your daily value of vitamin C as well as a decent dose of harder-to-come-by nutrients such as manganese and molybdenum.

Cons:

• The package itself is huge, consisting of several pounds of frozen berries which take up a ton of freezer space and might take some time to work your way through.
• The big size of the berries means they take a long time to defrost.
• The flavor of these berries is not as great as compared to others, somewhat bland and watery, tart instead of sweet.

4. Best Organic Frozen Strawberries:

Good & Gather Organic Whole Strawberries

Abiding by organic farming practices is not always the easiest way to grow fruits and vegetables, but it is important! Organic practices support overall soil and environmental health, as well as ensure that the fruits and vegetables which make it to your table are free from harmful pesticides and contaminants. All of this extra effort in the farming and harvesting of the fresh produce unfortunately means that organically grown anything, frozen strawberries included, are more likely to have a higher average price as compared to conventionally grown fruits. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of affordable organic options out there and we think we have found the best option right here!

About Good & Gather Organic Whole Strawberries

First and foremost, Good & Gather Organic Whole Strawberries are certified organic and non-GMO verified, so you can be sure that they live up to the international standards of organic farming practices. These berries taste great and have plenty of juicy, sweet strawberry flavor. They also offer an impressive nutritional profile, and are an especially excellent source of vitamin C, delivering: 20 milligrams calcium (2% DV), 1.1 milligrams iron (6% DV), 210 milligrams potassium (4% DV), and 59 milligrams vitamin C (70% DV)! Brought to you by and available at Target stores, Good & Gather offers a money back guarantee, which is great news if you find, for one reason or another, that these frozen strawberries just don’t do it for you. While we opted for the frozen whole strawberries so as to keep things consistent across our testing, this brand is also available as frozen sliced strawberries, which just happen to be perfect for our Homemade Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream!

One major downside here is that there is a seemingly small quantity of frozen berries in this package. Essentially what we took out and placed in the bowl as pictured is about how many strawberries were in there. In addition, these strawberries are definitely not the best looking we came across. Our package contained varying sizes and shapes and a few mangled strawberries in the mix. It’s important to keep in mind though, that sometimes such is the case when it comes to organic berries--it’s all about letting Mother Nature do her thing!

Pros:

• Certified organic and non-GMO verified.
• Great taste and juicy berry flavor!
• Rich in vitamins and minerals, containing calcium, iron, potassium, and an impressive helping of vitamin C.
• Good & Gather brand offers a money back guarantee.
• Same product is available in pre-sliced frozen strawberries.

Cons:

• The quantity of strawberries in the package seemed quite small as compared to other brands and varieties.
• These strawberries were not the best looking--some were pretty smushed, and there was a range of sizes included in the bag.

5. Best All-Around Frozen Strawberries:

Cascadian Farm Premium Organic Strawberries

So far we’ve found a bunch of different frozen strawberries that each meet specific criteria, whether they claim the title of most beautiful or most nutritious. But what if you want a good, straightforward option that has many different pros but doesn't stand out in any one category alone? Meet your best all-around frozen strawberry! This is the option to reach for as a reliable go-to, to get all of your strawberry needs accomplished and to taste good doing it! Whether your use for frozen strawberries is to simply toss them in a tall glass of sparkling water with a touch of lime juice for a refreshing beverage, or to tackle some complicated recipes, the best all-around frozen strawberry has got your back.

About Cascadian Farm Premium Organic Strawberries

Our package of Cascadian Farm Premium Organic Strawberries contains berries of overall excellent shape and consistent, medium size. There weren’t too many butchered berries mixed in, and they offered a good flavor, albeit not the best and brightest of all we sampled. They offer a respectable amount of mineral content, with a few milligrams of iron and 6% the recommended daily intake of potassium. These frozen strawberries are also USDA certified organic and non-GMO verified. And last, but definitely not least, these strawberries are a product of the USA! Cascadian Farm is based in Skagit Valley, Washington and their list of partner farms has grown from there. This is an organic and sustainably minded company, actively working to improve the health and future of farming practices for all!

Unfortunately, their packages run small, with just 2 servings per container. For such a small size, you’d hope that you’d be getting a lot of bang for your buck but unfortunately this is not the case. In our local market, these frozen strawberries came out to $0.52 per ounce, the second most expensive frozen strawberries we evaluated. Furthermore, these frozen strawberries somehow have a higher sugar content than the others, rolling in at 8 grams per serving!

Pros:

• Berries are consistently shaped and sized, overall intact and nice looking!
• Decent flavor, although not the best of all we tried.
• Contains a bit of iron and 6% DV of your potassium intake!
• Certified organic and non-GMO verified
• Grown and produced in the USA!
• Cascadian Farm works to support sustainable and healthy farming efforts.

Cons:

• Small quantity of frozen berries in the package, just two servings!
• In terms of price per ounce, these were the second most expensive frozen strawberries we tested.
• Highest sugar content of all frozen berries, at 8 grams per serving.

Ranking the Best Frozen Strawberries: The Takeaway

As you can see, not all frozen strawberries are created equal. They may all look just about the same and contain 1 single ingredient (strawberries!), but depending on how the fruit is grown, processed, and frozen, there are a whole host of different characteristics these bags of frozen red jewels can take on.

Now that you have the inside scoop on which are the best frozen strawberries to be found, you may find yourself in need of some recipe inspo! Give our 4-Ingredient Frozen Strawberry Yogurt a shot! Or, if you have some fresh strawberries on hand and are looking to create your own stash of frozen strawberries, be sure to check out our comprehensive guide to all things strawberry storage.