Classic Old-Fashioned Strawberry Rhubarb Pie: A Timeless Sweet & Tart Dessert Recipe
There’s nothing quite like a slice of homemade pie to evoke feelings of comfort and nostalgia. Among the most cherished recipes passed down through generations, Old-Fashioned Strawberry Rhubarb Pie stands out as a true culinary classic. This delightful dessert perfectly marries the vibrant tartness of fresh rhubarb with the luscious sweetness of ripe strawberries, all tucked into a perfectly flaky pie crust. It’s a treat that captures the essence of spring and early summer, making it an irresistible finale to any meal. Imagine serving a warm slice, steam gently rising, topped with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream – a simple pleasure that delights folks of all ages. What makes this particular recipe so special? It’s not just the incredible flavor; it’s also surprisingly easy to make! Much like our No Peel Apple Cake or Chocolate Strawberry Pie, this recipe simplifies the process by requiring no peeling of the fruit, making your baking experience both enjoyable and efficient.
Why You’ll Adore This Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
There are countless reasons why this Strawberry Rhubarb Pie will become a staple in your recipe collection. First and foremost, rhubarb and strawberries are incredibly forgiving and satisfying ingredients to cook with, especially in baking. Rhubarb, with its distinct tart and tangy profile, is the ideal counterpoint to sweet fruits. This combination creates a balanced flavor that is both bright and comforting. You can also explore its versatility in other recipes, such as our Blueberry Rhubarb Muffins.
One of the biggest advantages of making Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is the minimal prep work involved. Forget tedious tasks like peeling, steaming, or shredding the filling ingredients. This recipe truly simplifies the process: just a quick rinse and a chop of the rhubarb into bite-sized pieces, and it’s ready to mingle with the strawberries and dry ingredients. This hands-off approach makes it a perfect dessert for both seasoned bakers and beginners alike, allowing you to enjoy the process without feeling overwhelmed.
Essential Ingredients for Your Perfect Pie
Crafting a truly memorable homemade pie doesn’t require an extensive list of exotic ingredients. This Old-Fashioned Strawberry Rhubarb Pie relies on simple, fresh components that are readily available, especially during their peak season. Here’s what you’ll need to gather:
- Fresh Rhubarb: Look for firm, crisp stalks, usually red or pink, though green stalks are also perfectly fine and just as flavorful. Rhubarb is typically in season during spring and early summer, offering its best taste during these months.
- Fresh Strawberries: Choose plump, ripe strawberries with a vibrant red color and a sweet aroma. These provide the essential sweetness and juiciness that balances rhubarb’s tartness.
- All-Purpose Flour and Granulated Sugar: Flour acts as a crucial thickening agent, ensuring your pie filling isn’t too runny, while sugar provides the necessary sweetness to temper the rhubarb’s tang.
- Pie Crust: While a homemade pie crust offers an unparalleled flaky texture and buttery flavor, a good quality store-bought crust is a perfectly acceptable shortcut. You’ll need two crusts for this recipe: one for the base and one for the top.
- Butter, Milk, and a Dash of Sugar (for the topping): These simple additions add richness to the filling and give the top crust a beautiful golden sheen and a hint of extra sweetness.
For precise quantities of each ingredient, please refer to the detailed recipe card at the bottom of this page.
Prepping Your Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Ingredients with Ease
One of the most appealing aspects of this strawberry rhubarb pie recipe is its straightforward preparation. Unlike many fruit pies that demand considerable time for peeling or intricate cutting, this one is remarkably simple. You’ll find it as easy to make as a Fresh Fruit Tart, thanks to the nature of its star ingredients.
All that’s required is a thorough rinse of both the strawberries and rhubarb. After washing, simply dice them into uniform, bite-sized pieces. For the rhubarb, aim for pieces about one inch long. For the strawberries, halving them is usually sufficient, but if they are particularly large, quartering them will ensure they cook evenly and integrate well with the rhubarb. And just like that, your primary prep work is complete! This minimal effort allows you to focus on the joy of baking and anticipating the delicious outcome.
The Essential “Sitting” Step: Creating the Perfect Pie Glaze
While preparing the pie filling is incredibly straightforward, there’s a crucial step that often gets overlooked but makes all the difference: letting the fruit and dry ingredients sit together. This isn’t just an idle waiting period; it’s a vital part of developing the signature sweet, sticky glaze that makes this pie so irresistible.
