All encased in a super flaky, all butter homemade pie crust! Tastes like the very best of summer in the form of a buttery fruit pie!
What makes this the best fresh strawberry pie for me
A great fresh strawberry pie should taste like… well, fresh strawberry! Like summer in a delicious buttery bite of pie, in other words. That’s why this fresh strawberry pie is my absolute favorite. This is a recipe for fresh strawberry pie, without strawberry jello in the filling. The strawberry base that holds the filling together is made with fresh strawberries cooked down and thickened with cornstarch. So it tastes like strawberry jam, that’s made with very little sugar! While the cornstarch thickens the filling enough to set, you have the option of adding gelatin to help the filling set more. My homemade pie crust is delicious on its own! Buttery, flaky, and perfect! But you also have the option of using a store-bought pie crust or cookie crust too! I share tips on how to choose the right strawberries for this pie AND where you can use frozen strawberries, and how to add more strawberry flavor to the pie filling too!
Ingredients for strawberry pie
Pie crust
Flour Salt Sugar (optional) Unsalted butter, chilled Chilled water (and vodka, optional)
Strawberry filling
Fresh strawberries Fresh or frozen strawberries (for the base) Sugar Lemon juice Vanilla extract Cornstarch Gelatin (optional)
Topping
More fresh strawberries (only if needed) Whipped cream (optional)
How to make strawberry pie
Pie crust
The pie crust for this strawberry pie is fully blind-baked. You can absolutely use store-bought pie shell, but if you do have the time, I highly recommend making my all butter flaky pie crust recipe. That recipe includes beginner-friendly step by step, detailed instructions to make amazing pie crust dough. Plus, I share tips on how to ensure you have a perfect, golden brown blind baked flaky crust that does not shrink, does not burn, or slide down the sides of the pie dish! Cut the chilled butter into the flour. The butter lumps should be about the size of hazelnuts, or larger, flatter pieces (image 1). Then, add the chilled water while mixing the flour and butter mixture (image 2). I like to add chilled vodka with the water, as vodka helps to prevent excess gluten formation. Add only just enough liquid so that the dough sticks together when squeezed while still having some dry spots (image 3). Too much moisture in the dough will lead to over-worked gluten that can shrink or slip down in the pie dish. Bring the dough together without overworking the dough (image 4). Then form the dough into discs, and then let the dough chill in the fridge (images 5 – 6). Roll out the chilled dough (images 7 – 8) and carefully line your pie plate with the thin pie crust, without stretching the dough to fit. Trim the excess (images 9 – 10) and form the pie crust border by rolling the excess dough under, and making a thick smooth edge (images 11 – 12). Create a fluted edge or crimped edge, so that your pie crust looks neat and pretty (images 13 – 14). Then blind bake the pie crust in a preheated oven. As mentioned in my pie crust recipe post, I prefer to line my crust with foil, and fill it with sugar or rice as pie weights, instead of ceramic pie weights (images 15 – 16). To ensure that your pie crust does not shrink or lose its shape, we blind bake at a low oven temperature for a longer time, rather than at a high temperature for a short time. Once par-baked, remove the pie weights and bake the crust until light golden brown (image 17). Brush the inside with an egg wash (image 17) and bake for a further 5 – 7 minutes until it has a deep golden brown color and a lovely sheen (image 18). Let it cool down until you get the strawberry filling ready.
Strawberry filling
Instead of using a packaged strawberry jello as the base, here I make the strawberry base from scratch. This means the strawberry flavor will taste so much more natural than from a jello packet. The final strawberry pie filling tastes like fresh strawberry jam that’s not too sweet, mixed with fresh juicy strawberries. Absolutely divine!
Step one – Prepare the strawberries
The fresh berries for the filling must be the best strawberries you can find! Any strawberries that might be bruised are used for the filling base instead. I keep the really ripe, bright red, sweet strawberries whole in the filling. If the strawberries are too expensive, then you can buy enough for the fresh strawberry portion, and use frozen strawberries for the base. Halve the fresh strawberries that will be used in the filling and topping (image 19). Smaller strawberries hold up better in the filling than larger strawberries, so keep small strawberries whole, and cut the larger ones into slices or cubes, so that they are all fairly similar in size (image 20).
Step two – Cook the strawberry base
Cook the frozen strawberries with sugar and lemon juice (image 21) until the strawberries are softened and mashed, and the mixture has a thick texture (image 22). This can take between 20 – 25 minutes. To this, add the cornstarch to thicken the mixture (image 23). Regular cornstarch can be dissolved with the water, and instant clearjel must be whisked with at least an equal amount of sugar before adding it to the mixture. Once you add the cornstarch, immediately whisk it in and bring to a boil. Cook for a further 5 minutes after the mixture starts to boil, until the filling looks shiny and thick (image 24). While the cornstarch mixture will be enough to create a stiff filling, you do have the option of adding gelatin too. The gelatin will make the filling a little more stable if you prefer that. However, please note that the larger the fresh strawberries, the more the filling will be wobbly and unstable. The smaller the berries, the more cohesive it will be. But I don’t care either way because the flavor is incredible! Once the strawberry mixture is cooked and still hot, add bloomed gelatin (if using). To enhance the strawberry flavor even more, add some freeze dried strawberry powder too! This will help with the color and the flavor.
