Fresh strawberry pie is a wonderful summer treat everybody loves. This easy recipe is made with Jello, a premade pie crust, and fresh strawberries. Make this simple recipe your signature summer dish.
Introduction
I have no inspiration recipe to refer to since we have used this recipe for over 40 years. It was a tightly guarded recipe in my wife's family—the "secret" Big Boy strawberry pie recipe. But of course, it is not that secret.
There are many variations around the net. Some add the jello and then thicken. Some mix the sugar and cornstarch first and add boiling water. It does not matter.
The volume of glaze varies from recipe to recipe. But my volume is correct. We have done this well over a hundred times.
My Rating
The easiest rating of the year. I can live on this and will try sometime soon.
🍓Ingredient
Pie Crust
Get your crust any way you want; homemade, Pillsbury refrigerated, or one of the frozen varieties. I suggest refrigerated type crust baked according to the producer's instructions to golden brown. This baking of the crust without filling is sometimes called blind baking.
You can also use a graham cracker crust if you wish.
Strawberries
Get nice ripe berries. This takes one pound, but we like to cram a few more into the pie, so we buy a few more.
Cut them up slightly to make bite-size and mix them into the glaze. It works better and is easier to eat. Be sure the glaze cools some before adding the berries; we don't want to cook them.
Some people put the large strawberries in the crust and then pour the glaze over them. I make a mess when I do it that way, and some strawberries are not covered with glaze. Plus, it is fussy and hard to eat.
Frozen strawberries can not be used for this pie.
The Glaze
The glaze combined with fresh berries will may the strawberry pie filling. We make the glaze with cornstarch and sugar—flavored with strawberry jello to help thicken the glaze. This is easy; just follow the instructions.
You can buy packages of glaze. Please don't do that. It is almost tasteless. Do not use sugar-free jello, and please use the Jello brand gelatin for quality.
👨🍳How to Make Fresh Strawberry Pie
- Bake a crust according to package instructions—usually about 8 minutes.
- While the crust is baking, clean and trim 2 cups (one pint) of fresh strawberries and dry.
- Over medium-high heat, mix water and sugar. Whisk in cornstarch.
- Bring to a light boil. It will go from cloudy to clearer and thickened.
- Remove from heat, add strawberry jello, and mix well.
- Allow to cool some, then mix in berries.
- Spread evenly into the prepared pie crust.
- Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving. Top with whipped cream if desired.
❓FAQs
An old trick is to put pies on baking sheets preheated in the oven. It will melt the fat in the crust faster and create a shield to prevent the filling from penetrating the crust.
For this recipe, yes. Some recipes will use a strawberry puree and cook them similar to making jam. The pectin from this process can make the pie base when mixed with cornstarch and sugar.
The most likely cause is the cornstarch mixture was not cooked to a high enough temperature or long enough. Get it to a light boil and cook a few minutes after the white cloudy appearance starts to clear. It will clear some and thicken before it is done.
Also, be sure to get the cornstarch to dissolve and not clump—this may take a bit of mixing. Add it slowly while you continuously mix.
Store in the refrigerator covered. It will not freeze well.
This is great on the first day and second day. By the third day, the berries deteriorate some.
📖Summer Recipes
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Simple ingredients. Get the best looking ripe strawberries you can.
Bake a refrigerated pie crust by following the instructions on the package.
Clean and slice up one pound of strawberries. Set them aside and let them air dry while you make the glaze. The glaze sticks better to dryer berries.
In a larger saucepan, add 1 cup sugar to 1 ½ cups water over medium-high heat. Sprinkle in ¼ cup Cornstarch slowly while stirring.
The mixture will turn cloudy. Stir continuously over medium heat and bring to a light boil. In about 3-4 minutes, it will turn clearer and thicken. When the thickening is complete (about a minute after it starts to clear), remove it from heat. Add a 3 oz package of Strawberry Jello to the mixture and stir until completely dissolved.
Allow the mixture to cool, then stir in the berries.
Add the berry mixture to the pie crust.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (3 plus is better) before cutting. Keep refrigerated between servings. This is great on the first day and second day. By the third day, the berries deteriorate some.
📖Recipe
Fresh Strawberry Pie with Jello
Ingredients
- 1 pie crust - refrigerated and baked
- 1 pound strawberries - or a bit more
- 3 oz strawberry jello - one small package
- ¼ cup corn starch
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 ½ cup water
Instructions
- Bake a refrigerated pie crust by following the instructions on the package.
- Clean and slice up one pound of strawberries. Set them aside and let them air dry while you make the glaze. The glaze sticks better to dryer berries.
- In a larger saucepan, add 1 cup sugar to 1 ½ cups water over medium-high heat. Sprinkle in ¼ cup cornstarch slowly while stirring.
- The mixture will turn cloudy. Stir continuously over medium heat and bring to a light boil. In about 3-4 minutes, it will turn clearer and thicken. When the thickening is complete (about a minute after it starts to clear), remove it from heat. Add a 3 oz package of Strawberry Jello to the mixture and stir until completely dissolved.
- Allow the mixture to cool, then stir in the berries.
- Add the berry mixture to the pie crust.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (3 plus is better) before cutting. Keep refrigerated between servings. This is great on the first day and second day. By the third day, the berries deteriorate some.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- You can make your own pie crusts, but the frozen or refrigerated versions are fine for this pie. 9-inch is just right.
