Review: Costco's Strawberry Cream Pie Wasn't My Jam

Costco is leaning into spring with a new seasonal bakery dessert: A Strawberry Cream Pie just in time for Mother's Day. And the soft pink whipped filling, white swirls of frosting, crumbly graham cracker crust, and a dollop of glossy strawberry jam in the center looked too tasty to pass up. The pie comes hot on the heels of Costco's 4-pound Lemon Custard Pie, which was released in March.

It's no secret that Costco's seasonal bakery offerings are a bit of a mixed bag. Customers anxiously anticipate the return of some products all year long, like the fabled pumpkin pie, while others fall short for being sickly sweet and tasting unmistakably store-bought. I will admit that I don't typically gravitate toward fruit-forward desserts, as I have a penchant for rich chocolate treats. However, I was cautiously optimistic about the newest Costco offering as it comes during peak strawberry season, and the light and airy filling and summery presentation made it hard not to be curious. Here's what I thought about the bakery's newest addition.

Since fruity desserts aren't my typical cup of tea, I recruited my parents and boyfriend to give the dessert a try with me for a more balanced review. We tasted the pie straight out of the fridge and evaluated each individual element as well as the pie as a whole. 

The key players were the graham cracker crust, the fluffy strawberry filling, the whipped topping, and the strawberry jam. We first tasted a bite of the pie with every element and then tried each part on its own to get a strong sense of the taste and texture of each part of the dessert.

From the first bite, Costco's Strawberries and Cream Pie delivers what it promises. The filling is light and airy, with a subtle strawberry sweetness that wasn't too overwhelming, but also not impressive on its own. The cloud-like texture was inviting, and this subtle flavor was balanced by the layer of tart strawberry jam that rests between the crust and pie filling. And the jam was tart and had chunks of strawberry, which was a welcome pop of brightness and texture for the otherwise one-note filling.

That said, I'm not sure if this was specific to the pie I chose, but the layer of jam was inconsistent and some of the strawberry chunks were large. In fact, they were closer to whole strawberries than bite-sized chunks, and they were far from fresh. We agreed the jam would be better if the strawberries were quartered and the layer was more evenly distributed so you could get some in each bite.

Texture plays a critical role in any dessert, and I was left wanting more variety with this one. While the airy filling was a standout, the graham cracker crust was loose and crumbly, which was a high point for my dad and boyfriend. However, I would have preferred a more structured crust like that of a cheesecake. A different type of pie crust might add much-needed textural dimension. The whipped topping was forgettable — similar to any standard grocery store frosting. We all would have preferred good old Cool Whip.

Overall, Costco's Strawberry Cream Pie lands somewhere in the meh department. It had some notes that were texturally satisfying and had a nice balance of flavor between tart and sweet, but it's not a dessert any of us would buy again. It's certainly more refreshing and light than a cheesecake or Costco's infamously rich Tuxedo cake, which might appeal to those looking for a bright, fruit-forward dessert. 

The artificial-tasting jam, oversized strawberry pieces, and lack of textural contrast, however, couldn't quite rise above other Costco bakery items and certainly do not come close to gracing the list of best grocery store cakes. In other words, while it wasn't a total flop, it's not something my family or I would serve to guests.

At my local store in San Diego, the pie costs $18.99 and weighs in at just under 4 pounds. Considering most of Costco's best cakes cost between $18 and $24, I'd consider the price to be reasonable. It became available in early May, just before Mother's Day, and will likely only be on shelves for a few months, as is typical of Costco's seasonal offerings. I called my local store's bakery to confirm they had the pie in stock, but you could also check the product's availability at your own warehouse through the Costco app.

The pie has a laundry list of ingredients, which is typical for Costco's bakery items, including strawberry filling, whipped topping, cream cheese, and graham. The ingredient list includes several difficult-to-pronounce additions that we probably want to stay blissfully unaware of, including sorbitan monostearate and polyglycerol esters of fatty acids. Additionally, Costco's Strawberry Cream Pie contains wheat, milk, and soy. The label also mentions that those with allergies should be aware that the equipment used to make the pie may have had contact with peanuts and sesame. Specific nutrition related to macronutrients and calories is not available for this product at the time of publication.