Homemade Strawberry Pie Filling is easy to make using frozen strawberries. This allows you to enjoy the fresh flavors of summer all year round! Frozen berries and a few simple ingredients are all that you need to make this delicious dessert, which can be enjoyed as a simple strawberry pie or as a topping on ice cream and cheesecakes!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
Peak Strawberry Flavor Any Time: Commercial strawberries are usually frozen at their peak in flavor and freshness! And if you have lots of fresh strawberries in your garden you can freeze them right after harvesting, then enjoy fruit pies even after the strawberry season has passed.
If you have ripe strawberries that you need to freeze, follow these simple steps!
No Jello - This strawberry filling uses pantry ingredients and frozen strawberries, so you don't need any Jell-O!
No Thawing Required - Just throw your frozen strawberries right into the pan. There is no need to thaw them!
If you want to make pie during strawberry season, I recommend making a fresh strawberry pie. Either make the recipe as written or replace the blueberries with more strawberries.
If you love easy fruit pies, then you should also try this no-bake cherry cream cheese pie or lemon blender pie!
How to Thicken Strawberry Filling
Cornstarch: This recipe uses cornstarch to thicken the pie filling because it is a staple ingredient that is easy to find. As the sweet strawberries cook on the stovetop, juices are released, and those juices mix with the cornstarch and thicken into a filling. Cook the filling until it has thickened to your liking.
Tapioca: If you have quick-cooking tapioca on hand then you can use that instead of cornstarch. It is an equal substitution. When using tapioca, I recommend cooking the sugar, strawberries, and lemon juice on the stovetop for 5-10 minutes and then stirring in the tapioca. Allow the filling to set for at least 15 minutes before pouring it into your pie shell.
Flour: I do not recommend using flour as a thickening agent in this recipe. Because strawberries are so juicy, they need a more powerful thickener, and flour could make your filling pasty.
Key Ingredients
Strawberries: You can use store-bought frozen strawberries or strawberries from your freezer. I quartered my strawberries but sliced and whole work just as well. Use fruit that has been frozen at its peak, and save the overripe strawberries for smoothies and muffins, where additional ingredients add flavor.
Sugar: Granulated sugar sweetens the pie. For a slightly different flavor, you can use half white sugar and light brown sugar.
Cornstarch: Make sure to check the expiration date on your cornstarch, as expired cornstarch will not thicken properly. You can also use an equal amount of quick-cooking tapioca instead of cornstarch.
Lemon Juice: Lemon juice adds a touch of acidity, which helps round out the flavors of this filling. Orange juice or lime juice could also be used.
Vanilla Extract: This gives a nice depth of flavor to the recipe.
Pie Crust: You can pick up a crust at the grocery store or make your own. This all-butter pie dough recipe is my favorite flaky pie crust recipe!
How to Make Strawberry Pie Filling
Step One: Mix Dry Ingredients
- Stir a cup of sugar with the cornstarch. This is a very important step that helps prevent the cornstarch from clumping.
Step Two: Cook Filling
- Add the strawberries to a large saucepan or stock pot. Pour the lemon juice, vanilla extract, and sugar mixture over the top.
- Cook on low for 3 minutes to soften the fruit and create some strawberry juice. These juices will help keep the strawberries from burning when you increase the temperature.
- Then turn up to medium heat and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
Step Three: Cool
- Allow the filling to cool for about an hour.
- Once the filling has cooled, you can pour it into a pre-made crust and refrigerate until ready to serve. If you want a no-bake strawberry pie then you can pour the cooled filling into a store-bought graham cracker crust.
- Top with whipped cream before serving.
- You can also transfer it to jars if you plan to use this as a topping.
Ways to Use Pie Filling
This recipe is not just for pies! Here are some other ways to use it:
- Ice cream Topping
- On Cheesecake
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Stir into yogurt
- Add into overnight oats
Variations
You can follow these same instructions for making a strawberry rhubarb pie. Just replace 2 cups of strawberries with diced rhubarb. You could also add blueberries, raspberries, or cherries.
Recipe FAQs
Cover leftover pie with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Yes, for a fresh strawberry pie simply mix all of the ingredients except for the strawberries with 1 cup of boiling water. Add ¼ cup of chopped strawberries and simmer until the mixture has thickened. Then fold in the fresh fruit and cool the mixture before transferring it into a baked pie shell.
