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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. It’s my GO TO recipe and one that everyone who tastes it loves.
Why this is the BEST Strawberry Pie Recipe
You will love this easy pie for so many reasons:
- It’s completely from scratch – from the pie crust to the filling
- Made without jello or gelatin – the fruit makes it’s 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 – the sweet sticky air of the early summer mornings walking from the campground to Disneyland. This strawberry pie recipe brings back those memories and it will bring back your childhood summer memories too!
Ingredients Needed
- Fresh Strawberries (see below for details)
- Granulated Sugar for sweetness
- Cornstarch for thickening – no gelatin
- Water
- Pie Crust: you can use any you like but traditionally this is made with a pastry crust – 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.
Strawberry Pie without Jello
You can easily make my strawberry pie recipe without jello or gelatin.
I know the traditional strawberry pie recipes use jello but I don’t love it. I’m not a jello lover so I try to avoid it unless I’m making jello shots or pretzel salad.
When you’re 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 don’t need the gelatin for it to solidify.
It’s almost like you’re 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. That makes it super simple and such a fresh and delicious pie recipe.
What crust goes best with Strawberry Pie Filling?
Traditionally I think you see pastry crusts with strawberry pie, but you can really use any pie crust recipe.
For this recipe I used my all butter pie crust but you can also use a graham cracker crust, shortbread crust or Oreo crust if you want this to be a no bake pie.
If you’re using a pastry crust, you’ll want to blind bake it before filling. You can also use a store-bought crust, I won’t tell.
This is delicious served with whipped cream or ice cream on top.
Tip From Dorothy
Expert Tips
- I blind baked my pie crust on a baking sheet so it’s 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 it’s 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.
- Don’t assemble the pie until the day you’re going to eat it.
- Make this a NO BAKE Strawberry Pie by using a graham cracker, shortbread, or Oreo crust.
Strawberry Pie Recipe FAQs
If you want to make your strawberry pie ahead of time, you can make the jam filling the day before then chill it until you’re ready to make the pie. I highly recommend making this fresh strawberry pie recipe the day you’re going to serve it. You’ll need to chill it to set for an hour or so, but leftover strawberry pie is not good. Strawberry pie is best the day it’s assembled.
This is the complain I see most often and 99% of the time it’s because you didn’t let the filling cool before adding the berries. You have to let the cooked filling cool COMPLETELY before adding any fresh berries. If it’s warm or hot, it’ll cook the berries, causing them to leak moisture, causing your pie to be runny, weepy, or not set up. This also happens if you let the pie sit too long in the refrigerator, which is why it’s best eaten the day it’s assembled.
I don’t recommend using frozen berries in this – they will be too wet and cause the pie to be runny.
The key is making the strawberry puree thick with cornstarch and then mixing it with fresh berries once it’s cooled.
Use a gluten free pastry crust or make a cookie crust with gluten free cookies. Because this uses cornstarch, the pie filling is gluten free.
Recipe Update
July 2023: I’ve had some comments that mention the pie not setting up. I’ve remade the pie a few times and added notes to the recipe.
- Buy 3 pounds of strawberries to be safe – not all strawberries are created equal.
- I added weight measurements to the recipe card. This will help when measuring out the berries to make the jam (2 cups can vary from person to person and from size of strawberries, etc).
- 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).
- Note that 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.
Strawberry Pie
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
- ⅓ 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 Video
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 it’s 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. Don’t assemble the pie until the day you’re going to eat it.
- Buy 3 pounds of strawberries to be safe – not all strawberries are created equal.
- I added weight measurements to the recipe card. This will help when measuring out the berries to make the jam (2 cups can vary from person to person and from size of strawberries, etc).
- 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).
- Note that 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
This easy FRESH Strawberry Pie Recipe has a filling with no gelatin and tons of fresh strawberries. Make it with your favorite pie crust for the perfect summer pie recipe!
I want to love this recipe, but I couldn’t 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?
I’m 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 I’m 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 sharing…
after you cook the strawberries, should they be refrigerated until assembling the pie on the next day. Won’t it be too thick to add the fesh berries?
It’s supposed to be thick – that’s what makes the pie hold it’s 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 didn’t see the note to make it the day to be eaten, until after I had made and refrigerated it.
Outstanding recipe! Thank you!
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