Blueberry Pie with Frozen Blueberries

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This easy blueberry pie with frozen blueberries has tons of flavor and can be made year round. It's designed to bake with frozen fruit - you don't need to defrost the berries or cook down the filling first! The blueberry filling bakes up juicy and thick and features a generous amount of lemon zest for extra flavor and depth. It has a deliciously flaky all-butter crust that's simple to make and handles well. A random width lattice top adds a homey, rustic look.

A slice of blueberry pie with a lattice top on a grey speckled ceramic plate. The blueberry filling is well set and bright purple.

Fresh blueberries are a wonderful summer treat, but the season is so short, it's hard to take advantage of enough recipes before they're gone for another year. Using frozen blueberries means you can enjoy this classic pie all year round, not just during blueberry season. Plus, it's a great way to use up any extra berries you may have in your freezer!

Blueberry pie is a marvel of simplicity. At first glance, it seems rustic and humble, yet on closer look you notice the subtle details. The all butter crust has a flaky texture with a satisfying crunch that gives way to a juicy, jammy interior. The deep purple hue of the blueberries contrasts beautifully with the golden brown crust.

The filling is a combination of sweet and tart flavors, with blueberries bursting with flavor and juice. The lemon zest adds a bright note that cuts through the sweetness. The pie filling isn't overly sweet, which allows the natural flavor of the blueberries to shine through. It's a classic, old-fashioned pie that's both comforting and sophisticated.

For more fruit-filled recipes, check out this blackberry apple crumble, strawberry apple crisp, this sour cherry rhubarb pie, and grilled peaches with mascarpone cream.

Find all of my pie and galette recipes here, including this cherry rhubarb pie.

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Ingredients
Instructions
Substitutions
Variations
Storage
Frequently asked questions
More pie recipes
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Ingredients

These notes will help you to select and prepare the ingredients for this frozen blueberry pie recipe.

* See recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities.

FOR THE PIE DOUGH

Unsalted butter - Butter should be cubed in ½ inch (1.25 centimeter) pieces and chilled. Using unsalted butter allows you to control the total quantity of salt in the recipe. Salt content in salted butter varies from brand to brand.
Turbinado sugar - The unbaked pie is brushed with egg wash and then sprinkled with golden Turbinado sugar (affiliate link). It's also known as raw sugar. It add a delightful crispy texture and a bit of sweetness to the crust.

FOR THE FROZEN BLUEBERRY FILLING

Blueberries - You can make this recipe with blueberries, wild blueberries, or a mix of the two! This recipe works well with either fresh or frozen blueberries.
- If using fresh blueberries, begin checking the pie about 10-15 minutes earlier.
Tapioca flour - Tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch) combines beautifully with fruit and sugar to create a clear, cloudless, tasteless gel.
- Tapioca flour is ground from the root of the cassava plant, native to South America.
- Check labels to ensure that your tapioca flour is sourced from cassava. Some packages substitute with sago, the inner portion of the sago palm tree, which will give you unsatisfying results.

Instructions

Learn how to make blueberry pie with frozen blueberries! These photos provide visual cues. Find the detailed instructions in the recipe card.

A glass mixing bowl filled with flour, salt and cubed butter for pie crust.

Add flour and salt to a large mixing bowl. Add chilled butter cubes and toss to coat with flour.

A glass mixing bowl filled with flour and salt with butter cubes flattened into shingle like pieces.

Using your fingers, squeeze each cube of butter to flatten it. Continue to toss flour mixture with butter to make sure it's coated.

A glass mixing bowl with butter that has been worked into flour until it resembles small walnut halves.

Continue cutting butter into flour mixture (with your hands or a pastry blender) until the butter is in flattish, pecan-sized pieces.

A glass mixing bowl with wet ingredients in a well in the middle of dry ingredients and cut-in butter.

Form a well in the center of the dry mixture. Pour in chilled water and vinegar. Mix liquid into dough with a spoon. Once liquid is absorbed, use your hands to press down firmly on the dough. Slide your hands under the dough and flip the whole thing over. Press again. Repeat this process several times, incorporating as much loose flour as possible.

A glass mixing bowl with finished dough for cherry rhubarb pie crust.

Gather the dough into a ball. Divide into two equal pieces and flatten each into a disc. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Pie dough rolled into a circle on a piece of white parchment paper.

Remove both discs of dough from the fridge and let rest for about 15 minutes. Roll one disc into a 10 inch diameter circle on a piece of lightly floured parchment paper. Use a bit of flour as needed to keep the rolling pin from sticking.

A rolled out pie crust draped over a pie pan with additional crust overlapping the edge of the pie pan.

Transfer dough to pie pan and press into base. Trim edges so there is a ½ inch overhang. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill. In a large bowl, mix filling ingredients together. Let sit for 15 minutes to thicken a bit.

A rolled out sheet of pie dough on white parchment paper. The dough has random widths of lattice cut out and a knife rests nearby.

Meanwhile, roll out second disc of dough to a 10 inch diameter circle. With a sharp knife and a ruler, cut lattice strips in a variety of random widths between ¼ and 1½ inch.

An unbaked bottom pie crust filled with frozen berries.

Pour frozen blueberry filling into pie.

An unbaked, lattice topped, crimped edge blueberry pie with frozen blueberries.

Place lattice strips onto top of pie in a standard lattice weave. Trim lattice strips at inner edge of bottom crust. Fold bottom edge of pie dough down under itself to create double layer at edge of pie pan. Crimp the pie crust.

An unbaked lattice topped pie that has been brushed with egg wash and sprinkled with Turbinado sugar.

Brush the lattice and crust with egg wash and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.

