This fresh strawberry cream cheese pie combines a crumbly, buttery graham cracker crust, mousse-like whipped cheesecake filling, and a jammy strawberry topping made without artificial flavor. This is a great make-ahead recipe because it takes a while to set up, so itโs actually best made a day ahead.
One reader, Paula, commented: โThe best pie my family has ever had! We all loved it. It was perfect! Two pies gone in two days!! Followed the directions and it came out just like the picture. โ โ โ โ โ โ
Another reader, Mary Rose, commented: โThis was perhaps the best pie Iโve ever made. Absolutely over the top. โ โ โ โ โ โ
No lie, when I first tasted this summery strawberry cream cheese pie, I said out loud to an empty kitchen: โWell this is the best pie Iโve ever had.โ And, well, Iโve made many pies before.
I also make a strawberry cheesecake pie, but todayโs pie more closely resembles this blueberry cream pie; the filling is a light cheesecake/whipped cream hybrid, and weโre cooking the strawberry topping into a preserves-like consistency, before folding in more fresh strawberries.
Tell Me About This Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
- Texture: Oh, this pie sure delivers on texture! Enjoy 3 layers of very different textures in every magnificent bite. It has a crunchy, crumbly graham cracker crust, a creamy-yet-light whipped cheesecake filling, and a jammy topping made with plenty of fresh strawberries.
- Flavor: Do you like strawberries? Do you like graham cracker-crusted cheesecake, and cream pies? Youโre in the right place. The filling is similar to no-bake cheesecake and has a delightful tang from the cream cheese and lemon juice. Lemon zest in the sweet topping keeps the natural strawberry flavor bright and fresh. I use it in the filling for these strawberry shortcake cupcakes, too. You could even mix up the flavor by using a Biscoff pie crust instead.
- Ease: Youโll bake the graham cracker crust and cook the strawberry topping on the stove, but the cheesecake filling doesnโt need to bakeโjust set up in the refrigerator. Since thereโs a few different layers, read through the recipe before starting so you donโt get stuck in the process. A homemade whipped cream garnish is optional, if you want to dress it up a bit before serving.
Success Tip: Temperature is Everything
You have 3 layers in this recipe and you need 10 ingredients total. Here are the layers:
- Fully Baked Homemade Graham Cracker Crust
- Mousse-Like Cream Cheese Filling
- Fresh Strawberry Topping
Even though itโs the topping on the pie, your first step is to make the strawberry mixture. The topping must completely cool before layering on top of the cream cheese mixture otherwise your pie will be runny and fall apart. Also, itโs ideal that the baked crust is still slightly warm when you spread in the filling so the filling can adhere. Follow the recipe below and youโll be all set.
The great news is that many of the ingredients are repeated in each layer. Not pictured are 2 of the 3 graham cracker crust ingredients (the graham cracker crumbs and the butter).
Recipe Testing: Strawberry Topping
When I tested this recipe, my first attempt at the strawberry topping was too runny. I found what works best is using a mix of mashed, cooked strawberries (weโre basically making a simple homemade jam, or strawberry sauce), and fresh sliced strawberries. Let me break it down for you.
- Start with 1.5 lbs (24 ounces or about 680 grams) of fresh strawberries.
- Rinse and hull all the berries.
- Chop some of the strawberries until you have 1 cup, or 150โ160 grams/5.5 ounces. Weโre going to mash these (use a pastry cutter, potato masher, or a fork) and cook them with sugar, water, and cornstarch. Mix in the lemon zest and then cool completely. This will act as a binding to hold the rest of the berries together.
- Quarter the remaining strawberries. Strawberry size varies greatly, so if your strawberries are massive, you might need to slice the quarters again. You should end up with about 3.5 cups, or about 500 grams/18 ounces, of quartered strawberries.
- Once the cooked topping has cooled, fold in the quartered strawberries. Now we have a strawberry pie topping that will set up nicely in the refrigerator.