Yes, the filling is cooked on the stovetop instead of the oven, so you do need to use a fully baked crust.
Make sure that your cornstarch is not expired, as expired cornstarch will not thicken properly. If you are using fresh cornstarch and it still seems to be too liquidy then you can mix a tablespoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of water and add it to the pan. If the mixture ends up too thick then add a tablespoon of water at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.
Recommended Recipes
Let me know how you like this recipe by leaving a review! And follow along on Instagram @stateofdinner for behind-the-scenes and to be among the first to know when new recipes post!
Recipe
Strawberry Pie Filling
Recipe by:Ingredients
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (60 grams) cornstarch
- 6 cups (864 grams) frozen strawberries
- 1 teaspoons (10 ml) lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk the sugar and cornstarch together.
- Place the frozen strawberries, sugar and cornstarch mixture, lemon juice, and vanilla extract in a large saucepan. Cook on medium-low heat for 3 minutes.
- Increase to medium heat and cook until the mixture has thickened, about 15-20 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes.
- Remove from heat and cool for 1 hour. Pour into a fully baked pie shell and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional facts provided are only estimates. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Carol H. says
Making for the fourth time now! I love a recipe that I can depend on to turn out every time. The recipe is very forgiving, I’m not exact when measuring the berries, still turns out great. I also substituted frozen peaches, was equally as good. I take a couple cups of the berries and microwave them to give some juice to start with.
Erin says
Hi Carol! I love reading that this recipe has worked out so well for you. Thanks for sharing! Your substitution of peaches sounds absolutely delicious!
Shelvey Meyer says
I made this pie with frozen strawberries from last year. Both my husband and I loved it and will make it again. Very easy to make.
Erin says
Hi Shelvey! I so appreciate you taking the time to share, and am thrilled that you and your husband enjoyed the pie!
Susan says
It was good but I could taste the cornstarch.
Lisa says
Unfortunately i could taste the corn starch and threw it away. 😢
Erin says
I'm sorry to hear the pie filling didn't turn out as you'd hoped, Janice. A starchy taste can sometimes mean the cornstarch wasn’t fully cooked. If you decide to try it again, letting the filling bubble gently for a few minutes can help eliminate that flavor. I appreciate your feedback!
mj says
Mine gelled like crazy. I had some enormous frozen strawberries so I ended up mashing them since I think the more liquid helps it to gel? Next time I'm going to use frozen sliced strawberries so I don't have to cook it as long and I can have some texture. I also added the juice from half a lemon instead of a teaspoon, which really helped bring out the tartness too. Pie was delicious!
Erin says
Yes, I agree! Even though it seems counterintuitive, the liquid is a necessary part of the thickening process.
Bobbette says
When stirring together the strawberries, corn starch and sugar mixture it will start out kinda cloudy. I suggest keep stirring. When it turns more red and less cloudy it is ready to thicken up.
Erin says
Great tip!
Lynn Kurtz says
Mine turned out wonderfully! I made it with half sugar and half stevia. I also added a very small amount of tapioca granules near the end to make it a bit thicker. I think that it would have been thick enough without. It made a beautiful red not cloudy filling.
Erin says
Thank you, Lynn! I am thrilled to hear you enjoyed it!
Les says
I made this recipe for 4th of July and it never set! Was VERY soupy. I followed the stove top directions very closely!
Erin says
I'm sorry this didn't work out for you. Make sure that your cornstarch is not expired, as expired cornstarch will not thicken properly. If you are using fresh cornstarch and it still seems to be too liquidy then you can mix a tablespoon of cornstarch with a tablespoon of water, stir it into the filling and continue cooking for several minutes until it thickens.
Kenny says
My filling came out running also 😢
Erin says
Next time you make this, take a look a the FAQ section where I give tips on how to fix runny filling.
Dana says
Could I use this recipe as a substitute for 1 can of store-bought strawberry pie filling? I am making a strawberry trifle with angel food cake. Thank you!
Erin says
Yes, this should work great in place of a can of pie filling!
Kristen says
Can u can it!
Erin says
I don't know why not! But I am not a canning expert, so I recommend you follow an expert's guide for the steps on how to can safely.
Rachel says
Can this pie filling be frozen?
Laura says
I don’t believe cornstarch thickening is stable to freezing so would do more research to avoid a runny mess.