This is an easy and delicious homemade blueberry pie with frozen blueberries. The filling is thick and flavorful, encased in a buttery and flaky pie crust.
The best blueberry pie has a thick and juicy filling that holds its shape when cooled. The sweet blueberries need to be complemented with something tangy like lemon or another tart citrus to balance the sweet.
This perfect blueberry pie recipe does exactly that! Plus, as a bonus, it uses frozen blueberries so you can make it all year round! For a rustic blueberry pie, try this blueberry galette with puff pastry!
Jump to:
- How to make blueberry pie filling with frozen blueberries
- The crust
- Baking
- Serving
- Additions and substitutions
- Recipe measurements
- Related recipes
- Full Recipe
How to make blueberry pie filling with frozen blueberries
Frozen blueberries are brilliant in a pie. Most of the time frozen fruit is picked when it is at its peak condition which means the quality of the fruit is very good.
Frozen blueberries are often sweeter than their fresh counterparts so they need less sugar in the pie filling. They can also be cheaper and store a long time in the freezer if stored correctly.
Frozen blueberries mean juicy blueberries, and they do carry a lot more water than fresh ones. Therefore the blueberry pie filling with frozen berries is best cooked down and thickened before being added to the pie crust. This gives much more control over the amount of liquid in the filling.
Even when using fresh berries or making some other fresh fruit pies with juicy fruit, pre-cooking the filling can be a good idea. This helps to ensure a filling that thickens properly without excess juices.
This really is the easiest blueberry pie filling to make. Simply combine frozen blueberries, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest, sugar, and salt in a pot and cook it down, slowly at first, then on higher heat until thick and glossy. You can use fresh blueberries too, but they will need a splash of water added when cooking down so the berries don't burn.
Try these delicious strawberry turnovers next with homemade puff pastry!
Step by step frozen blueberry pie filling
In a large saucepan combine the frozen blueberries, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. On low heat, stir until the frozen blueberries begin to release some of their liquid.
Turn the heat up to medium heat and keep stirring regularly until the mixture heats up thoroughly. Don't forget to stir or the cornstarch mixture will begin to cook prematurely at the bottom of the pan.
Once the mixture begins to bubble, let it boil while continuously stirring. Do this for a full minute until it's thick and glossy. It will lose its cloudy appearance and become clear and thick. Pour the hot blueberry mixture into a large bowl and let it cool right down to room temperature.
The blueberry filling can also be made a couple of days in advance. Store it in the fridge in an airtight container.
The crust
The pie crust recipe for this frozen blueberry pie is this all-butter homemade pie crust. It makes the perfect pie crust, enough for a 9-inch double crust pie or a double crust for a 10-inch tart pan.
A pie dish is deeper than a tart pan, so the tart pan needs to be a bit bigger to hold the filling. Always keep the dough cool when using it so the butter doesn't melt. It's important the blueberry pie filling has cooled before scooping it into the pie shell, to ensure the dough doesn't warm up.
A flaky crust relies on the butter pieces in the butter pie crust dough to stay cold until they hit the hot oven. In the oven the heat causes the water to evaporate quickly in the butter and creates little air pockets in the crust.
The pie dough can be made well in advance and refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months before you need it.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll half the dough out into a 12-inch circle and drape it over the pie dish or pan, leaving an overhang. Scoop in the cooled blueberry filling and spread it out.
Now it's time to cover the top of the pie with the remaining pie dough. You can simply roll another 12-inch circle and drape it on top, cut off the excess, and flute the edges. Make 2-3 slits in the middle to allow steam to escape, then brush evenly with egg wash. Alternatively, take your time and make a lattice crust.
How to make a lattice top
To make a lattice pie crust, roll out the remaining half of the pie dough into another 12-inch circle. Cut dough into 12-16 strips of dough, depending on how wide strips you prefer.
You can use a ruler to keep things even, or just eye-ball it for a rustic lattice. Use a pizza cutter or pastry wheel for easy cutting. If you have one with a wavy weel it can give an extra pretty lattice shape.
Lay 7-8 strips vertically on top of the blueberry-filled pie. The longest strips will go in the middle of the pie, and the shorter strips can go on the ends.
Fold back every second strip halfway. Lay one of the unused strips horizontally in the middle of the pie. Lay it over top of the strips that haven't been folded back. Unfold the folded strips so they cover the horizontal strip.
Repeat this now but with the other vertical strips. Fold them back and add a horizontal strip, to create a weaved pattern. Continue with the remaining strips until the whole pie is covered.
Cut off the uneven excess dough overhang. Leave enough overhang so you can pinch together the top and bottom crust of the pie. Crimp the edges with your fingers, or if you're using a ribbed tart pan, you can use those edges to give the fluted look. Using a pastry brush, brush the top of the pie with egg wash.
Take your time with this and brush edges and the top of the dough as evenly as possible for even coverage. The egg wash gives the pie a lovely golden shine.
Baking
Before baking, place the unbaked pie in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and heat the oven to 425°F (220°C.)
Once the oven is at temperature, place the chilled pie on the middle rack in the oven, and add a tray underneath to catch any spills. Bake it at this higher temperature for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to375°F (190°C) and continue baking for a further 45 minutes until the pie crust is thoroughly browned and the filling bubbles through the gaps in the top crust.
As the pie bakes, the initial high oven temperature will cause the water in the butter to evaporate quickly as opposed to the butter just melting. This makes a much flakier crust.