Roughly mash your chopped strawberries (below left) and then cook down on the stove according to the instructions (below right). Cool the mixture completely.
Here are the quartered strawberries. Mix them with the cooked & cooled strawberry mixture:
Let Me Show You How to Assemble the Pie:
Crust: Mix your graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter together. Press into your pie dish and bake for 15โ16 minutes. This is the only baking the strawberry pie requires.
Filling: Have you ever made cookies & cream pie or no bake cheesecake jars? Todayโs filling is similar. Whip heavy cream into peaks and then set aside. This unsweetened whipped cream adds a stable, yet creamy foundation without the need for gelatin or other thickening ingredients. Then mix cream cheese, confectionersโ sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice together (below left). Fold in the whipped cream (below right).
Spread filling into your slightly warm graham cracker crust. I like using a large or small offset spatula to make this step easier. Finally, pile on the strawberry topping. The topping would be excellent on regular cheesecake too!
Chilling & Serving Your Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
This pie takes at least 8 hours to set up in the refrigerator, so plan ahead. Between cutting up the strawberries, making and baking the crust, cooking and chilling the topping, and whipping up the cheesecake filling, prep time is about 50โ60 minutes. This pie is a great choice if you donโt have time to make dessert the day you plan to eat it, because itโs best made a day ahead.
Be warned: slicing into this pie can be messy. The first slice is never the prettiest!
Special Tools
- Pastry cutter, potato masher, or a fork
- Electric mixer (handheld or stand)
- Food processor for graham crackers
- 9-inch pie dish (this is my favorite pie dish)
- Offset spatula
Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
- Prep Time: 55 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 9 hours (includes refrigeration)
- Yield: one 9-inch pie
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Whipping
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is fresh strawberry cream cheese pie made without artificial strawberry flavor. To ensure your pie not only looks nice, but stays intact, itโs important to follow the instructions closely. Read through the recipe and review the step-by-step photos before starting.
Ingredients
Strawberry Topping
- 1.5 lbs (24 ounces or about 680 grams) fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) water
- 1.5 Tablespoons (11g) cornstarch
- 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) graham cracker crumbs (about 12 full sheet graham crackers)
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
- 1 cup (240ml) cold heavy cream
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (60g) confectionersโ sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- optional for topping: homemade whipped cream
Instructions
- Make the strawberry topping first so it can cool: Chop some of the strawberries until you have 1 cup, or 150โ160 grams/5.5 ounces. Quarter the remaining strawberries (you should end up with about 3.5 cups, or about 500 grams/18 ounces, of quartered strawberries) and set aside until step 5. Lightly mash the chopped strawberries with a pastry cutter, potato masher, or a fork. Using a fork, mix the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl until the cornstarch has dissolved. Warm the mashed strawberries, cornstarch mixture, and sugar together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until boiling, stirring often. Mixture will be cloudy. Boil 1 minute or until itโs thick like a jam (no longer liquid-y). Remove from heat, stir in the lemon zest, and cool completely. (Must completely cool, so transferring to a bowl out of the saucepan helps speed that up. Feel free to refrigerate it. You can complete a few other steps in the recipe as the mixture cools.)
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC).
- Make the crust: If youโre starting out with full graham crackers, use a food processor or blender to grind them into fine crumbs. Stir the graham cracker crumbs and granulated sugar together in a medium bowl, and then stir in the melted butter. The mixture will be thick, coarse, and sandy. Try to smash/break up any large chunks. Pour the mixture into an ungreased 9-inch pie dish. With medium pressure using your hand, pat the crumbs down into the bottom and up the sides to make a compact crust. Do not pack down with heavy force because that makes the crust too hard. Simply pat down until the mixture is no longer crumby/crumbly. For more shaping technique tips, see the graham cracker crust recipe page. Bake the crust for 15 minutes, remove from the oven, and cool for just 15 minutes as you prepare the filling in the next step.
