I don’t know if there’s anything as sweet as a box of chocolate covered strawberries on Valentine’s Day. They’re a treat that just feels special!
Making chocolate-covered strawberries is a fun and delicious way to treat yourself or impress a special someone with a simple yet elegant dessert. Whether you choose to melt the chocolate for a quick dip or temper it for a smooth, glossy finish, the result is a perfect combination of fruity sweetness and rich chocolate flavor. I will talk you through both methods! Trying this recipe will elevate your dessert game, and the extra effort of tempering ensures a professional touch that will make every bite feel indulgent.
I always associate chocolate covered strawberries with Valentine’s Day. If you’re fixing a full holiday spread, I have a few suggestions for an elegant dinner. Make a classic steak dinner with air fryer filet mignon or grilled New York strip steak and mashed potatoes. Or make a comforting skillet of fettuccine alfredo and carrot souffle or air fryer brussels sprouts.
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🍓 Ingredients:
- Strawberries – rinse strawberries and pat them dry with paper towels. Then set them out to air dry completely. Even a tiny drop of water can cause your melted chocolate to seize up. Choose ripe, firm strawberries with the stems intact. Sometimes, around Valentine’s Day, you can find the extra large strawberries with long stems for the ultimate chocolate dipped strawberry.
- Dark Chocolate and/or White Chocolate – your finished recipe is only going to be as good as the chocolate you are using. Use high quality chocolate. Buy pure chocolate bars instead of using chocolate chips. Chips typically have other ingredients added to them. Skip the candy melts. Sure, they work nicely for dipping things, but they are not real chocolate and lack in flavor. I typically use Ghirardelli 60% dark chocolate bars and Ghirardelli white chocolate. You can also use milk chocolate by following the same steps.
- crushed peanuts, mini chocolate chips, coconut flakes, sprinkles, etc. – We used a variety of “toppings” to add to our dipped strawberries, feel free to grab whatever you’d like.
For a full list of ingredients and their measurements, 📋 please view my printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Equipment Needed:
If you would like to temper the chocolate, you will need a digital thermometer that reaches lower temperature ranges, as low as 80°F and up to 120°F. Most candy thermometers or cooking thermometers will cover the higher ranges, it’s the lower temperatures you need to look for.
Substitutions and Variations
- Spice – Add a little heat by incorporating chili powder, cayenne pepper, or cinnamon into your chocolate coating.
- Nuts – After coating in a thin layer of chocolate, dip your strawberries in crushed peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, or granola for a crunchy, nutty flavor.
- Other Fruits- Instead of strawberries, try dipping some other fruits in melted chocolate. Cherries, apples, bananas, pineapple, and mango are all popular choices.
🔪 Instructions:
PREP: Wash and dry strawberries completely. It’s best to air dry the strawberries by rinsing and setting them out several hours before you want to start working with the chocolate. Set out a large sheet of parchment paper or wax paper for placing the dipped strawberries on.
Step 1: Chop chocolate into small pieces. If you will be tempering the chocolate, chop as small as possible.
Step 2: Place the chocolate into a glass bowl. If using the double boiler method to heat the chocolate, bring about an inch of water to a low simmer in a small saucepan. You can melt the chocolate in either a glass or metal bowl if using a double boiler. Alternately, you can heat in the microwave (glass bowl only) in 30 second increments, stirring between, until chocolate has melted. Using a double boiler will give you greater control over the temperature of the chocolate and is what I recommend. (If you plan to temper the chocolate, place only ⅔ of the chopped pieces in the bowl to melt and set aside the remaining ⅓ to use in Step 6.)
Step 3: As soon as the chocolate begins to melt, remove it from the double boiler/heat, and stir until it is melted through. The chocolate should reach about 115°F and should not exceed 120°F for dark chocolate or 113°F for milk and white chocolate. It will continue rising in temperature when you remove it from the heat, so it’s better to take it off too soon rather than risk scorching the chocolate. You can place it back over the simmering water for 5-10 seconds at a time if you need more heat.
Step 4: When the chocolate is melted through, it is ready for dipping (if you are not going to temper it. If you are going to temper the chocolate, skip down to the detailed instructions below.) Hold a dry strawberry firmly by the stem and dunk it down into the melted chocolate. Roll it from side to side to coat all the way around. Lift it up out of the chocolate and allow the excess to drip off.
Pro Tip: If you’re not tempering the chocolate, you can add ½ teaspoon of shortening or coconut oil to the melted chocolate to make it a bit thinner and smoother for easy dipping. Chocolate with shortening/oil added will not set up as firm.
Step 5: Place dipped strawberries onto the parchment paper and leave for the chocolate to set. If you want to add nuts or mini chips, roll the freshly dipped strawberry in the toppings while it is still wet and then set onto the wax paper/parchment.
