It’s Thanksgiving week and you’re running around like a chicken (um, turkey) with your head cut off—shortcuts *must* be made. What’s on the chopping block this year? Stuffing? Mashed potatoes? Nope: It’s dessert. Lucky for you, there are plenty of pre-made crusts on the market, so you can have your pumpkin pie and uh…yeah, anyway. Here are the four best store-bought pie crusts that are guaranteed to make your 2024 holiday baking easier.
The 6 Best Store-Bought Pie Crusts to Ease Your Holiday Baking Stress in 2024
Because a hostess is only as clever as her shortcuts
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Updated Oct 19, 2024
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Photo: Christine Han/Styling: Erin McDowell
How Editors Chose the Best Store-Bought Pie Crusts
We kept our selection limited to pre-made pie crusts, avoiding dry mixes that required additional ingredients and mixing. (This is about convenience, after all.) Also, assuming not everyone has the pastry cook-level knowledge or experience baking pie crusts to freestyle, we tried to follow the directions for each crust as closely as possible. That meant resisting the urge to add pie weights if not called for and following temperature indications. Tasting the crusts required baking them a little further, so after analyzing each crust at a par-baked level, we popped it back in the oven until fully cooked.
Here are five factors we used to determine which store-bought pie crust reigns supreme:
- Value: Based on taste and quality of ingredients, is it worth the money?
- Ease of Use: How simple is it to prepare? Were the instructions clear and accurate? Was it *actually* more convenient than homemade?
- Quality: What’s it made of? Are the ingredients high quality? Are there a lot of mystery additions or preservatives?
- Texture: Is it flaky and tender, or is it tough?
- Flavor: Does it taste buttery and toasty or bland and dry? Are there any weird aftertastes or chemical flavors?
A Word on Baking Pies at Home
Fact: A total dud of a pie can look like a million bucks until you bite in, and a great-tasting pie crust can still slump in the pan even more than your teenage cousin slumped over his cellphone at the dinner table. That's why we avoided basing our ratings on characteristics like shrinking and slumping, because they’re ultimately the result of technique more so than ingredients.
While looks aren't everything when it comes to the final product, they are quite helpful in the baking process. Don't feel strictly beholden to package cooking times because, *steps onto soap box,* you should always rely on visual cues when determining doneness.
Read on for our picks for the best store-bought pie crust you can buy in 2024.
This article reflects prices at publication that may change or vary according to location.
Best Store-Bought Pie Crust Overall
What We Like
- Tastes and looks homemade
- Buttery, flaky and tender
- Large enough to crimp the edge
What We Don't Like
- Dough was cracked and required some finessing
trader joe's
- Value: 20/20
- Ease of Use: 17/20
- Quality: 17/20
- Texture: 19/20
- Flavor: 20/20
Total: 93/100
Trader Joe, you’ve outdone yourself again. "In my notes for this pie crust, I wrote, 'honestly, great?' and that’s coming from a former pastry cook," Gillen says. "The rollout-style rounds came from the freezer section, so I followed the instructions to thaw in the fridge overnight and bring to room temperature for about 45 minutes before using. Even so—and this is my biggest qualm—the crust cracked significantly when I unrolled it from its plastic sheath." (We worried it was user error, but the box actually mentions this, and instructs you to knead it back together with a rolling pin—it was fine.)
We appreciated that TJ’s gives detailed instructions similar to a cookbook recipe—it’s the only crust we tried that suggested pie weights. Save for the cracking, the dough felt most like a homemade version, and there was plenty of overhang to make a pretty crimped crust. It tasted like the real deal, too, thanks to the fat: flaky, tender, slightly sweet and oh so buttery.
Best Widely Available Store-Bought Pie Crust
2. Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust
What We Like
- Easy instructions, handling and baking
- No thawing
What We Don't Like
- Not large enough to crimp
- Contains hydrogenated fat (and no butter)
pillsbury
- Value: 20/20
- Ease of Use: 19/20
- Quality: 17/20
- Texture: 17/20
- Flavor: 18/20
Total: 91/100
If you completely forgot that you need to make a pie and are crunched on time, first of all, we salute your commitment. Second, Pillsbury’s refrigerated pie crust is your new BFF. The rollout-style crust is available in the refrigerator section instead of the freezer, so you won’t even need to thaw it beyond a 15-minute rest at room temp before use. It's easy to handle and quick to par-bake, and the instructions were straightforward and seemed accurate based on the results. Plus, you can find it at most major grocery stores, including big box retailers like Target and Walmart.
However, there are a few trade-offs for the convenience: It’s just large enough to fit a standard pie plate, but too thin to roll out for overhang if you prefer an elaborate crimp. It’s also made with lard and “hydrogenated lard,” which lack the flavor of butter. The texture was flaky but not the most tender of the bunch, possibly due to the overall thinness.