After you’ve combined the diced strawberries and rhubarb with the flour and sugar, resist the urge to immediately pour it into the crust. Instead, simply toss them together gently until the fruit is well coated, then leave them alone in the bowl. During this resting period, a beautiful transformation occurs. The sugar, through a process called osmosis, draws out the natural juices from the strawberries and rhubarb. These juices then mingle with the flour and sugar, dissolving the sugar and creating a thick, luscious, syrupy glaze. This natural syrup will beautifully coat the fruit, ensuring your pie filling is perfectly sweet, tangy, and wonderfully cohesive.
Allow the mixture to sit undisturbed in the bowl for at least 30 minutes. This waiting period is truly how that delightful, sweet, and sticky glaze is born. What starts as a simple dusting of flour and sugar on the fruit magically transforms into a rich, flavorful syrup, ready to bake into a perfectly set pie.
Your Choice of Pie Crust: Homemade or Store-Bought
The foundation of any great pie is its crust, and for this Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, you’ll need two pie crusts: one for the bottom and one for the top. While a homemade pie crust truly elevates the experience with its unparalleled flakiness and rich, buttery flavor, it’s also perfectly acceptable to use a good quality store-bought crust. Modern shortcuts are fantastic for busy days, and a pre-made crust will still yield a delicious pie.
If you opt for homemade, I highly recommend using a recipe you trust, like our Perfect Pie Crust, which provides detailed instructions for achieving that coveted tender and flaky texture. Rolling out pie dough can feel intimidating at first, but it’s a skill that improves with practice. The more often you make it, the more comfortable and adept you’ll become at handling the dough, eventually achieving beautifully rolled circles with ease.
Whether you choose to make your crust from scratch or use a convenient store-bought option, ensure it’s properly chilled before rolling and assembling. A cold crust helps prevent shrinking and keeps it delightfully flaky during baking. Once your bottom crust is nestled into your pie dish, it’s ready to receive its glorious filling.
Storing Your Fresh Strawberry Rhubarb Pie for Optimal Enjoyment
There’s an undeniable magic in enjoying pie or even cake, like our Old Fashioned Chocolate Pound Cake, when it’s still warm from the oven. The bubbling filling, the crisp crust, and the inviting aroma are truly special. However, it’s not always possible (or practical) to devour an entire pie in one sitting. When you find yourself with delightful leftovers, proper storage ensures your Strawberry Rhubarb Pie remains delicious for days.
For the first day, I typically prefer to keep Strawberry Rhubarb Pie at room temperature, lightly covered with waxed paper or aluminum foil on the counter. This helps maintain the crust’s crispness and allows the flavors to settle beautifully. Beyond the first full day, especially in warmer climates, it’s best to transfer any leftover pie to the refrigerator. Simply cover it well with plastic wrap or foil, or place it in an airtight container. Stored this way, the pie will stay fresh and enjoyable for up to 3-4 days, waiting for you to gobble up every last slice.
Pro Tip: Always remember the exception to this rule: pies made with eggs, cream, or custard fillings, such as homemade Pumpkin Pie, require immediate refrigeration after cooling to ensure food safety and maintain freshness. Fruit pies like this strawberry rhubarb version are more forgiving, but refrigeration is still recommended for extended storage.
Frequently Asked Questions About Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
The key to a perfectly set pie filling lies in the thickening agent and the “sitting” step mentioned earlier. Do not forget to add the flour! It’s really important to include a thickening ingredient in this recipe. While some bakers prefer cornstarch or tapioca starch, I find that ½ cup of all-purpose flour provides the best consistency for this pie, creating a beautifully thick and syrupy filling that holds its shape when sliced. Additionally, allowing the fruit and dry ingredients to sit for 30 minutes before baking helps the sugar draw out liquids, which then combine with the flour to form a stable glaze during baking.
Rhubarb truly shines in the spring. When you begin to spot those distinct, vibrant stalks of rhubarb in the produce section of your grocery store, you know it’s the perfect time to start enjoying your favorite rhubarb recipes! Typically, hothouse-grown rhubarb makes its appearance first, followed by the field-grown variety a little later in the season. Both types are excellent and will be absolutely delicious in this pie recipe, bringing their unique tartness to balance the sweet strawberries.
Learn more about rhubarb season here.
