No-Bake Strawberry Jello Pie
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Delicious strawberry Jello pie is easy to make with Strawberry Jello, Cool Whip, fresh strawberries, and a ready-made graham cracker crust. The no-bake pink strawberry pie is a cool and refreshing summer dessert and is sure to be the star of any family gathering.
With sweet strawberry gelatin, fluffy whipped topping, and fresh berries in every bite, it tastes like strawberries and cream in pie form.
I love to spend time in the kitchen baking up a storm during the fall and winter months. But not so much on hot summer days. The last thing I want to do on a scorcher is turn on my oven. No, thank you.
Thankfully, I have a handful of awesome no bake pie recipes and no-bake dessert recipes with simple ingredients that are my go-tos on hot days like these.
Like my pistachio pudding icebox cake (hubby’s fave), blueberry delight, lemon icebox cake, lemon lush, and this light and fluffy no-bake strawberry pie with jello.
The best part is, this quick jello pie is super simple to make. If you can make gelatin from a box, you can make this easy fresh strawberry pie.
What Readers Are Saying
I used to make a pie like this in the 70’s. Over the years, I somehow lost my recipe! This recipe is close to it. I followed each step meticulously and it turned out perfect! Love it! – Mary C
The easy recipe only requires 4 ingredients, plus some water and ice!
Honestly, the toughest part is waiting for the Jello to set.
I like to prepare the no-bake pie in the evening, so that it has plenty of time to set up overnight while we sleep. That way I am not watching the clock and counting down the minutes until I can enjoy it.
Likewise, if I am making no-bake Jello pie for a summer party or barbecue, I make sure to prepare it the night before so that I know it will be good to go on the day of the event. Although it can set in as little as 3 hours, sometimes it can take as many as 6. What gives? Make up your mind, pie!
Ingredients
This section includes ingredient notes and substitution options. Get all measurements, ingredients, and instructions in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
- Graham Cracker Crust– Using a premade 9″ or 10″ pie shell makes this strawberry jello pie recipe easy peasy. However, feel free to make your own graham cracker crumb crust or homemade pie crust if you prefer. You could also use two smaller 6″ pie crusts.
- Cool Whip– Be sure to thaw your frozen whipped topping in the fridge overnight before beginning. Stick with Cool Whip or another whipped topping here, since plain homemade whipped cream isn’t stable enough and can keep the pie from setting. If you’d rather make your own, my homemade Cool Whip is stabilized to hold up.
- Strawberry Jello– Use regular as the sugar free jello has been known to not set up properly in this easy pie recipe.
- Fresh Strawberries– Chopped into bite-sized chunks. For best results use fresh in-season strawberries.
How to Make a Strawberry Pie with Jello
This section shows you how to make the recipe with step-by-step photos and instructions. For the full printable recipe, see the recipe card below.
Step 1: Dissolve the jello mix in the boiling water, then stir in the ice water until the ice melts. Let it sit until it thickens to a soft-set jello, about 10 minutes.
Step 2: Gently fold the whipped topping into the thickened jello mixture, then fold in the diced strawberries.
Step 3: Transfer the jello filling to the prepared pie shell. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours, or until set.
Step 4: Slice, serve, and enjoy! Top with a dollop of whipped topping and a sliced strawberry if you are feeling fancy.
Mistakes to Avoid
This pie is hard to mess up, but if yours ever comes out soft or watery, one of these is almost always why.
- Too much water. Measure ½ cup cold water, add ice to the 1-cup line, and use all of it, ice included. The ice counts as part of your liquid, so a full cup of water plus ice is too much and the jello won’t set.
- Swapping in regular whipped cream. Whipped topping such as Cool Whip is holds its structure, but plain homemade whipped cream softens and weeps, which keeps the pie from setting. If you’d rather skip store-bought, use my homemade Cool Whip, which is stabilized to hold up.
- Adding the Cool Whip too soon. Let the jello thicken to a soft-set consistency before folding in the whipped topping. Folded into thin, warm jello, it won’t firm up.
- Wet or frozen strawberries. Use fresh berries and pat them dry before and after dicing. Do not use frozen berries as they add liquid the pie doesn’t need.
