Our Best Easy Pumpkin Pie (2024)

How to make classic pumpkin pie from scratch. This easy recipe is our favorite method for making pumpkin pie. It’s one of the simplest (and tastiest) pies you can make at home. Use canned pumpkin or homemade pumpkin puree in this pumpkin pie recipe.

Watch the video

Our Best Easy Pumpkin Pie (1)

⭐️ Try our homemade sweet potato pie that just as delicious as this pumpkin pie.

Why we love this pumpkin pie recipe

  1. It’s easy! Mix your pie filling in under 5 minutes, fill your crust, and bake!
  2. This pumpkin pie tastes amazing thanks to pumpkin puree (yep, canned is fine), cream, and the perfect blend of spices.
  3. It’s ideal for making in advance. In fact, we prefer the texture of this filling after a night in the fridge.

I love homemade pumpkin pie, especially this one. Adam takes his plain, while I love adding a dollop of homemade whipped cream. Our pumpkin pie filling is creamy and rich with just enough sweetness to balance the spices, including cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

Key ingredients for homemade pumpkin pie

Use a high-quality pie dough. As with all the pie recipes on Inspired Taste, we start with this homemade pie crust with helpful video showing how we make it. It has never failed us and is our go-to recipe for making pumpkin pie, this easy sweet potato pie, and our homemade apple pie. If you have a favorite store-bought pie crust, then use it. It’s entirely up to you.

Use canned pumpkin or homemade pumpkin puree in this pumpkin pie recipe. I love the pie when we’ve used canned puree, but making fresh pumpkin puree is easy and means the pie is 100% homemade.

Bonus: when you make your own puree, you get to roast the pumpkin seeds. When using canned, I use Libby’s. If you love sweet potatoes, take a look at our homemade sweet potato pie.

Our easy pumpkin pie filling comes together in minutes. In addition to the pumpkin, you’ll need the following ingredients:

  • Eggs
  • Heavy cream
  • Granulated sugar and brown sugar
  • Vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, and salt

We don’t add too many spices to our pumpkin pie filling and love how the pumpkin gets a chance to shine. If you love spicier pies, increase the spices in the recipe below. You can also swap them for this pumpkin pie spice blend.

Our Best Easy Pumpkin Pie (2)

Should you blind bake pumpkin pie crust?

We don’t blind-bake pie crust when making pumpkin pie. “Blind baking” means partially cooking the crust before adding the filling, which helps the crust stay crisp and flaky.

By not pre-baking our crust, I love how the crust gets a little wet from the filling. The bottom of the crust browns and becomes flaky, but where the filling and crust meet, it’s soft and tender. For the best results, we highly recommend using this pie crust recipe.

With all of that said, you can absolutely par-bake / blind-bake your pie crust for our pumpkin pie recipe below. Follow these steps to blind bake your crust, before adding our pumpkin filling:

  1. Line your pie dish with dough, prick the bottom with a fork, and line with parchment or foil. Fill the foil with pie weights (or use uncooked rice or beans), then bake in a 425° F oven for 8 minutes.
  2. Remove the parchment or foil (and weights), then bake until the crust is just starting to brown, another 5 to 6 minutes. Set aside to cool while you make the filling. The crust can still be warm when you add the filling, just cool it enough so it is not hot.

How long to bake pumpkin pie?

We bake pumpkin pie in a 425° F oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Depending on your oven, you might need a bit longer.

You can tell when pumpkin pie is done when a toothpick or thin knife plunged it into the pie, about 2 inches from the edge, comes out clean. The pie should look set, but a little wiggly.

Our Best Easy Pumpkin Pie (3)

Does pumpkin pie need to be refrigerated?

Since pumpkin pie has eggs and cream, we recommend storing it in the refrigerator unless you are serving it. It can sit out at room temperature for 2 hours. Homemade pumpkin pie will last in your refrigerator for up to three days.

To refrigerate the pie, let it cool completely, and then wrap it tightly before placing it into the fridge. As a bonus, the texture of the filling improves after some time in the refrigerator.

Can you freeze pumpkin pie?

