Tastiest Thanksgiving Dessert Pies, Ranked

Ever tried strawberry rhubarb pie? What about German chocolate pie? The options for Thanksgiving dessert are endless.

Thanksgiving is about family, they say. It’s about gratitude and appreciating what we have. But we’re going to level with you: Without the food, no one would show up. Thanksgiving is about being thankful, but it’s also about celebrating all we have to be thankful for with a mind-numbingly tasty, waistband-expanding meal.

No Thanksgiving dinner would be complete without Thanksgiving dessert, and it’s hard to go wrong with pie. Classics like apple and pumpkin are hard to pass up, but there are so many tasty pie flavors to pick from — and debate over which one’s the absolute best. That’s why we decided to rank 32 delicious Thanksgiving dessert pies and included their recipes for you to consider adding to your spread. Which one will you make this year?

32. Shoofly Pie

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Key ingredients: Sugar and molasses

Why Shoofly Pie is amazing: If you’ve never heard of Shoofly pie, you’re probably not from the south. It’s like a cake baked in a pie crust. The molasses crumb pie has been around since the late 1800s when it was originally served as a breakfast food rather than a dessert. It’s basically Thanksgiving coffee cake.

Try Shoofly Pie yourself.

31. Salted Caramel Pie

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Key ingredients: Salted caramel sauce and fleur de sel

Why Salted Caramel Pie is amazing: Like the gooey part of pecan pie filling but not the pecans? Meet your match made in pie heaven. This Thanksgiving dessert capitalizes on the salted caramel craze, blending sweet and savory flavors for the perfect pie. It’s supremely sweet and sticky, and it can be cooked with premade crust in a flash.

Try Salted Caramel Pie yourself.

30. Honey-Flower Pie

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Key ingredients: Honey and dried lavender

Why Honey-Flower Pie is amazing: There are tons of delicious pie recipes out there, but it’s nice to branch out from traditional Thanksgiving dessert recipes now and again. Honey-flower pie is made with real lavender and mild golden honey, then topped with coarse sea salt. It’s a similar flavor to lavender ice cream or lavender lattes, only way more satisfying.

Try Honey-Flower Pie yourself.

29. Chess Pie

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Key ingredients: Butter and cornmeal

Why Chess Pie is amazing: Chess pie is the most Southern pie on this list. It’s been a Southern holiday staple for over a century, made with butter, sugar, eggs and a thickening agent. Some bakers use flour while others use cornmeal. That’s the beauty of it; the ingredients are simple, and you can probably make it from whatever you already have in the pantry.

Try Chess Pie yourself.

28. Butterscotch Mousse Pie

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Key ingredients: Dark brown sugar and vanilla extract

Why Butterscotch Mousse Pie is amazing: Another Thanksgiving dessert that’s a hit with caramel lovers is butterscotch mousse pie. The filling is made from smooth butterscotch pudding, but the real showstopper is the toasted vanilla cream layered on top. Add semi-sweet chocolate chips for decoration.

Try Butterscotch Mousse Pie yourself.

27. Nectarine Blueberry Pie

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Key ingredients: Fresh fruit and lemon juice

Why Nectarine Blueberry Pie is amazing: Nectarines and blueberries are our new favorite celebrity couple. The key to a perfect nectarine blueberry pie is to use fresh fruit, as frozen berries tend to get too juicy. Bake the pie until the filling is bubbling, allow it to cool, then serve with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Try Nectarine Blueberry Pie yourself.

26. Peanut Butter Pie

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Key ingredients: Peanut butter and cream cheese

Why Peanut Butter Pie is amazing: Is it peanut butter? Is it pie? It’s both. Made with smooth peanut butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream and cream cheese, the theme with peanut butter pie is clearly creaminess. The filling is whipped until light and smooth, then poured into a flaky pie crust and baked until the top is silky smooth. It’s much lighter than you’d expect, but add some lightly sweetened whipped cream to tone down the richness of the filling.

Try Peanut Butter Pie yourself.

25. Coconut Cream Pie

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Key ingredients: Coconut milk and heavy whipping cream

Why Coconut Cream Pie is amazing: At first glance, you might have thought this was buttermilk pie or even Key lime. But no. It’s coconut cream pie, and it’s to die for. The tropical-tasting coconut cream filling is like biting into a cloud. Don’t forget to add homemade whipped cream and toasted coconut on top.

Try Coconut Cream Pie yourself.

24. Banana Cream Pie

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Key ingredients: Bananas and cinnamon

Why Banana Cream Pie is amazing: People either love or hate banana cream pie. There’s really no middle ground. It’s like eating banana pudding inside a pie crust and topped with more bananas and whipped cream. We can certainly get behind a banana-heavy dessert for Thanksgiving. Just don’t slice the bananas until the last minute, or the ones on top will turn brown before you even finish dinner.

Try Banana Cream Pie yourself.

23. Rocky Road Pie

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Key ingredients: Mini marshmallows and chopped almonds

Why Rocky Road Pie is amazing: There’s ice cream cake. Why not ice cream pie? Technically, this is ice cream flavored pie, not pie made of ice cream. Rocky road is such an iconic flavor, however, that we’ll consider this a valid (and addictive) mashup.

