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The BEST Strawberry Pie – Easy Summertime Recipe

Strawberry Pie is a classic dessert that can be made with just a few simple ingredients. It’s an easy recipe that requires minimal prep and baking time, making it perfect for busy weeknights or days when you have limited time. With just a store-bought pie crust, some fresh strawberries, sugar, cream cheese, and cornstarch, you can make a delicious homemade pie in under an hour! Serve the Strawberry Pie with some whipped cream or ice cream for an extra special treat.

What I think makes this pie, THE BEST, is the addition of a layer of cream cheese spread on the pie crust before adding the strawberries. Plus, the homemade strawberry glaze is soooooo much better than the store bought gel or any of those strawberry pies that use strawberry Jello! 

Why you need this classic strawberry pie recipe

  • It’s the perfect dessert to make during strawberry season
  • This is an easy dessert to make for family gatherings or potluck gatherings
  • A refreshing dessert for the 4th of July or other summer festivities
  • Each bite is filled with juicy strawberries
  • You don’t need to make your own pie crust (unless you want to)

Ingredients Needed

Get more info on these ingredients in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

  • fresh strawberries
  • sugar
  • cornstarch
  • cream cheese
  • homemade or refrigerated pie crust

 

How to Make Strawberry Pie

  1. Thoroughly wash your fresh berries in a colander or large bowl.
  2. Cap, hull, and slice berries in half.
  3. Prepare your pie crust. Flute pie crust edges and pierce the bottom of the crust with a fork to prevent bubbling. Bake in the oven for the amount of time suggest for a single pie crust or until it turns a nice golden brown.
  4. Let the crust cool completely and then carefully spread the softened cream cheese over the sides and bottom of the crust.
  5. Set aside one cup of strawberries for the glaze.
  6. Layer the remaining strawberries in the pie crust.
  7. In a medium saucepan, mix together 1 cup strawberries and 2/3 cup water. Simmer for four minutes. 
  8. In a separate bowl, mix together 1 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, and 1/3 cup water. Use a whisk to combine thoroughly. 
  9. Add the mixture to the simmered strawberries and water and bring to a boil. Boil for one minute until it thickens to a strawberry glaze.
  10. Pour the glaze over the easy strawberry pie.
  11.  I like to halve a few large strawberries and arrange them in the center of the pie and then add one large strawberry on top.
  12. Chill in the refrigerator until completely set.
 
The Best Strawberry Pie

Storage

Once the pie is cooled and set, it’s important to store it properly. You can store a homemade strawberry pie in the refrigerator for up to 5-7 days. To keep the crust from getting soggy, make sure to loosely cover your strawberry pie with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.

Some other fruit pies you may be able to store at room temperature but since this pie is extra and uses cream cheese on the bottom layer above the crust, it needs to be refrigerated when you aren’t serving it.

Make sure not to seal it too tightly or too much moisture will be trapped inside and affect the texture of the crust.

If you won’t be eating your strawberry pie within the week, freeze it in an airtight container until you are ready for it. Unfrozen strawberry pies should not be stored for longer than 1-2 weeks — after that, they will start to spoil and lose their flavor and texture.

The Best Homemade Strawberry Pie

 

Can I use a different crust?

Certainly! If you don’t want to use a regular storebought pie crust, you can use a homemade pie crust recipe that yields a buttery crust. Or, you can use a graham cracker crust for even more delicious flavor.

Feel free to either make a homemade graham cracker crumb crust crushing graham crackers using a food processor or buy a premade graham cracker crust from the grocery store.

Additionally, you can also make two other crust options that would be good in this fruit pie. If you want something different, try making a shortbread crust or even a no bake Oreo crust for something different than your normal pie crust.

How to blind bake a pie crust?

Blind baking is a term used when pre-baking an empty pie crust before adding fillings. That is what we are doing in this strawberry pie recipe. We are going to use the instructions on your specific pie crust instructions.

To blind bake your crust, start by preheating the oven to 375°F (or whatever your specific crust instructions specify) and lining the bottom of the pie with parchment paper and filling it with pie weights or dried beans to prevent it from rising or shrinking.

Bake for 20 minutes (or whatever your specific instructions say to do), then remove the parchment paper and weights, brush the crust with egg wash if desired, and bake for an additional 10 – 15 minutes until lightly golden brown.

Now your crust is ready for your favorite fillings, like this homemade strawberry filling!

Can I use a different filling?

Sure! While using a different flavored filling than strawberry filling wouldn’t make this a Strawberry Pie anymore, it would still be a delicious pie though, with a buttery, flaky crust. You could even make a mixed berry strawberry mixture and use that as a pie filling.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can experiment with different flavor combinations and make something completely unique.

