A simple homemade strawberry cream cheese pie made with an easy graham cracker crust, a sweet cream cheese layer, and topped with fresh strawberries. This pie uses no Jello, gelatin, or artificial add-ins, and a quick strawberry sauce serves as a sweet glaze for the berries.
When it comes to sweets, it’s pretty well-known in my household that I have a complete and utter lack of restraint. Cookies, cakes, and pies (particularly strawberry cream cheese pies) need to be removed from the premises posthaste, or else it’s just a matter of time before I no longer fit through our doorways. Zach must take care to monitor the ice cream in our freezer closely, otherwise I’ll whittle it down to nothing, one sneaking spoonful at a time (he’s actually really bad at this, there’s a carton of ice cream in our freezer with a single spoonful of chocolate ice cream left because I’ve eaten nearly all of it).
But my inability to control myself is possibly most evident during strawberry picking season.
Because when it comes to strawberry picking, I just cannot stop myself. I will pick, and pick, and pick (and maybe sample a few, for, you know, quality control) until my arms are aching from the weight of my berries. Zach and I brought home more berries than two people can be realistically expected to eat in a year, but within a week we’d worked our way through all of them — mostly courtesy of this Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie.
Strawberry picking is a tradition with Zach’s family that I’m grateful to have been absorbed into, and each year for the past three years I’ve shared a strawberry dessert with you. First it was my Strawberries & cream daiquiris (I know, the photos could use a re-shoot), my homemade strawberry pop-tarts last year, and now this strawberry cream cheese pie.
Originally this year’s recipe was going to just be a plain Strawberry Pie, but when Zach’s mom mentioned that she’d had one before with a layer of cream cheese, I made the quick decision to re-route, and a fluffy layer of whipped cream cheese filling was the first thing to go into my homemade graham cracker crust.
It’s just four ingredients, and actually served as the inspiration for my no-bake cheesecake, which I shared with you last week.
We are using no Jello or gelatin in this strawberry cream cheese pie — no artificial flavors, just the pure juicy taste of fresh berries. However, that means that we have to get to work making a simple strawberry sauce, and while this pie is no-bake, you will have to whip out a saucepan for that — don’t worry, it will only take a few minutes.
We’re going to cook the berries with some sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch (a thickener), releasing the fresh juice of the berries and reducing the amount of liquid for a strawberry sauce that we will toss even more fresh strawberries into. Allow it to cool completely (once it’s finished cooking I usually pour the jam into a new heatproof container, that seems to speed up the process a bit since you don’t have to wait for the pan to come back down to temperature) and then stir in your berries.
And that’s it!
Super simple, isn’t it?
Enjoy!
I used some of these strawberries to make a strawberry icebox cheesecake, that I shared over on TheSpruce.com, make sure you check that out, too! 🙂
Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
Ingredients
- 1 9-10" graham cracker crust prepared and baked (click on link)
Strawberry topping
- 5-6 cups (840 g) quartered strawberries, stems removed divided
- ½ cup (100 g) sugar
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
Cream Cheese Layer
- 8 oz (225 g) cream cheese softened
- ½ cup (65 g) powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream
Instructions
- In small saucepan, combine 2 cups strawberries (280g), sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice over medium-low heat.5-6 cups (840 g) quartered strawberries, stems removed, ½ cup (100 g) sugar, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- Stir frequently until strawberries release their juices.
- Use a potato masher to crush the strawberries until mostly liquid (it's fine if small pieces are remaining).
- Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
- Boil (still stirring constantly) for 1 minutes and remove from heat, place in new heat proof container to cool faster. Set aside while you prepare your cream cheese layer
- In a medium-sized bowl, beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until combined.8 oz (225 g) cream cheese, ½ cup (65 g) powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, clean bowl, beat 1 cup heavy cream to stiff peaks1 cup (235 ml) heavy cream
- Fold into cream cheese mixture -- the resulting mixture will be thick and fluffy.
- Spread evenly into prepared graham cracker crust and place in refrigerator while your strawberry mixture continues to cool.1 9-10" graham cracker crust
- Once strawberry mixture has cooled completely, add remaining srawberries and stir well.
- Pour over cream cheese layer, piling/mounding strawberries towards the center.
- Return to refrigerator and allow to set at least 4 hours (preferably overnight) before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
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Jody
Hello,
Could you use frozen strawberries in place of fresh?
Thanks!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That should work just fine! Enjoy 😊
Ashley Hines
These are absolutely amazing and always a hit at family gatherings. Do you know if you could make the cream cheese mixture and the strawberry glaze and store in the fridge overnight before completing? I need to travel with pies, and the glaze always gets messy on the trip!
Sam
Hi Ashley! I haven’t tried it myself, but I think you could make them separately and then combine them later. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Kim
This was excellent everyone loved it!!!!!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this, Kim! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and letting me know how it turned out!
Carol
We are nearing the end of strawberry season in Minnesota and I saved what turned out to be the best recipe for last. This is so light and refreshing, a keeper for sure!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We appreciate the sweet comment, Carol! We’re so happy you enjoyed the pie ❤️
Elise
This pie is the perfect combination of sweet with just a hint of tangy. As I couldn’t get enough good strawberries, I ended up adding blueberries to the non-cooked strawberries and it was amazing! Definitely will be making this again. I wonder how well it would turn out with frozen berries instead.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you liked it, Elise! We think frozen berries would work fine here 😊
Cheryl Jones
Will this freeze well?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Cheryl! We haven’t tried freezing it, but we don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t freeze well 🙂
Sheila Cole
This is very good. I did add about a half a cup of powdered sugar when I whipped the cream, and next time I may a little less whipped cream so the cheese layer is a bit sturdier, but I will be making this again.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed it Sheila 🥰
Jessica
On step me it says 2 cups strawberries but the recipe calls for 5-6 cups. I’m confused help
Sam
Hi Jessica! I’m so sorry for the confusion. You do need to divide the strawberries. The remaining strawberries are added in step 10. I will make sure to update the recipe to try to straighten up the confusion. 🙂 Enjoy!
Michelle
Do you need to bake your graham cracker crust if you made a homemade crust?
Sam
Hi Michelle! You don’t need to bake your graham cracker crust if you make it at home. 🙂
Christie B
Exceptional pie. Easy to follow recipe and very delicious. Everyone always loves it!
Michelle woods
i made this recipe and it was delicious! I have necer made this with the heavy creamed folded into the pie. with cream cheese mix .It was so delicious
Kathy
Do you think this recipe will work with blue or blackberries? My husband doesn’t like strawberries but it looks yummy!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Kathy! That should work just fine. We hope your husband loves it! ❤️
Joann S.
Fantastic pie my husband loved it! Easy to make and not too sweet. Will definitely be making this again.