I tried 3 different store-bought pie crusts. One had the best flavor but another looked nicest and was easiest to use.

I made pies using dough from Pillsbury, Giant Eagle, and Marie Callender's to find the best store-bought pie crust.

Paige Bennett

• I tested three store-bought pie crusts from Pillsbury, Giant Eagle, and Marie Callender's.
• The Pillsbury crust was easy to work with and looked almost pristine after I baked it.
• Marie Callender's crust had the best butter flavor and thick-yet-flaky texture.

With the holidays upon us, it's easy to fall short on time to prep pies for gatherings.

That's where store-bought pie crusts, already fitted into oven-safe containers, can come in handy. But which is the best for wowing a crowd?

To find out, I reviewed crusts from Pillsbury, Marie Callender's, and Giant Eagle (the grocery store's generic brand) and compared them on price, looks, usability, and flavor.

All three crusts had similar basic instructions.

I tried pie crusts from Pillsbury, Marie Callender's, and Giant Eagle.

Paige Bennett

I chose three similar crust products from the freezer section. Each came in an oven-safe disposable pan, and I used the same premade pie filling for all three.

The crusts had pretty similar prep instructions, so I thawed each for 20 minutes and baked my pies at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 50 minutes.

None of the instructions called for blind baking (baking the crust before adding filling), so I didn't do so.

The Pillsbury crust seemed simple to use.

The Pillsbury pie crust didn't have super-fancy edges.

Paige Bennett

I bought the Pillsbury pie crust on sale for $3.50, although it usually costs $4.49 at my local grocery store.

The other two brands instructed me to remove one pie crust and let it thaw on wax paper before adding it over the base crust for fruit-filling pies — Pillsbury did not.

Instead, I had to cut the crimped edges off of one crust, immediately place it over the filled base crust, then let it thaw.

I was impressed by how easy the Pillsbury crust was to work with.

It wasn't hard to get my top crust to fit over the bottom.

Paige Bennett

Even before thawing, this crust felt very pliable and easy to shape.

I didn't do anything fancy with my crust, but the dough was so soft I felt like I could've easily cut it and used strips to create a basket-weave design.

The pie crust was thin but held together better than I expected.

The final pie hardly had any cracks.

Paige Bennett

My pie looked almost perfect when I removed it from the oven with just a few super-small cracks.

The Pillsbury crust was noticeably thin, but it held its shape fairly well when I cut a slice and put it on my plate. It held together better than the other two crusts I tried.

This crust was slightly buttery, very flaky, and not dry at all.

The Giant Eagle crust had pretty edges.

The Giant Eagle crust had a nice edge design I didn't want to cover.

Paige Bennett

The store-brand Giant Eagle pie crust was the least expensive at just $2.49.

I liked the edges of this crust, which looked neater than the ones on Pillsbury's. Unfortunately, I had to cover them because my pie needed a top.

I busted out my rolling pin for the Giant Eagle pie crust.

I had to use a rolling pin to flatten the top piece of crust so it'd lie flat.

Paige Bennett

It took a lot of work to get the second piece of dough to sit on top of my pie.

This crust felt so dry that, even after thawing, I couldn't get the top portion to lie flat and neatly over the base.

It kept ripping apart and I eventually used a rolling pin to get the pieces to stick back together.

I thought this crust was lacking in flavor and texture.

I wasn't blown away by the Giant Eagle crust.

Paige Bennett

My pie had a few cracks on top and this crust didn't quite hold together as well as the one from Pillsbury.

Of the three crusts I tried, I found this one to be the driest and least flavorful. Unfortunately, the berry filling also leaked through the bottom crust, leaving my pie fairly soggy underneath.

The Marie Callender's crust looked impressive.

The Marie Callender's crust also had pretty edges.

Paige Bennett

The Marie Callender's crust was the most expensive at $5.69, so I had high expectations.

The edges looked very neat, so I was once again sad I had to cover them with a top crust.

I also had a tough time working with Marie Callender's dough.

I had to mess around with the top crust quite a bit to make it fit nicely on top of my pie.

Paige Bennett

As with the Giant Eagle dough, the Marie Callender's crust was also difficult to work with.

The crust fell apart as I tried to secure it to my base. With my fingers, a fork, and patience, I was able to cobble it together before getting the pie into the oven.

This crust looked messy, but it was so tasty.

The Marie Callender's crust had the best flavor of the three I tried, in my opinion.

Paige Bennett

Once this pie came out of the oven, the top had quite a few cracks.

When I grabbed a slice, the crust completely fell apart onto my plate. It hadn't held up nearly as well as the other two pies.

But what the pie lacked in presentation, it made up for in flavor. The nice, thick crust was buttery and flaky.

I'd buy the Marie Callender's or Pillsbury crust again, but I wouldn't follow the directions on either package.

Pillsbury and Marie Callender's both had crusts that impressed me.

Paige Bennett

I'd buy Marie Callender's crust again, especially for a one-crust pie. Although it was the most expensive and the dough was tough to work with, I thought it had the best texture and flavor.

For future double-crust pies, I'd choose Pillsbury. The dough was so easy to maneuver, and the resulting crust had good flavor.

However, for all three brands, I'd ignore some of the package directions and blind bake the crusts to create a more stable base.

If I were serving these to a group, I'd also add egg wash and sugar to the top crust before baking so it could easily become sparkly and golden.

Read the original article on Business Insider

from All Content from Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/best-store-bought-pie-crust-review
via gqrds