Straight-Up Rhubarb Pie Recipe (2024)

Recipe from Anne Dimock

Adapted by Amanda Hesser

Straight-Up Rhubarb Pie Recipe (1)

Total Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Rating
5(1,142)
Notes
Read community notes

This sweet-tart rhubarb pie contains no distractions, like strawberries. The crust is made with shortening. (Butter is fine if you want a French tart, but it's not American pie unless it's made with shortening, the author Anne Dimock said.) The top is marked with 8 razor-thin vents. The pie can be fully assembled and frozen for up to 3 months before baking. —Amanda Hesser

Featured in: The Way We Eat; Circular Thinking

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

    For the Crust

    • 2cups all-purpose flour
    • ½teaspoon salt
    • 2teaspoons sugar
    • cup vegetable shortening, plus 2 tablespoons
    • 6tablespoons ice water

    For the Filling

    • 5cups sliced rhubarb
    • cups sugar
    • 5tablespoons flour
    • ¼teaspoon cinnamon
    • tablespoons butter

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

471 calories; 23 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 3 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 63 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 33 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 151 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Straight-Up Rhubarb Pie Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Make the crust: before measuring the flour, stir it to leaven with air and then measure out 2 cups. Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl and fluff with a fork. Cut the shortening into the flour with a fork or pastry blender. Stop as soon as the sheen of the butter disappears and the mixture is a bunch of coarse pieces. Sprinkle a tablespoon of water at a time over the dough, lifting and tossing it with the fork. When it begins to come together, gather the dough, press it into a ball and then pull it apart; if it crumbles in your hands, it needs more water. (It's better to err on the side of too wet than too dry.) Add a teaspoon or two more water, as needed.

  2. Step

    2

    Gather the dough into two slightly unequal balls, the larger one for the bottom crust and the smaller one for the top. Flatten the larger ball, reforming any frayed edges with the sides of your hand. Dust with flour and roll the dough, starting from the center and moving toward the edges. Take a knife or thin spatula and quickly work its edge between the crust and the counter top. Lift the dough to the side; dust the dough and counter top with flour. Roll again until the diameter is an inch or 2 larger than that of the pie pan. Lay the rolling pin a third of the way from one of the edges. Roll the crust onto the pin and then unroll the crust into a 9-inch pie pan and press it into place. Place in the freezer.

  3. Step

    3

    Make the filling: in a large bowl, combine the rhubarb, sugar, flour and cinnamon. Pour into the crust-lined pie pan. Dot with butter.

  4. Step

    4

    Roll out the top crust. Dab the rim of the bottom crust with water to create a glue. Then place the top crust over the rhubarb; trim, seal and cut several vents. Bake for 15 minutes; reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake 25 to 30 minutes more, or until a bit of pink juice bubbles from the vents in the crust.

Tip

  • Anne Dimock's secret ingredient is Extra Fancy Vietnamese Cassia Cinnamon, available from Penzeys Spices, www.penzeys.com.

Ratings

5

out of 5

1,142

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Robin Maurer

My mother taught me that rather than mixing the rhubarb together with the sugar/flour mixture, the crust will be crispier if you put a quarter cup of the sugar mixture on the bottom, then add the rhubarb, then the remainder of the sugar mixture on top. The reason is that while baking, the bubbling-hot sugar caramelizes in contact with the bottom and top crusts, making them deliciously crispy. Rhubarb produces a lot of moisture and can make the bottom crust soggy if I mix it all together first.

Bruce

There is nothing worse than ruining a rhubarb pie with strawberries.

Tom-in-Utah

Seven 15-inch stalks of Rhubarb yielded five cups of sliced Rhubarb.

Teddy29

This is a reliable pie recipe that you can follow with confidence. It uses my favorite pie crust recipe that I know from my grandma's Good Housekeeping cookbook circa 1945. But I agree with TMB's review - bake for the first 15 minutes at 425 F. then @ 50 minutes at 375 F. Rhubarb deserves the spotlight w/out the distraction of berries.

Janet

I can't resist adding my grandmother's recipe. 5 Cups Rhubarb, 1 1/2 C sugar, 1 egg whipped, 1T flour, 2 T instant Tapioca. Sprinkle a teaspoon or so of super-fine sugar on the bottom crust before piling in the rhubarb mixture and the crust will not get soggy. Dot pie with butter before adding the top crust. Bake at 400 for 50 minutes. No sugar in the pie crust itself.

Jessiet

Only two things could make this better. 1) Make the crust with lard, rather than shortening. 2) Add a bit of orange zest. Those two things would make this a perfect rhubarb pie!

j.deli

This is not straight up rhubarb pie. it is rhubarb cinnamon pie. one of the very few items my mother could make was rhubarb pie. no other flavors are needed. crust rhubarb and sweeten to taste.

Freddie

WAY...way...too much sugar. For this amount i use maybe at most 3/4 C. You don't want to kill the natural tang! And no lemon needed if you don't overload with sugar. Also not a cinnamon fan at all. I toss in some cardamom which gives it a little extra something maybe 'mysterious' ? Thanks for tip about putting some sugar on bottom crust. I'll try that. Going out right now to cut some from my rhubarb patch!