Try Rocky Road Pie yourself.

22. Tiramisu Pie

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Key ingredients: Vanilla wafers and cream cheese

Why Tiramisu Pie is amazing: Some Italian families already bring tiramisu to Thanksgiving dinner. If your family would find that odd, combine all the flavors of Italian tiramisu with traditional, Thanksgiving pie. Layers of light vanilla wafers and creamy pudding, plus coffee, rum and bittersweet cocoa powder? We’ll be taking all of the leftovers home, so our apologies in advance.

Try Tiramisu Pie yourself.

21. Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie

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Key ingredients: Peanut butter and Oreo cookies

Why Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie is amazing: Part of what makes Thanksgiving pie so delicious is that it combines contrasting textures and flavors. That’s especially true with peanut butter chocolate pie, which we had to give more credit to than its cousin peanut butter pie. The smooth layers of chocolate and peanut butter contrast with the crumbly cookie crust and light, airy whipped cream for a flavor experience that’s hard to forget.

Try Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie yourself.

20. Mississippi Mud Pie

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Key ingredients: Dark brown sugar and dark chocolate

Why Mississippi Mud Pie is amazing: The key to any chocolate-based pie is to mix the filling until it’s as smooth as silk. Mississippi mud pie is the most intensely chocolate pie one can bake. Everything about it is chocolate. Chocolate crust, chocolate pudding filling and chocolate shavings on top for garnish. It’s not the most common Thanksgiving pie flavor, but your guests will be pleasantly surprised by the decadent treat.

Try Mississippi Mud Pie yourself.

19. Mocha Cream Pie

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Key ingredients: Dark chocolate and freshly ground coffee

Why Mocha Cream Pie is amazing: We had to include something for the coffee lovers out there. Mocha cream pie is like taking a bite of a cup of coffee with copious amounts of cream and sugar — plus crunchy, crumbly Oreo cookie crust and espresso flavored whipped cream. The filling is coffee and chocolate pudding, so we’d advise you not to lick the spoon. If you have as much self-control as we do, you’ll end up eating the filling before it ever hits the oven.

Try Mocha Cream Pie yourself.

18. Cranberry Apple Pie

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Key ingredients: Tart apples and fresh cranberries

Why Cranberry Apple Pie is amazing: Apple pie is a standard Thanksgiving dessert, but it can get boring year after year. Adding cranberries to the mix gives apple pie an added burst of tartness and a fragrance that spreads through the entire house.

Try Cranberry Pie yourself.

17. Pear Crumb Pie

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Key ingredients: Brown sugar, cinnamon and sliced pears

Why Pear Crumb Pie is amazing: Again, apple pie is so popular that we tend to neglect pear-flavored desserts, but pear crumb pie offers quite the surprise of delicious flavors. It has a similar texture to apple pie, but with a unique flavor and a sweet, crumbly topping. Drizzle it with caramel sauce for extra pizzazz.

Try Pear Crumb Pie yourself.

16. Apple Custard Pie

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Key ingredients: Baking apples and eggs

Why Apple Custard Pie is amazing: It’s tough to top old-fashioned apple pie, but this apple pie variation is an easy way to shake up an old classic. It combines hot, cinnamon sugar apples with smooth and creamy vanilla custard. Top it off with a simple almond streusel topping, and you have a perfectly tasty and unique fall pie.

Try Apple Custard Pie yourself.

15. Fresh Peach Pie

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Key ingredients: Peeled and sliced peaches, cinnamon and nutmeg

Why Fresh Peach Pie is amazing: Biting into a forkful of homemade peach pie is like taking a bite of an August day. Cinnamon brings out the flavor of the peaches without overpowering them, and the crispiness of the crust turns each bite into an experience.

Try Fresh Peach Pie yourself.

14. German Chocolate Pie

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Key ingredients: German sweet chocolate and shredded coconut

Why German Chocolate Pie is amazing: German chocolate cake is one of the tastiest inventions ever, combining rich chocolate cake with layers of sweet, coconut-pecan frosting. With the addition of a flaky, melt-in-your-mouth crust, German chocolate pie might even be better than its cakey predecessor.

Try German Chocolate Pie yourself.

13. Blueberry Pie

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Key ingredients: Fresh blueberries

Why Blueberry Pie is amazing: Violet, you’re turning violet! If eating a blueberry pie meant we would turn into giant, sentient blueberries, we’d still eat it. The simplicity of blueberry pie and the light “pop” as you bite down on each sweet, juicy berry makes it easily one one of our top picks for Thanksgiving dessert.

Try Blueberry Pie yourself.

12. Lemon Meringue Pie

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Key ingredients: Fresh lemon juice and eggs

Why Lemon Meringue Pie is amazing: Light, fluffy and fresh, lemon meringue pie is best with a not-too-sweet filling and a lightly toasted top. Do you like the meringue better or the lemon? It’s a question we hope we never have to answer.

