The Best Thanksgiving Pies Ranked Once and For All

Don’t get us wrong — we love pies of all shapes and sizes. But not all pies are created equal. (Chocolate cream vs. cherry? Different leagues entirely.)

8. Sweet Potato Pie

Let’s be honest. Who asked for sweet potato pie? Is anyone really missing out if Aunt Sue forgets to bring it to this year’s festivities? We’re saying no, and sweet potato comes in at spot #8.

7. Cherry Pie

Thanksgiving day eating is a marathon, not a sprint. And we just don’t have time or stomach space for cherry pie in the grand scheme of things. 7th place for you, cherry.

6. Lemon Meringue.

Oh, lemon meringue. What are we going to do with you? Will we carve out a sliver on our dedicated pie plate? Yes, we will. And we’ll probably enjoy it down to the last tart bite. But is it really seasonally appropriate? When there are so many more options, we give lemon meringue 6th place.

5. Coconut Cream Pie

While coconut cream might not appear at every home, it deserves a seat at the table for its rich custard filling and fluffy whipped cream topping with toasted coconut. It might not be the first thing thought of for Thanksgiving desserts, but with this easy, no-bake recipe, how can you resist?

4. Pecan Pie

One of the most picturesque of the pies at the Thanksgiving table, pecan gets points for its Instagrammable nature. Seriously — can you look at these and not drool all over your screen? It also wins for having such a wide array of recipe twists — Chocolate Pecan, Bourbon Pecan, Maple Pecan… each of which is more delicious than the last. That table is getting pretty heavy. Respectable showing at 4th place in the rankings.

3. Apple Pie

The only thing separating apple pie from moving up a few spaces in the ranking is the difficulty of creation. The peeling, the coring, the cutting…honestly it’s all a bit too much to bear. But a fan favorite nonetheless. Takes the bronze medal of Thanksgiving pies, in this ranking.

2. Pumpkin Pie

It’s just not Thanksgiving without one or two (or five or six) pumpkin pies atop the table. It is the epitome of the fall season with that creamy interior and hint of warm spice, which everyone wants to hang on to as much as possible before the blustery winter arrives at our doorstep. The runner-up in this ranking, there is no doubt pumpkin will be a staple at homes from coast to coast this Thanksgiving.

1. Chocolate Cream

The holy grail of Thanksgiving pies, chocolate cream pie sits in a league of its own. Yes, we know this might be controversial, but come on, that sweet pudding filling paired with a flaky crust, and extra chocolate ribbons garnishing the top? Yep, we are here. For. It. You win this round, chocolate cream.

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