National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day
June 9
About National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day
National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day takes place every year on 9 June across the United States. The food holiday celebrates one of America’s most beloved seasonal desserts: the sweet-and-tart pairing of ripe strawberries and freshly harvested rhubarb baked beneath a golden, flaky crust. It arrives at the perfect moment in the calendar, just as rhubarb stalks reach their peak and the first strawberries of the season ripen.
How to Celebrate National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day
This is a day made for the kitchen and the table, so the best way to mark it is to get involved with the pie itself. Here are plenty of ways to take part.
- Bake a pie from scratch – Combine roughly equal parts chopped rhubarb and sliced strawberries with sugar, a little cornstarch and a squeeze of lemon, then pour into a pastry case and bake until bubbling. A homemade pie is the most authentic way to honour the day.
- Try a lattice crust – Weaving strips of pastry across the top of your pie is a classic finishing touch that lets the ruby-red filling peek through. It looks impressive and takes only a few minutes of practice.
- Visit a local bakery or farm shop – If baking is not your thing, support a nearby bakery and pick up a ready-made strawberry rhubarb pie. Many farm shops sell them fresh during rhubarb season.
- Buy rhubarb at a farmers’ market – Early June is prime rhubarb season, so head to a farmers’ market to buy stalks at their freshest and pick up local strawberries while you are there.
- Host a pie-tasting party – Invite friends and family to each bring a different version of the pie, from extra-tart to extra-sweet, and compare notes on whose recipe wins.
- Experiment with the ratio – The balance of strawberry to rhubarb is endlessly debatable. Try a tarter pie heavy on rhubarb, or a sweeter one with more strawberries, and decide which you prefer.
- Serve it the traditional way – A warm slice topped with vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream is hard to beat. The cold cream against the warm, tangy filling is part of the pleasure.
- Share your bake online – Photograph your finished pie and post it for friends and followers to enjoy, helping spread the word about the day.
What is National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day?
National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day is an American food holiday dedicated to the classic dessert that brings together two very different ingredients. Strawberries provide sweetness and rhubarb provides a sharp, almost sour tang, and together they create a filling that is greater than the sum of its parts. The day is celebrated by home bakers, professional pastry chefs and pie lovers alike, and it falls during the short window when both ingredients are at their seasonal best. Curiously, the pie is one of the rare desserts that blends a fruit and a vegetable, since rhubarb is botanically a vegetable.
When is National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day?
National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day is observed on 9 June every year. In 2026 it falls on a Tuesday. The date is fixed and does not change from year to year, which makes it easy to mark in your calendar. June was chosen deliberately, as rhubarb is typically harvested between mid-May and early June, placing the celebration right at the height of the season.
The History of National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day
Rhubarb has a far longer history than the pie that made it famous. The plant originated in the cold regions of western China, Tibet, Mongolia and Siberia, where it was cultivated as far back as 2700 BC. For centuries the Chinese valued rhubarb primarily for medicinal purposes rather than for eating. It was the Italian botanist Prosper Alpinus who is credited with introducing a more palatable edible species to Europe in 1608, after which rhubarb gradually found its way into kitchens.
Rhubarb reached North America in the 18th century. John Bartram of Philadelphia is often credited with planting rhubarb seeds in the 1730s, the seeds having been sent from England. By the 1820s the plant had become well established in New England, where it became such a common pie filling that rhubarb earned the affectionate nickname “the pie plant”, and the dessert was sometimes simply called “pie plant pie”. For early settlers, rhubarb pushing up through the ground in spring was a welcome sign of fresh food after a long winter of preserved meat and fruit. Pairing the tart stalks with sweet strawberries, which ripen at roughly the same time, was a natural and delicious solution.
The dessert grew into a fixture of New England and wider American cuisine through the 19th century. The awareness day itself is a much more recent invention: June 9 was officially recognised as National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day in 2014, giving this long-loved pie a date of its own on the calendar. If you enjoy these single-ingredient food celebrations, you might also like National Strawberry Shortcake Day, which arrives just five days later on 14 June.
Fun Facts About National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day
- Rhubarb is botanically a vegetable, not a fruit, which makes strawberry rhubarb pie a rare dessert that blends a fruit and a vegetable in one filling.
- Only the stalks of the rhubarb plant are safe to eat. The leaves contain toxic compounds and should always be discarded.
- Rhubarb was cultivated in China for medicinal use as early as 2700 BC, thousands of years before it ever appeared in a pie.
- In 19th-century New England, rhubarb was so closely associated with baking that it was widely known as “the pie plant”.
- The pairing of strawberries and rhubarb works so well because the sweetness of the berries balances the sharp tartness of the stalks.
- June 9 was officially recognised as National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day in 2014.
Why National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day Matters
Beyond the simple pleasure of eating a good slice of pie, the day celebrates seasonal cooking and the tradition of baking from scratch. It encourages people to make the most of local, in-season produce, supporting farmers’ markets and small bakeries at the very moment rhubarb and strawberries are at their freshest. The day also keeps a piece of culinary heritage alive, passing recipes and techniques from one generation to the next.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day?
It is an American food holiday celebrating strawberry rhubarb pie, a classic dessert that combines sweet strawberries with tart rhubarb beneath a flaky crust. It is observed by baking, buying and sharing the pie.
When is National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day in 2026?
It takes place on Tuesday, 9 June 2026. The date is fixed and is celebrated on 9 June every year.
Is rhubarb a fruit or a vegetable?
Rhubarb is botanically a vegetable, although it is most often used like a fruit in pies, jams and crumbles. Only the stalks are edible, as the leaves are poisonous.
Spread the Word
Join the celebration and share your best strawberry rhubarb pie photos on social media with #StrawberryRhubarbPieDay and #StrawberryRhubarbPieDay2026. Tag your friends and challenge them to bake a pie of their own!
Related Awareness Days
- National Strawberry Shortcake Day – A sister celebration on 14 June honouring another strawberry-filled summer classic.
- National Strawberry Rhubarb Wine Day – Marks the same beloved flavour pairing in liquid form, celebrated on 18 July.
- National Cherry Day – Another fruit-focused day for lovers of seasonal pies and bakes.
Links
- Visit the National Day Calendar page for Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day
- Explore more awareness days at AwarenessDays.com
Featured image: Photo by Joanna Stołowicz on Unsplash.
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