Make quick work of your next bake by starting with the best premade pie crust. Here are our Test Kitchen's top picks for shortcut sweet and savory pies.
Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. We may earn a commission from your purchases.
Learn more.
Holiday baking season is right around the corner, and you know what that means: lots and lots of pies. Between Thanksgiving pies and Christmas pies, ovens are plenty busy. While a homemade crust can’t be beat, making everything from scratch isn’t always in the cards during a busy baking season. That’s where the best premade pie crust comes in.
Want to make a homemade dessert in a jiff? Get a head start with Pillsbury Deep Dish Pie Crusts. It’s the best store-bought pie crusts for sweet pies, and can be found in the frozen section of the grocery store.
These premade pie crusts brown up evenly in the oven. The result is a tender and flaky crust. While the crust is thin, it can stand up to rich cream fillings and plenty of fruit. The deep dish shape of this frozen pastry also provides you with plenty of room to layer in your favorite flavors.
Pillsbury’s frozen pie crust is made with a touch of sugar, which makes it the right choice for desserts of all kinds— though you may want to skip making your bacon quiche in this one.
Want a quick start for your next quiche? Reach for Marie Callender’s Pie Shells in your grocery store’s frozen foods section.
These pie crusts have a lovely buttery flavor with so many flaky layers. “The texture reminds me the most of a homemade pie crust—pretty impressive!” says Ellie Crowley, associate culinary producer for Taste of Home.
Unlike many other crusts sampled by our Test Kitchen, Marie Callender’s doesn’t have an especially sweet flavor profile. That’s what makes this the best store-bought pie crust for all kinds of recipes—including breakfasts, pot pies and more.
Our Test Kitchen’s one word of advice with this crust: Bake it a few minutes longer than the package suggests to ensure it turns a perfect golden brown.
Refrigerated pie crusts are a shopping list staple—especially Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts.
The biggest advantage of opting for a refrigerated pie crust versus a frozen one is the form. These rolled crusts can be unrolled and shaped any way you like. Use these crusts to make a lattice-topped pie, decorative pie crusts or even easy pan-free galettes.
Pillsbury’s riff on refrigerated pie dough was our team’s favorite, and was crowned the best store-bought pie crust in the refrigerator section. This crust baked up with a “great golden color,” according to Ellie. The texture of this crust was thin and crisp, but sturdy enough to stand up to various fillings.
Another reason we love this crust? It’s not overly sweet, so you can use it for both desserts and savory recipes.
In an effort to find a reliable option to keep stashed in the freezer or fridge, our Test Kitchen sampled seven different brands. For this taste test, each crust was baked according to the package directions and judged with these criteria in mind:
While we think all of our picks taste delicious, we’ll hand it to Pillsbury’s deep dish crusts for sweet pies. When baked, the result is a surprisingly tender, flaky crust that rivals homemade shells.
Based on our testing, we recommend Marie Callender for this one. We found that the brand’s frozen deep dish pastry pie shells were excellent options for savory pies, like quiches.
If you want to give your Pillsbury pie shell even more bang for your buck, you can try brushing the crust with melted butter, blind baking it before adding the filling or adding a finishing wash (like egg) to the edges.
Definitely! We think they’re you’re best bet for premade pie crusts or savory pies.
At Taste of Home, we know a thing or two about baking — especially holiday baking. From classic pies to cozy casseroles, we love testing out kitchenware, recipes and more to help you make the most of your kitchen ventures.
Lisa A. Kaminski, a baker and former Taste of Home shopping editor, wrote this article. She has more than six years of food writing experience and has tested tons of ingredients, kitchen gear and home products. Additional reporting was contributed by Melissa Lee, Content Updates Editor.
