Enter my favorite pie in the whole wide world – fresh strawberry icebox pie! But not just your average strawberry icebox – this pie hails from a diner in Shreveport, Louisiana called Strawn’s Eat Shop. At Strawn’s, you can get your fix of their famous strawberry icebox pie with Southern fried chicken and comfort classics.

About Strawn’s Strawberry Pie Recipe

Strawn’s has been famous for its signature icebox pie since first opening in 1944. While lemon and peach are common in the South, Strawn’s made a name for itself with the strawberry kind.

The pies are a classic icebox pie which means the ingredients are normally kept fresh in a fridge (like strawberries and whipped cream) and assembled right before serving. It’s unassuming, homey, simple, and so fresh!

I have lots of thoughts on pie (one being that I didn’t grow up on cooked fruit, so cooked fruit pies are still a little strange to me), but this pie defies the norm because of the fresh fruit. It tastes incredible, but not in a complex or flavor overload kinda way. The simplicity of it is what shines best. Just crust, glaze, strawberries, and whipped cream.

Made entirely with fresh strawberries

Beware of copycat recipes online that tell you to cook the strawberries because that’s not what this pie is supposed to be. This comes from having tried those recipes myself with sad results :). The strawberries should simply be cut up and laid on a bed of glaze.

4 Parts to Strawn’s Strawberry Icebox Pie

A comprehensive recipe for this pie wasn’t quite readily available online, so I tested the four components separately and pieced together the final recipe you see today!

While whipped cream, strawberries, and pie crust are straightforward, the strawberry glaze recipe needed the most research. I struck gold in a Milk Street forum that gave me a huge lead on the glaze and even a video of how the pie is assembled!

original strawberry glaze recipe (from the owner)
video of pie assembly

1. Thin, crispy pie crust

The pie starts with a super-thin, almost cracky crust. It wasn’t clear whether Strawn’s makes their own pie crusts, but my educated hunch is that they are store-bought because of their uniformity, thinness, and dark color. So after a few rounds of testing homemade crusts, I actually landed on a store-bought graham cracker crust for a few reasons.

Texture + Quality. Yes, you can make a homemade crust, but I found it really difficult to get it as thin as Strawn’s pie and still be able to cut clean slices. The store-bought crust held its shape much better, the texture was very close to the original, and taste and quality don’t suffer too much. If you would still like to make your own graham cracker crust, check out this recipe on Sally’s Baking Addiction that is a great alternative.
Flavor. While Strawn’s pie doesn’t use graham crackers, I found that the flavor of the graham crackers complimented the pie so well and tasted even better than the original!
Convenience. The store-bought crust is just way simpler.
Metal Tin. Most store-bought crusts come with the metal tin that Strawn’s sells their whole pies in, so it’s super authentic to the experience! 🙂

2. Strawberry Glaze

This glaze is what gives the strawberries their “sauciness” without actually cooking any strawberries down. It’s the most important piece to get right because it lends the pie its sweetness and ties all the components together. In my research, I was able to find Strawn’s original recipe for the strawberry glaze which helped significantly! My version is almost exactly the same with the inclusion of a few process-related tips on tempering the warm milk with eggs and sugar. Plus one extra boost…freeze-dried strawberries!

powdered freeze-dried strawberries — pulsed freeze-dried strawberries

strawberry glaze - Strawn's Strawberry Pie Recipe — pulsed freeze-dried strawberries

Why do we add freeze-dried strawberries?

When I followed the original recipe, the final result was okay…it didn’t have any strawberry flavor at all, and for some reason, I could not achieve a deep red color with food coloring alone as the recipe indicates. So by adding freeze-dried strawberries, I was able to give the glaze a major boost in two ways:

Added real strawberry flavor into the glaze
Produced a much richer red color than the food coloring could

Where do you buy freeze-dried strawberries?

I found my freeze-dried strawberries from Target (their Good & Gather brand) in the dried fruit section. While I didn’t find it any Sprouts, I would think they would be available at Whole Foods stores! If all fails, Amazon has these organic freeze-dried strawberries that have amazing ratings.

Spread the glaze on the base and up the sides of the crust.

3. Fresh Strawberries

Not much else to know here other than that the strawberries go into the pie fresh!

4. Whipped Cream

To top it off, a mountain of whipped cream covers the entire pie in its pillowy glory adds the perfect amount of creaminess and sweetness. The whipped cream is simple as can be – just heavy cream, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla.

