How to Make Rhubarb Pie | A Favorite Early Spring Dessert

Rhubarb is a glorious thing: easy to grow, high in vitamin C, silken in texture and, when paired with a little sugar, delicious. Technically a vegetable, cousin to the sorrel, it’s the first ripe fruit-like plant of the season. As for what to do with it, no preparation beats rhubarb pie in my view, plain or paired with strawberries. But since the berries aren’t yet in season, let’s stick with an all-rhubarb pie scented with a bit of orange. These bright flavors and zingy acidity play so well off a buttery crust. Here’s how to make rhubarb pie with sweet-tart filling and flaky crust.

Just want the recipe? Head on over to the Deep Dish Rhubarb Pie Recipe.

HOW TO MAKE RHUBARB PIE

All great pie starts with a great crust. I’ve developed mine over many years and prefer it to all others. For step-by-step instructions on making a double pie crust, just click on How to Make Easy Pie Crust. Then visit our guide to How to Roll out Pie Crust. Roll out the bottom crust to an 1/8-inch thickness and transfer it to a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate. Trim the dough 1/2-inch beyond the rim of the pan and set aside.

Now let’s get back to the rhubarb. You want about 1 1/4 pounds. Red-stalked varieties are prettiest, but green is fine, too.

Trim off the ends and cut the stalks crosswise into 1-inch lengths.

No need to get out a ruler: Anywhere between 3/4-inch and 1 1/4-inch lengths will do.

Now whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and table salt in a small bowl.

Add the dry ingredients to the rhubarb, along with 2 teaspoons of orange zest and the juice of half an orange.

Stir the filling together until the rhubarb is evenly coated.

Lay the top crust of your pie over the filling, trimming any excess dough to line up with the bottom crust. Cut several vent holes in the top. Fold the bottom crust up over the top, rolling to tuck everything neatly under. Then crimp in your favorite style.

Brush the dough with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is thick and bubbly.

You can serve it with vanilla or ginger ice cream, if you like, but I think it’s perfect served plain, when it’s still the slightest bit warm.

Are you a fan of rhubarb pie?

GET THE RECIPE: Deep Dish Rhubarb Pie Recipe

This post was first published in 2016 and has been updated. 

SEE MORE:
Favorite Easy Rhubarb Recipes
Strawberry-Rhubarb Coffee Cake | New Vintage Cooking

Amy Traverso

Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee and cohost of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with GBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.

More by Amy Traverso