Looking for some seasonal inspiration to highlight your dessert table at Thanksgiving? This list has over 45 recipes for Thanksgiving pies ranging from classics to recipes that are a bit more unique. You'll be certain to find a little something for everyone, and pick up some pie-baking tips to save your sanity on the big day.
Before I started this website, I ran a small pie baking company. As I was delivering some Thanksgiving pies to one of my favorite and frequent buyers, she let me in on a family secret for a successful holiday: Her family would deem a Thanksgiving holiday successful if their "pie to people" ratio was close. She went on to explain, the closer they could get to an equal number of people to a pie, the better the holiday. The best holidays always seemed to have more pie than people, and I have to say, I couldn't agree more.
Thanksgiving is a time for many things, but on this website, it's all about the pie. Below is a list of over 45 Thanksgiving Pie Recipes with a little something for everybody, ranging from classic to more unique.
Hosting your first Thanksgiving? Keep scrolling past the list of recipes for some make-ahead tips to help ensure your pie baking is the easiest part of your to-do list.
New to pie in general? Start at the Beginner Pie Making Guide or check out 10 Tips for Perfect Pies.
Classic Thanksgiving Pie Recipes
Here are some mainstream Thanksgiving pie recipes that fall into the realm of traditional, including pumpkin pies, apple pies, and other fruit pies. There are also some spins on classic flavors, such as Pumpkin Pasties (or handheld pumpkin pies) or Brownie Pecan Pie.
- The Apple Pie Recipe
- Perfect Pumpkin Pie
- Apple Crumble Pie
- Classic Custard Pie
- Lemon Meringue Pie
- Gluten-Free Apple Pie
- Apple Hand Pies
- Classic Blueberry Pie
- Bourbon Pecan Pie
- Mile-High Apple Pie
- Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie
- Harry Potter Pumpkin Pasties
- Pumpkin Mascarpone Pie
- Cranberry Pear Pie Minis
- Cranberry and Blueberry Pie
- Sweet Cherry Pie
- Honey Walnut Pie
- Maple Sweet Potato Pie
- Brownie Pecan Pie
- Maple Buttermilk Pie
- Classic Fruit Tart
- Spiced Blackberry Pie
Make Ahead Thanksgiving Pies
Pies can and should be made ahead of time for Thanksgiving. While a lot of the recipes on the other lists can be made ahead of time too (such as Apple Pie), the recipes below are perfect to be made ahead. The no-bake pies are especially useful for serving at Thanksgiving because they can be made and frozen up to a month ahead of time. The less you have to do on the day of the actual feast, the better!
- No Bake Pumpkin Pie
- Caramel Macchiato Pie
- Creamy No-Bake Lemon Pie
- No Bake Orange Creamsicle Pie
- No-Bake Cannoli Pie
- Triple Coconut Cream Pie
- Chocolate Cream Pie
- Butterscotch Cream Pie
Thanksgiving Pies for Beginners
These pies are the real easy peasy pies to put together for your Thanksgiving if you are new to making pies in general. They all have an option for a crumb crust, and many don't even need to be baked, which makes them even easier! While I will say that many of the recipes on this site offer as much guidance as possible so that anybody can make any pie, this list here are the ones that anybody should be able to knock out of the park.
- Peanut Butter Pie
- No Bake Orange Creamsicle Pie
- Banana Cream Pie
- Nutella Pie with Potato Chip Crust
- No Bake Oreo Pie
- Mint Chocolate Chip Pie
Unique Thanksgiving Pie Recipes
We all love the classic pies, but sometimes it's nice to have a few special options on the table. Any of these unique pie recipes would be big-time hits after all that Thanksgiving turkey has been eaten.
- Apple Butter Pie
- Raspberry Coconut Macaroon Pie
- Fluffernutter Pie
- Coconut Lime Tart
- Almond Apple Rose Pie
- Lemon Custard Pie
- Mississippi Mud Pie
- Spiced Blackberry Pie
- Malted Milk Chocolate Pie
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
- Pistachio and Mascarpone Pie
- Eclair Pie
- Coffee Custard Pie
- Butterscotch Pear Pie
- Cranberry Custard Pie
- Candy Cane Pie
Savory Thanksgiving Pie Recipes
Looking for some savory options to serve either as a vegetarian main dish or to use up those leftovers? These savory Thanksgiving pie recipes are perfect for that.
- Turkey Hand Pies
- Ham and Cheese Quiche
- Caramelized Onion Quiche
- Easy Ham and Cheese Quiche
- Butternut Squash, Caramelized Onion and Feta Pie
- Quiche Lorraine
- Lentil Pot Pie
- Broccoli Cheddar Quiche
How Many Pies Do You Need for Thanksgiving?
Well now here is a controversial question: what will the pie to people ratio be at Thanksgiving?
One 9" pie typically serves about 8-10 slices. So, if you are serving other desserts and you are planning on people having only 1 slice without leftovers, then you'd need 1 pie for every 8 people you have.