Fresh Strawberry Icebox Pie

★★★★★ 5 from 4 reviews

Author: Maria Do
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cooling Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Yield: 6 slices 1x
Category: Dessert, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian

Print Recipe

Description

Copycat recipe of the famous Fresh Strawberry Icebox Pie from Strawn’s Eat Shop in Shreveport, Louisiana. This cold, no-bake pie is made with fresh strawberries, a strawberry glaze, and whipped cream, all on top of a thin cracker crust.

Ingredients

Units Scale

Crust

1 graham cracker pie crust (9″ preferred)
1 egg, beaten (optional)

Glaze

2 eggs
130 g granulated sugar (~2/3 cup)
21 g cornstarch (~3 tbsp)
6 oz whole milk* (~3/4 cup)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1–2 drops red gel food coloring (*see notes)
25 g freeze-dried strawberries (*pulsed into a powder, ~3/4 oz)

Fresh Strawberry Filling

1 lb strawberries (sliced into quarters, ~3 cups)
55 g powdered sugar (~1/4 cup)

Whipped Topping

16 oz cold heavy cream (~2 cups)
55 g powdered sugar (~1/4 cup)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 strawberry half (for garnish)

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Instructions

Bake the crust. Brush egg wash on the storebought crust and bake per package instructions or at 375° for 8-12 minutes until golden brown. Set aside to cool.
Make strawberry glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar until incorporated. In a separate bowl, mix 2 tbsp of the milk with cornstarch and stir until smooth. Pour cornstarch mixture into the egg mixture and combine. Warm the remaining milk (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) and butter over medium heat until steaming, approx 2 minutes (be careful not to bring it to a simmer). Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly, to avoid cooking the eggs.* Then place the entire mixture into the saucepan on medium heat. Stir constantly until the glaze thickens, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour the glaze through a fine-mesh strainer into a heat-safe bowl. The strainer ensures a smooth glaze.
Whisk in the red food coloring and powdered freeze-dried strawberries to make that rich, red-pink color! Refrigerate the glaze for at least an hour to cool down. Cooling overnight is ideal. You’ll have enough strawberry glaze for about 2 pies, so you will have plenty.
Make whipped cream. With a hand mixer or stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat together the heavy cream, confectioner’s, sugar, and vanilla until it forms stiff peaks. Be careful not to overbeat it (it will look curdled if it is). Set aside.
Assemble the pie. Spoon about half of the strawberry mixture into the pie crust (you will have extra for a second pie if you want!). Spread it all over the bottom and up the edges. Layer on the fresh quartered strawberries on top of the glaze. Sprinkle the 55g or 1/4 cup of powdered sugar on top of the strawberries, then add heaping spoonfuls of the whipped cream over the top. Spread the cream topping in a dome shape over the pie and garnish with a strawberry half.
Serve cold. Keep the pie refrigerated if you don’t serve it all right away. It’s important to keep the whipped cream cool so that it doesn’t bleed too much into your fresh strawberries. The pie is best assembled the day you want to eat it.

Notes

Make-Ahead Instructions. This pie is a perfect make-ahead recipe! Store the crust, glaze, and strawberries in your fridge until ready to serve. The glaze can stay good for up to 1.5 weeks. When you’re ready to serve, whip up the cream and assemble the pie!
*Milk Replacement. Subbing for half and half or heavy cream will work just fine in this recipe. I would stay away from using nut milks or milk alternativess in the recipe because they lack the fat content needed for the glaze.
*Red Gel Food Coloring. I use Wilton red icing gel which is more concentrated than liquid food coloring and will produce a richer red color.
*Pulsed Freeze-Dried Strawberries: Add the freeze-dried strawberries to a food processor or spice grinder and pulse until it forms a powder. It’s okay if there are a few lumps but it should be mostly powder.
*Tempering the egg mixture. If you start seeing specks of white in your glaze, the eggs have cooked and we definitely don’t want that! I recommend starting a new batch and ensuring you add the warm milk into the egg mixture even slower as you whisk vigorously.

Keywords: easy pie recipe, icebox pie, icebox pie recipe, pie

FAQs & Additional Notes

Make-Ahead Instructions. This pie is a perfect make-ahead recipe! Store the crust, glaze, and strawberries in your fridge until ready to serve. The glaze can stay good for up to 1.5 weeks. When you’re ready to serve, whip up the cream and assemble the pie!
What if I don’t have milk? Subbing for half and half or heavy cream will work just fine in this recipe. I would stay away from using nut milks or alternatives in the recipe because they lack the fat content needed for the glaze.

For more baking recipes, check out the breads or desserts categories for other recipes!