Making your own strawberry rhubarb pie from scratch is easy! Everyone is always talking about how much they love Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and I had never had it before. Okay, I take that back…I did attempt to make it a couple years ago with some really mature rhubarb someone gave me and it was a total fail! As long as you have good rhubarb (that is not overly mature) and fresh strawberries (I’m sure you could use canned or frozen too!), this strawberry rhubarb pie will not disappoint.

strawberry season

The pie set up perfectly! The filling wasn’t runny in the least.

I started noticing strawberry posts in my Instagram feed which made me realize it was Strawberry season! Everything has been 1-2 months late this year so I had assumed strawberries were late as well. Apparently not! Instead we had a rather poor season for strawberries, with hot sunny weather and then rain, both of which are hard on strawberries. But I managed to get some lovely, super sweet strawberries from my local co-op for a great price!

First priority was to make jam, which I will blog about in another post soon. Strawberry jam is my absolute favorite (okay, maybe blackberry or boysenberry…) and I finished up my last jar just days before the co-op opened the strawberry buy. I wanted to make sure to replenish my supply for the coming year! Store bought jam just doesn’t compare. Like, at all!!!

strawberry rhubarb jam anyone?

Mature rhubarb doesn’t work well for pie. I selected the thinnest pieces of rhubarb in my bundle.

I purchased a bundle of rhubarb to go along with my strawberries with the intention of making Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and also Strawberry Rhubarb Jam. Have you ever had or made strawberry rhubarb jam? I’d love to hear if you have! I’m very eager to try it out, but I ended up with 18 jars of regular strawberry jam so decided to make a pie, and throw the rest of the rhubarb in the freezer. Oh yummy! Another Strawberry Rhubarb pie later on this summer?

When I picked up my rhubarb from the co-op, I was a bit devastated to see that the stalks were rather large and looked very mature. Nooo!!! Not this again! The first time I tried to make strawberry rhubarb pie, the stalks were much too mature and would not cook down, no matter how long I left it in the oven. We ended up with burnt pie, crunchy red celery, and one embarrassed housewife!!! I even served it to company!

picking the recipe

Chop the rhubarb into 1/4″ to 1/2″ chuncks.

Carefully picking through the stalks, I selected only the smallest stalks and decided to give it my best shot. With my back already aching from making my batches of strawberry jam, I sat down for a few minutes to select the perfect pie recipe from my favorite online hangout, Pinterest. I found a few that looked interesting, but most called for way more sugar than I was willing to use. After comparing about 5 different recipes, I decided to go with this recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

However, I did NOT pour the liquid off the strawberry/rhubarb/sugar mixture before pouring into my pie pan. My thought was, the sugar pulls the sweetness and juices out of the strawberries…why would I throw that away? Seems to me that’s where the flavor is at! I had put tapioca flour in to thicken things up, so I decided to take my chances. Besides, the liquid would probably help soften my chunks of rhubarb as well.

My unique way of making a lattice pie crust! I don’t weave, I just criss cross the pieces.

why did this recipe win?

If you don’t like the square look, start criss crossing from one edge instead of starting in the middle like I did.

In my baking, I have learned that it is sometimes the tiny ingredients that make all the difference for mouth watering flavor. Sally’s recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of orange juice. Also, she pairs half brown sugar with half white sugar which I have learned makes a big difference in flavor as well. More rhubarb than strawberries?? Less than a cup of sugar!? Yep, you’ve got my attention. SOLD!

I’m not sure I’ll ever have the courage to try a different recipe, this one turned out so well!

the result? mouth watering pie!

It is worth the extra step to paint whisked egg over the crust and then sprinkle with sugar.

Oh my goodness gracious!!! As this pie bubbled away in the oven, I could just smell that it was going to be delicious. Pulling it out of the oven, I was kicking myself because it was 11pm by the time it finished baking and I was going to have to wait until morning to even taste it! At least I had something to look forward to for breakfast.

I did a quick photo shoot the next morning before we sat down to breakfast so I would have pictures to share with you guys. My mouth was watering in anticipation just looking at it, as some of you mentioned on social media as well!

As I took my first bite of pie, before my hubby had even sat down to breakfast (sorry! I couldn’t wait any longer!!) he asked, “is that the royal bite?” I nodded. It was perfect! No tough rhubarb, the filling set up nicely, the crust was perfectly flaky (brushing the egg on top was an extra step I’ve never done before but totally worth it!), and the flavor was exquisite! I’m not even kidding! I may have found a new favorite pie. It was amazing…and only survived two short days in our pie loving hands.

A perfect breakfast. Mouth watering and delicious!!