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 and triple berry 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?
Strawberry 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- to 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. The pie is done when the filling’s juices are bubbling all around the edges.
- 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 | Coarse Sprinkling Sugar
Reader Comments and Reviews
This was my first time making a pie from scratch (including the Homemade Buttery Flaky Pie Crust) and it turned out beautiful! Such flaky crust and the filling was phenomenal! This is my favorite kind of pie and now when I want a pie, I’m making it myself!!!
Excellent recipe! I’ve done strawberry rhubarb pie before and it always came out soppy, but not with this one. Perfect combination of ingredients, I just substituted regular flour for the cornstarch, and filling came out moist and delicious. Definitely all fruit pies should be cooked for at least 45-60 minutes though. Will highly recommend this one!
Looks like a great recipe! I’m going to make this recipe for my husband’s birthday- one question: about how many rhubarb stalks to 3 cups (approximately of course)?
Thanks!
Hi Samantha, it depends on the length of your stalks, but a pound of cut rhubarb yields 3 to 4 cups of chopped rhubarb.
Great pie, but could you add the metric measurements for this recipe? My favorite part of this website is that most ingredients are done properly by weight, so this one being all volumes was odd to find. Thanks!
Hi Michelle, not sure how this recipe include have metric– it’s displaying properly now.
You don’t get rhubarb here in India. So can I use apples instead? Any recommendations? Thank you!
Hi Khushi, You can replace the rhubarb with either more strawberries or the same amount of a different type of fruit.
Can I make this same recipe without the rhubarb?
Hi Katie, we haven’t successfully made an all-strawberry pie that isn’t overly runny. You can try subbing out all the rhubarb for strawberry but again– it’s always a little too runny for our taste.
Thank you. I am going to try many of your recipes 🙂 The crust was so light and fluffy and although I didn’t have strawberries, it was still a yummy pie, couldn’t wait for it to cool. Yes, it was fairly sour but I don’t mind, I sprinkled a little more sugar on top.
Hi! If I make this ahead of time, freeze it, and thaw it overnight, should I rebake it for a little bit of time to reheat it up?
Hi Riley, you certainly can reheat it if you’d like! Or, you can serve at room temperature.
What do you do with the 2 T. of butter?
After you put your filling in you cut that two tablespoons of butter and dot it on the top of the fruit Then place top crust. this is very common in fruit pies!
If I’m using mini pie/ tart pans what is my baking times?
Hi Holly, We’re unsure of the exact back time for them. Let us know if you try it this way!
Turned out PERFECT! Used garden fresh strawberries and rhubarb. I cooked the recommended time 20min at 400 then 35min at 350. I also patiently waited for it to cool. It was a perfect consistency and the cook through! Thanks:)
I have pretty much given up making pies. Never can get the pastry right. Until I tried yours with my own rhubarb and strawberries. To die for, the best pastry I have ever had. I also cooked it a bit longer. Saved the juice and cooked it yummy. Thank you so much.
Hi May, I’m so glad this turned out well for you! Enjoy!
I used half fresh and half frozen rhubarb ( 2pies), didn’t see a difference. This is the best recipe for strawberry rhubarb I’ve ever used. My husband loves it.
Oh my dear sweet jeebus, this was AMAZING! Best berry pie I’ve ever eaten. I ended up doing a crumble on top instead of the pie crust, and it was HEAVEN. Adding it to the regular rotation
Second time I’ve tried this recipe. Excellent, super, great !!!! Try and you won’t regret it.
I dust “Whip-it” heavy cream stabilizer on the bottom crust of fruit pies or flans before filling. Especially effective on baked crusts ie fruity custard flans.
Have you tried Clear-Jel or ultra-sperse instead of cornstarch?
Did not yet try the recipe but read it for info: some favour cinnamon, some orange zest/juice. My gran’s recipe from the hardscrabble 1930’s said
“ use spice if you have.”
3 m of rhubarb down,3 m to go.
I made this, using my mom’s pie crust recipe. I made the filling exactly except I’m not sure my rhubarb was ripe enough so I added a 1/4 cup of sugar. It turned out great!! It took longer to cook in my gas oven with a cookie sheet under the pie plate but not a big deal. Will make again!!
hi sally,
wondering how much tapioca can be used to substitute for cornstarch in this recipe? Thanks
Hi Paige, we recommend 1/3 cup instant tapioca instead of cornstarch.
Super fun bake! Absolutely scrumptious crust. However, I think this recipe would benefit from the filling being cooked in a saucepan first. The rhubarb was not softened enough for me so didn’t gel well with the rest of the pie. Will try again since I love rhurbarb!
I’m looking for a rhubarb only pie recipe, could I just leave out the strawberries?
Thank you!
Hi Mai, without the sweetness and flavor of the strawberries, this pie would be quite tart. Plus, strawberries let off more moisture so it may take a bit of testing to get the filling ratios right. Let us know if you give it a try!
Made this pie and the pie crust as recommended – it was fantastic! The filling did boil over though, thank goodness for the baking sheet below. The pie crust was exactly as promised and this will be my ‘go to’ crust from now on, provided I have the time to chill it. Just need to plan ahead!