- Make the filling: Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cold heavy cream into stiff peaks on medium-high speed, about 3 minutes. Set aside. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Add the confectionersโ sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice and beat on medium-high speed until combined. Make sure there are no large lumps of cream cheese. If there are lumps, keep beating until smooth. Using your mixer on low speed or a silicone spatula, fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until combined. This takes several turns of your rubber spatula. Combine slowly as you donโt want to deflate all the air in the whipped cream.
- Assemble layers: Spread cream cheese filling into slightly cooled crust. Use an offset spatula to smooth down the top. Fold quartered strawberries into cooled strawberry mixture from step 1 and then spoon evenly on top of the cream cheese filling.
- Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. I usually just carefully lay aluminum foil on top so the topping doesnโt get messed up. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 48 hours. The longer refrigerated, the better the pie will set up. Do not exceed 2 days because the topping begins to break down.
- Feel free to garnish the pie with whipped cream right before or a few hours before serving (keep pie refrigerated after adding whipped cream). I used Wilton 1M piping tip for the whipped cream in the pictured pie. Using a clean sharp knife, cut into slices for serving. For neat slices, wipe the knife clean between each slice. Tip: The first slice is never pretty! Much easier to slice after that 1st piece is out.
- Cover and store leftover pie in the refrigerator or freezer for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can prepare the cooked strawberry mixture (step 1) 1โ2 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate before using. (I recommend folding in the quartered strawberries when youโre assembling the pie and not in advance.) You can prepare the crust (step 3) up to 2 days in advance. Cover and store baked and cooled crust at room temperature. It must be slightly warm when you spread in the filling so the filling can adhere, so warm in a 350ยฐF (177ยฐC) oven for 1โ2 minutes before adding the filling. You can prepare the filling (step 4) 1 day in advance before spreading into the crust in step 5. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Pastry Cutter, Potato Masher, or Fork | Glass Mixing Bowls | Small Saucepan | Food Processor | 9-Inch Pie Dish | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula | Offset Spatula | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Wilton 1M Piping Tip
- Can I Use Frozen Strawberries? Frozen strawberries work in a pinch, but the topping holds MUCH better shape using fresh strawberries. I strongly recommend using fresh. If using frozen, thaw and pat dry before starting.
- Cream Cheese: Make sure you are using brick cream cheese and not cream cheese spread. Bricks of cream cheese are typically 8 ounces each, so you need 1 brick.
- Other Pie Crust: Feel free to swap the graham cracker crust for traditional pie crust. This is my favorite pie crust and I also have this all butter pie crust too. You will need to fully par-bake the pie crust shell.
- Non-US Readers: If graham crackers are not available where you live, we have also tested this pie with a crust made from digestive biscuits, and it turned out great. Use 200g ground digestive biscuit crumbs (about 2 cups; 13โ14 biscuits), 1/3 cup (67g) granulated sugar, and 6 Tablespoons (85g) melted butter. Pre-bake the crust for a bit longer, about 16-17 minutes. And from what I understand, spreadable cream cheese sold in a tub in countries outside of the US is a little different from the spreadable cream cheese in the US. Itโs thicker, sturdier, and more solid and should be OK to make this pie. I have no experience with it, but this is what Iโve heard from other non-US readers. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
- Can I make this with other berries? Yes. I recommend blueberries and you can make this similar blueberry cream cheese pie instead. Strawberries are so heavy, so I had to slightly reduce the filling for todayโs strawberry version.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I love this recipe so much. thank you! After partaking the crust and cooling it. I added melted chocolate and put in fridge while I made the filling and strawberries. So yummy! Will add this to summer stawbery harvest! Thank you!
Well this pie was a hit!!! Your recipes are always top notch
I made this for 4th of July with your biscoff pie crust recipe. A perfectly delicious summer treat! My family loved it too!
Amazing as written, but if (when) I make it again, I will cut the lemon juice in half.
I have enjoyed making many of your recipes and want to say Thank You for sharing.
