This homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Pie recipe begins with a flaky pie crust (made with butter) and has a sweet strawberry rhubarb filling made with fresh strawberries and fresh rhubarb.
Well, guys, I’ve got the pie you may very well need this spring and summer.
You can all thank my best friend for this recipe, because she was all “How have you never tried rhubarb before??” one of the last times we got together.
Watching Food Network religiously and reading every dessert magazine known to man, I’d seen and heard of strawberry rhubarb pies, buuuut, truthfully, the thought of mixing a slightly tangy celery look-alike with strawberries seemed like a waste of a good strawberry pie, ya know?
Confession time: I was 1000% wrong. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is the bees knees and all that jazz.
Since I’m a semi-recent convert to rhubarb, I feel like it’s my current life’s mission to make up for all of the time I ignored it by eating it (in pie) as much as possible.
Rhubarb, being quite tart, is the perfect accompaniment to anything sweet and fruity, like strawberries. And for me, there’s nothing like the two together in an old fashioned strawberry rhubarb pie recipe.
The sweet, juicy strawberries pair so well with the tart rhubarb, especially when baked in a buttery, flaky pie crust. This classic Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is all you need in life.
Let’s Talk About Why This Is My Favorite Strawberry Rhubarb Pie:
- Filling: This pie filling has a more strawberry-to-rhubarb ratio than a lot of traditional strawberry rhubarb pies. I prefer a slightly sweeter filling, and more strawberries are the way to go.
- Crust: I’ll talk more about this down below, but homemade pie crust is a must! When you’re making a homemade strawberry rhubarb pie recipe, or any homemade pie for that matter, I truly believe it’s worth the extra effort to make a pie crust from scratch. It’s extra flaky!
- Toppings: Top with a lattice crust, or a crumb topping! Plus, ice cream is a must.
- Strawberry Ice Cream
- Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream (what’s pictured on the pie above)
- Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream
- Homemade Whipped Cream (a non-ice cream option)
How To Make Strawberry Rhubarb Pie From Scratch:
- Crust: Mix flour, salt, and lemon zest together. Use a fork, pastry cutter, or standing mixer to work the butter into the flour. Once it resembles coarse crumbs, add in the cold water. Once the dough comes together, divide the dough in half and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- Filling: Mix strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, flour, cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract together.
- Assembly: Roll out one of the pie doughs into a large circle. Transfer the dough to your pie plate and pour the filling on top of the dough. Dot the filling with the remaining butter. Next, roll out the remaining dough and cut into long strips. Working like a basket weave, weave together the dough. Crimp the edges. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar, if desired.
- Bake: Bake the pie until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.
- Cool: Allow the pie to cool before serving. While you can serve the pie warm, don’t serve it piping hot out of the oven, otherwise all of the filling will spill out. The filling will thicken as it cools.
Let’s talk about this recipe and how to make strawberry rhubarb pie.
All right, let’s begin with the crust.
I’ve got two go-to pie crust recipes: this Easy Cream Cheese Pie Crust and the all butter pastry crust I’m sharing with you today.
For this pie, I really wanted to use an all butter pie crust recipe, because I really wanted that flaky and buttery flavor with this filling.
When I made these Strawberry Hand Pies, I used my basic cream cheese pie crust (because strawberries and cream = everything), but I wanted a very classic and traditional crust to pair with the rhubarb.
It’s just 5 ingredients and it could not be easier—flour, butter, salt, ice water and lemon zest. The most important thing to remember is that when everything is mixed together, you want the dough to have just come together. You don’t necessarily want to over mix, because you want the butter to remain in big chunks because that’s what helps create flaky layers.
Moving on, the strawberry rhubarb pie filling.
This pie filling has a key few ingredients:
- strawberries: I suggest using fresh, if possible, but you can use frozen if necessary. Often times frozen berries release a lot more moisture so you might need to add another tablespoon of flour.
- rhubarb: You can use fresh or frozen rhubarb as well, however, I do suggest using fresh if possible. Much like the strawberries, frozen rhubarb can release a lot of moisture and make your pie filling extra wet.
- brown sugar: This adds a little extra something to the pie that really sets it apart. It’s the molasses flavor that enhances the pie.