To freeze pumpkin pie, let it cool completely, and then wrap it tightly in foil before freezing. Thaw frozen pumpkin pie overnight in the fridge. Homemade pumpkin pie will last in yourfreezer for up to three months

More Pumpkin Recipes

  • How to make extra creamy pumpkin mac and cheese in under 1 hour.The perfect Fall dinner!
  • We love these pumpkin pancakes: not too sweet with a hint of spice.
  • These moistspiced pumpkin cupcakesare hard to beat.
  • How to make the best spiced pumpkin scones inspired by Starbucks.
  • This quick breadhas pumpkin, orange, and is packed with chopped chocolate. Not too sweet, extremely moist!
  • How to make the best pumpkin spice latte at homewith pumpkin puree, coffee, milk, and fall spices. Better thanstore-bought!
Our Best Easy Pumpkin Pie (4)

Our Best Easy Pumpkin Pie

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  • PREP
  • COOK
  • TOTAL

Making this pumpkin pie from scratch is easy. Use canned pumpkin or homemade pumpkin puree in this pumpkin pie recipe. We take it plain or with a dollop of softly whipped cream. The spices are not overpowering. If you like more spices in your pie, increase the cinnamon and ginger a little. We’d avoid increasing the cloves; a 1/4 teaspoon should suffice.

Makes 1 (9-inch) pie

Watch Us Make the Recipe

You Will Need

Chilled pie dough for one single-crust 9-inch pie,see our pie crust recipe

3 large eggs

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

1/3 cup (65 grams) light brown sugar

1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin puree or 2 cups (440 grams) fresh pumpkin puree, see our homemade pumpkin puree recipe

3/4 cup (175 ml) heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Homemade whipped cream, for serving

Directions

  • Prepare Crust
  • 1Roll out the dough to be two inches larger than your pie dish. Gently press the dough down into the dish to line the bottom and sides. (Be careful not to pull or stretch the dough). Trim dough to within 1/2-inch of the dish edge.

    2Fold the edges of the dough underneath itself, creating a thicker, 1/4-inch border that rests on the lip of the dish. Crimp edges. (We do this in our pie crust recipe video). Refrigerate while you make the pie filling.

  • Make Filling
  • 1Whisk the eggs and both sugars together until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, cream, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Stir until well blended.

  • Bake the Pie
  • 1Heat oven to 425° Fahrenheit (218° C). Set aside a large baking sheet.

    2Place the pie on your baking sheet. Pour the pumpkin filling into the pie shell.

    3Bake the pumpkin pie at 425° Fahrenheit (218° C) for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375° Fahrenheit (190° C) and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick or thin knife plunged it into the pie, about 2 inches from the edge, comes out clean. Rotate once or twice during baking. If, while the pie bakes, the top of the crust becomes too dark, cover it with a thin strip of aluminum foil.

  • To Finish
  • 1Cool completely on a wire rack for 2 hours or until room temperature. Cut into eight wedges and serve alone or topped with whipped cream. To store, cover the cooled pie loosely with foil or plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • Pumpkin pie spice: Substitute 2 ¼ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Here’s our homemade pumpkin spice blend.
  • How to tell when pumpkin pie is done: Take the pie out of the oven when the majority of the pie looks shiny and set on top. It should jiggle a little like jello, but not much more. The middle will still look wet on top — this is okay. It will continue to cook as the pie cools on the counter. And, as a final test, grab a toothpick or thin knife, then plunge it into the pie, about 2 inches from the edge. If it comes out clean, the pie is done. As the pie sits until cooled to room temperature, it will continue to cook and set. We wait until the pie has cooled completely, 2 to 3 hours. If the middle does not seem to be set when you cut into the pie, let it cool a little longer. Or, cut the slice anyway and cover the end with whipped cream. It will still taste great.
  • Nutrition facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.

Nutrition Per Serving Serving Size 1 slice (1/8th of pie) / Calories 365 / Protein 6 g / Carbohydrate 38 g / Dietary Fiber 2 g / Total Sugars 21 g / Total Fat 22 g / Saturated Fat 13 g / Cholesterol 131 mg

AUTHOR: Adam and Joanne Gallagher

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Our Best Easy Pumpkin Pie (2024)

FAQs

Is sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk better for pumpkin pie? ›

Sweetened condensed milk is thicker and contains added sugar, so you won't have to add extra sugar and the filling will be very rich. Evaporated milk is unsweetened and has a thinner consistency. This means that you will have to add some extra sugar and that your pie will have a lighter, airier filling.

Do I need to prebake frozen pie crust for pumpkin pie? ›

A soggy crust is the curse of many a good pie, particularly custard-based ones like our dear pumpkin. To help avoid this, partially bake the crust before adding the filling (i.e., “blind bake” the crust). If you've never done this before, don't worry — it's easy.

