What’s more American than pie? You’ve got to have the classics like apple, pumpkin, and pecan but there are many more for you to choose from.
I’ve gathered 88 a list of the best American pies here, each one is better than the last!
Want some Thanksgiving pie inspiration? Check out my 30 Thanksgiving Pecan Pie Desserts (+Recipes)
Best American Pie Recipes
Ahead are the best American pies ever!
1. Acorn Squash Pie
An alternative to pumpkin pie, these pies are filled with acorn squash, a delicious yet underused vegetable.
Long before the Old World debut of squash it was cultivated by indigenous people in the Americas.
Want more dessert inspiration? Check out 100 American Cakes (+ Easy Recipes).
2. Apple Pie
An American classic, this dessert is made from cooked apples inside a pie crust.
Although the patriotic origins of the classic dessert date back to 1600s colonial America — apple pie originated in England.
Related: How to Fix Runny Apple Pie: 5 Easy Ways and 20 Best Apple Pie Cocktails
3. Baked Alaska Pie
Baked Alaska is a dessert that is served in a pie dish. It is made with ice cream, pieces of sponge cake or Christmas pudding, and meringue on top. It is either baked or torched to brown.
The name “baked Alaska” was supposedly coined at Antoine’s, a restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana to honor the acquisition by the United States of Alaska from the Russian Empire in 1867.
Related: 24 American Puddings (+Recipes)
4. Banana Cream Pie
Banana cream pie is a modified custard pie that dates to at least the 19th-century. The no-bake pie filling is made with vanilla pudding or pastry cream, layered with sliced bananas and whipped cream.
5. Banoffee Pie
Banoffee pie is an English dessert pie made from bananas, cream and a thick caramel sauce. Some versions of the recipe also include chocolate, coffee or both.
6. Boston Cream Pie
Even though it’s called a pie, it’s actually a two-layer golden cake filled with a rich and smooth pastry cream, but it’s the rich chocolate icing that really makes it stand out. Back in the 1800s, most people drank chocolate at home or put it in puddings.
7. Blum’s Coffee Toffee Pie
The original San Francisco treat! This pie is frosted with a rich coffee flavored whipped cream. Sadly, Blum’s bakery and restaurant closed in the 1970’s. But their pie recipe is still open for business.
8. Bean Pie
A sweet custard pie whose filling consists of mashed beans, usually navy bean, sugar, eggs, milk, butter and spices. Common spices and flavorings include vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Bean pies are commonly associated with cuisine of African American Muslims as an alternative to soul foods, except those containing vanilla extract or imitation vanilla extract because they contain alcohol.
9. Black Bottom Pie
The creamy, bittersweet-chocolate “bottom” of this early-twentieth-century icebox pie rests on a graham cracker crust.
Its invention has been claimed by Monroe Boston Strause of Los Angeles.
10. Blueberry Pie
The summer is perfect for fresh blueberry pie. Just add ice cream.
Blueberry pie is bake because it does not require pitting or peeling of fruit. It usually has a top and bottom crust.
Blueberry Pie was brought to the United States by settlers from northern Europe and Scandinavia. The first blueberry pie recipe was documented in the Appledore Cook Book in 1872.
11. Bob Andy Pie
A sweet pie. It is similar to a custard pie that is spiced with cinnamon and cloves. It is thought to have originated among the Amish and is named for two legendary gelding workhorses.
12. Buttermilk Pie
It is one of the desperation pies, made using simple, staple ingredients. It is similar to, and sometimes confused with, chess pie, but it does not include cornmeal.
Buttermilk pie is an American cuisine, typically associated with the south.
13. Butterscotch Pie
Butterscotch pie is made by cooking brown sugar with egg yolks, cornstarch, milk or cream and butter to make a butterscotch custard pie filling which is topped with meringue and browned in the oven.
Its invention is said to date back to 1904, credited to a creamery in Connersville, Indiana, where the recipe was published in the 1904 edition of a Methodist church cookbook.
14. Cobbler
Cobblers are an American deep-dish fruit pie with a thick crust and a fruit filling (such as peaches, apples, berries).
Cobblers originated in the British American colonies. English settlers were unable to make traditional suet puddings due to lack of suitable ingredients and cooking equipment.
15. Custard Pie
American custard pie is made with a mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and sometimes nutmeg combined with a pie crust.
16. Coconut Cream Pie
Features a thick and creamy coconut filling, crispy homemade pie crust, mounds of sweet whipped cream, and toasted coconut.