If planning 1 slice per person (and you are serving other dessert options):
- 8 people or less = 1 pie
- 9-16 people = 2 pies
- 17-24 people = 3 pies
But really, who wants to have only one slice? In my home, we always make way more pie than we actually need, because everybody has their favorite and we all love variety. We have a high pie-to-people ratio, usually about 1 pie for every 4 people. This also will ensure leftovers, which means pie for days!
If planning for multiple slices per person (and you are not serving other desserts):
- 8 people or less = 2 pies
- 9-12 people = 3 pies
- 13-16 people = 4 pies
- 17-20 people = 5 pies
- 21-24 people = 6 pies
Tips for Making Pies for Thanksgiving
There is so much to do when preparing for a Thanksgiving meal, between planning, shopping, executing the savory menu, setting the table, and all that comes in between. Making the pies can and should be a make-ahead part of the big day.
Utilizing Your Freezer
Pies are one the easiest desserts to prepare ahead of time! And, you should definitely utilize your freezer for this task.
As with most pies, there are a few steps you need to complete to get to the finished product. A lot of these components can be broken down into steps and done days (or weeks) in advance.
You can and should make the pie dough ahead of time. You can prepare the dough up to 2 days ahead in the refrigerator, or up to 3 months in the freezer. Also, making a big batch (or two) at one time is a good habit to get into.
Many fruit pies (such as apple or blueberry) are great to prepare ahead of time in totality, up until the point of baking.
To freeze a fruit pie: place the whole pie on a sheet pan first, and place it in a freezer on a flat surface. Once frozen (at least 12 hours), wrap the whole pie in plastic wrap very tightly twice, and then cover with aluminum foil. Don’t forget to label it!
It is best to cook any frozen pie within 3 months, because the longer it is stored in the freezer, the less pronounced the flavor is. However, you can wait as long as about 1 year if frozen properly.
Many of the no-bake pies on this site can be made entirely ahead of time, and simply placed at room temperature about an hour or less before serving and they'll be good to go.
Baking a Pie From Frozen
You can actually bake a fruit pie directly from the freezer. In my opinion, doing this is even better than a fruit pie baked fresh. This is because the crust has a chance to cook first before the filling does, so you can ensure you have a beautifully crisp crust and perfectly cooked filling.
To bake a fruit pie from frozen:
- Unwrap the frozen pie and let sit at room temperature until the oven is preheated. Pre-heat the oven to 425ºF.
- When the oven has reached 425º put an egg-wash on the crust and sprinkle with sugar, if desired.
- Bake on the middle lower rack for 20 minutes.
- Lower the oven temperature to 400º and put a piece of aluminum foil around the outer edges of the pie to prevent it from burning. Cook for another 50-60 minutes, or until the middle of the pie is bubbling and the crust is golden brown. The fruit filling should reach a temperature in the middle of above 200ºF.
Bake Pies Ahead of Time, Always
Did you know that most pies actually do well when baked ahead of time, at least in some capacity? For instance, most fruit pies and most custard pies are best made at least 6 hours before consuming, or up to two days ahead of time in their entirety. This is because the hot fruit filling must cool to thicken up, and the warm custard must chill to fully set up.
That means you should never leave the task of baking pies for Thanksgiving for the day of. Plan to bake the pies one or two days before the holiday, unless the specific recipe you are planning to make instructs it to be the day ahead. With that said, this brings me to my next point below about pie choices!
Be Picky with Pie Choices
There is so much to prep, plan, and cook for Thanksgiving that you should strategically choose pies that can be made the day before at a minimum. Don't choose complicated pies that must be made the day of, because your oven will be all tied up.
Make Stabilized Whipped Cream
If you’ve been lucky enough to try homemade whipped cream, you’ll know its worlds away from anything that comes in a can. I absolutely recommend serving homemade whipped cream with your pies. But, instead of plain whipped cream, make a stabilized whipped cream so you can add this task to your "make ahead of time" list, which leaves you one less thing to do when preparing to serve dessert.
Whipped cream that is stabilized is simply whipped cream with an added ingredient to preserve it from deflating. Typically, if you make whipped cream it needs to be used within an hour or so, because after that it starts to "weep", which means that the air that was whipped into the cream has begun to deflate.
My favorite stabilizer to add to whipped cream is cream cheese. Cream cheese not only adds some soft structure to the whipped cream, but it also adds a layer of tang that works well when paired with many sweet dishes.
Skip the Decorative Crust
I love an Instagram-worthy unbaked pretty pie crust as much as the next person, but let's face it, only Instagram will enjoy it. They're not only time-consuming but also don't look nearly as pretty once they're baked. More likely than not, your guests won't even see the details of the crust, they'll just see the cut version of the pie.
At the end of the day, when it comes to most butter pie crusts, it's all about the flakiness! Sadly, decorative pie crusts do not produce flaky results, because you'll spend so much time working on the decoration as the butter melts, which makes it less flaky.
Skip the decorative crust and just do a plain double crust (or a lattice if you insist), or even a streusel.
Looking for some pie tips to get you started? Check out this Beginner Pie Making Guide or 10 Tips for Making Perfect Pies.
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