Classic Rhubarb Pie – A Rhubarb Pie with One Crust Recipe

Classic Rhubarb Pie is a rhubarb pie with only one crust. Baking an open-faced rhubarb pie makes a lovely display of pink and green rhubarb ready to wow your friends and family.

I can’t stop making rhubarb pie recipes. I have my go-to which is Grandma’s Rhubarb Pie with a top crust, and we love this Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with a crumble topping. Now I’ve added this Classic Rhubarb Pie with one crust.

Classic Rhubarb Pie

This Open Top Rhubarb Pie comes from a new cookbook that I just got from Mom’s good teacher friend called Teachers’ Culinary Treasures.

There are so many things to love about this Classic Rhubarb Pie Recipe.

First, the recipe is easy as pie (no pun intended). With only 6 simple ingredients, there’s nothing fancy on the ingredient list. And don’t you worry about the ingredient called Cracker Meal; it’s just crackers that have been crushed up. I tossed some saltines in a resealable bag, and pounded them with a rolling pin.

Another part of the easy factor is that this pie is the perfect use of a frozen pie shell. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

I also love how pretty this open top rhubarb pie is. The presentation is beautiful since you can see all the lovely red and green pieces of rhubarb baked into the pie instead of hiding it underneath a second pie crust.

Single Crust Rhubarb Pie

I particularly like this pie because it only uses one bottom crust. I don’t need all the extra pie crust—one crust is enough.

Use a homemade crust or buy a store bought crust in the freezer or refrigerator section.

What is a single crust pie?

A single crust pie, also known as a one crust pie, only uses one pie crust instead of two. In most cases the single crust is used on the bottom while the top is a crumb, crumble or a topping that makes its own crust during the baking process.

Classic Rhubarb Pie with one crust comes in handy when I have only one store-bought pie crust dough left in the refrigerator. It also comes in handy if I have a frozen pie crust in the freezer. It only uses one package of the dough or one frozen pie crust. I can use the other one for this Cheeseburger Quiche or Make Ahead Ham and Cheese Quiche.

One Crust Rhubarb Pie Ingredients

Pie Shell, homemade or store-bought

Granulated Sugar

Large Eggs

Cracker meal (crushed saltine crackers)

Salt, just a pinch

Fresh Rhubarb, stalks only-diced

Butter

How to Make Rhubarb Pie with One Pie Crust

Step by Step Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs and cracker meal.
2. Stir in diced rhubarb.
3. Pour rhubarb mixture into a frozen pie crust or an uncooked pie crust.
4. Dot the top of the pie filling with butter.
5. Bake until set and crust is golden brown. You may need to cover the pie with a piece of foil to prevent the edges from getting too brown. For extra precaution, place the pie plate on a baking sheet so that there’s no spillage onto the bottom of the oven.
6. Let cool on a wire rack before cutting.
7. If desired, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Storage Instructions

Let leftovers cool completely before transferring to an airtight container. Store at room temperature for up to 48 hours. Store in the fridge to extend shelf life.

For the full ingredient amounts and instructions for Open Faced Rhubarb Pie, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Recipe FAQs

• For the single crust, you’ve got three options. Make a homemade single crust recipe (do not pre-bake), use a frozen pie crust (do not thaw), or use a roll of pre-made pie crust from the refrigerator section at the grocery store.
• The colors of your rhubarb will depend on the variety you use. Some varieties have more pink while others can be more on the green side.
• To prevent the edges of your single crust rhubarb pie from getting too brown, tent a piece of foil over the pie mid-way through cooking.
• This is a two step cooking process: first cook the pie for 15 minutes in a preheated 450 degrees F oven, then turn down the heat to 375 degrees F, and cook for an additional 50 minutes.
• Do not cut into this classic rhubarb pie until you’ve let it cool. You do not want to risk the rhubarb filling running out over the plate.
• If you’ve got leftover homemade pie crust dough, make these fun Pie Crust Cookies.
• Check out our Amazon Store for our favorite pantry and kitchen items.

How do I make my rhubarb pie less runny?

Add a thickener to your rhubarb pie filling before baking to help thicken up the rhubarb sauce. A couple easy thickeners that you might already have at home would be cracker meal (crushed up crackers such as Saltines) or crushed cornflakes. Both will act as thickeners without changing the flavor.

Another rule of thumb for rhubarb pies is to let it cool completely before cutting to serve. This allows the filling to completely set up.

What is Cracker Meal?

Cracker Meal is just a fancy word for crushed up crackers. Take some Saltines, and pulverize them in a blender or pound them in a resealable bag with something heavy. Voila, you’ve got cracker meal.

More Old Fashioned Rhubarb Recipes

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Rhubarb Batter Cake

Sour Cream Rhubarb Cake

Rhubarb Bread

Cherry Rhubarb Crisp

Strawberry Rhubarb Fool

Old-Fashioned Fruit Desserts

We love fruit desserts in our family and we’ve shared so many of them on our blog over the years. From peaches to blackberries, we use a variety of fruits in our recipes. Here are some of our favorites:

• Blackberry Cobbler
• Peach Batter Cake
• Easy Cherry Crisp
• Grandma’s Apple Crisp
• Strawberry Delight
• Blueberry Brown Betty