The coconut cream pie has been around for over a century. Back in the late 1800s Americans and Europeans were really in to their imported tropical fruit like pineapples and bananas, but the coconut hadn’t yet taken off.
17. Cherry Pie
A pie baked with a cherry filling. Traditionally, cherry pie is made with sour cherries rather than sweet cherries.
18. Chess Pie
The recipe for a classic chess pie is simple—butter, lots of sugar, flour, milk, cornmeal, eggs, and a dash of vinegar (there are also variations like lemon and chocolate).
19. Chicken Pot Pie
An all-American comfort food. But the most iconic version of it — from Lancaster, in Pennsylvania Dutch country — has its roots in English dishes made from leftovers. The Pennsylvania Dutch added noodles, and the rest of the country made it a standby.
20. Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
Chocolate peanut butter pie is a variation made with a filling of sweetened peanut butter layered into a pie shell made of frozen whipped cream and topped with a chocolate ice cream and whipped cream mixture. This pie is served frozen.
21. Coconut Pudding Pie
Creamy coconut pudding is sweetened coconut flakes and bakes in 10 minutes for a tasty old-fashioned pie in no time.
22. Derby Pie
Derby pie is a chocolate and walnut tart in a pie shell with a pastry dough crust. It is made with walnuts and chocolate chips. The pie was created in the Melrose Inn of Prospect, Kentucky.
23. Desperation Pie
These pies were more common during the Great Depression and rationing of World War II. They’re made using staple ingredients like butter, sugar, eggs and flour, and other ingredients on hand to substitute for ingredients that were out of season or too expensive.
24. Elderberry Pie
The filling of an elderberry pie tastes like the filling of any other berry pie, but it also has some earthy notes. Elderberries are not too sweet, but they have a very bright flavor that is just the right amount of earthy and tart. That makes them a great berry to mix with sweeter fruits like apples or strawberries in pie recipes. They also go well with tart fruits like blackberries or grapes with a mild flavor.
25. Fried Pie
A dessert pie that are similar to a turnover, except smaller and fried. The fruit filling is wrapped in the dough, similar to the dough of a pie crust. The famous Oklahoma fried pies started out as a simple recipe south of the Arbuckle Mountains.
26. Fried Sweet Potato Pies
Creamy sweet potato filling in a buttery pie crust. Fried sweet potato hand pies are so easy to make homemade from scratch!
George Washington Carver developed more than 100 uses for sweet potatoes including his own recipe for sweet potato pie.
Related: 15 Best Mashed Sweet Potato Recipes
27. Fudge Bottom Pie
The historic rivalry that begat this striated pie makes slicing into it even more interesting. Even if you aren’t a University of Wisconsin-Madison alum, this is a pie worth your attention.
28. Flag Pie
It is the patriotic centerpiece every 4th of July party needs. Made with blueberries, strawberries and doughy stars and stripes.
29. Green Tomato Pie
Green tomato pie is a pie in American dessert that can be made like other fruit pies by sprinkling sugar, flour, cinnamon and other spices or raisins over sliced tomatoes and pieces of butter.
30. Grape Pie
A fruit pie made from Concord grape — and part of harvest time traditions in the Finger Lakes region of New York in the United States.
31. Grasshopper Pie
This American retro, crunchy, mint-chocolate dessert was a favorite of Southern hostesses in the 1950s and 1960s.
The recipe may have been developed by the Knox Gelatine and Heublein Cordial companies as a way to promote their products.
32. Huckleberry Pie
Huckleberries are the prefect balance between sweet and tart. Many describe the taste of huckleberries as a combination of blueberries and cranberries.
Huckleberries are native to the eastern and southeastern United States.
33. Hoosier Pie
Also known as Indiana sugar cream pie, it’s a single-crust pie with a smooth filling made from flour, butter, salt, vanilla, cream, and brown sugar.
34. Icebox Pie
An icebox pie consisting of lemon juice, eggs, and condensed milk in a pie crust, frequently made of graham crackers and butter. It is a variant of key lime pie.
Ice Box Pie is a delicious classic southern dessert that was named after the ice box that they were kept cool in.
35. Island Pecan Pie
It’s loaded with pineapple, coconut, and pecans in a delicious creamy filling. A tropical twist on a pecan pie classic!
There are some who believe that the pecan pie originated in New Orleans. Early pecan recipes first appeared in Texas cookbooks in the 1870s and 1880s.
36. Indiana Sugar Cream Pie
Also known as Hoosier pie, it’s a single-crust pie with a smooth filling made from flour, butter, salt, vanilla, cream, and brown sugar.
