Fresh Strawberry Pie with Jell-O®

Name: Fresh Strawberry Pie with Jell-O®
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 205 min
Ingredients: 1 pie crust (refrigerated and baked); 1 pound strawberries (or a bit more); 3 oz strawberry Jell-O® ( one small package ); 1/4 cup corn starch; 1 cup sugar; 1 1/2 cup water

Recipe Table of Contents

4.69 from 69 votes

Fresh strawberry pie is a wonderful summer treat everybody loves. This easy recipe is made with Jell-O®, a premade pie crust, and fresh strawberries. Make this simple recipe your signature summer dish.

Jump To:

👨‍🍳How to make this pie
🍓Ingredient
❓FAQs
📖Summer Recipes
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
📝Recipe

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 Jell-O® 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.

👨‍🍳How to make this 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 Jell-O®, 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.

🍓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 Jell-O® 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 gelatin, and please use the JJell-O® brand gelatin for quality.

❓FAQs

How to prevent soggy pie crust bottoms?

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.

Do I have to use strawberry Jell-O®?

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.

What to do about runny glaze?

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.

How to store fresh strawberry pie.

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

Fresh Spinach Salad

Microwave Corn on the Cob

Mango Salsa with Pineapple

Simple Splenda Lemonade

This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.

101's Best Recipes, Dessert 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.

adding cornstarch to pan with sugar and water

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.

adding strawberry jello to thickenend sauce

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 Jell-O® to the mixture and stir until completely dissolved.

Allow the mixture to cool, then stir in the berries.

smoothing top of strawberry pie after filling crust

Add the berry mixture to the pie crust.

fresh strawberry pie slice on white plate

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 Jell-O®

From Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan

Fresh strawberry pie is a wonderful summer treat everybody loves. This easy recipe is made with Jell-O®, a premade pie crust, and fresh strawberries. Make this simple recipe your signature summer dish.

Tap to leave a Rating

4.69 from 69 votes

Print Collection

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Cooling: 2 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 25 minutes

Servings #/Adjust if desired 8

Ingredients

US Customary - Convert to Metric

▢ 1 pie crust - refrigerated and baked
▢ 1 pound strawberries - or a bit more
▢ 3 oz strawberry Jell-O® - 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 Jell-O® 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.

See the step-by-step photos in the post. Some recipes have an option to display the photos here with a switch above these instructions but the photos DO NOT print.

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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

Nutrition Facts

Fresh Strawberry Pie with Jell-O®

Amount Per Serving

Calories 268 Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Fat 6g9%

Saturated Fat 2g10%

Sodium 140mg6%

Potassium 107mg3%

Carbohydrates 53g18%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 37g41%

Protein 3g6%

Vitamin A 7IU0%

Vitamin C 33mg40%

Calcium 14mg1%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Serving size is my estimate of a normal size unless stated otherwise. The number of servings per recipe is stated above. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.

Course : Dessert

Cuisine : American

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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.