Bake pie for 55-65 minutes, until crust is golden brown and the juices of the blueberry filling are bubbling in the middle (not just at the sides). Tent crust partway through baking time if needed. Cool fully prior to slicing so that filling has a chance to set.

A baked, lattice topped blueberry pie on a rustic brown surface. A slice of pie has been cut but not yet removed.

Hint: Before baking the pie, chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes so that the butter in the crust is cold. This will help ensure your pie crust bakes up flaky and crispy and maintains its structure.

Substitutions

Tapioca flour - While I recommend tapioca flour for this recipe, if you just can't find tapioca flour, you can substitute half as much corn starch. You will need 20 grams cornstarch (just under 3 tablespoons). Note that cornstarch may cause the fruit filling to cloud when it gels.

Variations

I chose to keep the flavors simple to focus on the blueberries, but you could easily add a twist:

Spiced - Add a blend of spices such as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom and allspice to the filling. I'd start with ½ teaspoon of cinnamon and choose one or two of the others, keeping them each to ¼ or ⅛ teaspoon. Using them sparingly will keep them from overpowering the natural flavors of the fruit.
Flavored crust - Consider adding spices or freshly chopped herbs to the pie crust recipe instead of the filling for a unique twist on the above pie variation. Try 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, or go for 1 teaspoon of freshly chopped thyme leaves. Mix in with the flour before working in the butter.
Blueberry thyme - Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh thyme leaves to the blueberry filling for an earthy, herbal flavor.
Streusel topping - Top the pie with a sweet, brown sugary streusel topping instead of lattice. Make a half recipe of pie dough and use to make one crust for the bottom. Make a half recipe of streusel from this coffee cake with plums, and sprinkle on top of the fruit filling before baking.
Crisp topping - Top the pie with a crunchy mixture of flour, brown sugar, butter and oats. Make a half recipe of pie dough and only use for the bottom crust. Replace the lattice with the crisp topping recipe from this strawberry apple crisp.

A slice of lattice topped blueberry pie on a grey ceramic plate. The rest of the pie peeks into view at top.

Storage

Store: After baking, wrap leftover cooled pie in plastic wrap and store at room temperature (if not in a hot climate) up to 2 days. Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Freeze: To freeze your baked pie, first make sure it is fully cooled. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and a layer of foil and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. To defrost, place in refrigerator overnight.

Reheat: If you'd like to reheat your pie, cover top loosely with foil and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177° C, Gas Mark 4) until warm in the middle, about 15-20 minutes.

Make ahead: You can mix up the pie dough a day or two in advance. Well wrapped, it will keep in the fridge for 3 days, and up to 3 months in the freezer. Place frozen dough into the refrigerator overnight to defrost.

You can also prepare the pie and freeze it whole, unbaked. Wrap it well in plastic wrap and then a tight layer of aluminum foil. Label as follows: Frozen Blueberry Pie Recipe. Freeze for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen in bottom third of oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 Celsius, Gas number 6) for 55-65 minutes, or until pie juices are bubbling in the center. You may need to add additional time.

A golden brown, lattice topped blueberry pie with a single slice cut out and placed on a grey ceramic plate next to the pie. A knife rests nearby at bottom left.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make sure my all butter pie dough turns out flaky?

These tips will help you make sure your pie dough is flaky and crisp!

Use cold butter - Make sure your butter is cold before adding it to the flour mixture. When the cold butter is mixed with the flour, it creates distinct layers of butter throughout the dough. During baking, the water in the butter turns to steam and creates air pockets in the dough. This results in a flaky texture. If the butter is too warm or melted, it won't have the same effect and the crust might turn out dense or tough.

Use cold liquid - When adding water and vinegar to the dough, make sure they are ice-cold. This helps to keep the butter cold.

Don't overwork the dough - Overworking the dough can cause the butter to melt and result in a tough crust. It also encourages excess gluten development, which you want to avoid. Mix the dough just until it comes together.

Chill the dough - After mixing the dough, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This keeps the butter cold and gives the gluten a chance to relax, which will make it easier to roll out the dough. It also keeps the pie crust from shrinking when it's baked!

Chill the pie right before baking - To ensure that the pie dough is firm before it goes into the hot oven, chill the fully assembled pie for 15 minutes in the freezer or 30 minutes in the refrigerator before baking.

How do I prevent my blueberry pie from getting too runny or bubbling over?

A runny pie (or a burnt mess at the bottom of the oven) is so frustrating! To ensure you have success, follow these suggestions:

Carefully measure your thickener - This recipe calls for tapioca flour to thicken the blueberry juices. I recommend using a digital kitchen scale to make sure the amount is accurate. Thickeners are not equal - if you choose to replace the tapioca starch with a different type such as corn starch or flour, make sure it's the correct amount for the quantity of fruit and sugar.

Rest the filling mixture - After stirring all the filling ingredients together, let the mixture sit for 15 minutes so the tapioca starch begins to thicken.

Bake on a foil lined rimmed baking sheet - Even with all the above precautions, sometimes a bit of the juices bubble over. Save yourself a big mess and line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil to catch any drips for easier cleanup!

Bake until the filling bubbles in the center - To ensure the frozen blueberry pie filling is fully baked, bake the pie until it begins to make juicy bubbles at the center - not just at the edges.

Fully cool the pie - This may be the hardest part of all! As the pie cools, the tapioca starch will set into a gel. If you cut into the pie too soon, the juices will still be thin and runny. The pie won't have structure and the filling will collapse.

A baked lattice topped blueberry pie with several slices removed from the pan. A single slice sits on a speckled grey plate near the pie pan.

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