I Tried Our 5 Most Popular Pie Crust Recipes and This Is the One Every Cook Should Save

We are now in the thick of the holiday season and everyone will soon be running around, making plans, writing menus—and if you’re anything like me, wrestling with decision fatigue. I bet you have enough on your plate and prefer not to research a thousand recipes to find the best ones for your celebrations. To help shorten your to-do list, I tested Allrecipes’ five most popular pie crust recipes. Read on to discover what I learned and rest easier knowing that you have one less decision to make this year. 

What Makes the Best Pie Crust Recipe? 

Every pie-loving home cook has at least one or two go-to crust recipes. The ingredients are simple: flour, salt, and fat and a liquid to bind everything together. Technique is just as important, if not more, when it comes to crafting the perfect crust and overhandling is the most common error. Too much contact with the dough will toughen it and cause the fat to disperse too quickly, so a light hand and cold ingredients are arguably the most important factors. 

Is Butter or Shortening Best for Pie Crusts?

Let’s talk about fat. Butter is an excellent choice in terms of both flavor and texture but can be expensive and tricky to work with. Shortening is easy to work with, and the application of good technique and a few key ingredients can produce an equally delicious crust. I selected custard-based pie recipes for this test that require par-baking in order to most accurately weigh each recipe. 

The Pie Crusts We Tested

The Criteria

I used three main criteria to judge our contenders.

• Texture: Pie crusts should never ever be dense or chewy. Rather, they should melt in your mouth and be both shattery and flaky. This is achieved with careful selection of both ingredients and technique. 
• Flavor: The perfect pie crust serves to balance and enhance the filling. Sweet pies need to be offset by lightly salted, tender crusts. While butter certainly goes a long way in this area, great flavor can be achieved with shortening as well. 
• Integrity: Pie crusts need to have enough structural integrity to maintain their shape when rolled, parbaked, filled, and fully baked. This can be a rather delicate balance to achieve: a dough that is too stiff lacks flakiness, while a dough that is too loose might taste fabulous but cannot withstand heavy fillings. 

The Results

Best for Beginners 

• The Recipe: Best Ever Pie Crust by Jean Haseloh
• Average Rating: 4.5
• Rave Review: “Made four so far and it is the best recipe I have used. I have used a lot too! Could never get them to roll out good. This one is no stress roll out!!! —Martisgirl

Jean Haseloh’s recipe calls for flour, salt, shortening, and ice water. Dry ingredients are combined, shortening is cut in, ice water is drizzled, and the dough is complete. After a brief rest in the cooler, this dough is ready to be rolled and used. I love the ease of this recipe, both in terms of ingredients and instruction. This is a great beginner recipe, as shortening tends to be so forgiving and the instructions are very straightforward. 

Best for Emergencies

• The Recipe: Best Pie Crust by Jan Bittner
• Average Rating: 4.8
• Rave Review: “Perfect pie crust, best one I have made. Nice and flakey, the only recipe I need for pie crust now. I doubled the recipe and it was great.” —Sherry

This was the quickest recipe to execute, requiring only four ingredients—flour, salt, shortening, and cold water—and no pre-rolling or compulsory rest in the fridge. Shortening is cut into the dry ingredients and water is added for a dough that is meant to be rolled and used immediately. The dough is easy to handle, rolls smoothly, and bakes beautifully. This is the best recipe when you need pie, and you need it now. 

Most Versatile

• The Recipe: Grandma’s Secret Pie Crust by Felicia Bass
• Average Rating: 4.6
• Rave Review: “I have been searching for years for a good pie crust recipe. This is the best!”—Chef Leah

Grandma is really onto something here: This shortening-based recipe begins with flour and salt, into which the fat is cut. The author elevates the recipe by adding a splash of vinegar and an egg to cold water as the binding agent. This recipe does not require any resting or chilling before rolling and baking and results in a beautifully pliable dough that bakes up golden and tastes buttery. The texture and workability of this dough makes it perfect for a wide variety of applications, making it the most versatile of the bunch. 

Best for Making Multiple Pies

• The Recipe: Easy Homemade Pie Crust by John Mitzewich
• Average Rating: 4.8
• Rave Review: “Always use this recipe. My family always says I make fantastic pies when using this dough. Dough does come out nice and flaky! Love it!” —Lynn Peiffer

I love a pie crust recipe that is made in the food processor. As discussed previously, pie crust must be handled quickly and deftly, with as little hand to dough contact as possible. Using a food processor eliminates the danger of heating the butter with your hands, but you still have to be careful not to overwork the dough. John’s recipe calls for pulsing flour and salt in the processor, adding cold butter, and drizzling cold water with a bit of cider vinegar to bind. The dough is turned out, divided, and patted into two discs which are then refrigerated for a minimum of 30 minutes. This crust browned evenly in the oven, tasted delicious, and maintained its integrity. This is a great option if you are making several pies at once and simply don’t want to do it all by hand.

The Winner 

• The Recipe: Butter Flaky Pie Crust by Dana
• Average Rating: 4.8
• Rave Review: “Perfect every time. Learned this same recipe from my grandma. Follow the easy directions and you’ll have success too.” —GrannyCooks

This particular recipe is very similar to the one I grew up making with my mom. Flour and salt are whisked together, cold butter is cut in, and cold water is drizzled to gather the dough. Not only does this recipe come together in a flash and require no special equipment (or extra dishwashing), but it is both the flakiest and most flavorful of the bunch. This recipe holds up well during both parbaking and final baking with minimal shifting or sinking. This is an easy and versatile recipe that every baker should have in their back pocket.