If the crust is showing signs of excessive browning, you can cover the top of the pie with a piece of aluminum foil. However, don't be afraid of a deep golden brown crust as this brings flavor and flakiness. You want the crust to be thoroughly cooked and crisp.
Serving
Once baked, remove the hot pie from the one and let it cool down on a wire rack. For a firmer filling let the pie cool completely, and refrigerate it for a few hours once cold.
You can also serve a lightly warm pie but the filling won't be as firm as when it is chilled. If it's warm, serve it with a cold scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Additions and substitutions
- The cornstarch thickener in the pie can be replaced at a 1:1 ratio with tapioca starch, arrowroot, or potato starch.
- For additional flavor, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon can be added to the filling.
- The lemon juice and zest can be swapped with lime.
- This can be made into a blueberry streusel pie too. Swap the top layer of dough with your favorite streusel topping.
Recipe measurements
This recipe is written using grams as the main measurement. If you don't have a scale US* cup equivalents are also included. However,using akitchen scaleto measure grams will give the best and most consistent results. *US cupsizes are smaller than metric cup sizes.
- Pecan Pie Without Corn Syrup
- Puff Pastry Tomato Tartlets
- Strawberry Turnovers with Homemade Pastry
- Easy Rough Puff Pastry - Super Flaky
Full Recipe
Blueberry Pie with Frozen Blueberries
Yield: 9inch pie or 10 inch tart
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
An easy homemade blueberry pie using frozen blueberries. The filling is thick and flavorful, encased in a buttery and flaky pie crust.
Ingredients
Pastry
- 312g (2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour or pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 190g (¾ cup + 2 ½ Tablespoons) butter
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar (apple cider vinegar or white vinegar)
- 150g ice cold water
Blueberry filling
- 1kg (2.2 pounds) frozen blueberries
- 100g (½ cup) granulated sugar (can be decreased if blueberries are very sweet, or increased if tart)
- 3 ½ Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon salt
Egg wash
- 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
Pastry
- Chop the butter into small cubes. Add the cubes to a bowl and place them in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes to ensure it's cold.
- To a large mixing bowl or a food processor add the flour, sugar, and salt and mix them together. Add the cold butter cubes to the flour.
- Use a pastry cutter, your fingertips, or a food processor to cut the butter into small pieces into the flour. The end result should be like coarse bread crumbs with a few pea-sized butter pieces in the mix. If the butter is melting at any point, place the bowl in the refrigerator.
- Pour the lemon juice or vinegar over the dough and some of the ice-cold water. Drizzle it in slowly, about a tablespoon worth at a time.
- Use a spatula, your hands, or pulse the food processor to combine the dough and add in as much chilled water as needed. Add any extra water in slowly, a tablespoon at a time. It should hold together easily when pressed but not be sticky. If the dough is crumbly, add a bit more water.
- If the butter has softened or the dough is warm, place it in the fridge for 30 minutes before continuing with the next step.
- On a lightly floured work surface, using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rough 10inch/25cm rectangle. There's no need to measure it perfectly, just lengthen it to around 10 inches. Fold the bottom ⅓ of the dough up to the middle, then fold the top ⅓ of the dough over top to make a pamphlet shape.
- Turn the dough aquarter turnand repeat this process twice more. Once finished rolling, cut the dough into two and use your cupped hands to gently shape each piece into a flat disc.
- Wrap the dough discs up tightly using compostable plastic wrap, or beeswax wrap. Chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours
Filling
- In a large saucepan combine the frozen blueberries, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. On low heat, stir until the frozen blueberries begin to release some of their liquid.
- Turn the heat up to medium heat and keep stirring regularly until the mixture heats up thoroughly. Don't forget to stir or the cornstarch mixture will begin to cook prematurely at the bottom of the pan.
- Once the mixture begins to bubble, let it boil while continuously stirring. Do this for a full minute until it's thick and glossy. It will lose its cloudy appearance and become clear and thick.
- Pour the hot blueberry mixture into a large bowl and let it cool right down to room temperature. The blueberry filling can also be made a couple of days in advance and stored in the fridge in an airtight container.
- Once the dough has chilled and the blueberries have cooled, roll half the pie dough on a floured work surface into a 12-inch circle. Drape it over a pie dish or pan, leaving an overhang. Scoop in the cooled blueberry filling and spread it out.
- Now cover the top of the pie with the remaining pie dough. You can simply roll another 12-inch circle and drape it on top and flute the edges. Make 2-3 slits in the middle to allow steam to escape. Alternatively, take your time and make a lattice crust. See the above post for lattice details.
- Mix together the egg and water. Brush the dough on top of the pie with egg wash using a pastry brush.
Baking
- Before baking, place the unbaked pie in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and heat the oven to 425°F (220°C.)
- Once the oven is at temperature, place the pie on the middle rack in the oven, and add a tray underneath to catch any spills.
- Bake it at this higher temperature for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to375°F (190°C) and continue baking for a further 45 minutes until the pie crust is thoroughly browned and the filling bubbles through the gaps in the top crust.
- If the crust is showing signs of excessive browning, you can cover the top of the pie with a piece of aluminum foil. However, don't be afraid of a deep golden brown crust as this brings flavor and flakiness.
Serving
- Once baked, remove the hot pie from the one and let it cool down on a wire rack. For a firmer filling let the pie cool completely, and refrigerate it for a few hours once cold.
- You can also serve a lightly warm pie but the filling won't be as firm as when it is chilled. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 179Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 29mgSodium: 380mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 5g
