It’s really, really good.
I’m so happy to finally share a solid strawberry rhubarb pie recipe with you. This is actually a recipe I played around with a few days ago and while I have weeks of content stored in my drafts, I couldn’t hold off on sharing this one.
How awesome are rhubarb desserts? It’s taken me years to warm up to them. Things like strawberry rhubarb pie, rhubarb crisp, crumble, cake, the whole rhubarb shebang. To be honest, strawberry rhubarb pie never stood a chance when I was growing up. Mom always had it around and while everyone else seemed to rave about it, I couldn’t get on board with… magenta celery pie. I mean when you’re 12, you’ll pretty much convince yourself anything and if rhubarb looks like celery, I’m certainly not eating it for dessert.
MY MY MY. Look how the tables have turned. Never did I imagine myself saying the words “my favorite strawberry rhubarb pie” and never did I imagine myself writing about it on the internet because the internet ties up mom and dad’s landline and I want to be a dolphin trainer when I grow up.
Also, what is a blog?
18 years later, magenta celery pie is at the top of my list. Let’s get right into it because I have a hankering this will be your favorite recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie too. It might even make the list of your favorite spring dessert recipes.
Strawberry and rhubarb are meant to be because the sweet flavor of strawberries balances out rhubarb’s tart/sour bite. Rhubarb is fantastic in pies, crumbles, crisps, and the sort because it needs all the sugar it can get. I like to use an almost equal amount of strawberries and rhubarb in the pie filling: about 3 cups of chopped rhubarb to 2 and 1/2 cups strawberries. Strawberries let out so much juice, so I like to have a slightly lower amount.
If you’ve never cooked or baked with rhubarb before, have no fear. It’s sold in the grocery store without its leaves (they’re toxic!) and can be prepped the same way as celery. Give the stalks a good wash, cut off both ends and slice. You’ll want 1/2 inch slices for this pie.
One common issue with strawberry rhubarb pie is the whole “mushy puddle” situation. Bottom line: the filling is known to be a soupy mess. I asked around and found that instant tapioca is usually the fix. I didn’t have any tapioca in my cupboards and wasn’t about to show my face in the grocery store AGAIN that day, so cornstarch was my choice. It was perfect—every time I tried it. I didn’t have a sloppy problem when cutting into the pie using cornstarch, which is exactly what I was hoping for. To combat the mushy puddle situation, I simply spooned the filling into the crust—leaving all the pooled liquid behind.
Also in the filling: orange juice. Just a smidge of it—1 Tablespoon. It pairs so wonderfully with strawberry and rhubarb. Mom likes to use a mix of brown and white sugars, which tugs at my heart strings. All hail brown sugar’s flavor!
Also: pats of butter to make things rich, just as we do with peach pie.
I haven’t even mentioned the pie crust yet! I always use my standard pie crust recipe because it’s the best of both worlds: flaky and buttery. A mix of shortening and butter produce the absolute best texture. I won’t get into too much detail today but shortening helps create that flaky, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Butter gets us that unparalleled flavor. Make sure both of these fats are cold. When the fat melts as the pie bakes, its steam helps to separate the crust into multiple flaky layers. You won’t get that with warm butter and warm shortening.
I used a lattice pie crust topping because it’s classic and beautiful. It’s my go-to way to decorate a pie and you can also see it on top of my blueberry pie. You can also use any overhanging pie dough to crimp and flute the pie crust edges.
By the way, do you SEE those flaky layers in the crust? I want to bake 50 pies this summer just so I can eat this pie crust as much as possible.
Add coarse sugar on top for a little pie sparkle.
You can switch up the pie’s topping. Maybe you want a crumble topping like from my apple crumble pie? Go for it.
My only request is that you finish her off with a pile vanilla ice cream. There’s no other way to eat magenta celery pie, ok?
PrintStrawberry Rhubarb Pie
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 7 hours
- Yield: 1 pie
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This recipe turned me into a strawberry rhubarb pie fanatic! The pie holds together nicely and the homemade pie crust is phenomenal.
Ingredients
- homemade pie crust (my recipe makes 2 crusts; 1 for bottom 1 for top)
- 3 cups (about 300g) sliced rhubarb (1/2 inch pieces)
- 2 and 1/2 cups (about 380g) chopped strawberries
- 1/3 cup (67g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (32g) cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk
- optional: coarse sugar for garnish
Instructions
- The crust: Prepare my pie crust recipe through step 5.