- Not enough chill time. Give it at least 3 hours in the fridge, or overnight if you can. On a hot day it can take closer to 6.
Storage
Leftover strawberry jell-o pie can be refrigerated for up to three days.
Frequently Asked Questions
You want 1 cup total. Measure ½ cup cold water, add ice to the 1-cup line, and stir all of it, ice included, into the jello. The ice counts as part of your liquid, so don’t use a full cup of water plus ice or the pie won’t set.
Absolutely! You can make this delicious pie up to 24 hours before your party and chill it until serving. However, I would recommend waiting until just before serving to garnish each slice.
I do not recommend freezing jello pie because I have found that jello desserts do not freeze well.
This easy recipe will give you a little bit more filling than needed to fill your pie crust. Luckily extra filling is better than not enough filling, right? Simply pour any extra filling into a bowl and let it set up in the fridge then enjoy it with a spoon. Yum!
Almost always too much liquid. Pat your strawberries dry, use only 1 cup of ice water total, and let the jello thicken to a soft set before folding in the Cool Whip. Fresh berries work best, frozen add extra water.
I hope that you enjoy this quick and easy no-bake jello strawberry pie. Not only is it perfect for satisfying your sweet tooth in the summer without having to turn on the oven, but the beautiful pink pie makes a delicious, easy dessert any time of year.
More Strawberry Dessert Recipes
Have leftover strawberries after making your jello no-bake strawberry pie? Use them to make one of these tasty strawberry desserts.
- Strawberry shortcake trifles
- Old-fashioned strawberry pretzel salad
- Strawberry jello poke cake
- Strawberry muffins
- Strawberry yogurt pound cake
Strawberry Jello Pie
Ingredients
- 3 ounce strawberry jello mix
- ⅔ cup boiling water
- ½ cup cold water, plus ice to equal 1 cup (see note)
- 8 ounce whipped topping, thawed
- 2 cups strawberries, diced
- 1 premade graham cracker crust, 10 inches
- additional whipped topping and strawberries for topping, if desired
Instructions
- Add jello mix and boiling water to a large bowl. Whisk together for at least 2 minutes or until dissolved.
- Add ice water, stirring well until all the ice has melted. Let the gelatin mixture sit at room temperature for 10 minutes, or until it thickens (can take slightly longer in a humid or hot kitchen).
- Gently fold in the whipped topping until no streaks remain, then fold in 1 ½ cups of the diced strawberries.
- Spoon filling into graham cracker pie crust. Sprinkle with remaining diced strawberries.
- Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or until set (I like to let it chill overnight).
- Slice and serve. Top slices with whipped topping and/or additional strawberries, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Originally published May 30, 2019. Updated July 2026 with clearer instructions, a Mistakes to Avoid section, and extra tips to help your pie set up perfectly. The recipe itself is unchanged and the same one readers have loved for years.
pie was watery. flavor was good. couldn’t slice it. wasted a pie shell , not recommended.
Hi Stacie, sorry your pie didn’t set up for you. There are a number of variables that could have caused this including: using frozen strawberries instead of fresh, not fully drying your strawberries, Cool Whip that wasn’t fully thawed (or real whipped cream subbed in), not using the ice called for in the recipe, not enough chill time, or any of the measurements in the recipe being off. I hope this helps if you decide to give the pie another try – it really is delicious!
I also made a very similar no bake strawberry cool whip pie in the 70’s and lost the recipe.
I’ve searched for the recipe to no avail, I wonder why it’s not searchable.
It used frozen with syrup strawberries in place of the ice water and fresh strawberries in the cool whip.
It was a perfect dessert, especially on a hot summer day or night!
I generally would substitute fresh for anything packaged or premade, but my memory of this pie/recipe is epic.
Thank you for sharing
This was an absolute disaster. It was just a watery mess. I used dry fresh strawberries, thawed cool whip, and followed the recipe to the letter. Don’t waste your time or money on this.
Hi Melissa, I’m sorry the pie turned out watery for you! For the ice water, did you use ½ cup cold water with ice added just to the 1-cup line? (Not a full cup of water plus ice, since the melting ice would add more liquid on top.) I’m updating the recipe to make this step clearer, since I suspect too much water is what’s keeping some pies from setting up.