Three words: Blueberry Rhubarb Pie. Loosely translated as spring on a plate! This delicious fruit pie is easy to make, features no stove-top cooking, and is packed with fresh blueberries and rhubarb.
Table of contents
Why We Love Fruit Pies
There’s just something about pie that brings people together. Or is it bringing people together that causes pie to get involved? It’s like the chicken or the egg, which came first? Pie or gathering?
I’ve recently been thinking of spring as time for gathering and celebrating. A time for new beginnings and the perfect reason for gathering friends and family after a winter hibernation.
This Blueberry Rhubarb Pie is also a great reason. It’s juicy, both sweet and tart, and perfectly flavored with lemon, nutmeg, a pinch of cardamom and just enough vanilla. I love to use Simply Organic’s spices and extracts because they’re the highest of quality. They’re reliable and incredibly fresh, two things that guarantee a leg up in the kitchen.
Fruit pies, in their most basic sense, are easy to make. They require just two main components—dough and filling—both of which are fairly simple as well.
A fruit pie really shines when it’s made correctly and made with really good ingredients. And when it comes to fruit pies it’s important to find a balance between flavors to enhance the fruit, not underwhelm or overpower it. This can be a tough line to toe! The conclusion—more is not always better.
Since making a pie correctly and using good ingredients can be vague, let’s break down what makes a fruit pie, well, a damn good pie!
How to Make a Good Fruit Pie
Tip 1: Use a Good Crust
I’m always a proponent of making homemade pie crust, but there are some pretty good pre-made options out there if you choose to go that direction. If you do make your own pie crust, I recommend using a recipe that uses both butter and shortening because those recipes make the most amazingly flaky crusts.
Tip 2: Use Fresh Ripe Fruit
A non-negotiable. OK, maybe somewhat negotiable. But it’s pretty darn straightforward, ripe fruit equals more flavor.
Using unripened blueberries can cause the pie to be overly tart, so taste the berries and adjust the amount of sugar as needed.
Tip 3: Frozen Fruit Can Be Used in a Pinch
If you can’t find fresh rhubarb or good blueberries, frozen is always an option. And surprisingly, using one or both of the fruits frozen results in a spectacular pie. No need to thaw the fruit in advance, I actually encourage you not to thaw it (too many juices). If you use frozen rhubarb and blueberries, plan to bake the pie an additional 30 minutes or so.
Tip 4: Avoid Adding Too Many Additional Flavors
The best fruit pies are those that keep the flavors simple. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t add spices and extracts, it just means you should pick a few high-quality flavors that will enhance the fruit—not overpower it.
For this blueberry rhubarb pie I kept it straightforward but delicious by using fresh lemon, quality nutmeg, cardamom and pure vanilla extract.
How to Make Blueberry Rhubarb Pie
Enough about what makes a good pie, let’s talk about how to make one! Here’s how you make Blueberry Rhubarb Pie:
- Prep your pie dough (this Foolproof flaky pie dough is my go-to. Even better it’s super easy thanks to the beloved food processor).
- Roll bottom crust out and transfer to pie plate; chill.
- Roll and cut out top crust; chill.
- Preheat oven.
- Toss blueberries, rhubarb, sugar, tapioca, lemon, spices, and vanilla together.
- Transfer filling to dough-lined pie plate.
- Place top crust over filling and pinch to seal edges.
- Brush with egg wash.
- Bake
- Let cool & enjoy with ice cream!
Blueberry & Rhubarb Recipes to Try
- Our Rhubarb Margarita is always a hit in the spring and summer. It’s vibrant, sweet, tart and boozy.
- Once you give this pie a try, be sure to make our gorgeous layered Lemon-Rhubarb Tart featuring a lemon curd and a rhubarb curd.
- If you’re looking for a boozy dessert, try our Lemon-Rhubarb Ice made with sparkling wine.
Blueberry Rhubarb Pie
Description
Ingredients
- a double recipe of Flaky Pie Dough chilled
- 3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 3 cups fresh or frozen rhubarb, cut into ½-inch pieces
- ¾ cup granulated sugar + more for sprinkling
- 2 teaspoons Simply Organic pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh lemon zest + 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- ¼ teaspoons Simply Organic ground nutmeg
- Pinch Simply Organic ground cardamom
- 2 tablespoons + ½ teaspoon quick-cooking tapioca, ground
- 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter, diced
- 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water, beaten
Instructions
- Roll one dough disk out into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Gently transfer dough round to a 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Gently ease and press dough onto bottom and up sides, letting excess hang over side. Loosely wrap dough-lined pie plate with plastic and chill until dough is firm, about 20 minutes.
