Perfect Pumpkin Pie
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After more than 25 years of cooking professionally—and hosting plenty of Thanksgivings—I’ve made a lot of pumpkin pies. This is the one I make every year, and the one my family looks forward to most.
Pumpkin pie is a Thanksgiving classic, and when it’s made well, it’s hard to beat—a silky, warmly spiced pumpkin filling baked into a buttery, flaky crust. But for a dessert that seems so simple, pumpkin pie can be surprisingly finicky. Over the years, I’ve tried at least a dozen recipes and run into just about every issue: fillings that won’t set, unsightly cracks, and soggy crusts. Let’s just say the person who coined the phrase “easy as pie” had clearly never baked a pumpkin pie!
The good news is that all that testing paid off. This pumpkin pie recipe turns out beautifully, with a flaky crust, rich pumpkin filling, and smooth, crack-free top. And the best part? It’s truly easy to make.
If you’re planning your holiday dessert lineup, don’t miss my pecan pie, sweet potato pie, and apple pie—they’re all wonderful alongside this pumpkin pie.
“I’ve been baking pumpkin pie for what seems like an eternity. The custard always cracks. Not this time…it’s absolutely delicious!”
What You’ll Need To Make Homemade Pumpkin Pie
- Pie Crust: Use a homemade pie crust or store-bought—whichever you prefer. If using store-bought, opt for the frozen kind in an aluminum pie pan; it’s easier to blind bake and less likely to shrink.
- Pumpkin: For the best results, I recommend Libby’s canned pumpkin purée.
- Egg & Egg Yolks: The whole egg helps set the filling, while the extra yolks add richness and give it a silky texture.
- Granulated Sugar & Light Brown Sugar: Using both gives the filling a more complex sweetness, with a subtle molasses note from the brown sugar.
- All-Purpose Flour: Slightly thickens and stabilizes the filling, which helps prevent cracks.
- Spices (ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves & black pepper): This classic blend gives the pie its warm, spiced flavor, with just a hint of heat from the black pepper.
- Evaporated Milk: Gives the filling its rich, creamy texture without making it too heavy.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Pumpkin Pie
Blind bake the crust: If using a store-bought crust, follow the package directions for pre-baking the crust. For homemade dough, fit it into a deep-dish pie pan and chill it. Line the chilled crust with parchment, fill it with pie weights (or dried beans), and bake until the edges look set.
Remove the weights and bake a bit longer until the bottom looks dry and lightly golden. If the crust puffs up, gently press it back down with a flat spatula. Blind baking gives the crust a head start so it stays nice and crisp once the wet pumpkin filling is added.
Make the filling: Whisk the filling ingredients together until completely smooth, making sure there are no pockets of flour or spices. Pour the filling into the pre-baked crust.
Bake and serve: Bake the pie at 325°F so the custard cooks gently and evenly. It’s done when the filling looks set and dry around the edges but still has a slight jiggle in the center when you nudge the pan—don’t worry, it will continue to set as it cools. If the crust edges start to brown too much before the filling is done, loosely cover them with foil.
Let the pie cool completely before slicing. Serve at room temperature or chilled, with whipped cream if you like.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Pumpkin pie is ideal for making ahead. You can bake it a day before serving, let it cool completely, then cover and refrigerate it overnight. For longer storage, the baked pie can also be frozen; see the recipe card below for full freezing instructions.
Video Tutorial
More Holiday Desserts You’ll Love
Perfect Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- 1 homemade pie crust or 9-inch deep-dish frozen pie crust shell thawed
- 1 (15-oz) can pure pumpkin (about 1¾ cups)
- 1 large egg
- 3 large egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup (packed) light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1¼ cups evaporated milk (you'll need one 12-oz can but you won't use all of it)
Instructions
- Blind Bake the Crust: If you’re using a store-bought frozen crust, follow the pre-baking instructions on the package. If you’re using a homemade crust, roll out the dough and gently fit it into a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan, making sure it’s snug against the bottom and sides. Chill the crust for at least 30 minutes.Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Place the chilled crust on a baking sheet (it makes it much easier to move in and out of the oven). Line the crust with a piece of parchment paper and fill it about three-quarters full with dried beans or pie weights.Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven, lift out the parchment and weights, and tent the edges with a few strips of foil folded in half lengthwise to keep them from getting too dark. Return the crust to the oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the bottom looks dry and lightly golden. If it puffs up a bit, just press it down gently with a flat spatula—try not to puncture it. Remove the foil, but keep it nearby in case you need it again later.After blind-baking the crust, reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
- Make the Filling: In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, egg, egg yolks, granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, pepper, and evaporated milk. Whisk until smooth, then pour the filling into the pre-baked crust.
