This from scratch strawberry pie uses a two crust pie dough and fresh strawberries.
This is the first recipe that I’m reposting on the site. It’s been two years since I first developed the recipe for this strawberry pie and even though I’ve made it at least a dozen times since then, I still make it exactly the same way.
While other recipes leave room for improvement, (like an extra pinch of salt, a little more sugar, a higher oven temperature, etc) this pie is perfect just the way it is. I guess some things are better left unaltered.
You ever watch those cartoons where someone smells pie cooling by the window? The cartoon person unconsciously starts floating and they are carried by the visual scent lines to the fresh pie. Well, that’s kinda how this strawberry pie works.
Strawberry Pie
Most people can recall the sweet scent of homemade pie baking in their childhood home. That’s wasn’t the case at my house.
Pies were always store bought and only enjoyed during parties and celebrations. As such, my first introduction to pies came from Marie Calendar’s, Polly’s Pies, and Costco.
No complains, though. I thought those pies were delicious…UNTIL I learned how to make from scratch pies at home.
This strawberry pie is best made with fresh strawberries. However, in a pinch, frozen strawberries will work.
Keep in mind that frozen strawberries will expel more moisture than fresh strawberries. As such, you may have to add additional cornstarch to the mixture.
What’s the most difficult part about pie making?
It’s not mixing together the dough or preparing the filling. It’s not even crimping the edges of the pie dough.
Waiting for the pie to cool before slicing is the most difficult part!
Patience is key. You must wait for the pie to cool down before digging in. If you try to cut into a warm pie, you’ll end up with a big mess.
A big hot mess. Not only is it ugly to serve, you’ll likely burn your tongue. Have patience and let the pie cool. The pie needs time to cool.
Don’t fear the pie dough!
This is a simple, no frills kind of pie. The pie dough is very forgiving and easy to work with. You can finish the edges of the pie any way you’d like.
Use a fork to create a decorative border, simply tuck the excess dough into the pie, or pinch the crust like what I’m doing in the photo above. Honestly, I don’t think there’s a wrong way to do it.
How to make strawberry pie from scratch:
Okay, let’s make a strawberry pie!
- Prepare pie crusts. Divide into two equal portions. Once ready to build pie, have pie tin/plate and rolling pin ready.
- Keep one portion of dough in the fridge while you roll out the other portion. Working with one pie dough at a time, roll dough on a lightly floured surface. Alternatively, roll dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Light flour the bottom paper and the top of the dough. If dough is too hard or too cold, let it rest for a few minutes until it is pliable.
- Roll dough to about 10-inches in diameter and about 1/4-inch in thickness. Place the pie plate upside over the rolled dough to make sure it’s large enough.
- Gently fold dough in half. Gently, but quickly, lift dough and place it into the pie plate. Firmly press the dough into the bottom and sides of the pie plate.
- Trim excess dough leaving about a 1/2-inch of overhang all around. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill while you roll out the other portion of dough.
- In a large bowl, toss together sliced strawberries with sugar, cornstarch and salt.
- Pour strawberries into the chilled pie crust.
- Cover strawberries with top crust.
- Trim off any excess dough from the crust. Then decorate the edges of the pie with a fork or crimp with your fingers. Chill pie in the fridge while your preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Place chilled pie on a baking sheet. Brush the top of the pie lightly with whole milk. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Use a knife to cut slits/vents on the top crust. This is necessary to let the steam escape, and it prevents the top crust from exploding during baking.
- Bake pie at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pie and continue baking for another 20-30 minutes until pie is golden brown. Let pie cool on rack before digging in.
Strawberry Pie
Ingredients
- 5 cups fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, sliced in half or quartered
- ½ cup granulated sugar, or more depending on sweetness of berries
- 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- two crust pie dough, recipe follows
- milk, as needed
- turbinado sugar, as needed
Two Crust Pie Dough:
- 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, very cold
- 5 Tablespoons ice cold water
- 2 large egg yolks, cold
Instructions
- Prepare pie crust.
- Roll out one dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Lightly flour the bottom of the paper and the top of the dough. If the dough is too hard or too cold, let it rest a few minutes until it is pliable. Alternatively, you can roll the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll dough to about 10 inches in diameter and about 1/4-inch thick Place the pie plate upside down over the rolled dough to make sure it is the correct size.
- Move dough into the pie plate and firmly press it into the bottom and sides of pie plate. Trim the excess dough leaving about a 1/2-inch overhang all around. Cover with plastic wrap and let chill in the fridge.
