Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (2024)

You may equate summer with barbecues and the beach, but to us, warmer weather is also a signifier of blueberry season. They're at their peak between May and August—while we love to eat them plain and picked fresh, we also like to turn them into jams (such as Gabriel Rucker's Blueberry-Beaujolais Jam recipe), pile them into tarts and pies, and even make them into a glaze for ribs. (Trust us on that one.) Read on for those recipes, and more blueberry recipes we love.

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Free-Form Blueberry Tart

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (1)

Jeremy Sewall adds a little candied ginger to the tart's crust for a hint of spice; feel free to add more or omit it altogether.

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Kohlrabi, Fennel, and Blueberry Salad

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (2)

Kohlrabi tastes a lot like a broccoli stem, but it's milder and sweeter and the texture is crisper. Chef Stephanie Izard thinks it's an underappreciated vegetable, so she makes it the star of her delicious salad, served raw in very thin slices. In fact, she likes the dish so much that she takes some home to eat on the couch after service a few times a week.

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Blueberry-Banana Pancakes

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (3)

Tyler Florence made these pancakes at home one weekend morning with his son Hayden. They're a slight variation on a recipe from his book, Tyler Florence Family Meal.

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Blueberry-Glazed Ribs

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (4)

Blueberry glaze makes the edges on these ribs nice and sticky.

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Blueberry Muffins with Crumb Topping

You can easily replace the blueberries with other kinds of fresh fruit, such as raspberries or peaches (chopped into small pieces). In the off-season you can use IQF (individually quick-frozen) fruit; there's no need to thaw.

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06of 19

Perfect Blueberry Syrup

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (6)

A huge virtue of homemade syrup is that, unlike the store-bought kind, it can taste much more like fruit than sugar. This blueberry syrup will last long enough to give as gifts during the holidays; simply transfer it into tall, pretty bottles using a funnel and store it in the refrigerator.

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Lemon-Blueberry Cheesecake Parfaits

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (7)

The three components in these parfaits — the creamy, tangy cheesecake custard, the crunchy cornmeal shortbread and the fresh blueberry compote — are fantastic together, but each can be used in lots of other ways. Try the custard with any fresh fruit, serve the shortbread with sorbet or drizzle the compote over ice cream.

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Blue-Barb Jam

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (8)

Instead of strawberries, fresh blueberries are paired with rhubarb in this incredibly simple and delicious sweet-tart jam.

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Summer Berry Clafoutis

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (9)

This flourless dessert is more like a delicate custard with fruit than like the usual sturdy country clafoutis.

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Berry Ice Cream Pie

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (10)

This recipe turns out a berry ice cream pie that is as beautiful as it is deliciously refreshing.

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Blueberry Mousse

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (11)

Sour cream gives this blueberry mousse a wonderful, subtle tanginess.

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Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberries

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Adding fresh ricotta to the batter makes these pancakes incredibly moist and light.

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Very Blueberry Smoothie

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (13)

This wonderful smoothie is for blueberry lovers or for when you have an abundance of summer berries.

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Blueberry Pie with Rye Crust

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This sensational blueberry pie has small circles cut out of the rye crust, which not only looks dramatic but also allows moisture to evaporate from the fruit filling as it cooks, deepening the flavor.

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Crispy Blueberry Cookies Dipped in Chocolate

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (15)

Sweet, dried blueberries are baked within these thin and chewy butterless cookies. They're incredibly craveable and simple to make.

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Blueberry Baked Quinoa and Oatmeal

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (16)

Blueberries are great on top of baked quinoa with steel-cut oats. They're even better cooked inside. You can't go wrong with fresh or frozen blueberries.

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Brown Sugar Cake with Ricotta and Blueberries

Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (17)

Chef Joe Flamm cinched his season 15 Top Chef win with this simple brown sugar cake, which he learned to make from the late pastry chef Todd Kunkleman at Stephanie Izard's Girl & the Goat in Chicago. "I just fell in love with it right away, and I've wanted it ever since," says Flamm, now executive chef of Spiaggia in Chicago. The chewy, dense confection is like a cross between a cake and a blondie. It's delicious both by itself and dressed up with Ricotta Mousse and Blueberry Sauce.

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Kolache with Blueberry Filling

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Kolache, fluffy rounds of dough with sweet or savory fillings, are originally from Central Europe, but they're popular in Texas, too. Autumn Stanford of the Brooklyn Kolache Company suggests keeping the dough on the sticky side when you mix it. The dough will become less tacky as it rises, and the extra moisture will keep the pastry from becoming too dry.

