These Are The Sweetest Strawberries You Can Find

Strawberries are the perfect snack to eat on their own, but they make for a delightful addition to plenty of other foods, including desserts and smoothies. Even a number of savory dishes benefit from the addition of strawberries. While we think of them as sweet, juicy fruits, some strawberries have better flavor than others, and if you're looking for the sweetest ones, you'll often find them at local farmers markets during a specific time of year.

Kantha Shelke, PhD, is a certified food scientist, principal at Corvus Blue LLC (a food science and research firm), and senior lecturer of food safety regulations at Johns Hopkins University. She told Chowhound in an exclusive chat, "Farmers markets during peak season — late spring through early summer — are more likely than commercial grocers to have the sweetest strawberries. Berries are sweetest within hours of harvest because they stop producing sugar the moment they're picked." 

The reason farmers markets tend to have sweeter berries is because they can be picked closer to the time the berries are sold; the fruit usually doesn't have far to travel. "Grocery store berries, flown across miles, are usually picked underripe to survive the journey, and tend to sacrifice flavor for shelf life," Shelke explained. Still, you can look for the ripest strawberries at the store by purchasing ones with a vibrant red color and a bright green cap.

For the sweetest strawberries, focus on the time of year. Otherwise, you'll have no choice but to buy strawberries that are flown in from elsewhere, rendering them flavorless compared to buying local. And if you can't find a local market, check a high-end grocery store — just expect to pay a higher price for a higher-quality fruit. "Upscale markets tend to source locally during peak season," Kantha Shelke said, noting that at one point, the expensive grocery chain Erewhon was selling strawberries for as much as $25 per quart. But depending on your budget, it could be worth the splurge. "They were also the most delicious strawberries I have ever tasted," Shelke admitted of her Erewhon purchase.

To understand peak season, you should know what kind of strawberries are grown in the United States. "Albion, Seascape, Chandler, Earliglow, and Sweet Charlie are sweet commercial varieties," Shelke said. But for homegrown berries, focus on others. "Jewel, Seascape, Mara des Bois, and the tiny Alpine strawberries are sweet and fragrant homegrown varieties," explained Shelke.

If you're serious about obtaining high-quality strawberries all year, consider growing one of the homegrown varieties yourself. You can often buy seeds online — note that their stock can be seasonal – and they grow well in both pots and gardens, allowing you flexibility in your journey to achieving the sweetest strawberries on demand.