Step 6: To add a contrasting drizzle to your dipped strawberries, spoon a bit of the melted chocolate into a small plastic bag. Snip off the corner and then drizzle back and forth over the strawberries. Milk chocolate or white chocolate look great over dark chocolate. Mix and match however you like!
How to Temper Chocolate for Dipping Strawberries:
Step 6: Okay, you’ve come this far, you might as well temper that chocolate and make the BEST dipped strawberries! You’ll heat and melt the chocolate in the same way as above. Now begin stirring your chocolate to cool it. When it reaches about 100°F, begin adding it your “seed” chocolate – the ⅓ reserved chocolate pieces you set aside.
Step 7: Continue stirring and adding in the seed chocolate until it has all melted and the chocolate has cooled to about 81/82°F. If all of your seed chocolate has not melted at this point, that is okay, it will melt in the next step when we reheat the chocolate.
Step 6: Now we reheat the cooled chocolate until it is at “working temperature” or smooth for dipping. Place the bowl back over the simmering water for 10 seconds at a time, stirring constantly until it heats back up to about 89°F. Never reheat above 92°F or you will have to start over with the tempering process.
Step 7: When the chocolate is smooth and warm, dip the strawberries as described above in step 4. If you are using milk or white chocolate, the melting and tempering temperatures are slightly different. For initial melting, heat no higher than 113°F. Cool to 80-82°F. Reheat milk chocolate to 84-86°F and white chocolate to 82-84°F.
Recipe Tips for Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet so that you can easily pop the tray of dipped strawberries into the refrigerator for quick setting if you’d like.
Tempered chocolate will set firm at room temperature within 3-5 minutes. Untempered chocolate will take much longer and ultimately will be softer set. It will melt easily when touched and you may leave fingerprints when touching it.
Heating the chocolate too much will scorch it and cause it to seize up. If this happens, there is no way to rescue it and you will need to start over with new chocolate. The same is true if water comes into contact with the chocolate.
Recipe FAQs
White or grey streaks or a cloudiness on your chocolate means that is has “bloomed” and occurs when the chocolate is out of temper. It is safe to eat and tastes the same, but doesn’t look attractive.
More Special treats for Valentine’s Day
If you tried this Chocolate Covered Strawberries Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Ingredients
- 8 oz. dark chocolate
- 8 oz. white chocolate
- 2 pounds strawberries rinsed and air dried
Instructions
- Rinse strawberries and air dry completely at room temperature. Even a small drop of water in melted chocolate can cause it to seize up.
- Chop chocolate (one type at a time) into small pieces. Place chocolate in a heat-proof bowl – glass works well.
- Bring about an inch of water to a low simmer in a small saucepan. You don't want an active boil as this can splash water or steam into your bowl of chocolate.
- Place the bowl of chocolate over the hot water and stir until the chocolate begins to melt.
- Remove from heat and continue stirring until the chocolate is melted through. Return to heat for a few seconds at a time if needed to melt the chocolate completely. Do not heat chocolate above 120°F.
- Hold a strawberry firmly by its stem and dip into the melted chocolate, rotating the berry to coat all sides. Lift from the chocolate and allow any excess to drip off the berry.
- If using, roll the wet strawberry in a shallow bowl/plate of chopped nuts, coconut flakes, mini chocolate chips, etc.
- Place dipped strawberry on a sheet of parchment paper and leave until chocolate has set.
Tempering Instructions:
- If you wish to temper the chocolate to achieve professional results and nice crisp snap to the chocolate, it takes just a few more steps. Instead of adding all of the chopped chocolate pieces to the bowl initially, add ⅔ of the pieces and reserve the other ⅓. Proceed with the same heating instructions, bringing the chocolate to about 115°F.
- Off the heat, stir the chocolate vigorously, adding bits of the reserved ⅓ chocolate pieces and stirring until they're melted. Continue until all of the reserved "seed" chocolate has been added and the chocolate has cooled to 82°F.
- Place the bowl of cooled chocolate back over the double boiler for 10 seconds at a time, stirring and heating until the chocolate reaches about 89°F and is smooth. (DO NOT HEAT ABOVE 92°F.)
- Continue with the dipping instructions as outlined above.
- *White and milk chocolate should not be heated above 113°F initially, should be cooled to about 80/82°F, and reheated to about 86°F (milk) and 84°F (white).
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Comments & Reviews
Charity says
I’ve tried to temper chocolate MANY times, but have only succeeded twice… once by just barely melting chocolate that was already in temper, and once by the seeding method. I’ve never heard of the mixing method of tempering… I’ll have to try that and see if it works any better for me. =)
Can you believe that I’ve only had one chocolate-dipped strawberry in my life? I’m going to have to remedy that soon. =)
Christine says
Great explanation of the process. I definitely need to try it. I loved chocolate dipped anything! I use Guittard chocolate for my chocolate frosting and it is divine. Such a wonderful rich taste. Thanks for the tips.
Christine