How Many Strawberries Are in a Serving?

Strawberries are quite popular among fruit lovers, as the fruit has a unique sweet and tangy flavor that cannot be replicated by other fruits. However, measuring them in order to be used for recipes can be quite difficult, and they are often more difficult to measure compared to some of the most popular fruits on the market. Luckily, there are actually certain ways for you to measure a serving of strawberries, and for you to know those methods, we are here to provide you with a simple guide on how to measure and weigh strawberries. Included in this guide is an easy method to measure strawberries and also some tips on how to measure other fruits.

Measuring Strawberries per Serving

Measuring strawberries is also about memorization, as the fruits would tend to have similar weights regardless of where they came from. However, “similar” doesn’t necessarily mean “the same,” as strawberries can weigh differently from each other depending on their size. According to most food experts, like Kristen Jobe, one serving or one cup of strawberries is equal to at least eight strawberries.  Furthermore, the nutritional value of one serving of strawberries is approximately 48 calories, 1 gram of protein, 7 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of fat.

So, if a certain recipe tells you that you need at least 2 cups of strawberries, then that means you would have to add 16 strawberries. If you don’t have a food weighing scale at home, you should just remember that you would need at least eight strawberries to have one cup or one serving of it.

a yellow bowl filled with strawberries

Recommended Serving Size for Fruits

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) strongly recommends that men 19 years and older should consume at least 2 cups of fruits a day, while women 19 to 30 years old should eat 2 cups, and women 31 years old and older should have 1 ½ cups a day. But, the USDA also stated that the number of fruits you should eat per day would also depend on the level of physical activity or exercise that you perform daily, as you would often need a lot more nutrients from fruits and other foods if you are an active person.

While you would need to eat at least 16 strawberries a day to fulfill the recommended serving size of fruits per day, the same number does not apply to other fruits since they would usually be smaller or larger than strawberries. Here is a table for the recommended serving size for some of the most popular fruits.

Fruit Recommended Serving Size
Apple ½ large apple or 1 small apple
Banana 1 large banana or 1 cup sliced bananas
Grapes 32 seedless grapes or 1 cup
Grapefruit 1 medium grapefruit
Orange 1 large orange
Peach 1 large peach or 1 cup canned peaches (drained)
Pear 1 medium pear or 1 cup canned pears (drained)
Pineapple 1 cup crushed pineapples or 1 cup canned pineapples (drained)
Plum 3 medium plums or 2 large plums
Strawberries 8 large strawberries
Watermelon 1 cup small wedge or 1 cup cubed

Measuring Packaged Fruits

You would often come across packaged fruits, and they come in a variety of containers, like cans, sealed plastic bags, and boxes. Packaged fruits would usually already give you the weight and the serving size for the fruits contained inside, so it would be easier for people to tell how many strawberries or other fruits are inside a package based on their weight.

However, there are particular packaged products that have the fruits submerged in water, and these fruits are often canned pears or peaches. For these fruits, you would need to drain the water in order for you to get the correct weight for the fruits inside the container. There are some that already have the weight of the drained fruit indicated on the packaging, but there are a few that don’t provide this information, so you should keep that in mind when buying canned pears, peaches, or other fruits.

Can You Exceed the Recommended Serving Size?

You can exceed the recommended serving size for fruits, but it is not advisable since some fruits would contain elements or nutrients that may be too much for the body if you eat more of them. If you have a cold, then you may actually consume more fruits with Vitamin C, but if you don’t have any illnesses, then you should just stick to consuming the recommended serving size.

So, there you have it, a simple and easy-to-understand guide on measuring serving sizes for 1 oz of strawberries or more and other fruits. By reading this guide, you could already see that determining the serving size for fruits is quite easy, as you would only need to memorize USDA’s recommended serving size for each fruit. Following the recommended serving size is important for you to have a healthy diet.