Easy Blueberry Pie with Frozen Blueberries

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 must be complemented with something tangy like lemon or another tart citrus to balance the sweetness.

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, or this blueberry custard pie!

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 carry much more water than fresh ones. Therefore the blueberry pie filling with frozen berries is best cooked and thickened before being added to the pie crust. This gives much more control over the amount of liquid in the filling.

Pre-cooking the filling can be a good idea even when using fresh berries or making some other fresh fruit pies with juicy fruit. 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.

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 to 375°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 of 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. You can 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 a kitchen scale to measure grams will give the best and most consistent results. *US cup sizes are smaller than metric cup sizes.

Related recipes

Try these small-batch blueberry muffins using frozen blueberries! Or this graham cracker pumpkin pie with a graham cracker crust.