- Bake and cool: Bake the pie for 50 to 60 minutes (at 325°F), until the filling is just set. It should look dry around the edges, but the center should jiggle just slightly if you nudge the pan. Keep a close eye on the pie as it bakes; if ever the crust looks like it's browning too quickly, tent the edges with foil strips. Let the pie cool on a rack (leave it on the baking sheet) to room temperature, a few hours. Slice or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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this is the best pumpkin pie i’ve ever had. everytime i make it( which is at least once a month) i get outstanding compliments. never again will you look for another pumpkin pie recipe.
This is the first pumpkin pie I have ever made and, I have to say, the most delicious pumpkin pie I have ever tasted! Thank you for a winning recipe. This was a hit!
This is my go-to recipe every Thanksgiving! Comes out perfect every year!!
I’d like to use freshly grated nutmeg. Should the amount be reduced?
Hi Maret, I’d suggest about 1 – 1.5 tsp. fresh nutmeg. Hope you enjoy!
Hello! I’ve made this pie three times now, they’ve all turned out very good. I’ll be making it again for Christmas. Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
I’m also planning on making mini pies (5” aluminum pie tin) for My coworkers, any idea on how many mini pies I can get from your recipe?
Hi Dawn, glad you enjoyed this enough to make it for your co-workers. I would guesstimate that you’d be two 5-inch pies from this.
Taste of the pie filling was good, but cooking time was way off. Baking a crust for 40 minutes is too long, then baking the whole pie for an additional 60 minutes was way too much time. The pie did not set after 60 minutes , I had to bake my pie an additional 45 minutes. So a total of 2.25 hours is too much time to bake a pie. Very disappointed, the crust was overbaked .
flavor was good-but cooking time was way off- first one was very undercooked using recommended time and oven temperature, second was was better using libby’s pumpkin pie cooking time! 325 degrees does not work!
Help! Can I use half & half instead of evap milk?
Hi Annie, It should work, although I can’t guarantee the top won’t crack (if it does, whipped cream will solve the problem!).
I have never made a pie from scratch since I always thought it was easier just to buy the frozen crust but boy am I glad I took a chance with this recipe! It was so easy to make and came out not only beautiful but it tasted amazing! Everyone was saying how good it was and how flaky the crust was, they just couldn’t believe I made it. I also made the perfect apple pie and that was just mind blowing! I just made the tres leche cake and thats soaking as we speak. I love every recipe i try from Jennifer! AMAZING! I wish I could rate it higher than the 5 stars!
I have been cooking/baking for my entire life, 50+ years. I followed your recipe exactly as you wrote it. Pie weights and all. While the flavor of this pie was very good, the texture not and crust hard. Adding the two tablespoons of flour to the filling causes it to be too thick and not a creamy consistency as one would expect in pumpkin pie. It is like adding too much flour to making gravy; it goes from gravy to pudding. It did solve any cracking problems, but it ruined the consistency and creaminess of the pie. I would rather have some cracking and just cover it with whipped cream and yet it be smooth and creamy as it should. Also, an all shortening based pie crust is much lighter and flakier than most all butter. Then you had us bake the crust first for 40 minutes, then another 60 with the filling. That is nearly two hours. The crust was light golden for me, as I covered the ends with foil, but all that heat from baking for so long made it hard as a rock. My pie looked exactly like yours, I even had the same pie plate, but I was embarrassed on the end result for my guests. It was not creamy like pumpkin pie should be, and the crust was hard. Honestly, it was the worst pumpkin pie I ever had.
Whatever you say. Over 100 people disagree with you, including me, so maybe you should question your “50+ years” of cooking experience.
What’s the deal? This has always been a place where cooks could freely express different experiences and opinions without getting put down in return. Let’s keep this a friendly place where we can enjoy each other’s company.
This definitely is the Perfect Pumpkin Pie! I first made it for a work potluck Thanksgiving and, afterward, people stopped by my office to say how good it was. One person even asked if I’d make another one for her Thanksgiving dinner!
I did make 1 intentional change though – I cut the sugars in half and it still turned out amazing. One unintentional change was that I didn’t have quite enough ginger and was completely out of nutmeg – and it was amazing!
Thank you for creating such a delicious pumpkin pie recipe!
Would this recipe work with fresh pie pumpkin? If so, should it be the same measurement as the canned (15 oz.) once you’ve steamed, peeled, and puréed it?
Hi Christopher, A few readers have commented that they’ve used fresh pumpkin successfully, but I’ve never prepared it that way. If you use it, you’d need the same amount as the canned. Please let me know how it turns out if you try it!