Easy to make, this is a fabulously rich pecan pie without the pecans. The topping is an incredible whipped bourbon cream.
37. Jello Pie
Stay with me here: Jell-O and Jell-O pie recipes are American inventions.
If you’ve got boxes of Jello-O mix in your pantry, you’re in for a treat.
38. Key Lime Pie
An American dessert pie made of Key lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk.
It may be served with no topping, topped with a meringue topping made from egg whites, or with whipped cream; it may be cooked in a pie crust, graham cracker crust, or no crust.
39. Kentucky Bourbon Pie
It is made with walnuts and chocolate chips. This recipe is a variation of Kentucky Derby pie which is often associated with the Kentucky Derby.
40. Karo Pecan Pie
The Karo Syrup Pecan Pie recipe is the original pecan pie recipe.
Karo pecan pie tastes like a mix of sweet, buttery crunch and a savory, nutty aftertaste that will make you want just one more slice.
Karo is a brand of high fructose corn syrup.
41. Lemon Chess Pie
A simple combination of eggs, sugar, and butter, and lemon. With the tiniest bit of flour or cornmeal for thickening. Chess pie originated in the South.
42. Lemon Meringue Pie
A type of dessert pie, consisting of a shortened pastry base filled with lemon curd and topped with meringue.
A Philadelphia invention born out of the Victorian-era, courtesy of Mrs. Elizabeth Goodfellow, a 19th century pastry shop proprietress who ran America’s first cooking school.
43. Maple Cream Pie
Maple custard pie from the cuisine of New England.
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It’s made with maple sugar and scalded milk in a double boiler. Cornstarch is added to the sweetened milk to make a thin paste which is poured over beaten eggs, then cooked all together briefly then butter, vanilla and salt are stirred.
Once cooled the custard is poured into the pie shell, served topped with whipped cream.
44. Millionaire Pie
A no-bake American pie. This pie is a dish from the Southern United States and originally from South Carolina. Because it was so rich, it gave rise to the name.
45. Mississippi Mud Pie
Mississippi mud pie is a chocolate-based dessert pie that is likely to have originated in the U.S. state of Mississippi, hence the name.
46. Montgomery Pie
A Pennsylvania Dutch pie with a buttery crust with a gooey molasses and lemon filling and a buttermilk cake topping.
47. Meringue Pie
A pie, consisting of a shortened pastry base and topped with meringue. To make a meringue, you need to beat egg whites with sugar until they are thick and hold stiff peaks.
Meringue pie is so light and airy that it just melts on your tongue.
48. Mile High Deep Dish Apple Pie
This extra thick, mile-high apple pie has a buttery crust double stacked with apples.
49. Maple Syrup Pie
Folks in New Hampshire apparently appreciate maple syrup almost as Vermont.
These pies are popular at diners and restaurants.
50. Moon Pie
A Moon Pie, is an American snack, of two round graham cookies, with marshmallow filling, dipped in a flavored coating. The snack is popular in the South, where they are traditionally enjoyed with RC Cola.
51. McDonald’s Baked Apple Pie
McDonald’s Baked Apple Pie features 100% American-grown apples, and a lattice crust baked to perfection and topped with sprinkled sugar.
52. Nantucket Cranberry Pie
53. Nesselrode Pie
The Nesselrode was a New York signature in the 1940s through the 1960s.
Nesselrode pie is a creamy, chilled pie made with candied fruit, roasted chestnuts, rum or brandy.
54. Ohio Lemon Pie
Also known as shaker lemon pie, is a fruit pie typical of the Midwestern United States.
55. Oklahoma Fried Pies
Fried pies are mainly dessert pies that are similar to turnovers, except that they are smaller and fried.
The famous Oklahoma fried pies started out as a simple recipe south of the Arbuckle Mountains.
Historically in the American South, fried pies were known as “Crab Lanterns”, a term that dates back to at least 1770, and may originate from crab apple pies that had slits for ventilation, thus resembling a lantern.
56. Old Fashioned Buttermilk Pie
This traditionally southern buttermilk pie with a flaky crust filled with a custard-like filling.
57. Oatmeal Pie
Oatmeal Pie is a sweet and gooey, old-fashioned dish.
Oatmeal gives crunchy texture. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
58. Peach Cobbler
Peach Cobbler Day was created by the Georgia Peach Council in the 1950s to sell canned peaches.
The rough look of the pie gives the dish its name. It looks “cobbled” together.
Cobblers originated in the British American colonies.
