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.
Add a Comment
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Can I use pumpkin spice instead of buying all the spices?
Hi Carol, Yes, you can get away with it. I would still add the black pepper in addition to the pumpkin pie spice. Enjoy!
I just wanted to say thank you for this amazing recipe!!!! I have both eaten and made many a pumpkin pie in my day, it is my favorite. I decided to try this recipe today- both the crust and pie, and I dare say it is the best by far and truly perfect. It raises the bar so much that it’s almost another level of sophistication or different dessert. Happy holidays and many blessings to you and your family!
Jenn, Can I substitute heavy cream for your condensed milk in your pumpkin pie recipe?
Hi Lisa, I’m assuming you mean the evaporated milk — yes — heavy cream will work here. Hope you enjoy!
Hi! I’d like to make this into individual pies using a muffin tin. Any idea how long I should bake it?
Hi Julie, unfortunately I don’t know how long they’ll take in that form so you’ll just need to keep a close eye on them. Please report back if you try it!
Hi Jenn! I love your recipes and both cookbooks, and my Thanksgiving table will be mostly made up of your recipes!
Question for you. To save time (and my sanity, since I have a toddler underfoot), I am thinking of making and freezing all of my desserts this weekend. I am making your pumpkin pie (x2), apple pie, pumpkin cheesecake, and possibly the pumpkin poundcake. I’ve never frozen baked pies before. This is kind of a finicky question, but can you tell me if freezing the pumpkin and apple pies will change their texture in any way? Can you tell they have been frozen, or do they basically taste the same after being thawed? Thanks so much!
So glad you like the recipes. 🙂
It sounds like you are going to have a very busy baking weekend! I think all of the recipes freeze nicely and will taste great when they’re thawed. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving!
The story styled portion of the recipe says 375 and does not mention reducing to 325 whereas the recipe style further down does. Unfortunately, I discovered this after cooking at 325 for 60 minutes, so my pie was completely undercooked in the center without adding a bunch to my time.
At the 375, it’s a good recipe and a good pie, but at 325 it is not, so I do have to give 3 stars due to the conflicting and problematic information.
This is a direct quote from the text under the picture with the hand removing the parchment & beans from the crust in the “story styled portion” – it doesn’t conflict with the recipe at all…you just missed it.
“Bake for another 20 minutes, until the dough is dry and golden. Don’t worry if the bottom puffs up; just press it down gently with a flat spatula, such as a pancake turner, taking care not to puncture it. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.”
Hello Jenn, I have been searching for the “Perfect Pumpkin Pie” for a VERY long tine. I would lie to try your recipe but wondered if I could use fresh pumpkin …. from my Halloween pumpkin? I have always had trouble with the spices because of the lack of flavor that the larger pumpkins have. What do you think?
Thank you!
Cindy
Hi Cindy, A few readers have commented that they’ve used fresh pumpkin successfully, but I’ve never prepared it that way. I don’t think canned pumpkin has a ton of flavor on its own — it’s really the added spices that give it flavor, so I think you can feel confident using the fresh pumpkin from a flavor standpoint. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!
I’m going to try it with fresh roasted sugar pumpkin, I will come back and let you know how it is!
can you substitute half and half for the evaporated milk?
Hi Kit, I wouldn’t suggest 1/2 & 1/2 but heavy cream would work. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it with cream!
Hi Jenn!
I’m going to try it with whipping cream and will report back tomorrow 🙂
Hi Jenn: I am not at all comfortable baking, was not taught when I was growing up and today I’m basically afraid of trying for fearing of a massive failure. Is there a basic baking book that could help me? I don’t know the first thing about making a pie crust, for example, and Thanksgiving is almost here.
Thanks.
Pamela
Hi Pamela, Offhand, I can’t think of a book that would be appropriate for you, but these baking tips are a really good place to start. Just keep in mind that you can start off with some simple recipes to build your confidence and work your way up from there. A great one to start with is this apple cake recipe. Hope that helps!
Jenn: I so appreciate your response.
Pamela
Hi, Pamela,
I highly recommend “The Book on Pie,” by Erin Jeanne McDowell. I’ve found it super helpful. I hope this helps!
I’m not great with dough so I buy the Pillsbury pie dough (2 per box) in the refrigerated section near the biscuits. You can just roll it out over the pie plate and follow rest of recipe.
This is the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever made, it’s so creamy and so well spiced. I didn’t have ginger so I left that out, and I accidentally added a little too much evaporated milk, but it still turned out great. My boyfriend said it’s the best pumpkin pie he’s ever had and he does NOT say stuff like that lightly. I roasted some pumpkins I got at the farmers market for the pumpkin and have way more left over than I thought I would, and I will definitely be making this again soon 🙂
Can I use half and half instead of evaporated milk?
Hi Amy, I wouldn’t use 1/2 and 1/2 but heavy cream would work. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it with heavy cream!