- Pick nice ripe strawberries.
- Will like to add a few more berries. "Crowd the pan" so to speak.
- You can buy glaze but please make your own. It is easy and tastes so much better.
- Some people like to do whole berries with the point up. All for looks. Cutting them into bite-size pieces is so much easier to eat.
- Be sure to dry the berries. The glaze does not stick well to wet berries.
- Good for 2 days in the refrigerator but not too good the third day. Will not freeze well.
- Make two at once; the work is about the same for double the reward. I love it for breakfast.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Publisher's note: This recipe was originally published on June 23, 2012. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
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Natalie Paret
I, too, have been making a very similar strawberry pie for decades. Mine is an old Air Force Women's Club recipe. Decided to try this one and was not disappointed and, in fact, will do this one in the future. Thank you, Dr. Dan for bringing back an old but very sweet (pun intended) memory. Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend.
S
Didn’t find any question about pie plate size. 9”? 10”? Makes a difference with amount of ingredients!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
The standard 9 inch is fine. The frozen 8 inch is a bit small. I haven't seen a 10 inch one for years but it would be about 20% more volume. So you could increase ingredients by 20% or just make it a bit thinner.
I added some wording in the notes.
Dan
gayle
Excellent with two modifications. I used 3 T cornstarch and whisked that together with the sugar before adding to the water. I used cookingwithk homemade butter shortbread pie crust and this was superb combination.
I wish good intentioned people would make it before they comment.
Martha Worley
Well, this city has no strawberry jello! Maybe everyone is making your strawberry pie for Easter! I got jello brand strawberry-banana because that’s what they had! So what if it has a little banana flavor!! (Hmmm, guess I could stick a few banana slices in it!)
Happy Easter to Dr Dan & family.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Martha,
I think the banana will be ok although I have never had to resort to that. We do love our strawberry pie.
Thanks for the note and rating. Have a good holiday.
Dan
colleen
I have this pie several times and it is always good. Also I have used it with peach jello and fresh peaches and it is awesome. My question is can you freeze jello based pie?
DrDan
Hi Colleen,
I love the peach idea. I will try that.
Freezing not recommended. The jello will loose it's texture and be somewhat disgusting and the fruit will also thaw with a frozen fruit texture.
Dan
Dori S.
This pie was so easy and delicious, everyone loved it. I really appreciate the detailed instructions and tips. Followed the recipe as written, using a store bought crust. It was a good tip to dry the berries a little...will be making this again. Thank you for posting.
Christine Koenig
I just buy the glaze! It’s all ready, no mess, no fuss and it tastes great! Yes, I do use Pillsbury Pie crusts, as shown in the picture! 😋 it all comes together in a blink of an eye, well almost...😉
Lisa
I always used to buy the premade glaze too. Then one day, I ate a strawberry pie slice that was made with strawberry jello like this recipe. Oh my goodness! The homemade glaze had so much more strawberry flavor than the store bought glaze! I highly recommend trying it.
DrDan
Hi Lisa,
I so agree with you, I think this is so much better then the pre-made I have tried in the past. There may be some variation but this is always good.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Robin McCown
I've made this for years. I recall my mom making it at least 20 years ago. Where did you get the recipe?
DrDan
Handed down through my wife's family. They "stole it" from a family friend probably 60 yrs ago. It's a long story. But there are similar ones on the internet.
Leslie
I love this strawberry pie, great recipe I plan to use often!. I have not been receiving your new blog updates for about 4 weeks. Do I need to sign up again? Thank you Leslie
DrDan
We do love our strawberry Pie... I need to do one soon. Go ahead and sign up again... if the signup widget shows up... I have a war between the ads and the widgets this weekend and tech support is not available until Monday. Yagou might want to wait until Tuesday. A major change in format of the site is coming soon and we will see if I can break even more things.
Dan
Krystal Shearer
Oops, by teaspoons*, just a little cold water as necessary (for anybody else who could possibly have the strange troubles that I have in the kitchen. Bah!)
Krystal Shearer
I got it to work!!! I'd never used cornstarch in a recipe before so I had to Google around a bit as well :) I used 1/4 cup cornstarch and then I added cold water to it by tablespoons until it wasn't oobleck anymore, then added THAT to the sugar water. Worked like a charm. Possibly I should have cut down on the content of water in the pan in the first place, as it was replaced, but that's okay - we'll see if it sets up correctly. Thanks for the recipe! :)
Dr Dan
It hasn't been a problem for me. Corn starch needs to be powder and if it is in lumps, maybe it has got moisture in it in the past and you need new???? Otherwise, I just keep sturring while I slowly add the corn starch. If a glob goes in, smash it against the side and keep sturring. Another option I have seen in other recipes is to mix the corn starch with the sugar first. Give that a try...
Krystal Shearer
I had an awful time making the cornstarch break apart in the water/sugar - first step!!! I tried just stirring, I whisked it, I tried breaking them apart....how did it get like this? It's so strange. It's just like gloppy water/sugar with corn starch chunks everywhere. Sad day :(
Linda
I always add the sugar and cornstarch together mix well and then slowly add the water while stirring. Works every time
Chris
This makes me want to get some Plant City strawberries, great pie.