59. Pie a La Mode
Pie served with ice cream originated in New York in the late 1890s.
60. Pennsylvania Dutch Chicken Pot Pie
The term “pot pie” is used in North America to describe savory pie dishes.
Pot pies may be made with a variety of fillings including poultry, beef, seafood, or plant-based meat substitute fillings, and may also differ in the types of crust.
61. Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin is native to North America.
Pumpkin pie is the quintessential American Thanksgiving dessert.
Early American settlers of the Plymouth Colony in southern New England (1620-1692), may have made pumpkin pies, of sorts, without crusts.
Related 10 Pumpkin Pie Problems And How To Fix Them
62. Peanut Butter Pie
Peanut butter pie is made with a filling of sweetened peanut butter layered into a pie shell made of frozen whipped cream and topped with whipped cream.
63. Pandowdy
Pandowdy dates back to American colonial times.
It is a sort of pie made with sliced fruit — usually apples — sweetened with sugar or molasses, then topped with a rolled biscuit dough, or according to some old recipes, a pastry dough.
64. Pecan Pie
Pecan pie may be a variant of chess pie, which is made with a similar butter-sugar-egg custard.
Pecans are native to the United States and grow in a wide swath from Illinois down throughout the South.
Related: 10 Pecan Pie Problems And How To Fix Them
65. PieCaken
The PieCaken has layers of pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and spice cake all held together with cinnamon buttercream and topped with apple pie filling.
The dessert was developed in 2015 for a hotel restaurant in Manhattan.
66. Pear Pie
The best pears to use in pear pies are Anjous and Bartletts.
Early colonists brought the first pear trees to America’s eastern settlements.
67. Peanut Pie
Peanut pie, sometimes called the “poor man’s pecan pie”, is a pie that is part of the cuisine of the Southern United States
68. Quince Pie
Quince trees were introduced to North America in the 1800s. Quince fruit is used in the same manner as apples in pies.
Quince is a very aromatic, almost floral-tasting fruit that resembles a cross between an apple and a pear.
69. Raisin and Sour Cream Pie
This meringue-topped baked custard pie is made with sugar, egg yolks, sour cream, flour and raisins, baked in a pastry-lined pie dish until the custard filling is set.
Some recipes add pecans to the filling, or spices like cinnamon and cloves.
70. Razzleberry Pie
Razzleberry is a type of pie traditionally made with raspberries and blackberries.
In 1962, the television special Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol first used the term “razzleberry dressing” during the song “The Lord’s Bright Blessing.” This was a fictional dessert or sauce, invented for the TV special.
71. Robert Redford Pie
A decadent, creamy, pudding-like pie. It has thick chocolate filling, thick cream cheese filling, a butter/nut crust, and is topped with whipped cream.
72. Rhubarb Pie
This pie is a traditional dessert in the United States. It is part of New England cuisine.
Europeans introduced rhubarb first to the New England region in the 1820s.
Sometime in the nineteenth century it made its way south and became very popular among southerners.
73. Skillet Pie
Rustic cast-Iron skillet Apple Pie only takes a few minutes to put together.
Although skillets are quintessentially part of the American culinary story, it was invented by an Englishman named Abraham Darby in 1707.
74. Sweet Potato Pie
In the early 20th century, George Washington Carver, a black scientist and inventor, came up with his own recipe for sweet potato pie, which featured sliced rounds instead of the typical mash.
Sweet potato pie appears in the southern United States from the early colonial days.
The use of sweet potatoes in Southern and African-American cuisine traces back to West African influences.
75. Sonker
An Appalachian term for a deep-dish pie similar to a cobbler served in many flavors including strawberry, peach, sweet potato, and cherry.
It is a dish unique to North Carolina.
76. Shoofly Pie
Shoofly pie is a type of American pie made with molasses associated with Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine.
Related to the Jenny Lind pie, it may have originated among the Pennsylvania Dutch in the 1880s as molasses crumb cake.
It was traditionally served not as a dessert pie, but as a breakfast food with hot coffee.
77. Southern Pecan Pie
Pecans are native to the United States and grow in a wide swath from Illinois down throughout the South. Though many other southern states have pecans.
78. Sugar Cream Pie
The dish is the unofficial state pie of Indiana, where it is believed to have originated with Quaker settlers.
They came from North Carolina in the early 19th century, and thereafter settled in east-central Indiana, particularly around the cities of New Castle, Portland, Richmond, and Winchester.
79. Slow Cooker Peach Cobbler
The slow cooker (or crockpot) was invented in Kansas City.