To keep fresh rhubarb at its best, wrap the unwashed stalks tightly in plastic wrap or place them in a sealed plastic bag. Store them in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. This method helps maintain its crispness and freshness for about a week. Remember to wash the rhubarb thoroughly just before you’re ready to use it in your recipe. 
Yes, you can use frozen fruit, but there are a few adjustments to keep in mind. Frozen rhubarb and strawberries release more liquid as they thaw, which can make your pie runny. To counteract this, do not thaw the fruit before mixing it with the dry ingredients. You might also want to increase the amount of flour by an extra tablespoon or two to absorb the additional moisture. Bake the pie as directed, possibly adding an extra 10-15 minutes to the baking time to ensure the filling is thoroughly cooked and set.
An Old-Fashioned Pie Recipe Steeped in Family Tradition
You might be wondering about the “old-fashioned” designation for this Strawberry Rhubarb Pie recipe. It’s more than just a name; it’s a reflection of its heritage. This particular recipe comes directly from my Mom, who has been lovingly making this pie for countless years. It’s a testament to timeless simplicity, relying on common pantry staples rather than elaborate or fancy ingredients. There’s no need for obscure spices or complicated techniques; just wholesome fruit, sugar, flour, and a good crust.
This is a tried and true recipe, one that has been cherished and enjoyed by several generations within my family. It embodies the essence of home baking: straightforward, comforting, and utterly delicious. Every bite carries a hint of tradition and the warmth of family kitchens. I truly believe that once you try this classic Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, you’ll understand why it’s been a beloved favorite for so long and will quickly become one of your own cherished recipes too!
More Delightful Dessert Recipes to Explore
If you have a sweet tooth and enjoy baking with simple, wholesome ingredients, then you’ll love exploring some of our other cherished dessert recipes. From rich cakes to delightful cookies, there’s always something new to try that evokes that same comforting, old-fashioned goodness.
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Tiramisu Cake for Dessert
- Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies
- 15 Best Apple & Pumpkin Desserts
If you’ve had the pleasure of baking this Strawberry Rhubarb Pie or any other recipe from my website, I would be thrilled to hear from you! Please consider leaving a 🌟 star rating and share your experience in the 📝 comments section below. Your feedback helps other home bakers and means a lot to me!
Recipe Card
Old Fashioned Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Recipe
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Ingredients
Filling
- 1 ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup flour
- 2 cups rhubarb – cut into 1″pieces
- 2 cups fresh strawberries – halved
- 1 tablespoon butter – cut into 3 or 4 small chunks
- dash of milk and sugar
Two pie crusts for a 9″ pie
Instructions
Prep Ingredients
- In a large bowl, combine the sugar and flour, mixing them well. Add the chopped strawberries and rhubarb, then stir gently until all the fruit is evenly coated. This is a very important step: let the ingredients stand in the bowl for 30 minutes. This crucial resting period allows the sugar to draw out the natural juices from the fruit, creating a beautiful, syrupy glaze that will ensure a perfectly set and flavorful pie filling.
Assemble the Pie and Bake
- Preheat your oven to 400° F (200°C). Make sure it’s fully preheated before placing the pie inside.
- Prepare your pie crusts. Roll out two sheets of dough and carefully place one layer into a 9-inch pie dish. If you’re making your own, I highly recommend our recipe for Perfect Pie Crust.
- Pour the syrupy strawberry and rhubarb mixture evenly into the bottom pie crust. Dot the top of the fruit filling with the small chunks of butter. Carefully place the second pie crust over the filling, then crimp the edges of both crusts together to seal the pie. For a beautiful golden finish, brush the top crust lightly with milk and sprinkle a dash of sugar over it.
- Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 50 minutes, or until the crust is beautifully golden brown and the fruit juices are visibly bubbling through any vents in the top crust. Keep an eye on the pie; if the crust or edges start to brown too quickly, you can loosely place a section of aluminum foil over the top to prevent over-browning.
- Once baked, remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack. This is important for the filling to set properly. Serve warm or at room temperature, ideally with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream or a dollop of frozen yogurt for an extra treat.
Notes
Note: Since pie crusts vary significantly in their composition and nutritional content, the nutritional information offered below is an estimate only for the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie filling itself, excluding the crust. Please factor in your chosen pie crust for a more complete nutritional overview.
Please note, the nutrition details are estimated using a food database, so they’re just a rough estimate not an exact science.