Try Lemon Meringue Pie yourself.

11. Key Lime Pie

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Key ingredients: Graham crackers, fresh lime juice and condensed milk

Why Key Lime Pie is amazing: Whether lemon meringue or Key lime is better is a matter of opinion. We’re not saying it’s wrong to prefer lemon meringue, but wait … actually, we are. Key lime pie has a particularly fresh flavor that reminds diners of breezy summer days. And don’t worry, you don’t have to use limes from the Florida Keys to enjoy this pie. Ordinary limes will do just fine.

Try Key Lime Pie yourself.

10. Chocolate Cream Pie

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Key ingredients: Semi-sweet chocolate and heavy cream

Why Chocolate Cream Pie is amazing: If you love chocolate and you love pie, chocolate cream pie is a no-brainer. It’s not a traditional Thanksgiving dessert, but it’s so good that no one will care. Decadent dark chocolate is offset by a light, fluffy cream garnish. Sprinkle it with curls of shaved chocolate and chopped hazelnuts for a picture-perfect pie.

Try Chocolate Cream Pie yourself.

9. Sweet Potato Pie

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Key ingredients: Sweet potatoes, cinnamon and nutmeg

Why Sweet Potato Pie is amazing: Sweet potato pie is like a cousin of pumpkin pie. It’s more subtly spiced but just as delicious. Doubling the recipe is a breeze, so consider making a few sweet potato pies at a time to give to friends and neighbors.

Try Sweet Potato Pie yourself.

8. Buttermilk Pie

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Key ingredients: Buttermilk, butter and vanilla extract

Why Buttermilk Pie is amazing: Not a huge fan of buttermilk? Don’t worry. Buttermilk pie doesn’t actually taste like buttermilk. It’s made with a light and slightly tangy custard that’s similar in texture to chess pie. The only problem? It’s so light that it’s easy to eat slice after slice, earning it a top 10 spot on our list. Pro-tip: Hide a slice in the back of the fridge for later, because your family will definitely “forget” to leave you a piece.

Try Buttermilk Pie yourself.

7. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

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Key ingredients: Fresh or frozen rhubarb and strawberries

Why Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is amazing: Strawberry pie is fine. We have no problem with strawberry pie, but it can be painfully sweet. Toss rhubarb into the mix, however, and you have an instant crowd-pleaser. Rhubarb is sour on its own, but when baked into a sinfully tasty confection with fresh strawberries, it’s love at first bite.

Try Strawberry Rhubarb Pie yourself.

6. Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

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Key ingredients: Pumpkin puree and cream cheese

Why Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie is amazing: Whether you consider this a true Thanksgiving pie flavor or not is up to you, but we’re too in love with it to care about rules. The warming flavor of spiced pumpkin combined with a crumbly graham cracker crust is dreamy. Add in some tangy cream cheese, and your guests won’t be able to resist coming back for seconds.

Try Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie yourself.

5. Cherry Pie

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Key ingredients: Pitted fresh cherries and almond extract

Why Cherry Pie is amazing: Making a perfect cherry pie is a labor of love, but it’s worth it. After pitting each and every cherry and reducing them with sugar and a hint of almond, the cherries are ready to bake into a golden brown pie crust. In this case, reducing the cherries first by simmering them on the stove is a must to avoid turning your pie into cherry soup.

Try Cherry Pie yourself.

4. Three-Berry Pie

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Key ingredients: Any combination of your favorite berries

Why Three-Berry Pie is amazing: One berry, two berry, three berry, four, add vanilla ice cream for deliciousness galore. Berry pie is fantastic because it’s so hard to mess it up. Any combination of berries will do, but strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries are our favorites to try out. Like apple pie, three-berry pie is best when it’s not overly sweet.

Try Three-Berry Pie yourself.

3. Pecan Pie

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Key ingredients: Chopped pecans and vanilla extract

Why Pecan Pie is amazing: Pecan pie is as indulgent and rich as a pie can get, and we’re here for it. Crunchy, sweet pecans packed into a sticky, caramel-like maple filling, all surrounded by a buttery, flaky pie crust is the perfect sweet and salty Thanksgiving dessert.

Try Pecan Pie yourself.

2. Old-Fashioned Apple Pie

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Key ingredients: Tart apples, cinnamon and sugar

Why Old-Fashioned Apple Pie is amazing: A close second, apple pie is as American as baseball. The tartness of the apples is balanced by sweet, gooey brown sugar and a flaky crust. For a twist on traditional apple pie, try sprinkling it with a streusel crumb topping instead of a lattice crust.

Try Old-Fashioned Apple Pie yourself.

1. Classic Pumpkin Pie

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Key ingredients: Pumpkin puree and condensed milk

Why Classic Pumpkin Pie is amazing: While the pumpkin versus apple versus pecan debate rages on, we polled our staff who vehemently believe that pumpkin still has the edge when it comes to Thanksgiving desserts. Store-bought pumpkin pies are usually junk, though, so make it from scratch with freshly ground spices for a creamy, spicy pumpkin pie.

Try Classic Pumpkin Pie yourself.