80. Shaker Lemon Pie
Also known as Ohio lemon pie, is a fruit pie typical of the Midwestern United States.
81. Strawberry Pie
Strawberry pie with a sweet red gelatin mingling with tart berries.
Strawberry pie mostly consists of strawberries, sugar, a pie crust, and sometimes gelatin.
82. Turtle Pie
Turtle pie got its name due to the caramel, chocolate and pecans that are used to top the pies, which are said to have a similarity in flavor to that of DeMet’s Turtles.
The pie usually has a cookie crumb crust and is often made with a custard, mousse or a cheesecake filling.
83. Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie
Just add bourbon. A decadent, ooey-gooey pecan pie that lives up to its name.
84. Vanilla Cream Pie
Vanilla cream pie is rich, silky, and indulgent yet so light and dreamy.
Creamy vanilla custard topped with lots of whipped cream.
Cream pies originated in the United States.
85. Vinegar Pie
This old-fashioned pie recipe might surprise you. While apple cider vinegar is an unusual ingredient, it works out very well.
It’s a Depression-era recipe. The custard-like filling includes walnuts and raisins, and the crust is deliciously buttery.
86. Whoopie Pies
An American baked product that may be considered either a cookie, pie, sandwich, or cake.
It is made of two round mound-shaped pieces of usually chocolate cake, or sometimes pumpkin, gingerbread or other flavored cakes, with a sweet, creamy filling or frosting sandwiched between them.
87. Zonker Pie
Also known as Sonker in Surry County, North Carolina.
Zonker pie is an Appalachian term for a deep-dish pie similar to a cobbler served in many flavors including strawberry, peach, sweet potato, and cherry.
88. Zucchini Apple Pie
The keto diet was developed in 1924 at the Mayo Clinic.
The secret to keto apple pie filling – is zucchini or yellow squash!
Yes, you can have your veggies AND your sugar-free apple pie all in one delicious bite.
American Pie FAQs
What are the 5 most popular pies in America?
- Apple Pie
- Pecan Pie
- Blueberry Pie
- Pumpkin Pie
- Cherry Pie
What’s the difference between a pie and cobbler?
The biggest difference is that a cobbler is so easy to make (easier than pie!). While a pie is made with a bottom crust and often a top crust, the dough and the fruit filling cook together in a cobbler. … Here’s a traditional, foolproof peach cobbler recipe that turns out perfect dishes every time.
What’s the difference between a pie and tart?
The main difference is that tarts only have a bottom crust, and the crust is much thicker than a pie crust. Then you fold the edges up and just slightly on top of the filling to make a rustic looking pie crust. The top of the filling stays exposed.
What’s the difference between a pie and quiche?
Pies can be either sweet or savory. Quiches must be savory. A pie can be with and without a top crust.
What is the different between pie crust and shortcrust?
Shortcrust is easier to break apart than American-style pie dough. Shortcrust pastry is a crumbly, biscuit-like French-style dough. This dough is called “short” because the flour content is usually double that of the fat.
How many types of pies are there?
There are two types of pies: sweet and savory. Sweet pies can be filled with fruit, nuts, vegetables (rhubarb), root vegetables (sweet potato), cream, or custard. Savory pies can be filled with meats, eggs and cheese (quiche and pizza), or a mix of meat and vegetables (pot pie and shepherd’s pie).
What are examples of sweet pies?
Examples of sweet pies include apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, sweet potato pie, cherry pie, and coconut cream pie. Most sweet pies are baked in an oven. However, some pies (like coconut cream pie) are no-bake.
Sweet pies can be served with whipped cream. Or a scoop of ice cream, a style known as pie à la mode in North America.
What are examples of savory pies?
In the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand, meat pies with fillings such as steak, cheese, steak and kidney, minced beef, or chicken and mushroom are popular.
In America, pot pies with a flaky crust and bottom are typically filled with beef, chicken, or turkey mixed with gravy and mixed vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and peas.
What is a single-crust pie?
A filled pie (also known as a single-crust or bottom-crust pie) has pastry lining the baking dish, with the filling placed on top but left open.
What is a top-crust pie?
Before baking, a top-crust pie has the filling in the bottom of the dish and is covered with pastry or another covering. The filling in a two-crust pie is completely enclosed in the pastry shell.
Who invented the first pie?
Ancient Egyptians were the first people to make a dish that was similar to a pie. They were crusty cakes made from oats, wheat, rye, or barley. They were filled with honey. On a tablet made before 2000 BC, a recipe for chicken pie was also found.