No-Bake Strawberry Lemonade Pie Recipe

If desserts had a season, apple pie would belong to autumn. Warm and gooey brownies pair perfectly with winter, and rhubarb desserts befit spring. For summer? This strawberry lemonade pie is designed for warm days. It's cool and creamy, and it has bright flavors of citrus and strawberries. And, there's no need to turn on your oven in the heat — this pie is completely no-bake. 

"This pie is a modern spin on the classic 1980s lemonade pie," says recipe developer Kate Shungu. "Since many people seem to love pink lemonade just a bit more than regular lemonade, I added strawberries to the filling and substituted pink lemonade concentrate in place of traditional lemonade concentrate. It's a fun summer dessert that you can serve straight from the freezer."

While the crust and filling are no-bake, the strawberries need a quick boil on the stovetop. If we were to add chunks of fresh strawberries to the pie, they would form icy strawberry crystals in the filling once frozen. Instead, we'll cook the berries with a little sugar and lemon juice until the mixture is reduced. With less liquid in the strawberry mixture, the filling is richer and creamier and has a more pronounced strawberry flavor. When combined with the tart lemonade concentrate, it makes for a refreshing pie that's perfect for the season. 

The base of the recipe is a homemade graham cracker crust that's made with three ingredients: graham cracker crumbs, butter, and brown sugar. The filling boasts a mixture of sweetened condensed milk, pink lemonade concentrate, whipped topping, and a homemade strawberry mash that's made with fresh strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. 

Place the strawberries, fresh lemon juice, and granulated sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Bring to a boil, then cook until the mixture starts to thicken, about 8–10 minutes. Stir occasionally and break up the strawberries while the mixture cooks. Let cool completely.

In a large bowl, gently mix the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and melted butter.

Pat the graham cracker mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie dish. Pat down gently, just until it sticks together.

Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cooled strawberry mixture, the lemonade concentrate, and the sweetened condensed milk.

Fold in the whipped topping.

Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Place in the freezer for at least 4 hours to set up.

Cut into slices and serve.

When making a no-bake pie, the crust can present a conundrum. A flaky pastry crust won't do, as that needs time in the oven. But, a graham cracker crust is quite versatile. While many graham cracker crusts are baked, a no-bake option exists, too. For this recipe, we'll use a few tricks to hold the crust together. 

The first trick is the perfect ratio of graham crackers to butter. The recipe calls for 1 ½ cups of graham cracker crumbs, which is approximately 12 full sheets of graham crackers ground into crumbs. You can purchase them already ground, or you can buy your favorite brand of graham crackers and either crush them in a food processor or pile them into a plastic bag and bang them with a rolling pin. If you're using the rolling pin, grind the crackers into fine crumbs. Six tablespoons of butter mixed with the finely ground crumbs creates the perfect wet-to-dry ratio.

The second key to a no-bake crust is pressing the crumbs into the crust. While it's tempting to press as hard as you can, packing the crumbs too firmly will result in a crumbly crust. Instead, you'll want to pack them in just until they stick together, using gentle pressure from either your hands or a metal measuring cup.

With this recipe as the base, the variations of strawberry lemonade pie are endless! Let's start with the crust. This recipe calls for plain graham cracker crumbs, but you can substitute honey graham crackers, cinnamon graham crackers, or even chocolate graham crackers, crushed into crumbs. Other types of cookies, such as vanilla wafers or Lorna Doone shortbread, work, too. 

For the filling, instead of pink lemonade concentrate, how about limeade concentrate? A strawberry/lime combination will be just as bright and fresh, and it will be perfect for lime lovers. Regular lemonade concentrate (the yellow one) is another fine substitute. If strawberries aren't looking great at the grocery store, other berries will be lovely in this pie. Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries can all replace the strawberries. Cook them down as indicated for the strawberries, but for the raspberries and blackberries, press the mixture through a colander to remove the seeds. 

This pie is already pretty tall. But, if you'd like to make it sky-high, pile a layer of homemade whipped cream on top of the filling. To do so, whip ½ cup heavy cream with 2 teaspoons of powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Spread the whipped cream gently over the strawberry filling, and freeze.