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.
send me reciped
It is right above the comment section of this post.
How much of the whipping cream do you use, the whole cup of it?
This recipe doesn’t call for cream, do you mean the Cool Whip whipped topping? If so, yes – use the whole 8 ounce container.
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!
Can you use frozen strawberries instead of fresh strawberries??
I recommend using fresh strawberries for this jello pie recipe as frozen strawberries can cause be watery and cause the jello to not set up properly.
I have made this pie 100’s of times my son loves blueberry and rasberry. my favorite is peach when you can find peach jello. very refreshing.
Do you think I could sub in raspberry jello and would I substitute 2 cups of raspberries? We adored the lemon cream cheese cookies! Love your daily recipes, good ideas for dinner.
I think those swaps would be delicious! Let me know how it comes out!
I add yogurt same flavour as jello and graham wafer crusts they freeze perfectly
This is a dessert that is sure to please. I made it for a “Pies for Ties” luncheon after church on Father’s Day. It was a hit! I garnish the top with dollops of extra Cool Whip (I buy the larger container) and a strawberry in the middle. My MIL taught me this recipe years ago, including the quick-set method using ice cold water and ice. I lost it and was very happy to find it here. The recipe makes more than needed to fill the pie shell, so I made parfaits with the extra fluff, Cool Whip and garnished with strawberries for anyone who may be GF and can’t have the pie.
Thank you, Jaclyn, for posting this recipe! I look forward to trying your other recipes, too.
Awful. Jello didn’t fully set, soupy. Made a terrible mess, overflowed crust. So-so taste, terrible texture. Waste of money and good fruit.
My mixture wasn’t setting right either at first. I think it was because I used cold, not ice cold, water. So I watched a couple of YouTube videos about it and after mixing the cool whip into the jello mixture, they said to put it in the fridge for 30 mins. to help it thicken. Then pour it into your pie crust and freeze for 4 hours. Hope this helped.
Super easy and taste delicious. You can also use sugar free jello and reduced fat cool whip for a healthier dessert. I put mine in the freezer to set and worked perfectly.