Is pumpkin pie healthy or unhealthy? ›

According to the USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans, we should all be eating 2 cups of orange veggies each week. Pumpkin pie can help meet these recommendations plus that brilliant orange color provides the antioxidants vitamin A and lutein.

How do you keep pumpkin pie crust from getting soggy? ›

Often, blind-baking solves this problem. If you're making a single crust custard-filled pie, like a pumpkin pie, bake the pie dough first before adding filling to allow some of the moisture in the crust to evaporate. You can also totally blind-bake fruit pies.

What if I put too much evaporated milk in my pumpkin pie? ›

Pies with too much evaporated milk formed blisters on top.

Though the interior of the filling had a great, creamy texture. The flavor was ever-so-slightly muted and had a hint of milkiness to it.

Is heavy cream or evaporated milk better for pumpkin pie? ›

There are a few unique twists in my easy pumpkin pie recipe, including swapping in brown sugar for granulated and using heavy cream instead of evaporated milk. This results in a beautiful texture and flavor that truly makes this the best pumpkin pie recipe. Here's everything you'll need: Pie dough.

Do you poke holes in pie crust before baking a pumpkin pie? ›

Pricking holes in the rolled-out pie dough allows the steam to escape while it's baking. Without this, the steam would puff up in bubbles and pockets throughout the crust, which would make some parts of the crust cook too quickly and also result in an uneven surface for your filling.

Should I blind bake my crust for pumpkin pie? ›

Typically, you only need to blind bake your crust if you're making a single-crust pie with a pre-cooked filling or a no-bake pie. If you're making a pie with a particularly wet filling, you could always partially blind bake or par-bake (more on this below!) your bottom crust to prevent the bottom from becoming soggy.

How to tell when pumpkin pie is done? ›

If the pie jiggles (but doesn't wiggle), then it's done. You should also see that the filling has darkened and the texture of the pie should be a bit puffed up from when you put it in the oven. If you're still uncertain, stick a knife (or a toothpick) in the center and see if it comes out clean.

Which pie is the unhealthiest? ›

Marie Callender's Chocolate Satin Pie

This pie is the winner for the highest calorie, sugar, and fat content of all the pies we reviewed. While we are sure it's delicious, we're not so sure it's good for your health.

Is pumpkin pie bad for high blood pressure? ›

This can include consuming adequate potassium in which pumpkin happens to be rich. Potassium helps to lower blood pressure by balancing out the negative effects of salt. Your kidneys then help to control your blood pressure by controlling the amount of fluid stored in your body.

Is sweet potato pie better for you than pumpkin pie? ›

Sweet potato does not need a lot of ingredients as it has a distinct taste. They are naturally sweet and contain nine times more sugar than pumpkin. This makes them an unhealthy option in terms of sugar content. On the other hand, sweet potatoes offer tremendously high quantities of essential nutrients.

Is it better to make pumpkin pie the day before? ›

Pumpkin pie is a great make-ahead dessert to cross off your Thanksgiving to-do list. You can prepare and bake the pie up to two days in advance, and it will still taste great on the big day. Just make sure you store the pie in the refrigerator—not on the kitchen counter—until you are ready to serve it.

What is the secret to crispy bottom pie crust? ›

Choose the Right Rack in the Oven

Which rack you use in the oven can help ensure a crisp crust. Baking the pie on a lower rack will concentrate heat on the bottom of the pie and help the crust crisp.

Should I bake the bottom pie crust first? ›

But the one surefire way to make certain your pie's crust will be golden brown, crisp, and delicious — just as appealing as its filling — is to prebake it. That's right: bake the bottom crust first, before adding the filling.

Should I use evaporated milk or condensed milk? ›

As Leal explains: "Evaporated milk offers creaminess without sweetness and is suitable for savory dishes and some desserts. On the other hand, sweetened condensed milk is intensely sweet and used in desserts and sweet treats, thanks to its thick, syrupy texture."

Why is evaporated milk used in pumpkin pie? ›

Evaporated milk: A can of evaporated milk lends richness and helps thicken the pie filling.

What if I used sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated? ›

These items are essentially the same with one big difference: no sugar is added to evaporated milk. Sweetened condensed milk also has 60% of the water removed, but contains 40% sugar. Due to the big flavor difference, they cannot be substituted for each other.

Is there a substitute for sweetened condensed milk in pumpkin pie? ›

"The only change I made was to use almond milk in place of milk. It turned out great!" "I was surprised by how nicely this turned out without using evaporated milk or sweetened condensed milk," according to lorisock.

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