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‘The Pioneer Woman’ Ree Drummond’s Grapefruit Tart Is ‘Perfect’

Ree Drummond, star of The Pioneer Woman, demonstrated how to prepare a tasty fruit tart. Here's her secret to preparing a mouth-watering grapefruit tart.

by Sheiresa Ngo

Published on March 28, 2022

2 min read

Ree Drummond’s grapefruit tart

The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond talks during an interview about her magazine.

Ree Drummond | Monica Schipper/Getty Images for The Pioneer Woman Magazine

Drummond says this recipe is like a key lime pie, but it’s a tart and not a pie. She jokes and says it’s grapefruit and not lime, but other than those differences, it’s just like a key lime pie. Drummond starts the recipe by juicing a grapefruit. Next, she strains the pulp and the seeds. Then she adds the zest from the grapefruit and a few egg yolks along with sweetened condensed milk. Drummond jokes that sweetened condensed milk is “the nectar of the gods in Oklahoma.” When her daughter, Alex, asks her about it, Drummond says sweetened condensed milk is often associated with Southern desserts.

Next, Drummond adds five drops of red food coloring so that she can give the tart a pink color. She pre-bakes the crust with graham crackers, butter, and sugar, and pressed it into a tart pan. Drummond says she baked the crust until it was “just barely golden.”

Putting the finishing touches on the grapefruit tart

After stirring the mixture, Drummond pours the filling into the crust. She says the pie’s color will deepen as it bakes. Drummond bakes the tart at 350 degrees for 15 minutes until the filling sets. After the tart bakes, she takes it out and lets it cool before serving. Drummond places the tart in the refrigerator to help move the cooling process along. Drummond puts the finishing touches on the tart by adding whipped cream. She ends her cooking segment by saying the tart is “perfect.” You can find the complete ingredients list and directions here.

Ree Drummond’s strawberry tart recipe

If you’re looking to make a tart recipe but grapefruit isn’t your thing, consider Drummond’s rustic strawberry tart recipe. The Accidental Country Girl says it’s not only “quick and easy” but also a “total knockout.”

Drummond starts by cutting strawberries in half and taking the tops off. She places the strawberries in a bowl and then adds ½ cup of sugar. “You’ve got to have sugary strawberries, I don’t care what the dessert is,” says Drummond on The Pioneer Woman show. Next, she adds a few tablespoons of flour, which she says keeps the strawberries from getting too “liquidy” in the oven. “The flour kind of thickens them up a little bit,” says Drummond.

Drummond likes to add lemon zest and lemon juice whenever she makes any kind of filling for a pie or a tart. She zests half of a lemon and squeezes in about a teaspoon of the lemon juice and a teaspoon of vanilla. Drummond uses a “superhero shortcut” by using store-bought crust. She overlaps one crust over the other and rolls them, so the crust becomes bigger, and the two crusts become one.

Next, Drummond places the crust on a sheet pan and spoons the strawberries on top of the crust. She leaves a border around the edge and then folds up the edges and brushes them with an egg wash. Drummond then puts the strawberry tart in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. She rotates the pan halfway through the baking process. You can find the complete ingredients list and directions here.

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