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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.

overhead shot of pie with whipped cream and berries around.


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.

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. This strawberry pie recipe brings back so many memories and it will bring back your childhood summer memories too!

Ingredients in strawberry pie

Ingredients Needed

  • Fresh Strawberries – it’s 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 – 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.

Click to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!

baked pie crust empty.
crushed strawberries in saucepan.
strawberry liquid in saucepan.
thickened strawberry mixture in saucepan with spatula.
cooled strawberry mixture thickened in bowl.
strawberries coated in strawberry mixture in bowl.

How to make Strawberry Pie

  1. Crust: Blind Bake your crust according to package or recipe directions.
  2. Berries: Measure out two cups of berries, wash and hull them, then crush them with a potato masher.
  3. Cook the filling: Add the crushed strawberries, sugar, water, and cornstarch to a medium saucepan.
  4. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until it boils. Boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. Place strawberry mixture in pie dish.
  8. Chill and Serve: Chill for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving. Top with fresh whipped cream before serving.
sliced pie in clear pie plate with whipped cream.

How to store Strawberry Pie

Store this pie in the refrigerator, but I don’t recommend making it until the day you serve it. It won’t last more than a day.

Make Ahead Instructions:

  1. Blind bake your pie crust up to 2 days ahead. Store in refrigerator or on counter.
  2. Make your cooked strawberries 24 hours ahead since it needs to cool.
  3. Assemble the pie the day you are serving it.
slice of strawberry pie on white plate with fork and dollup of cool whip with full pie behind.

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.
  • If your pie is weepy or watery it’s most likely because you didn’t allow the berries to fully cool. If the mixture is at all warm it’ll cause the fresh berries to weep, making your pie runny.
  • I don’t recommend using frozen berries in this pie – they will be too wet and cause the pie to be runny.
  • Don’t assemble the pie until the day you’re 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) – 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 – without jello the pie texture and stability will be different than that of one made with gelatin, so keep that in mind.
sliced pie in clear pie plate with whipped cream.

Strawberry Pie Recipe

4.92 from 109 votes
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
Yield 10 servings
Serving Size 1 slice
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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.
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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.
  • 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 I’ll use up to 2 1/2 pounds – 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.
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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
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Dorothy Kern

Did you try this recipe? Click the stars to rate the recipe below

Crusts To Pair With Strawberry Pie

Use a store bought pie crust if you want – I won’t tell – or make this into a no-bake pie by using one of my no bake pie crust recipes!

Favorite Strawberry Recipes



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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4.92 from 109 votes (81 ratings without comment)

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87 Comments

  1. This recipe is familiar to me. I used to have an old cookbook from a church or grange and there was a very similar recipe.
    I like this recipe because of the simplicity of the ingredients.
    My husband and I teamed up and we were successful in the execution of this dessert. Thankfully the berries were in season so the flavor was spot on.
    My advice is to read the recipe carefully and give it a shot!

    Reply

  3. This was terrible. I made it exactly the way in this recipe and after two hours it was still liquid. Left it overnight in the fridge and it was still liquid. Now I’ve put it in the freezer. Super disappointed.

    Reply

    1. Was the strawberry puree you cooked fully cooled? It should be very thick – and then it won’t be liquid.

      Reply

  4. Your instructions in the WRITTEN recipe on line says to crush ALL the strawberries not just 8 ounces as shown in your video! I crushed all the strawberries and then wondered what strawberries I would use to mix in after I cooked them!

    Your instructions (copied and pasted from your recipe on line):
    1. Measure out two cups of berries, wash and hull them, then crush them with a potato masher. (This is not what you did in the video.)
    2. 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.) (Okay. Now all of my two pounds of strawberries are cooked into this nice filling.)
    3. 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. (What remaining strawberries do I hull and slice?)

    I will go the store tomorrow and buy more fresh strawberries to slice and add to the smashed cooked strawberries. I’m sure it will be delicious, but I’m hesitant to follow anymore instructions on other recipes from this website.
    Please review written recipes before posting?

    Thanks

    Reply

    1. The recipe calls for 2 pounds of berries. It says to measure out 2 cups of berries. 2 cups of berries is not 2 pounds.

      Reply