- Roll second dough disk out into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Punch out ½–1 -inch holes (reserving rounds for decorating, if desired), or cut into 1-inch strips; transfer dough round to a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and chill 20 minutes.
- Combine blueberries, rhubarb, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, nutmeg, and cardamom in a large bowl. Add tapioca and toss to combine.
- Transfer filling to chilled dough-lined pie plate; sprinkle butter evenly over filling.
- Gently place remaining dough round over top of filling (or create a lattice top). Trim overhang to ½-inch then tuck edges under and crimp using thumbs and pointer fingers.
- Brush dough with egg wash; transfer pie to freezer and chill until dough is firm, about 45 minutes (skip this step if using frozen fruit).
- Preheat oven to 400°F with rack set in lowest position.
- Transfer pie to a baking sheet and bake until crust is light golden brown, 25 minutes.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350°F, rotate baking sheet, and continue to bake until crust is golden brown, 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle sugar over top of crust and bake until crust is deep golden brown and filling is bubbling, about 30 more minutes.
- Transfer pie to a wire rack; let cool completely, at least 2 hours.
Save This Recipe!
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later.
Notes
- If you’re using only frozen fruit, increase the baking time by 30–45 minutes. If you’re only using one of the fruits frozen, increase the baking time by 30 minutes. I recommend seeking out frozen wild blueberries as they work better in this pie than regular frozen blueberries.
- For a sweeter, more blueberry-forward pie, use wild blueberries (if you can find them). They often come frozen and add a ton of flavor!
- For a flavor twist use lime zest and juice instead of lemon.
- Make it lower in sugar: cut back total sugar from ¾ cup to ½ cup.
- Make it vegan: skip the egg wash and use your favorite vegan pie crust or swap the butter in the dough recipe for vegan butter.
- Make a strawberry rhubarb pie by swapping the blueberries for chopped fresh strawberries.
Nutrition
This sponsored post is in partnership with Simply Organic and TheFeedFeed. As always the thoughts, opinions, recipe, photos and content are all my own
This recipe and article was originally published April 24th, 2019. It was last updated on April 28th, 2021.
Yum – that crust looks absolutely delicious. I’m with you- better is always better!
Thanks Emily! 🙂 Love a good crust!
Oh my gosh!!! I love this recipe!!! We go to the Boundary Waters every summer and when we are there wild blueberries are in season. Im totally saving this recipe for our trip. (also, I love blueberry pie and rhubarb pie. I don’t love strawberry rhubarb pie, so I think this is the perfect combo!!!)
No way! We go to Norther MN every year too, love that area. I’ve never had wild blueberries from that area, I will DEFINITELY be seeking them out this year. And I totally agree—blueberry and rhubarb go together MUCH better. I hope you enjoy this one in the summer!
I’ve been drooling over this on Instagram – it’s absolutely beautiful and I cannot wait to make it!
Thanks Tawnie!! It was a favorite at Easter!
Could the tapioca flour get swapped out for arrowroot powder?
I Amber, I think you could definitely use arrowroot powder. I haven’t tested this, but I did some research and if you swap the tapioca out for 3 tablespoons arrowroot powder you should be good! Let me know how it goes!
Yum! I love strawberry rhubarb pie, so this new twist is intriguing! Can’t wait to give it a try!
Yes! The blueberries are a fun addition, and they add such a gorgeous color!
Holy cow! Loved how simple it was. Subbed blackberries for some of the blueberries otherwise followed recipe. Totally delicious.
Hi Tina! I’m so happy to hear it was easy to make and delicious!
Why is the total baking time 85 minutes? 25 @400 degrees, then 30, then another 30? I’m baking it right now and keeping a close eye. Or, did I read that wrong?
Hi Mary, apologies about the confusing timing—we’ve been moving our recipes over to a new recipe card style and sometimes the formatting is impacted. I have updated the recipe to reflect the correct total timing. The pie gets baked at 400ºF for 25 minutes, then gets baked for another hour at 350ºF. We add the sugar to the crust in the last half hour to keep it from browning too early.
I hope that helps!
I’ve never heard of tapioca powder, can I find it in any grocery store? I want to make this delicious looking pie . Thank you
Hi Grace, I apologize for my delay in responding! I recommend buying quick-cooking tapioca (sold as Minute by Kraft) and grinding it in a spice grinder. If you don’t have a spice grinder, you can also use a blender. I hope that helps!