Noooo! Don’t throw out the juices from the filling! If you tend to forget the 3 hour setting time (ahem…) this gives you an instant dessert to help keep you from jumping the gun and cutting it too soon. Dump the juice in a small pan, cook at medium heat stirring frequently until it’s just about to boil – the last minute or so you need to stir rapidly to avoid lumpiness. Et voila, a thick strawberry-rhubarb sauce to pour over ice cream.
I’ve found this comes out better with a blind-baked crust (solves the soggy bottom problem) with streusel topping. Excess streusel can be baked in a small open dish along with the pie for the first 20 minutes, and added to the alternative dessert!
Works great with frozen rhubarb and/or strawberries.
Made the pie with streusel topping, so we’ll have it for dinner tonight. After parbaking the crust for 15 minutes, I baked the filled pie20 minutes at 400, put foil over the crust and baked at 350 for another 55 minutes, after seeing other comments below. Making the sauce with the juice shortly. I think it would be great on pancakes or French toast too.
I am going to make this in a foil pie plate for a friend and was wondering if anyone knows if I would need to adjust the baking time or temperature or even cook the filling a little bit before putting together the pie and baking?
Hi Leann, no need to change anything if baking this in a disposable pie pan. Bake time should be about the same, but keep a close eye on it. Hope your friend enjoys this pie!
I made this pie for a neighbor…he loved it! Keeping the extra juice off is such a great idea.
The reason I gave it 4 stars, was because I didn’t get any. A definite 5!!!!! Thank you
Hi. I made your s r pie. Filling was delicious, but the crust was terrible. Followed your receipt to a t, even with the chilling.pie looked absolutely beautiful, but the crust was so hard and dry. Very disappointed. Florence
Hi Florence, we’re happy to help troubleshoot the pie crust with you. Make sure you’re using enough liquid in your pie dough- most of the problems happen when not enough liquid is added. Keep your ingredients super cold, and don’t overwork the pie dough otherwise that can make it come out hard and dry as you mention – make sure that after you add the water, you’re lightly mixing everything together. You want those visible specks and swirls of butter! Hopefully this is helpful for next time. We’re glad you did enjoy the filling!
The bottom did not cook even after 55 minutes. I ended up with a soggy bottom. I followed instructions exactly and used a glass dish. Another ruined pie because of a bad recipe.
I used partially frozen rhubarb, baked it an extra 10 minutes and it came out perfect. Bottom crust cooked just fine. Put a cookie sheet on bottom shelf to catch run overs , 2 racks down from pie. Do use use an oven thermometer?
To be sure of correct temp, as it really matters. If you sat the pie on a cookie sheet it would keep the bottom of the pie crust from cooking.
Very good recipe!
Sorry your pie turned out poorly! Our experience was exactly the opposite. Maybe your oven isn’t getting hot enough? An oven thermometer might be helpful 🙂
Can I use frozen rhubarb? This sounds so good!
Hi Christy, we haven’t tried this with frozen rhubarb, but we don’t see why it wouldn’t work. If you thaw it first, just blot some of the moisture off. Let us know how it goes!
I have frozen strawberries and frozen rhubarb, so I guess I’ll just thaw them both and go from there, maybe trying a crumble or streusel topping this time.
I followed this recipe almost to a T, with frozen strawberries and frozen rhubarb (I let them defrost in a strainer and squeezed them a little, and spooned out the filling into the crust, leaving about 1/2 a cup of the liquid behind). The only difference was that I blind baked the crust for about 15 min beforehand. It turned out absolutely perfect! Thank you 🙂
I started making S-R pie years ago after finding it growing wild in my friends backyard. I got a recipe from the “Loaf and Ladle” restaurant cookbook which I visited in the ‘70’s and it was by far the simplest recipe. Now I don’t even use the recipe and it always still comes out wonderfully. I’m a real fan of fruit pies and cobblers and S-R pie is near the top of my most favorites! Thanks!
I made this today and I’m having a hard time waiting the recommended time for it to cool ! Looks and smells so good! Thanks for sharing!
This sounds awesome. Wondering if I could substitute Splenda brown and white sugar? Thank you.
I used stevia and it turned out great!
This took at least 60-70 minutes to bake. Don’t go by time but the look of your pie, make sure it is really golden. I cooked accordingly but I was tired and napping so I removed after the time required. I ate a slice and the crust was not cooked. I drained the excess juices, cooked it for 25 more minutes and now it is perfectly set and golden. 45 minutes is not enough time.
Pie was good I upped the sugar to 1 1/4 cups added a dash of cinnamon – and set the oven to 400 degrees & baked it for about 20 minutes then turned it down to 350 degrees for about 60 minutes more. I agree with the other comments there is no way after 35 minutes this pie will be done. Please recheck your oven & bake timer. Other than that the filling was just fine & set up perfectly with no gooey pink mess.
We followed the recipe exactly and produced a beautifully browned and delicious pie. So yeah, we think the timing is just right. 🙂