- Make the filling: Stir the rhubarb, strawberries, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt, orange juice, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl. Set filling aside as the oven preheats.
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
- Roll out the chilled pie dough: On a floured work surface, roll out one of the discs of chilled dough (keep the other one in the refrigerator). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. Spoon the filling into the crust, leaving all of the excess liquid in the bowl (you don’t want that in the filling—discard it). Dot the pieces of butter on top of the filling.
- Arrange the lattice: Remove the other disc of chilled pie dough from the refrigerator. Roll the dough into a circle that is 12 inches diameter. Using a pastry wheel, sharp knife, or pizza cutter, cut strips 1/2 – 1 inch wide. Carefully thread the strips over and under one another, pulling back strips as necessary to weave. Press the edges of the strips into the bottom pie crust edges to seal. Use a small knife to trim off excess dough. Crimp the pie crust edges with a fork, if desired. (Alternatively, you can simply cover the filling with the 12-inch pie dough circle. Cut slits in the top to form steam vents. Trim and crimp the edges. Or a crumble or streusel topping would be great.)
- Lightly brush the top of the pie crust with the egg/milk mixture. Sprinkle the top with a little coarse sugar, if desired.
- Place the pie onto a large baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Keeping the pie in the oven, turn the temperature down to 350°F (177°C) and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes. After the first 20 minutes of bake time, I place a pie crust shield on top of the pie to prevent the edges from browning too quickly.
- Allow the pie to cool for 3 full hours at room temperature before serving. This time allows the filling to thicken up. Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: This a great pie to make 1 day in advance since it is so juicy – the filling will have time to set overnight. The pie crust dough can also be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Baked pie freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving. Prepared filling can be frozen up to 3 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Rolling Pin | 9-inch Pie Dish | Pizza Cutter or Pastry Wheel | Pastry Brush | Baking Sheet | Pie Crust Shield
Keywords: strawberry rhubarb pie
Hi Sally! I’ve made this recipe before and loved it! I might make this recipe with a gf crust to accommodate a friend. If that recipe says to bake that crust at 350 should I still do the 400 at the beginning like you mentioned above or do you think it would burn? I normally love your pie crust recipe but I needed gluten free this time 🙁
Hi Esha! Great question. I would follow the gluten free crust’s instructions. 🙂
I just made this for the fourth time in a year! By far the best strawberry rhubarb pie I’ve ever tried next to my Grammas traditional recipe she used to make! Tonight I used your all butter pie crust (half recipe) and topped with your crumble from your Apple Crumble Pie! Wow! The combo is insanely delicious! I love all your recipes, Sally! So thank you!
Highly recommend this recipe! The pastry turned out a bit tacky but that’s because here in Australia the bloody shortening was made out of coconut oil. It worked better for me making a butter based crust because of this. I also had to cook it on a low heat for an extra hour but that may have been to do with the pastry or weather who knows. Tasted amazing! Thanks Sally.
★★★★★
You never steer me wrong. First it was your flaky pie crust, and now this!! I love your recipes! 🙂
★★★★★
Made this recipe yesterday. I made 1.5x the filling to fill my deep dish plate and it as a result needed a much longer bake time, but it turned out beautiful and was delish! The hardest part was waiting for it to cool
★★★★★
I made this pie yesterday for Father’s Day and it was a major win!
I only let the crust set in the fridge for an hour but it rolled out absolutely perfect! My usual crust recipe is quite temperamental so I was nervous to try a new one… so glad I did! It was picture perfect and delicious. Saving this one for sure.
★★★★★
It’s Father’s Day and the menu is this scrumptious strawberry rhubarb pie!! It’s in the oven now…we eat later this afternoon. I don’t know how I’m going to wait until then!! I tested the filling before the egg wash…the addition of orange juice is a bright surprise! Love it! Good thing I made one pie for my dad and one pie for my household…there won’t be any leftovers! Can’t wait to try your other recipies!
★★★★★
I’ve never tried rhubarb before so I thought this would be the perfect recipe. Recipe was easy to follow and pie was delicious!
★★★★★
I do! If you thaw the berries first, be sure to blot some of the moisture before using 🙂
Can I use this recipe to make mini pies?