Jenny

The recipe was great but I regret including the orange zest. I must have zested too much (about 3/4 of an orange) and I couldn't taste rhubarb at all, just orange. Word to the wise: If you adore the taste of plain old rhubarb and want a simple & classic pie, I would be careful with zesting. The recipe, however, is wonderful. I loved the crust and the fact that my pie wasn't runny. I would use a little less sugar, because I love a little more sourness to my rhubarb pie.

Linda

I never put strawberries in my rhubarb pie. They add zero
I also use tapioca not flour. The tapioca let's the flavor shine and also is less gluey. 1T /cup rhubarb.

Foleyscale

I used my own recipe for crust which is all butter. Also I use Minute Tapioca as a thickening agent for rhubarb and berry pies. This was a great recipe. We all loved the cinnamon.

ChristoCook

I like butter crusts, and it worked beautifully using an equal amount of butter to the shortening—pulsed in the food processor just 3 or 4 times until about the size of lima beans, chilled in the fridge for an hour before rolling. For the filling, I subbed in tapioca flour, and skipped the cinnamon, adding about half an orange's worth of zest instead. I used only 3/4 c sugar and took the advice to sprinkle about 1/4 of that on the base of the crust before adding the rhubarb. IT WAS PERFECT!

Roxane

Cinnamon has no place in a rhubarb pie. Never. Ever. Did I say never? NEVER! Orange peel is traditional. And to my mind, a necessary component.

Pamela

Would be great if you would also use metric measures for your international audience.

Thanks,

Pamela

Donna

I totally agree! Rhubarb is so delicious on it's own - strawberries just "dumb it down" in my opinion. Also, don't go crazy with the sugar (I always cut the sugar in any recipe by at least a third), and please, no ice cream!

R

Used 1 cup sugar, could reduce to 3/4 cup. Used 5 tbs cornflour. Refrigerated dough for 30mins before rolling out, still very soft. Froze pie for 10 mins before baking. Used egg wash and sugar on top. Didn’t use cinnamon or orange but added two tbs orange liqueur. Baked for an extra 12 mins to see liquid bubbling in vents

MGal

I couldn't find my Mom's rhubarb pie recipe, so thought I would give this one a try.First off, I could not find the SIZE of the pie pan listed anywhere. Assumed and went with 9" as that is the most common. I don't recall my Mom's pie having cinnamon in it, but added it per the recipe. I prefer Cardamom. Like the tip of "glueing" the top and bottom crusts together with a bit of water.Pie is good. Think the sugar was right amount as my rhubarb was EXTRA tart!

C

As I've read, no cinnamon, maybe less sugar

Liza

I love this recipe. It comes out beautifully every time and the rhubarb flavor shines. In a hot kitchen, I had to fight with the crust sticking to the rolling pin but even though I had to re-roll the bottom crust with extra flour on the counter, it turned out flakey.

JF

The proportions worked out just right for me. Better without the cinnamon (or orange zest for that matter), IMHO.

elizabeth

Made this to the letter, other than the baking time, which I had to extend by about 20 minutes or so - but delicious! First time I’ve felt like I’ve pulled off a pie crust with rhubarb. We have more than enough in our yard this time of year in Alaska and this is definitely going into the recipe rotation.

Minneapolis Martini

Overall great recipe, however, unless that was a convection oven, 25 minutes was not nearly enough, I think I went up to 50 minutes!

Hannah211

This is a classic recipe I’ve made ever since I learned how to make pies. If the rhubarb inside is unusually runny and juicy, don’t fret - buy vanilla ice ice cream and drizzle that on top. With any extra crust crumbs that fell in it. This is one of my favorite sundaes.

Susan

First time I’ve ever made rhubarb pie. I followed the recipe exactly. It’s perfect. I will definitely make it again.

Kitfo

Great pie. My crust is better (1/2 butter 1/2 crisco 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp salt). Six cups of rhubarb as others suggested. Did half cinnamon and half cardamom,tasted neither. Next time will do all cardamom.

Theresa G

Skip the cinnamon. Use 6 cups of rhubarb. Store bought pastry is fine. Yum! Echos of childhood.

Camille-in-Seattle

For the crust, I like using half crisco (in stick form so easy to measure) and half butter. This creates a nice flaky crust from the butter and still easy to roll out from the crisco. Using pastry flour rather than all-purpose flour also makes the dough easier to work with and requires less water to bind it so the crust is more tender. Lastly, I always refrigerate the pastry dough at least half an hour and preferably longer (even overnight) before rolling it out, it sticks together better!

mmccabe50

More salt in crust..3/4 to ~1tsp

Amy D.

Grew up eating rhubarb cooked by my mother in many ways different ways, her favorite being what she called rhubarb sauce. Now living in the South rhubarb is beyond scarce. Miss that serious tartness and flavor.