Can I make this pie ahead of time?

Well, you kind of will be without meaning to. The pie needs some time to chill and finish setting in the refrigerator before serving. However, if you want to make it even earlier, you can bake the pie crust earlier in the day, or even the night before and store it properly.

Then when you are ready, you can make the cream cheese layer and the strawberry filling and then add them both to the premade pie crust before letting the pie rest in the refrigerator to finish setting up.

I wouldn’t assemble this pie until the day you are making it so it stays nice and fresh and the cream cheese layer doesn’t start to make the crust soggy.

Can I use frozen strawberries?

Unfortunately, I do not recommend trying to use frozen strawberries for this recipe. They’ll become a little too wet and soggy for your filling mixture and your pie may not turn out right.

I definitely prefer to use fresh strawberries and it’s even better when they are in season and I know that the fresh berries will be sweet, ripe, juicy, and will have a delicious strawberry aroma when you go to slice each delicious piece of homemade strawberry pie. We eat not just with our tastebuds, but our eyes and sense of smell!

The Best Strawberry Pie

 Tips and Variations

  • Amp up the flavor profile by adding some lemon zest or lemon juice to the strawberry glaze.
  • I recommend using a glass pie dish so the pie crust bakes evenly in the oven.
  • This really is a simple strawberry pie. Dazzle it up a bit with some homemade whipped cream or Cool Whip.
  • You can add some vanilla extract to your cream cheese layer for a little extra flair.
  • This pie is beautiful enough to look like you bought it at the Farmer’s market.
  • To help the edges of the crust turn a nice golden brown when baking, you can use an egg wash on the pie crust before baking the perfect pie crust.
  • The pie also tastes great with a scoop of fresh vanilla ice cream and some fresh fruit.
Homemade Strawberry Pie

Doesn’t this fresh strawberry pie look divine? It’s so pretty we almost don’t want to eat it- almost. But we can’t wait to enjoy a slice and share the fresh strawberry pie recipe with anybody else who wants a slice of this fruity dessert.

Yield: 1 pie

The BEST Strawberry Pie Recipe

The BEST Strawberry Pie Recipe

What I think makes this pie, the BEST, is the addition of a layer of cream cheese spread on the pie crust before adding the strawberries.  Plus, the homemade strawberry glaze is so much better than store bought and it's so quick and easy!

Ingredients

  • 2 quarts fresh strawberries
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 TBS cornstarch
  • 4 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
  • homemade or refrigerator pie crust

Instructions

  1. Thoroughly wash berries.
  2. Cap, hull, and slice berries in half.
  3. Prepare your pie crust. Flute pie crust edges and pierce the bottom of the crust with a fork to prevent bubbling. Bake in the oven for the amount of time suggest for a single pie crust.
  4. Let the crust cool completely and then carefully spread the softened cream cheese over the sides and bottom of the crust.
  5. Set aside one cup of strawberries for the glaze.
  6. Layer the remaining strawberries in the pie crust.
  7. In a medium saucepan, mix together 1 cup strawberries and 2/3 cup water.  Simmer for four minutes.  
  8. In a separate bowl,  mix together 1 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, and 1/3 cup water.  Use a whisk to combine thoroughly.  
  9. Add the mixture to the simmered strawberries and water and bring to a boil.  Boil for one minute until it thickens to a strawberry glaze.
  10. Pour the glaze over the strawberry pie.
  11.  I like to halve a few large strawberries and arrange them in the center of the pie and then add one large strawberry on top.
  12. Chill in refrigerator until completely set.
 
Enjoy and be sure to PIN this recipe to your recipe board on Pinterest!
 
 
 
 
 

Christy @ Our Southern Home

Tuesday 2nd of June 2020

This looks so great and fresh for summer!!

Lin

Friday 29th of May 2020

HaHa, This is the recipe that is my (falling apart) Betty Crocker New Picture Cook Book. No copyright date, maybe late 60's?? It is the only pie I have tried to make. What is old is new again.

Jan

Tuesday 27th of June 2017

The strawberries look home grown not the store bought kind,so no wonder it looks so YUMMY.

Allie

Wednesday 21st of June 2017

What pie crust do you use?

Doreen Cagno

Thursday 22nd of June 2017

For this pie, I cheated and used a store bought Pillsbury pie crust.

Robyn

Monday 19th of June 2017

Hi Doreen, do you think this pie would freeze well? Thank you!

Doreen Cagno

Monday 19th of June 2017

Hi, Robyn. Unfortunately, I don't think it would freeze well.

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