Absolutely!
Delicious, thank you for the recipe! I was out of cornstarch, but flour worked fine.
★★★★★
Absolutely phenomenal recipe!!!!!
I made this pie and the filling was really delicious. However, mine was so wet that the cornstarch never set it, even overnight in the fridge. I love how the filling isn’t overly sweet. I used a little lemon zest as I didn’t have orange juice- perfect. So, I will try a different recipe next time with flour to see if that helps. Not sure why cornstarch wasn’t enough.
I made this pie yesterday and it was great. I had a bit of a soggy bottom but I think it was because I let too much juice in. But overall it was delicious and I will definitely make it again.
★★★★★
This is the third time I have made this pie and I get rave reviews every time! Just like grandma use to make!
★★★★★
I made this for my first ever from scratch pie. It was a big hit, and your pie crust was fabulous. First try and nobody could believe it — so flaky and good. Thank you for this!
★★★★★
This recipe looks amazing, and judging by your cherry pie recipe, I’m sure it is. Also, for the record, your homemade pie crust recipe made me a maker of homemade pie crusts (I thought they’d have to pry the Pillsbury pre-made crusts out of my cold, dead hands). Do you think this recipe could be adapted to hand pies by pre-cooking the filling?
Hi Sarah! You could definitely use this filling for hand pies. I recommend pre-cooking it a bit so it’s softer and easier to spoon into the hand pies. For a little guideline, here’s my apple hand pies recipe.
I made the hand pies using the strawberry rhubarb filling with the apple hand pie recipe, they were a hit! Thanks for the advice, to date, I have only had great results with your recipes!
★★★★★
Have you ever made with a crumble top? Would you just use the crumble recipe for your strawberry crumble?
Hi Jean! You can use the crumble topping from my Blueberry Crumble Pie.
Whenever I am looking for a new recipe I know yours will be a winner. Made this tonight and AMAZING!! I forgot the butter dabs, bah! But even still, my husband says it’s the only strawberry rhubarb pie he’s ever liked. This stuff is bad news for my diet! Thank you for your delicious recipes!
★★★★★
This recipe is perfect . . .as was my pie. I have a rhubarb plant in my garden and wanted to harvest it although I had to buy additional rhubarb to complete the 3 cups. I was so pleasantly surprised how awesome it turned out. Since I read many comments about a tendancy to be mushy, I strained the filling before putting it in the crust. The hardest part of the recepe was waiting 3 hours for it to cool 🙂 I used a pre-made crust using a lattice top.
★★★★★
I’m a bit disappointed in the filling! Lots of good reviews so I thought it was going to be great. It was just ok, and very bitter. I think because the sugar is added to the bowl but then only the rhubarb and strawberry is scooped into the crust leaving most of the sugar behind. I would add at least another 1/4 cup next time. Also the rhubarb was not very soft and I baked it for the longer amount of time. I can’t speak for the crust, I used a different one.
I made this for my families 4th of July BBQ and everyone loved it! My family is country and grew up on country staple foods like strawberry rhubarb pie and they kept telling me it was better than their grannies strawberry rhubarb pie! I was incredibly proud because this was my first time making it but I couldn’t take all the credit. I will be saving this recipe and making it all of the time! Thank you!
Wow!! Made this last night and couldn’t wait to try it so I had a piece for breakfast. Your pie crust recipe is perfect! It came out flakey and tasty. My husband loves tart desserts and he loved this pie! I followed your recipe exactly and it’s outstanding.
If I wanted to make this recipe and omit the strawberries could I just replace the 2 1/2 cups of strawberries with the same amount of rhubarb? Would I need to make any other adjustments? Thanks!
I’d use the same amount, yes. Enjoy!
This is in the oven as we speak!! Thanks so much for sharing!
Last night, I baked my very first pie, and this was it! I prepared your pie crust recipe a day in advance, and filled and baked it last night. I had planned on bringing the pie over to my parents house tonight with vanilla ice cream. Although I do still plan on this, the pie will be missing a very small slice. This should come as no surprise to them as I have also brought them half of a carrot layer cake for dessert on Easter. I may have some self control issues when it comes to baked goods. Anyway, after this success I definitely have pie goals for the summer as well. Next up, blueberry!!!