- Roll out the other dough until 10 inches in diameter. Cover with plastic wrap and let chill in the fridge for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, toss strawberries with sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a large bowl.
- Pour strawberries into the chilled pie crust. Cover with the rolled out top crust. Decorate the edges with a fork, or pinch together with your fingers to form crust. Chill pie while you preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
- Place chilled pie on a baking sheet. Brush top of the pie lightly with whole milk. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Use a knife to cut four slits/vent holes in the top of the crust. This is necessary to let the steam escape and prevent the top crust from exploding during baking.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pie and continue to bake for another 20-30 minutes until the pie is golden brown. Let pie cool on rack before serving.
Two Crust Pie Dough:
- Pulse together flour, salt and sugar in a food processor. Add cold butter one tablespoon at a time with the food processor running. Stop the machine once mixture is crumbly and like coarse sand in texture.
- Add water and yolks. Pulse for a couple seconds until dough begins to come together. Remove dough from machine and finish kneading on a lightly floured surface.
- Divide dough into two equal parts. Flatten into disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or freeze for 10 minutes.All images and text ©The Little Epicurean
Have a look at my original strawberry pie!
This looks so delicious Maryanne, and I love the tutorial!
Beautiful!
http://youtube.com/addalittlefoof
Thanks Millie!
This pie looks awesome! You make it sound so simple!
Thanks Erika! Don’t let pie intimidate you. There’s a reason why people says “as easy as pie.” :)
it looks gorgeous!
Thank you Dina! :)
I feel as though a lot of food bloggers sometimes feel as though a recipe isn’t worth sharing if there isn’t something different added to it. In my opinion, the no-frills, homey recipes are always the best and still need to be created and shared. This pie looks delicious and I can practically taste it already!
Thanks Amanda! That’s so sweet of you. No matter what the food trend, comfy and homey recipes will always be welcome to the dinner table :)
Gorgeous! I always struggle with waiting for the pie to cool. I usually leave some fork marks before it’s cut. You make pie making so easy! Looks delicious
Thanks Min! Waiting for the pie to cool is definitely the hardest part of pie making. I’ve learned to leave the house and take my dog out for a long walk during that time. By the time we return, the pie is ready! :)
This pie was delicious. I tried to make a Strawberry pie before and it was too sweet, this one was just right. I love how the filling didn’t require cooking beforehand. I would recommend this pie.
That’s wonderful to hear, Jeanette! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! :)
how should I adjust this recipe if I’m using frozen strawberries?
Hi Kristi! Sorry, I’m not sure. I’ve never tried this recipe with frozen strawberries.
I used your strawberry pie receipe and it was really easy.
That’s wonderful to hear! Glad you liked the recipe!
Hi! I have been looking for a strawberry pie recipe and I found your blog on google… I automatically trust you enough to try it because you use a homemade, all-butter pie crust recipe ha ha. Anyway, I just have a question- is the 5 cups of strawberrries measured before or after you hull and slice them? I have a 2 lb container of strawberries and I’m wondering if it’s enough! (I know this recipe is older so I’m hoping you see this comment!) thanks in advance!
The 5 cups refers to the strawberries after they have been hulled and sliced.
Thank you for your quick response! In case anyone is wondering, my 2 lb container was just about perfect- I had a few strawberries left over for munching.
Awesome! Good to know!
Tried it this recipe this weekend and found it to be absolutely delicious. We highly recommend anyone who is strawberry picking to use this recipe. Our strawberries were not overly sweet so the pie turned out to be perfect. It had the perfect balance for our taste.
That’s wonderful to hear! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Hello! Can i use frozen strawberries for this reciepe ?
I don’t suggest using frozen strawberries because they will expel too much moisture. The cornstarch amount in this recipe is only enough for fresh strawberries.
This pie came out spectacular. My very first pie! I had some issues rolling it at first too. I think chilling the disks in the freezer may work better than chilling them in the fridge. It’s a little humid these days in Southern California, which could be why. Or my general inexperience. Question: your recipe calls for a little more sugar than most basic pie dough recipes, and few recipes seem to call for egg yolk. What do these ingredients add, and what other pies would this crust work well for? Thank you! Love your blog.
Thank you so much for this recipe. I had been planning to make a familiar strawberry rhubarb pie but all of m y local grocery stores were out of rhubarb and I was stuck. I needed a pie for a dinner party that night and this one turned out perfectly and everyone raved.
