Best Pie Crust Recipe

My favorite, all-butter pie crust recipe is easy, irresistibly flaky, buttery and tender! I share my best chef’s tips to ensure a perfect pie crust every time. Ideal for both sweet and savory pies!

Here is my go-to pie crust recipe that turns out perfectly flaky every time. As a chef, perfecting pie crust has been a lifelong challenge, beginning at our restaurant in my 20s and then later in my catering business. There were some epic falls! This method, perfected over time, is by far the easiest and most foolproof!

What makes this the best Pie Crust Recipe

Here I share a few of my best tips when working with an all-butter crust. It’s easily adaptable- you can make it vegan with coconut oil or vegan butter. The recipe yields two pie crusts, perfect for double-crust pies, or you can freeze one for later.

Chef’s Tips for the Best Pie Crust

1. Use COLD butter! This is essential for creating the perfect pie crust with layers of flaky, buttery texture.
2. Store flour in the freezer: Flour can go rancid quickly and affect the flavor of the pie crust, giving it a bitter taste. To tell if your flour is rancid, just smell it; your nose knows! I always freeze flour to keep it super fresh. This also helps the pie dough stay cold, a bonus.
3. Don’t overwork the dough. Make sure you can see visible specks of butter in different sizes. This is what creates a flaky crust. That’s why I shy away from using a food processor.
4. Water is key. Too much water will result in a tough pie crust. Too little will result in cracks. The dough should just come together, but not be sticky. You want to use as little water as possible, because butter contains more moisture than shortening or lard and this releases as it bakes.
5. Rest the Dough. Chilling the dough in the fridge (for at least 40 mins) ensures that the flour thoroughly hydrates, the butter hardens (so the crust is flaky), and relaxes the dough’s gluten, preventing a tough crust.

Pie Crust Ingredients

• All-purpose flour: Or substitute pastry flour. Be sure to check your flour’s expiration date. Flour can go rancid!
• Salt: Enhances the flavor of the crust, strengthens the gluten, and contributes to better browning.
• Cold unsalted butter: For a vegan pie crust, substitute with cold vegan butter or coconut oil.
• Ice water: Keeps the butter cold, creating flaky layers in the crust.

How to Make Pie Crust

1. Mix dry ingredients. Measure out the flour and add it to a bowl, along with the sprinkle of salt (and optional sugar- see notes). Mix together. *See my tip about keeping flour in the freezer!

2. Add cold butter. Make sure the butter is cold. Cut it into 1/2-inch cubes or slices and add to the flour mixture.

3. Cut the butter into the flour. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is between the size of a lentil and a pea. TIP: You actually want them to be different sizes. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, use two knives or your fingers.

4. Add ice water. Starting with a 1/3 cup of ice water, add it to the bowl and stir. Then, if needed, add a tablespoon at a time until the pie dough clumps together.

5. Fold and form the dough. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and fold it over itself a few times, as if smearing butter. If the texture feels dry or crumbly, add just enough ice water until it sticks together. Form the dough into a ball, then cut it in half. Then form each half into a round, flat disk, 1 to 1 1/2 inches high. If the edges are crumbly, you may need a little more water.

6. Chill. Clean up the edges of the disks, wrap them, and refrigerate for at least 45 minutes or overnight.

7. Roll out the pie dough. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, beginning in the middle and working your way out, turning and flipping. Be sure the dough doesn’t stick to the counter. You can also roll out on floured parchment if it’s easier. That way, if it gets too warm, you can place it in the fridge for a few minutes. Roll out until it is 11 to 12 inches wide.

8. Place into a pie plate. Use the rolling pin to help you lift the dough into a glass pie dish. For a single-crust pie, trim the edges to 1/2 to 3/4 inches beyond the pie plate (overhang), removing excess dough. Then fold it behind itself so it’s sticking up higher than the edge of the pie plate. Use your fingers to crimp (see photos)slightly on the flat edge. The edge will help the crust edges stay up, so use it! It is ready to use or blind bake (instructions below).

How to Pre-Bake a Pie Crust (Blind bake)

Some recipes call for pre-baking the crust – this is also known as blind baking – typically required for quiche, cream pies, or pies that require a short baking time or no baking at all.

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork (10-15 times) to prevent the dough from bubbling. Cover the pie dough with a piece of parchment paper and add pie weights (or use 2 cups of dried beans or dry rice), spreading them out. This prevents the edges of the dough from sinking down.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights and bake 10-15 minutes more until perfectly golden.

Serving Suggestions for Homemade Pie Crust

• Use in savory quiches like this quiche recipe. Always blind-bake first.
• Use in fruit pies– berry pies, stone fruit pies or apple pies.
• Holiday Pies- use in pumpkin pies or pecan pies.
• Savory Pies– Use in Double Crust Chicken Pot Pies.
• You can also use this as galette dough!

More Culinary Basics to Try!

Homemade Chicken Stock

Oven Brisket

Oven Roasted Turkey Recipe

Best Focaccia Bread Recipe

Best Garlic Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Luscious Pumpkin Cheesecake

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