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 (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.
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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Terri Jeppesen
I made this and it turned out fabulous!! One of the best things about this recipe is that it works wonderful with just about any pie filling. I’ve tried strawberry, blueberry, and cherry. All were gone as fast as I’d let the family eat them.
Sam
This is so wonderful to hear, Terri! Thank you so much for trying my recipe, I really appreciate it!
Dawna
Could I use frozen strawberries?
Sam
Hi Dawna! I think that would be fine. 🙂
Nilanthi Aziz
Really yummy cheese cake. the only change I made was adding a little more sugar to the strawberries as the fresh strawberries we get in our country are a bit more sour. I also added a table spoon of lemon juice to the cheese and cream mixture. Turned out really well and will be making it again.
Becky
A huge hit every time I make it! Soooo good!!!
Lisa
Made this delicious pie tonight. It was a huge hit. Will definitely make it again in the future but will lessen the sugar from 1/2 cup to a fourth of a cup.Did not have heavy cream and substituted milk plus a package of vanilla pudding for a creamy quick set. Thank you for a delicious recipe.
Cheryl Lynn Tarkington
Can you recommend something other than cream cheese.? I like cream cheese but not in sweet things.
Thanks, Cheryl.
Sam
Hi Cheryl! Unfortunately the cream cheese is vital in this recipe so I’m not sure of a good substitute. 🙁
Mindi
Do you think this recipe could be made with other fresh berries like blueberries or raspberries?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sure! Enjoy, Mindi 😊
Magali Fournier
I Just made it. Can we froze the tart ?
Sam
I haven’t personally tried it, but I suspect it will be just fine. 🙂
Amy Thompson
I stumbled upon this recipe looking for a easy strawberry pie recipe. OMG, this is soooo good and is now forever in my recipe book. The kids loved it and finished one pie in a single sitting lol. I’m making another pie today to finish up the last of my fresh picked strawberries…… YUMMMMM
Nicole V
This recipe is absolutely divine. From the topping to its cream cheese filling, this pie is my favorite when strawberry season is in full swing in June and I usually make it more than once when strawberries are in season.
I like that the recipe doesn’t call for strawberry Jell-O, instead uses corn starch to thicken up the berry mash topping. And I swear I could eat the filling by the spoonful, it’s so good.
There’s not one thing I’d change about this recipe; it’s five stars exactly as is.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Nicole! 🙂
Teresa Gates
This is delicious and I love that it’s not made with Jello. Wondering if I could substitute peaches for berries and make the same way?
Sam
Hi Teresa! I haven’t tried it, but I think it could work. Let me know how it goes if you do try it. 🙂
tracy dawn leonard
I chopped pecans and roasted them, and added to the cream cheese mix.
Outstanding pie.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yummm, we love that idea Tracy! 😋
Belinda
Mmmmm simply the best strawberry cream cheese pie ever. My tastebuds are singing YUM🎶
Angela
Do I need to cover pie when it goes in fridge overnight?
Sam
Hi Angela! While it’s not completely necessary, I typically recommend it to keep the pie from absorbing any odors in the refrigerator. 🙂
Renee Burton
Should I bake the pie crust for this recipe?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Renee! You do not need to bake the crust here 🙂
Steph
Curious if you have a vegan replacement for heavy cream? I know Kite Hill is great for cream cheese replacement. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Steph! I have heard of people successfully whipping coconut cream, but I have never tried it personally so I’m not sure how it would go.
Judy
Country Crock makes a great vegetable based cream. Whips up nicely and tastes very similar to dairy.
Mehjabeen
Hi i was thinking if this is somewhat a cheesecake or entirely different
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Mehjabeen! It’s similar to a no-bake cheesecake 🙂