Annabelle

Nutmeg is what my family uses, not cinnamon.

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Straight-Up Rhubarb Pie Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep a rhubarb pie from being runny? ›

Cornstarch: A bit of cornstarch helps thicken the filling.

How do you keep the bottom of rhubarb pie from getting soggy? ›

Brush Your Pie in Egg Wash

Once you've pre-baked your pie, brush the bottom and sides of the crust with egg wash, then reheat at 400° for 4 minutes to set the glaze. This creates a seal between the crust and the filling so that your crust stays crispy and golden once the filling is added.

Does rhubarb need to be cooked before baking? ›

Do You Need to Cook Rhubarb Before Baking? The short answer is no, you don't need to cook rhubarb before baking a rhubarb pie.

How do you make a pie not runny? ›

Let the pie cool completely — preferably overnight

As the pie cools, its filling will solidify. It takes time for pie to cool thoroughly and its filling to thicken completely, so control your appetite and let it rest for several hours.

Why is my rhubarb pie soupy? ›

Rhubarb pie fillings are often soft and runny. The rhubarb contains so much water, you either have to add too much thickener or coax the rhubarb to release its liquid before thickening it.

How do you get moisture out of rhubarb? ›

Macerate Your Rhubarb With Sugar To Draw Out Excess Liquid

Mixing fruit with sugar draws out moisture through the process of osmosis, which happens when water naturally balances out by migrating from the cells in your fruit to the dissolved sugar molecules on the surface, the same way it does with salt.

Should you pre-bake the bottom crust of a fruit pie? ›

You do not need to pre-bake a pie crust for an apple pie or any baked fruit pie really, but we do freeze the dough to help it stay put. Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie. you should probably get: Pie weights are super helpful to have for pre-baking.

How do you get a crispy crust on the bottom of a pie? ›

After adding the dough to the pie plate, he sprinkles another heaping teaspoon of crumbs on top of the dough before adding the filling. These crumbs act as a second moisture, absorbing every last bit of moisture from the crust. Say it with us: crisp, golden and perfectly flaky crust.

Which procedure is best to prevent having a soggy bottom on your pies? ›

Blind Bake the Crust

One of the fool-proof ways to ensure a crisp bottom pie crust is to do what is called blind baking. This simply means that you bake the crust—either fully if you are adding a custard or cream that won't be cooked, or partially if the whole pie needs to bake—before adding the filling.

How big should you cut rhubarb for pie? ›

Using a sharp, long-bladed knife (such as a chef's knife), cut the stalks into ½- to 1-inch pieces or as directed in your recipe.

Should you peel rhubarb for pie? ›

Do you have to peel rhubarb for pie? It's not necessary to peel rhubarb, unless you have very coarse, thick stalks. Don't worry, the rhubarb skin is not poisonous. BUT if you have garden-fresh rhubarb, make sure to remove the leaves, because these are toxic.

What are the rules for rhubarb? ›

Don't harvest any rhubarb in your plant's first growing season to allow it to become established. You can take a small harvest in the second growing season. During the third season, you can harvest freely, but never harvest more than a third to half of the plant at one time.

How can I make my pie more firm? ›

All-purpose flour is an easy solution, as you're sure to have it in your pantry. Since it's lower in starch, you'll use more of it than you would higher-starch thickeners. Quick-cooking tapioca makes filling bright and clear, but also gives it a stippled and somewhat sticky texture.

How to keep strawberry rhubarb pie from being runny? ›

Just take the liquid you strained out and simmer it over medium-low heat with a thickener like cornstarch until it's less runny. Then add the thickened juice back to your rhubarb and cornstarch mixture before cooking your recipe like normal.

How do you make pie filling firmer? ›

Some pie recipes thicken the filling with flour; others use cornstarch, while others still rely on tapioca.

What can I use to thicken rhubarb? ›

Corn Starch – I use corn starch because it's widely available and many people keep it in the pantry. Rhubarb exudes a lot of juice and needs the starch to thicken the filling. The recipe has just enough starch to keep the filling from becoming soupy, but not so much it becomes pasty.

How do you firm up pie filling? ›

Types of Pie Thickeners
  1. All-Purpose Flour. Flour is a popular thickener for sauces and soups, and it can be used to add body to your fruit filling. ...
  2. Cornstarch. ...
  3. Arrowroot. ...
  4. Quick-Cooking Tapioca. ...
  5. Instant ClearJel.
Oct 29, 2018

Will pie filling thicken as it cools? ›

And, finally, as much as a steaming-hot slice of apple pie sounds appealing, let your pie rest for at least an hour before slicing. The filling will thicken as it cools and don't worry—your pie will still be plenty warm enough to gently melt that scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of it.

How do you keep fruit pies from running over? ›

Dear Heloise: To prevent a filled pie from BUBBLING OVER onto the oven, just roll out the bottom crust a little larger than the pie plate. Pour in the desired filling mixture. Now bring the edge up over the filling/mixture, but only the edges. It's not as pretty as the crimped edge, but hey, no oven to clean!

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