Hope springs eternal. At least when it comes to my garden. I planted a small blueberry bush earlier this spring, only to watch it slowly lose leaves down to a few bare stems. Visions of blueberry glory, dashed! We’ve moved the plant to a new location, a bit more shaded, and planted a new blueberry bush near it, so (and this where the eternal hope comes in) maybe we’ll have some lovely blueberries next year.
In the meantime, blueberries are plentiful in the market, thank goodness. Usually I buy them by the double-basketful. And then eat them. This time though, inspired by a lovely blueberry sorbet I had in Austin, Texas, I thought I would try my hand at making some sorbet. So good! And really easy to make. The small additions of a little lemon zest (a bitter), lemon juice (an acid), and just a pinch of salt, brighten the intense blueberry flavor of this sorbet. Perfect for a hot summer day.
Blueberry Sorbet Recipe
If you want your sorbet to last a while in the freezer, and not get too rock hard, you might want to add a tablespoon or two of corn syrup to the mix. Or you can add 2 tablespoons of kirsch or a berry or orange liqueur.
Ingredients
- 5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, rinsed, stems removed and discarded
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- Pinch salt
- Fresh blueberries and sprigs of mint for garnish
Method
1 Place the blueberries, sugar, honey, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt in a large bowl. Stir to coat blueberries with the sugar. Mash with a potato masher.
2 Put the mashed blueberries into a blender and blend for a couple of minutes until smooth.
3 Place a sieve over a large bowl and working in batches, press the mixture through the sieve, using a rubber spatula. This will catch the tougher and larger pieces of lemon and blueberry peel.
4 Chill the mixture for at least an hour in the fridge. Then process following the directions of your ice cream maker.
Eat immediately (the sorbet will still be a little soft) or freeze at least a few hours to help firm up before eating. Eat soon after making though, as the sorbet will get progressively harder the longer it stays in the freezer.
Serve with a few fresh blueberries and a sprig of mint.
Yield: Makes a little less than a quart.







Blueberry and lemon is a great combo! The color is so striking. We ended up with 12 blueberries from 4 bushes this year. We’ve made some changes and have high hopes for next year, too.
the sorbet has a lovely colour!
It looks gorgeous however as winter has just arrived here in Australia just looking at the picture is making me shiver! I will have to keep it in mind for when summer starts.
An oh-so-perfect solution to summer’s heat! Beautiful.
A blueberry planting tip – you should plant bushes in sets of three. This allows for proper pollination and productivity. They do not need to be the same variety. Good luck!
Thanks for the tip! I’ll go get another one. ~Elise
Blueberry crop in East Texas was pitiful this year, sadly. Drought & Hail. Our friends have a BB Farm with like 5 acres of bushes. Growing advice from an expert: WATER – they like root watering and often. Also – FERTILIZE frequently.
This looks so refreshing! We have some blueberry bushes that yielded nothing last year (their first year) and I’m hopeful that we’ll have a few this time around!
Juli
Such a luscious color! I use a similar recipe, and I love adding black grapes — they add a little nuance to the flavor, and they pack a healthy punch of another antioxidant, resveratrol. Perfect for smoothies, and a pretty healthy way to satisfy a sweet tooth!
This just looks delicious. I adore blueberries as well and agree, it takes a lot of willpower to actually make them into something instead of just eating them as a snack! Thanks for the tips about the lemon zest and juice, very helpful. I wonder if adding a tiny bit of booze (rum?) would help keep the texture good in the freezer? It worked for a sorbet I did for Valentine’s Day. :)
Hi Stephanie, yes, a couple tablespoons of rum or a high alcohol content liqueur will help keep the sorbet from icing up too much. ~Elise
Such a yummy recipe!
Instead of sugar can I use Splenda or some other substitute (I’ll use the honey since it probably adds a great taste). I have type 2 diabetes and like to eliminate sugar if I can. Never made sugar free sorbet or ice cream though.
I’ve never made sorbet or ice cream with a sugar substitute, so don’t know what to tell you. You might want to search in Google. ~Elise
I can’t wait to try this recipe! Hubby and I recently went to a local u-pick field and came home with 20 pounds of blueberries! I have frozen a good portion of them and have been looking for a different way to utilize them. This seems absolutely perfect! Thank you!!
This looks lovely. I’ve just bought myself an icecream maker so am looking around for lots of ideas and inspiration at the moment. Can’t wait to use it!
I made two batches of watermelon sorbet last week, one with rum and one without. Both great, have been wondering what kind to make next. Now I know. My honey will be a happy man.
I don’t have a green thumb, in fact it’s stuck in the mud; so I commend you on your efforts to plant
blueberries to harvest. I will try your recipe
for the sorbet, however and enjoy every lovin’
sponnful!!!
When we lived in Savannah, we had two enormous blueberry bushes producing gallons of blueberries every summer. I made sorbet very much like this, only using limes instead of lemons and adding a little fresh ginger. Yum!
The sorbet looks wonderful. Now I’m hoping that we have a good crop on our bushes this year.
Another tip for growing blueberries…they like acid soil. If you soil tends to be sweet, apply aluminum sulfate one or more times per year. You can get it at any garden center.
Elise,
This recipe looks absolutely amazing; can’t wait to make it for my children :-)
Elana
Reason #14930220 to get an icecream maker. This looks amazing. Such a beautiful color!
Elise,
A tip on blueberry growing: if the soil pH is off it won’t produce.
But if it’s in a raised bed or large container then the amended soil is probably good and, if watered regularly, it will do well.
PS You’re such a talented food photographer. Great color, textures & spot focus. We are drooling!
Thanks Don! I got some azalea food, so hopefully that will help acidify the soil sufficiently. ~Elise
This looks amazing!! There are tons of blueberries at my local market and it’s past time to break out the ice cream maker this summer!
Blueberries are by far my favorite berry, and I love that you use honey as a sweetener in this recipe! The ice cream maker is going to be used very, very soon :)
The color on the sorbet is mouth-watering! Definitely will try this one!
made it with a key lime simple syrup i had left over from some mojitos.. very solid
this looks amazing and tastes great too