Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Bake a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie like grandma used to make. The perfect dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream – yum!

Pie is one of my all-time favorite desserts. I love everything about it: The sweet filling, the flaky pie crust, the bit of pie crust where the fruit juice kind of seeps into it…

So, is it inappropriate to call this the best recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie? Well, maybe. But it is the best to me, so I’m going to roll with it. It has such a delicious, jammy filling. AND a super easy homemade pie crust that bakes up flaky and crispy.

If you’re short on time, feel free to use a ready made crust – with three kids at home, I’m definitely past the “100% homemade, 100% of the time” stage when it comes to cooking and baking ?

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Fruit: I have tested this recipe with fresh fruit, not with frozen. Frozen fruit generally releases more liquid than fresh fruit when used in pie fillings, so if you’re using frozen fruit, you will want to add 2 extra tablespoons of cornstarch.
• Sugar: Using all white sugar is fine if you don’t have any light brown sugar on hand.
• Minute tapioca: Make sure to use tapioca clearly labelled as “minute tapioca”, else the filling may not thicken enough.
• Pie crust: I used my easy homemade pie crust in this recipe. You can use your favorite homemade or store-bought refrigerated or frozen pie crust. This is a double crust pie, so plan accordingly. Defrost froze crust according to package directions before using.

How to make a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Please note: If you are making your own crust, you will need to have that in the refrigerator at least 1-2 hours before you’re planning to assemble the pie! You’ll want to divide the crust into two discs to refrigerate, for easy rolling later.

1. Start by rolling out one of your crusts, then fit it into a buttered 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Place the dish in the fridge – this helps to develop a flaky crust later!

2. Assemble the filling – just combine all of the filling ingredients in a large bowl and stir well!

3. Spread the filling in the prepared crust and dot with diced butter.

4. Roll the top crust into a ~10-inch circle. For a lattice crust, cut it into strips and assemble on top of the pie filling as follows:

5. Once you have weaved all of the crust strips over the top of your pie, use clean kitchen shears to trim the overhang all around the pie. Crimp the edges to seal.

6. Brush the crust with egg white and sprinkle with sugar (you may use coarse sugar if you have it, but regular is just fine).

7. Bake the pie according to the instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, then let it cool before slicing to serve.

Recipe tips

What does a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie taste like?

Since the rhubarb is quite tart, the filling has quite a tang to it.

But we’re balancing this tartness with sweet strawberries (and sugar, of course), for a sweet-tart, very fruity and jammy filling.

Do you have to peel rhubarb for pie?

It’s not necessary to peel rhubarb, unless you have very coarse, thick stalks.

Don’t worry, the rhubarb skin is not poisonous. BUT if you have garden-fresh rhubarb, make sure to remove the leaves, because these are toxic.

How do you thicken a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie?

The thing with Strawberry Rhubarb Pie filling is that it has the tendency to end up runny. Rhubarb releases quite a lot of water as it cooks, and strawberries soften up a lot as well.

To counteract this, you will need to add thickeners to your filling. There are recipes out there using flour, but I REALLY do not like how it kind of makes the filling past-y and flour-y.

Instead, we’re using tapioca and cornstarch to bind and thicken the filling.

Also, make sure to cut enough air vents in the top crust (if you don’t want to bother with a lattice crust) – this will allow the steam to evaporate as the pie bakes.

What pie dish should I use?

I tested this recipe in a deep 9-inch pie dish. I have never tried a different size dish, so I cannot recommend any substitutions.

This is the exact one I have on Amazon (FYI, this is an affiliate link and I make a commission for purchases made after clicking through) – it’s so pretty, I love it!

Storage tips

Should you refrigerate strawberry rhubarb pie?

You can leave a baked fruit pie covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 2 days.

I do refrigerate a fruit pie if I want super clean slices though!

Freezer tips

Wrap the unbaked pie well in a double layer of foil, label and freeze for up to 3 months.

To bake, unwrap the pie and bake it from frozen as the recipe states. Add about 15 minutes of baking time at the end.

Fruit tends to be more watery after freezing, so if you know you’re going to freeze your pie for later, you may want to add an extra tablespoon or two of cornstarch to the filling.

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.

Printable recipe

Recipe first published on 03/20/2019. Updated with additional photos and better text on 05/15/2022.

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