Wholly Wholesome leads because multiple blind tests and expert tastings praise its buttery flavor, crisp flakiness, and sturdy structure. Great Value and Pillsbury are strong alternatives for different formats and budgets.
The strongest all-around choice, with repeated praise for buttery flavor, crisp flakiness, and a sturdy, homemade-like result.
Tasting Table, Wirecutter, Food & Wine, and Better Homes & Gardens independently identify Wholly Wholesome as a leading or top-performing crust, citing flavor, flakiness, and structure.A flavorful, tender, flaky shell that offers excellent value, with toasty notes that pair especially well with pecan and caramel-apple fillings.
Food & Wine found Great Value well-seasoned, tender, flaky, buttery-tasting, and non-greasy, while noting its palm-oil formulation rather than butter.A dependable refrigerated option with visible flaky layers and savory flavor, though its roughly nine-inch rounds may not fit every standard pie dish.
Bon Appétit and Simply Recipes describe Pillsbury as flaky and sturdy, but note its savory profile and limited round size; America's Test Kitchen also praises its usability in testing.A versatile rolled crust praised for its clean, toasty flavor and light, crisp texture, with enough overhang for decorative crimping.
America's Test Kitchen called its recommended product flaky, buttery, user-friendly, and correctly sized, while its testing praised the clean flavor and crisp texture.A convenient frozen shell that browns evenly and stays tender and flaky, making it particularly useful for sweet pies and rich cream fillings.
Taste of Home recommends Pillsbury Deep Dish for sweet pies, citing even browning, tenderness, flakiness, and enough strength for fruit and cream fillings.Three independent write-ins unlock an honorable mention. The 10 strongest active mentions are shown; inactive mentions archive after 12 months. At 25 recent votes, a contender is scored for possible automatic Top 5 promotion.
No honorable mentions yet. Community suggestions appear below while they gather support.
Commercial-link disclosure: Some shopping, booking, and job-search links are affiliate links. We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases, bookings, or signups through those links, at no added cost to you. Other links are ordinary, non-affiliate links. Affiliate commissions do not determine research scores or community votes. Read our disclosures.
The five criteria create the AI baseline. The community adjustment is then added or subtracted to produce the current published score.
| Criterion | #1Wholly Wholesome Pie Shells | #2Great Value Pie Crust | #3Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts | #4Immaculate Baking Co. Pie Crust | #5Pillsbury Deep Dish Pie Crusts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94 | 91 | 86 | 88 | 81 | |
| 95 | 89 | 88 | 87 | 84 | |
| 92 | 87 | 86 | 84 | 83 | |
| 90 | 88 | 89 | 86 | 85 | |
| 93 | 89 | 86 | 82 | 80 | |
| AI baseline scoreWeighted criteria result | 93.2 | 89.0 | 87.0 | 86.0 | 82.7 |
| Community adjustmentVote-share influence | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Current published scoreBaseline + community | 93 | 89 | 87 | 86 | 83 |
The five criteria create the AI baseline. The community adjustment is then added or subtracted to produce the current published score.
| Criterion | #1Wholly Wholesome Pie Shells | #2Great Value Pie Crust | #3Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts | #4Immaculate Baking Co. Pie Crust | #5Pillsbury Deep Dish Pie Crusts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94 | 91 | 86 | 88 | 81 | |
| 95 | 89 | 88 | 87 | 84 | |
| 92 | 87 | 86 | 84 | 83 | |
| 90 | 88 | 89 | 86 | 85 | |
| 93 | 89 | 86 | 82 | 80 | |
| AI baseline scoreWeighted criteria result | 93.2 | 89.0 | 87.0 | 86.0 | 82.7 |
| Community adjustmentVote-share influence | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Current published scoreBaseline + community | 93 | 89 | 87 | 86 | 83 |
Choose any two contenders.
We’ll line up what matters.
Frozen shell
Frozen shell
Pre-shaped
Pre-shaped
Crimped edges
Standard crimped edge
Sweet and savory pies
Pecan and fruit pies
Palm oil-based
Palm oil-based
Subjective ranking synthesized from supplied blind tests, editorial tastings, and expert evaluations. Scores emphasize flavor and texture while also accounting for structure, handling, and baking consistency.