Hereโs what I did. I used Pillsbury ready made crust (baked). Cream cheese filling as stated. Fresh strawberries with store bought Strawberry Glaze. (NOT pie filling). Simple turns out perfect and I canโt keep it in the house. Itโs only the two of us and I make a 10 inch pie. Thank you.
Just Wanted You To Knowโฆ
I have enjoyed making MANY of your recipes and want to Thank You for sharing.
This pie is so good! I make it every June with fresh strawberries from our local u-pick. My favorite extra lazy shortcut is to use premade graham cracker crusts and cool whip instead of homemade whipped cream. Itโs not quite as fluffy and rich as when made with homemade whipped cream as in the recipe, and you have to be extra careful folding in the more delicate cool whip, but itโs a super easy and tasty way to use our haul of strawberries!
This is INCREDIBLE in taste! Not too sweet, used up my strawberries before going bad. It looks spectacular as well. Piping a ring of whipped cream only adds to it!
I tried this recipe out last week & the pie was consumed in less than 24 hours! This pie is delicious & perfect for hot weather. I am now making it again, just a week later. Definitely a keeper recipe! It has earned a spot in my pie rotation! In the near future I might try making a mixed berry topping with strawberries, black berries, and raspberries.
Made this yesterday and served it tonight for Memorial Day. I only had to make me adjustment which was to add more water to the strawberry gpjam as it was way too thick. It turned out perfect and even the first slice came out cleanly! Filling was nice and light and fluffy. Thank you Sally!!!
Do you think you could add Rhubarb into the strawberries?
Hi Anna, we havenโt tested the recipe this way, but substituting some rhubarb for some of the strawberries in the topping and making it a strawberry-rhubarb pie would probably work. You may need to add some extra sugar, as rhubarb is quite tart, and it may take a bit longer to cook down. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
Thank you! Just the question I came here with. Will attempt and report back.
Hi, I made this pie before and absolutely loved it. I want to make it for a larger crowd and need more servings but donโt want to make multiple pies. Is it possible to make this in a 9ร13 pan and increase the ingredients? If so, by how much? Or just make two separate pies? Thanks you!!!!
Hi Stephanie, we have not tested this but we do fear that doubling the recipe for a 9ร13-inch pan will be too much. 1.5x would perhaps work better. Let us know if you try it!
Great pie! Well worth the effort. Getting the crust to form onto the pie tin lip is really pretty frustrating. Havenโt had any luck with that part of it yet, as of 4 tries.
This was incredible! Eager and excited to make this again -and again! We could not find Graham crackers where I live, so I substituted Belgian waffle cookies for the crust โ and it was absolutely outstanding. Thanks for this recipe! Amazing!
Hello! Hoping you can help me for an upcoming project. Iโm wanting to make individual chocolate strawberry trifles, and I was planning on using the filling and topping here and layering it with chocolate cake. Which cake recipe would you recommend? I want to make sure it holds up with the moisture from the cheesecake-y goodness and strawberry topping.
I was also wondering if you had any experience adding chocolate/cocoa powder to the cheesecake filling? Thank you so much for your help, and any other success tips would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Kate, sounds delicious! You could use the sour cream version (outlined in the recipe Notes) of this chocolate cake for the cake portion. We havenโt tried adding chocolate to this cheesecake filling, but you could try adding 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder or chocolate ganache to the filling. Let us know what you try!
Can I make this in a springform pan?
Hi Kim! We havenโt tested this recipe in a springform pan. It may be a bit thin, but other readers have reported making is successfully that way before. For a larger dessert, you could make our no bake cheesecake recipe, and top it with this strawberry topping ๐
Oh. My. God. If youโve ever had Pretzel Salad (Strawberries, strawberry jello, pretzels, cool whip)โฆ This taste like if Pretzel Salad and a light airy cheesecake had a baby. I used salted butter for my graham cracker crust, which is why itโs probably tasting like a sweet and salty pretzel. Would definitely recommend trying it with salted butter. This was finger-licking good.