That’s wonderful to hear! Thanks for trying out the recipe!
This is one of my favorite pies! I did have a question. Do you have to refrigerate it afterwards?
Yes, I suggest keeping leftovers refrigerated.
HI! This recipe sounded great and you had many positive reviews. I had some trouble with the crust. I thought it was an interesting suggestion to roll the pie dough between two sheets of parchment, so I tried doing so. My dough stuck entirely to the paper. I floured as suggested and chilled dough as well. Both attempts failed miserable. Trying to figure out what I may have done wrong. I chilled all ingredients too. I pieced the dough together as best I could right into the pie tin and now it is in the oven baking. I am really hoping that though it may not look so pretty it will taste good. If you have suggestions, please reply! Thanks so much.
P.S. it is very warm here today and the humidty is high…could that have been an issue/influence on my pie crust dough?
Hi Annie, thanks for trying out the recipe. The temperature and humidity of the room greatly affects the pie dough. As the butter in the dough melts/warms up, it will become sticky. I suggest working on a cold surface like a marble slab or a chilled baking sheet to keep the dough intact.
This was delicious!! Mine turned out a bit soupy, but next time I’ll just add a bit more cornstarch. Thanks for posting it!
I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe! Yes, up the cornstarch if you have super juicy strawberries!
Thank you so much for this recipe it’s really delicious, i have tried it with strawberry and fig ??
Strawberry and figs make a great pair!
It was okay. I was looking for a baked strawberry pie, so I gave it a shot. I guess there’s a reason most of the recipes I saw used fresh strawberries in a prebaked crust. The strawberries here tasted flat, and the bottom crust was mushy. The best part of the pie was the top crust, and I salvaged it by serving fresh berries and whipped cream on the side.
I’m sorry to hear the pie wasn’t to your liking. The type of pie plate can also affect the results. The heat is transferred differently depending on whether you are using a glass pie plate versus metal versus ceramic.
I used a ceramic plate. I squeezed a little lemon juice over the slices, which helped liven up the flavor, although I ended up only eating the top crust.
This pie was fantastic. The crust turned out beautifully. It was the hit of New Year’s Eve. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Everyone raved over this, definitely a keeper.
How many is this supposed to serve? If I’m trying to feed around 22 people how many should I make?
This pie serves 6-8 people.
Another question, do think whip cream would be a good addition to this pie?
Yes, you can certainly serve the pie with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Excellent!!! Great blend of cooked and fresh strawberries.
What is the best way to prepare this pie earlier in the day to enjoy it later in the evening? Should I put it all together and then leave it in the fridge until it’s ready to bake? Or will that leave the crust soggy? Feedback appreciated
It will take several hours for the baked pie to cool down. Prepare and cook the pie earlier in the day. Allow to cool to room temperature before slicing, or keep chilled in the fridge until ready to serve.
I would not assemble and keep in the fridge until ready to bake. The cornstarch will separate the filling mixture.
I’ve never made my own strawberry pie! Yours looks perfect. And I love the big chunks of butter in your crust!
Hi!! All of my grocery stores are out of cornstarch. Would it be okay to omit that? Or is there something I can replace it with?
Thank you!
Hi, you cannot omit the cornstarch. Without it, the pie filling will not set up and you will end up with soupy mess. In place of cornstarch, you can use one to one substitution of arrowroot or potato starch. Tapioca flour/starch also works- in this recipe you would need 6 tbsp of tapioca for 3 tbsp cornstarch.
This was my first attempt ever of a homemade pie and crust. It turned out perfect! Your recipe is easy to follow. It was perfect… not too sweet and the crust was crispy and flaky. My family and I absolutely loved it.
Thank you for trying out the recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Hope it’s the first of many pies you make!
I made my first ever homemade pie using your recipe. It turned out PERFECT! From the crust to the filling, it’s the best pie I’ve ever tasted. I just made another following your recipe, but mixing strawberries, peaches and blueberries for the filling. Still amazing. Thank you for posting 😊
Yay, that’s wonderful to hear! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you for trying it out! :)
It looks yummy! I will try it. Thank your sharing much!
Thanks! Hope you like it!
That look delicious!
That pie crust is wayyyy too much work!
I am looking to make this pie. Have you ever experimented with a sugar substitute in the filling like Splenda or Swerve? Thoughts if you haven’t?