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St. Louis-Style Cheesecake with Blueberries

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An unfussy, delicious summer dessert, this cheesecake is even better with a pile of fresh berries on top.

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Our Best Blueberry Recipes to Make This Summer (2024)

FAQs

Is it okay to eat blueberries every day? ›

There's no downside to eating blueberries every day because they're so healthy. But Zumpano says you'll get the most benefits from fresh, uncooked organic berries. While delicious, blueberry pancakes or muffins aren't quite as healthy. “Antioxidants can be harmed by heat,” Zumpano explains.

What to do with an abundance of blueberries? ›

When you've exhausted your blueberry repertoire, try these 11 ways to use this gently sweet fruit.
  1. co*cktails. Muddle the summer fruit in a gin-based pomegranate co*cktail, a refreshing limeade, or a simple bourbon old-fashioned.
  2. Infused booze. ...
  3. Syrup. ...
  4. Healthy PB&J. ...
  5. Salads. ...
  6. Barbecue sauce. ...
  7. Frozen Yogurt. ...
  8. Shortcakes.
Jun 20, 2017

What makes blueberries taste better? ›

Peak Ripeness. Another reason U-Pick Blueberries taste better than store-bought berries is because you can choose to pick the most ripe ones. Fully ripened to perfection blueberries are dark blue with a light white, cloudy coating called the “bloom” around them. This coating is completely natural and safe.

Do blueberries affect medication? ›

Blueberries contain a compound called pterostilbene, which can interact with certain medications, such as blood thinners and cholesterol-lowering drugs. If you're taking any medication, it's important to talk to your doctor before eating blueberries or any other food that contains pterostilbene.

When should you not eat blueberries? ›

If someone has an allergy or hypersensitivity to the fruit or any of its components, they should avoid its consumption. Also, as is the case in almost all cases, excessive consumption of blueberries can lead to short-term side effects such as diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.

Which berry is the healthiest? ›

Which Berry is Most Nutritious? They're all healthy choices, but the “best” distinction may well go to black raspberries, says dietitian Kathleen Johnson. A raspberry cousin with a deeper color, they provide very high antioxidant levels along with fiber and relatively little natural sugar.

Why do you add lemon juice to blueberries? ›

Lemon can enhance the flavor of blueberries by adding a touch of acidity that brings out their natural sweetness. Both lemon and blueberry are versatile flavors that can be used in a variety of dishes, from sweet to savory.

What spice enhances blueberries? ›

Mixing a little coriander in with your blueberry desserts or pancakes will make the blueberries taste more, well, blueberry-y. And there's a scientific reason why.

What to avoid when buying blueberries? ›

Skip any reddish berries as they aren't fully ripe.

Do blueberries affect blood pressure? ›

A cup of wild blueberries is not only a tasty, low-calorie snack, but it also lowers blood pressure, improves blood vessel function and provides a small brain boost, a new study suggests.

Is 2 cups of blueberries a day too much? ›

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends eating about 2 cups of a variety of fruit daily for most adults, which could include blueberries. 12 Consuming too much of anything can make you feel sick, so it's a good idea not to overdo it.

What diseases do blueberries prevent? ›

They have been shown to protect against heart disease and cancer, and can also help maintain bone strength, mental health, and healthful blood pressure. Blueberries contain a plant compound called anthocyanin.

Is there a downside to eating too many blueberries? ›

"Overconsuming blueberries can cause potential health concerns like excessive calorie intake, fiber overload leading to GI issues, spikes in blood sugar and oxalate overload leading to kidney stone formation," she says.

How many blueberries count as 1 a day? ›

Fruit portion sizes
FruitAdult portion size (80g)Child portion size
Blueberries4 heaped tbsp2 heaped tbsp
Apple1 medium apple1/2 medium apple
Banana1 medium banana1/2 medium banana
Avocado1/2 standard avocado1/4 standard avocado
14 more rows
Nov 22, 2022

How many blueberries should you eat a day to lose weight? ›

Overall, the research found that consuming roughly 1 cup of wild blueberries daily for two weeks increases the ability to use/burn fat during moderate-intensity exercise, like cycling. While it accelerates fat burning, it also decreases the use of carbohydrates.

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