- granulated sugar
- salt
- cinnamon
- vanilla extract
- lemon zest & juice
- flour
- cornstarch
- butter: Adding a little bit of butter makes the pie filling extra rich and luxurious.
Important Notes:
- Thickening Agent: A lot of people make strawberry rhubarb pie with tapioca (which you totally can if you prefer), but I did not have any instant tapioca on hand so I went with a flour/cornstarch combo (which is actually what I use in most of my fruit pie recipes).
- Sugar: One other thing I want to add is the amount of sugar is flexible in this recipe. If you have extremely sweet strawberries, you are more than welcome to cut down on the amount of sugar in this recipe; however, I did not (nor did any of my taste testers) find this recipe to be too sweet. I thought it was the perfect amount of sweetness to pair with the tartness of the rhubarb.
- Ratio: Also, I did more strawberries to rhubarb, but if you wanted to do half and half, you easily could do that (and keep all other measurements the same). Just note, the pie will be a bit more tart if you do that.
- Storage Tips: I suggest storing leftovers in the fridge. The pie will last longer and the filling will remain thick. If you prefer to serve your pie warm, you can warm the slices in the microwave.
Tips and Tricks for this Homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe with Butter Pie Crust:
- This is a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie without tapioca; the pie filling is thickened with cornstarch and flour.
- I made this pie with an all butter crust and lattice top, but you can make this easy strawberry rhubarb pie with a crumb topping, if you prefer (just halve the homemade pie crust recipe).
- I like brushing the crust with egg wash and sprinkling a bit of raw sugar on the top; however, you can brush the crust with melted butter or even heavy cream, if you prefer. Any of the three options yield a nice golden brown crust.
- Serve warm with ice cream and all your wildest dreams will come true.
Before rhubarb season is gone, try this pie!
You’ll regret nothing.
This homemade Strawberry Rhubarb Pie recipe begins with a flaky pie crust (made with butter) and has a sweet strawberry rhubarb filling made with fresh strawberries and fresh rhubarb.
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup butter, cubed and cold
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 6-8 Tbsp ice water
- 2 tsp lemon zest, fresh
- 3 cups strawberries, halved or quartered (I quartered mine because they were large)
- 2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2” pieces
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp butter, cold and cubed
- 1 egg, for egg wash
- raw sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
- In the bowl of a standing mixer (or in a large bowl if you are using a pastry cutter or fork), mix flour, salt and lemon zest together.
With your mixer on low (or with your pastry cutter), work the butter into the flour mixture (a little at a time) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add in ice water, 1 Tbsp at a time, until the dough just comes together (I used approx. 6 Tbsp).
- Turn dough out onto a floured surface, cut in half and form each into a ball (or a disc), cover in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- When you’re ready to make your pie, preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Mix strawberries, rhubarb, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt and ground cinnamon together.
- Add in flour, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract and mix together. Set aside.
- On a floured surface, roll out one ball of dough into a large circle, about 1/8” of an inch thick.
- Transfer your dough to a large pie plate (this works for a 9” or 10” deep dish pie plate). I like to transfer the dough by loosely rolling it around my rolling pin and then unrolling it over my pie plate.
- Gently press the dough into the pie plate. Remove any excess pie dough on the edges of the pie (leaving about 1/2” of overhang).
- Pour strawberry rhubarb filling into the dough.
- Place the 2 Tbsp of cubed butter around the pie.
- Next, roll out your second pie dough into a large circle, about 1/8” thick. Cut dough into strips, using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, about 1/2” thick. Depending upon the size of your pie plate, you will need 8-10 strips.
- Place 4-5 strips on your pie. Weave the remaining 4-5 strips in and out of the ones on your pie.
- Crimp the edges of the pie together. Brush the edges and the strips with your egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar, if desired.
- Bake pie for 15 minutes.
- Turn oven down to 375, cover the edge of the pie with a pie shield (this keeps the edges from browning too quickland bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling.
- Allow to cool before serving (the longer the pie cools, the thicker the filling will be).
- Serve with ice cream or whipped cream and enjoy!
Updated in 2022.
Here are some other fruit pies to try next:
Ann says
Very delicious pie!!