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 (280g) strawberries, sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice over medium-low heat.½ cup (100 g) sugar, 2 Tbsp cornstarch, 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 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 the 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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Nicole Bell
Can you freeze for later?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Nicole! We haven’t tried it, but we think it should work 😊
Mehjabeen
Hi i didnt want to make another trip to the store so i was thinking if its possible to use cream cheese an no cream?
Sam
Unfortunately, I’m not sure it would work quite the same here. 🙁
Ashley
This was a huge hit! So so so good. Can’t wait to make it again. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Janna
Can you place the strawberry mix in the fridge to speed up the cooling process?
Sam
Hi Janna! You could stick it in the refrigerator, but I wouldn’t cover it. 🙂
CJ
Could I replace the strawberries with raspberries?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sure! Enjoy 🙂
Daryl Munoz
I made this today and it was a hit with my wife and daughter. Love how simple ingredients let the strawberries be the star of this dessert. A great summer pie and definite do over.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks so much for letting us know how you enjoyed the pie, Daryl! ❤
Kendall Smith
Can you use frozen strawberries without the juice to cook instead of fresh when not in season?
Thanks
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Kendall! Frozen berries should work just fine here. Enjoy 🙂
V. Berardi
I just made this pie as I had freshly picked strawberries, it was amazing thank you for the recipe,❤️
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it was a hit for you! Enjoy ❤
Nat
It’s delicious! Light & airy whipped cream cheese layer, and you can get creative with crusts or toppings. But, perfect as is. And, especially chilled on a hot summer day!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Nat! 🙂
Christina Russo
Am I able to make it in a springform pan?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That should work fine. Enjoy, Christina!
Lori
Delicious
Diana
Hi Sam!
Could this be served on a baked graham cracker crust, or would that not work?
Sam
Hi Diana! You can put it in a baked or unbaked pie. 🙂
Lindsay
So excited to make this! We have a ton of strawberries to use up. Any chance I can sub sour cream for the heavy cream? Trying to save a trip to the store.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Lindsay! We wouldn’t recommend it, since the heavy cream needs to be whipped to stiff peaks 😕
Angie Caffrey
Does the graham crust need to be baked first?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Angie! You do not need to bake the crust here. 🙂
Tats
It’s so good! Thank you so much for sharing this! 👌🏻👌🏻
Ella Boureston
Sam, you are my go-to for recipes now since I recently discovered your website and YouTube channel. I have made several of your recipes, and like all the others, this strawberry pie did not disappoint. My sister says it is the best pie she’s ever had! It was a major hit.
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Ella! 🙂