This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, read my disclosure policy.
This Fresh Strawberry Pie Recipe is the perfect berry pie for summer. I made this pie without jello so it uses the fruit to naturally gel the pie filling. Itโs my GO TO recipe and one that everyone who tastes it loves.
You will love this easy pie for so many reasons:
- Itโs completely from scratch โ from the pie crust to the filling
- Made without jello or gelatin โ the fruit makes itโs own!
- Great way to use up fresh summer strawberries
If you love strawberries this is the best way to use them! I cannot think about strawberries and summer without thinking about the strawberry fields in Anaheim โ the sweet sticky air of the early summer mornings walking from the campground to Disneyland.
When youโre making a fresh strawberry pie filling, you cook some of the fruit like you would jam. The pectin in the fruit gels it enough when mixed with sugar and cornstarch that you donโt need the gelatin for it to solidify. Itโs almost like youโre making an apple pie filling, but with strawberries, and then you mix the filling with more fresh berries to take the shape of the pie. This strawberry pie recipe brings back so many memories and it will bring back your childhood summer memories too!
Ingredients Needed
- Fresh Strawberries โ itโs always a question of how many strawberries you need for a pie. For this recipe you need 6-8 cups of berries, which is about 2-3 pounds. Buy 3 pounds of berries, just to be safe.
- Granulated Sugar for sweetness
- Cornstarch for thickening โ no gelatin
- Water
- Pie Crust: you can use any you like but traditionally this is made with a pastry crust โ use a store bought crust or make my all butter pie crust.
How to make Strawberry Pie
- Crust: Blind Bake your crust according to package or recipe directions.
- Berries: Measure out two cups of berries, wash and hull them, then crush them with a potato masher.
- Cook the filling: Add the crushed strawberries, sugar, water, and cornstarch to a medium saucepan.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until it boils. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat.
- Chill, cover with plastic wrap, and cool completely before continuing. (You can also make this the day before.) The mixture will be very thick once cooled.
- Assemble: To assemble strawberry pie, hull and slice the remaining strawberries and place them in a medium bowl. Pour the cooled strawberry pie filling over the top and stir.
- Place strawberry mixture in pie dish.
- Chill and Serve: Chill for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving. Top with fresh whipped cream before serving.
Expert Tips
- I blind baked my pie crust on a baking sheet so itโs easy to get into and out of the oven.
- You can make the filling (without the added in fresh berries) 24 hours in advance. It needs to cool completely so itโs best to do it ahead. The mixture will be very thick once cooled. It should be COLD before you add the berries or the pie will weep.
- If your pie is weepy or watery itโs most likely because you didnโt allow the berries to fully cool. If the mixture is at all warm itโll cause the fresh berries to weep, making your pie runny.
- I donโt recommend using frozen berries in this pie โ they will be too wet and cause the pie to be runny.
- Donโt assemble the pie until the day youโre going to eat it.
- The mixture is thick like jam once cooled overnight. When you mix it with your berries there should be a bit of excess jam but not too much. There is a sweet spot between too much (pie falling apart) and not enough (again, pie falling apart). Add extra berries as needed (my recent pie used 2 1/2 pounds) โ this also depends on the size of your berries. While 2 pounds is 2 pounds, different sized berries will take up different amounts of room when sliced.
- This pie is not a gelatin pie recipe โ without jello the pie texture and stability will be different than that of one made with gelatin, so keep that in mind.
Strawberry Pie Recipe
A fresh strawberry pie is the perfect summer dessert. This pie is made with a pastry crust but you could use a graham cracker crust. This pie is made without jello and just uses the fruit to naturally gel the pie filling.
Recipe Video
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Prevent your screen from going dark
Ingredients
- 1 All Butter Pie Crust pre-baked and cooled
- 2-3 pounds fresh strawberries (buy 3 lbs to be safe)
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- โ cup (79 ml) water
- 3 tablespoons (24g) cornstarch
- Whipped cream for garnish
Instructions
- Blind Bake your crust according to package or recipe directions.
- Measure out about 2-3 cups of berries, hull and slice them in half, then measure out 2 cups (approximately 300g). Crush them using a potato masher.
- Add the crushed strawberries, sugar, water, and cornstarch to a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until it boils. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Cool completely before continuing. (You can also make this the day before.) The mixture should be very thick as shown in the video.
- To assemble the pie, hull and slice the remaining strawberries and place them in a bowl. Pour the cooled strawberry filling over the top and stir. Place in pie crust. Chill for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving. Top with fresh whipped cream before serving.
- This pie is best eaten the same day its made. It will get weepy if refrigerated overnight.
Recipe Notes
- Feel free to use a refrigerated or frozen pie crust instead of my recipe.
- Learn how to blind bake your crust here.
- Want a completely no bake pie? Use a graham cracker crust instead.
- You can make the filling (without the added in fresh berries) 24 hours in advance. It needs to cool completely so itโs best to do it ahead. The mixture will be very thick once cooled. It should be COLD before you add the berries or the pie will weep. Donโt assemble the pie until the day youโre going to eat it.
- Buy 3 pounds of strawberries to be safe โ not all strawberries are created equal.
- The mixture is thick like jam once cooled overnight. When you mix it with your berries there should be a bit of excess jam but not too much. You may need to add more berries (sometimes Iโll use up to 2 1/2 pounds โ once chopped different size berries will take up different amounts of room.
- Since this pie is not a gelatin pie recipe (without jello) the pie texture and stability will be different than that of one made with gelatin, so keep that in mind.
Recipe Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 187kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 71mg | Potassium: 127mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Vitamin C: 42.3mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 0.7mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Crusts To Pair With Strawberry Pie
Use a store bought pie crust if you want โ I wonโt tell โ or make this into a no-bake pie by using one of my no bake pie crust recipes!
I want to love this recipe, but I couldnโt get my mixture to set properly. My assumption is that it was because I used fresh picked strawberries from my local farm. When I mashed up the strawberries, I think it created excess liquid. Perhaps I should have omitted the water in this case?
Iโm sorry that happened! The mixture should have been quite thick when cooked down so possibly less water or a longer cook time was needed.
My family loved this pie so much when I made it a few weeks ago, now Iโm planning to make two more! The only change I made is that I used only 1/4 cup of sugar so we still got plenty of the tang from the strawberries. Yum!
Made the pie. It was delicious and beautiful!
Thanks for sharingโฆ
after you cook the strawberries, should they be refrigerated until assembling the pie on the next day. Wonโt it be too thick to add the fesh berries?
Itโs supposed to be thick โ thatโs what makes the pie hold itโs shape.
I made this pie exactly as the recipe said. I may have used a bit more strawberries, but otherwise made it as written. Wow! Fantastic. The entire pie was gone in one family gathering!
Also, I made it the day before, and the pie was perfectly fine when eaten! I didnโt see the note to make it the day to be eaten, until after I had made and refrigerated it.
Outstanding recipe! Thank you!