10 Classic Pie Recipes for Any Season

At its broadest, a pie is any dish enclosed in a pastry crust, typically baked in a shallow, round pan called a pie dish. Pies are usually made with sweet fillings, like fruit or custard, but they can also be savory, like chicken pot pie.

Most pies are categorized by the style and bake of the crust in relation to the filling. A perfect pie crust typically involves a hand-kneaded pie dough mixture made from all-purpose flour, granulated white sugar or brown sugar, and butter; it is then baked until golden brown. However, there are many ways to position the crust to give a pie a unique look and taste:

1. 1. Open-face pies: A pie with a bottom crust and no top crust. Many favorite pie dishes are made this way, such as peanut butter pie, coconut cream pie, chocolate pie, ice cream pie, custard pie, silk pie, or chocolate-pecan pie.
2. 2. Double-crust pies: A pie with both a bottom crust and a top crust.
3. 3. Lattice pies: A pie with a bottom crust and decorative top crust made with cut out strips of dough.
4. 4. Deep-dish pies: A pie that does not have a bottom crust—just a single pie crust on the top. They’re often called pot pies when made with savory pie fillings, such as chicken pot pie.
5. 5. Hand pies: A type of pastry pocket baked on a baking sheet rather than in a pie dish.
6. 6. No-bake pies: A pie that does not require baking, but is instead made with pressed crumb crusts of pulverized graham crackers or cookies bound together with melted butter. They’re typically filled with refrigerated or frozen creams and custards.
7. 7. Slab pies: A slab pie is a pie made to find in a rectangular baking dish rather than round pie pan.

Many of the best pies are known for their buttery crusts and creamy fillings, and you can make your own homemade pie with ingredients you can find at the grocery store. Consider making the following kinds of pies:

1. 1. Sweet potato pie: Sweet potato pie is a dessert made from mashed sweet potatoes baked in a pie crust. Sweet potatoes are nutritious and naturally creamy and sweet, making them easy to turn into a pie filling.
2. 2. Apple pie: Apple pie is a type of fruit pie that features a traditional tart or pie crust surrounding an apple mixture. Apple pie is often served with whipped cream or ice cream (known as à la mode). Apple pie recipes often feature a decorative lattice-top crust but can also be made with a crumble topping. Other fruit pies with similar construction include peach pie and cherry pie.
3. 3. Strawberry rhubarb pie: Strawberry rhubarb pie is a fruit pie featuring rhubarb—nicknamed "pie plant"—and sweet strawberries, both coming into season in the spring. The sweetness of the strawberries balances the tartness of the rhubarb. Strawberry rhubarb pie can feature a double-crust with a lattice top or a simple crimp on the bottom crust, or it can be made as a free-form galette.
4. 4. Key lime pie: Key lime pie is an American dessert made with a creamy filling from Key lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk in a graham cracker crust. Key lime pie can be topped with a traditional meringue topping or whipped cream.
5. 5. Pecan pie: Pecan pie is a quintessential American dessert featuring a mosaic of pecan halves suspended in a silky, sugary blend of eggs, butter and a sweetener—traditionally corn syrup—held together in a flaky pie crust.
6. 6. Pumpkin pie: Pumpkin pie is a traditional dessert that is often considered a Thanksgiving pie and is made with a warm spiced pumpkin custard filling and flaky pie crust. Pumpkin pie is usually served with a dollop of whipped cream and vanilla ice cream and is most often made during the fall harvest when pumpkins and gourds are in season.
7. 7. Banana cream pie: Banana cream pie is a popular cream pie variation consisting of a cooked custard or pudding, fresh slices of banana, and a whipped cream topping. You can make banana cream pie with a standard pie crust or a cookie-based crust made with graham crackers or vanilla wafer cookies.
8. 8. Chocolate pudding pie: A chocolate pudding pie is a dessert featuring a pie crust and a chocolate filling. Some chocolate pies are baked, such as chocolate buttermilk pie and chocolate chess pie, but many feature a no-bake chocolate filling, such as chocolate pudding or custard. A chocolate cream pie usually features a whipped topping made with whipped cream or meringue.
9. 9. Lemon meringue pie: Lemon meringue pie is a classic American dessert of shortcrust pastry topped with lemon curd, all enclosed in a pile of meringue and baked until golden brown. All three components are prepared separately, then assembled into one striking package.
10. 10. Chicken pot pie: Chicken pot pie is a savory dish of chicken and vegetables cooked in a deep dish covered with a single pie crust. Pot pie lacks a bottom crust, so you can make it in any oven-safe dish or small pot—hence the name. Although a pot pie can have any savory filling, chicken is one of the best-loved pot pie fillings.

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