With no Jell-O fillers, this strawberry pie recipe is made simply with fresh strawberries in an easy homemade shortbread cookie crust. It’s not too sweet and will have your whole crew asking for a second slice.
There’s no need to use strawberry Jell-O to make a perfect strawberry pie. Ditch that stuff and stuff your pie with just a bunch of fresh strawberries cooked down to a filling that’s the essence of strawberries. It’s easy and so delectable that you’ll want to spoon it right into your mouth before it even hits the pie crust.
Speaking of crust, you won’t ever want to go back to your standard pie crust after you’ve had this homemade shortbread cookie crust. It’s buttery, sweet, a little salty, and should downright be illegal – it’s that good.
With the success of my Strawberry Preserves recipe and one of my personal favorites, this Chocolate Pie, you’ll want to take it from me that this strawberry pie is the best you’ll ever taste.
Ingredients for Strawberry Pie
- Store-bought shortbread cookies – to make the easy shortbread cookie crust, you’ll need store-bought shortbread cookies. My absolute favorites for this pie are Lorna Doone cookies (this is not an ad). If you want to use a store-bought cookie or regular crust, skip this ingredient.
- Unsalted butter – melted butter helps to keep our cookie crust together. Skip this ingredient if you are using store-bought crust.
- Granulated sugar – granulated sugar helps bind together the cookie crust, and also helps bind the strawberries together so we don’t end up with a runny filling.
- Fresh strawberries – fresh strawberries work the best for this recipe. Frozen strawberries create too mushy and soggy of a filling.
- Lemon – lemon is the secret ingredient. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice creates a lighter, brighter strawberry filling.
- Cornstarch – cornstarch is a super important ingredient, so the pie can be sliced and the filling doesn’t run out of the pie.
- Salt – salt enhances flavor.
How to Make Strawberry Pie
Make the best strawberry pie with fresh strawberries and these instructions! Full instructions in the recipe card; this is an outline.
- Pulse.
For the pie crust, add cookies, sugar and salt to a food processor. Pulse until cookies are crushed into a sandy texture.
- Mix.
Add melted butter and stir until incorporated.
- Pack.
Add mixture to a well-greased 9” pie plate. Use the back of a spoon to push cookies into the pan, creating an even and packed layer on the bottom and the sides of the plate.
- Refrigerate.
Place in the refrigerator.
- Mash.
In a medium pot, add strawberries. Use a potato masher to mash about a third of the sliced strawberries, leaving two-thirds intact.
- Add.
Add the lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Stir.
- Mix.
In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch with cold water.
- Boil.
Bring strawberry mixture to a boil.
- Simmer.
Once boiling, turn heat to medium and add cornstarch slurry. Stir. Let simmer for 9 minutes, stirring every minute.
- Cool.
Let cool in a large heat-safe bowl for 1 hour in the fridge, uncovered.
- Pour.
Pour strawberry filling into the crust.
- Chill.
Refrigerate strawberry pie for at least 1 hour before enjoying.
How to Store Strawberry Pie
Store strawberry pie in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. You can take the pie out of the fridge up to an hour in advance if you prefer to serve the pie at room temperature.
I don’t recommend freezing this strawberry pie. When thawed, the filling will be too runny.
Recipe Tips
- You can use a baked and cooled store-bought pie crust, or a store-bought cookie crust to save time if preferred.
- It’s best to store strawberry pie in the fridge. The strawberries are perishable.
- Thickly slice the strawberries so they maintain their texture when cooked.
Recipe FAQs
Cornstarch is a very important ingredient, thickening the strawberry filling so it doesn’t run out of the pie when cutting it!
Make sure the pie crust and the filling chills in the fridge according to the recipe instructions before filling the pie.
Serve with vanilla or strawberry ice cream or Whipped Cream. You can also try serving the pie with lemon sorbet as an extra pop of freshness or even some assorted berries on top!
Watch How to Make Strawberry Pie
More Recipes With Strawberries You’ll Love!
- Strawberry Lemonade
- Strawberry Pound Cake
- Strawberry Banana Smoothie
- Strawberry Muffins
- Strawberry Popsicles
Best Fresh Strawberry Pie
Equipment
- 9" pie plate
- Food processor (you can crush cookies by hand if needed)
- Potato masher
Ingredients
Shortbread Cookie Crust
- 10 ounces store-bought shortbread cookies, 40 Lorna Doone cookies are the best option
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Fresh Strawberry Filling
- 5 ½ cups hulled and thickly sliced fresh strawberries
- ½ lemon, juiced
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons cold water
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- For the pie crust, add cookies, ¼ cup sugar and ¼ teaspoon salt to a food processor. Pulse food processor until cookies are crushed into a sandy texture.
- Add melted butter and stir with a large spoon until incorporated.
- Add mixture to a well-greased 9” pie plate. Use the back of your spoon to push cookies into the pan, creating an even and packed layer on the bottom and the sides of the plate. See video for visual instructions!
- Place crust in the refrigerator.
- In a medium pot, add strawberries. Use a potato masher to mash about a third of the sliced strawberries, leaving two-thirds of the sliced strawberries intact.
- Add the lemon juice, ¼ cup sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Stir.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together cornstarch with cold water. Set aside.
- Bring strawberry mixture to a boil over high heat.
- Once boiling, turn heat to medium and add cornstarch slurry. Stir. Let simmer lightly over medium heat for 9 minutes, stirring every minute.
- Remove from heat, and let cool in a large heat-safe bowl for 1 hour in the fridge, uncovered.
- Pour strawberry filling into the crust, in an even layer.
- Refrigerate strawberry pie for at least 1 hour before slicing and enjoying!
Video
Notes
- You’ll need roughly 2 pounds of fresh strawberries, depending on how much of the hull you cut off! I recommend thickly slicing strawberries (1 large strawberry yields about 3 thick slices) and then measuring out 5 ½ cups instead of going by pounds alone.
- Place a pot holder (hot pad) underneath the heat-safe bowl in the fridge so you don’t crack the fridge glass!
- Store strawberry pie in the fridge. For best results, take the pie out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving.
- Yes, you can absolutely use a store-bought cookie or regular pie crust. Bake off a regular pie crust and let it cool before filling.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This strawberry pie is amazing! The crust is to die for and the filling is refreshing and not too sweet. Thank you for a great springtime recipe!
I’m so happy the pie turned out well for you – especially that the filling isn’t too sweet!
Grace
The most amazing strawberry pie recipe ever!
The shortbread crust flavor and texture complement the strawberries perfectly, and the filling is exactly the right mix of sweet/tart.
It is also a visually stunning dessert, sure to dazzle company in a formal setting or on a picnic.
I used store-bought fresh strawberries, but can’t wait to try it when native strawberries appear in June!!!
Thanks so much for your kind review. I couldn’t agree more about the sweet to tart ratio! And nothing can beat that crust! Looking forward to hearing how the pie turns out with those beautiful native strawberries 🙂
Grace
This pie recipe was AMAZING. How can anyone ever use Jello lol.
LOL! Thanks Kathy!
Grace
This is the best strawberry pie I’ve ever had…and the best pie I’ve ever had! Period.
Aw thank you! I’m so happy you like the recipe!
Grace