Best Gluten-Free Store-Bought Pie Crust
3. Sweet Loren's Gluten-Free Pie Crust
What We Like
- Good length for crimping
- Easy to work with
- Free of 14 major allergens
What We Don't Like
- Very crisp
- Not so flaky
sweet loren's
- Value: 18/20
- Ease of Use: 20/20
- Quality: 19/20
- Texture: 17/20
- Flavor: 16/20
TOTAL: 90/100
Working with gluten-free flour is a whole different ball game—something that can be intimidating for newbie bakers. That's what makes Sweet Loren's pre-rolled pie crust such a godsend; it unraveled cleanly (no cracking!) and was the easiest crust to work with out of every one we tested.
While the final color was a bit paler than your typical dough, it cooked evenly and beautifully, though it's worth noting that the crust itself has more of a toasted pita flavor and texture once baked. It lends itself well to cream and pudding pies as a result; if you're looking for a buttery, flaky crust, this isn't it. It is great for anyone who suffers from one of the 14 major allergens, as this crust is free from them all (yep, not just gluten but dairy, peanuts, even sesame). You can find it in Sprouts and Whole Foods stores starting Oct. 25.
Best Pre-Shaped Shell
4. Marie Callender’s Deep Dish Pastry Pie Shells
What We Like
- No crimping or rolling required
- Short thawing time
- Very flaky
What We Don't Like
- No ability to customize the crimp
- Puffed up in oven and cracked after cooling (but could be remedied with pie weights)
marie callender
- Value: 17/20
- Ease of Use: 19/20
- Quality: 17/20
- Texture: 19/20
- Flavor: 16/20
Total: 88/100
Sometimes rolling and crimping is simply not in the cards—enter a pre-shaped pie shell in an aluminum tin. The Marie Callender’s deep-dish freezer version (as far as we know, the only version) requires little more than a ten-minute thaw, a quick docking with a fork and a 15-minute bake. This makes for an ultra-convenient crust, but our team found that without pie weights, the bottom domed in the oven and left a crack once it cooled. However, the flavor was inoffensively plain and the texture was surprisingly flaky for being made with soybean oil.
Heartiest Store-Bought Pie Crust
5. Jus-Rol Pre-Rolled Pie Crust
What We Like
- Easy to unfurl and work with
- Minimal dough cracking
- Flaky texture
What We Don't Like
- Not so buttery
- Browns quickly
jus-rol
- Value: 16/20
- Ease of Use: 18/20
- Quality: 19/20
- Texture: 18/20
- Flavor: 17/20
TOTAL: 88/100
Honestly, all pre-rolled pie crusts should come rolled in parchment paper, like Jus-Rol. That was our biggest qualm with Pillsbury—the edges of the rolled dough can stick together, causing a mess to unfurl. Jus-Rol lives up to its name, being easy to, well, just roll out. The dough is cut to fit a 9-inch pie plate, but it doesn't leave much room to get fancy with your crimping techniques.
However, it makes up for that with its flaky, almost-homemade flavor. The instructions are easy to follow, and it was practically foolproof, resulting in a hearty crust that could withstand even the juiciest, gooiest apple pie filling. (Trust us: When Candace tested it a second time with the infamous Grandma Ople's apple pie, the bottom crust baked evenly and held up to all of the pie's gooey caramel sauce without dissolving into goo, as some other brands we tested did.)
Note: If you're par-baking your crust, it's worth stabbing this dough with a fork all around. If not, it may bubble up a bit, resulting in some slumping, as depicted above.
Best Organic Store-Bought Pie Crust
6. Wholly Wholesome Organic Traditional Pie Dough
What We Like
- Made with organic ingredients
- Easy to handle
What We Don't Like
- Too small and thin for a fancy crimp
- Expensive
wholly wholesome
- Value: 17/20
- Ease of Use: 18/20
- Quality: 18/20
- Texture: 16/20
- Flavor: 18/20
Total: 87/100
For a pie crust with organic ingredients, try Wholly Wholesome’s organic traditional pie dough in the freezer section. The roll-out crusts call for thawing at room temperature for a few hours before using, and though the dough was slightly delicate, it was otherwise smooth sailing. One downside, though, was that the dough was already too thin to roll out further but didn’t leave enough overhang to make more than a fork crimp. The texture was slightly more crumbly than flaky, but it was tender and pleasantly toasty (albeit a little bland). When we checked the ingredients, we saw organic palm fruit shortening was the fat, which explains the lack of butter flavor and slightly crumbly texture.
The PureWow100 is a scale our editors use to vet new products and services, so you know what’s worth the spend—and what’s total hype. Learn more about our process here.
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