Step three – Fold in fresh strawberries
While the mixture is still warm, add the fresh strawberries (image 25), and fold them in gently until the strawberry base is mixed well with the fresh strawberries (image 26).
Step four – Fill the pie crust
Fill the blind baked, golden brown, flaky pie crust with the strawberry filling (image 27), and use a spatula to evenly spread the strawberry filling so that it’s level (image 28). If you want to create a pattern with strawberries, then reserve some of the filling with halved fresh strawberries before filling the pie crust. Use the reserved strawberries to create a pattern on top of the pie, and spread the leftover strawberry base on top to keep the strawberries coated with the shiny base (image 29). Refrigerate for about 4 hours until the filling is set and completely chilled.
Step five – Final step before serving is topping the pie
Make freshly whipped cream and pipe or spread it on top if you like. To make the whipped cream stable, add instant clearjel or instant vanilla pudding while whisking. Make sure to only whip the cream until you just start to have stiff peaks, or mid-peaks. It’s so easy to go from stiff peaks to curdled, so be very careful! Pipe or spread the whipped cream over the top of the pie, and then serve (image 30).
My best recipe tips for success!
There are only 3 components in this recipe. And each component is easy to make. Here are some simple tips to guarantee the absolute best results!
When making the all butter pie crust, make sure the dough is cold throughout the whole process, so that the butter stays firm. If the butter starts to soften, the dough will get sticky and that can lead to many pie crust issues. So, keep the dough in the fridge whenever the butter softens too much. Blind bake the pie crust at a low oven temperature, for a longer time. You might be tempted to blind bake at a higher temperature for a shorter time, but my method here is failproof and foolproof! Brushing the crust with egg wash and baking it will create somewhat of a barrier between the pie crust and the filling which will keep the crust crisp for longer. So, no soggy crust! If you don’t want to use an egg wash, you can use melted cocoa butter as a barrier too. I find that when the strawberries are very large, the filling doesn’t gel together as well as I would like. So, I prefer to use smaller strawberries for this recipe when I can. If I do have larger strawberries, I cut them to 1 – 1.5 inch sized pieces for best results.
When making the strawberry filling, you have two options.
Adding freeze dried strawberry powder will make the flavor of strawberry even stronger! This is an optional step of course, and I don’t add it to mine if I use super ripe in-season strawberries. Eat the pie on the day that you make it, if possible. I usually make the crust the day before, and make the filling the day of (serving). The pie CAN be stored in the fridge overnight (12 hours), but the longer you keep it in the fridge, the more soggy the fresh strawberries will become, and the pie crust can also taste a tad stale. Choose your fresh strawberries wisely! Since this pie contains fresh strawberries, it’s absolutely imperative to use sweet, fresh strawberries. While you can use frozen strawberries for the base, the filling should contain fresh, sweet strawberries. So, this pie is best made during strawberry season!
Recipe variations
This fresh strawberry pie is ideal if made during strawberry season (i.e. summer!). Off season strawberry may not taste as sweet, and will directly impact the flavor of the pie. BUT, to make this pie even more interesting, you can absolutely switch up the flavors and textures.
Switch up the pie crust
You can swap out regular pie crust with my graham flour pie crust, which has the flavor of graham crackers, but the flakiness of regular butter pie crust!
Fresh strawberry tart
Or make a fresh strawberry tart by using this pate sucree tart crust! Instead of pie crust, you can also use crushed cookie crusts. It’s so easy to make a no bake fresh strawberry pie by using a cookie crust! However, for extra strength and structure, I would still recommend baking the crust to “set” the crushed cookie crumbs.
Oreo cookie crust for a chocolate and fresh strawberry pie. Graham cracker crust Pretzel crust to make a pretzel strawberry pie.
Gluten free strawberry pie
Use a gluten free pie crust to make this recipe. The filling is already gluten free, so a GF crust will make this dessert fully gluten free. For another flavor variation, you can even make a rhubarb and fresh strawberry pie if you like! Make the base of the pie with rhubarb instead of strawberries (with some extra sugar), and then fold the rhubarb base with fresh strawberries. But if you like a more classic, baked rhubarb strawberry pie, then you have to check out my classic rhubarb strawberry pie recipe!
Storage tips
I have stored leftovers in an airtight container for another day, and the pie was still absolutely delicious 24 hours later! But any longer will make the fruits and the crust taste stale. This is a pie that unfortunately is best served within 24 hours of making the filling. The reason is the fresh strawberries in the filling. The fresh strawberries in the pie become soft the longer the pie is stored. This results in the strawberries releasing their juices as they soften and the filling becoming watery and making the pie crust soggy as well. This pie is also not suitable for freezing because frozen strawberries will also release juices as they thaw out, and you will lose that crisp, firm texture of fresh strawberries as well.
Make ahead tips
While the filling must be made and served within 24 hours, the pie crust can be made ahead of time! The pie dough can be made up to 3 days ahead of time (longer in the freezer). The pie crust can be blind baked up to 2 days ahead and stored in the fridge, and longer in the freezer. But “refresh” the crust by warming the pie crust (without the filling) in an oven preheated to 200 F. This will make the crust crisp and flaky again. You can also make the strawberry base the day before, and keep it in the fridge. Gently warm it up over a low heat setting until the texture of the base becomes soft. Then fold in the fresh strawberries and fill the pie crust.
Commonly asked questions
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