How Many Types of Pie Are There? + Examples & Pictures

The world of pie is as vast as it is delicious. Some have a flaky, crumbly crust, some have colorful toppings, and some have intricate designs on top. And let’s not even start talking about the many types of fillings people use. So, just how many types of pie are there?

You can classify 19 types of pie based on their characteristics. Depending on the crust, you have double-crust, deep-dish, tart, galette, and lattice pie. In terms of filling, you get fruit, cream, nuts, and custard pie. Among these types, you have several variations like apple pie, cherry pie, etc.

There are so many pies in the world, each differing in terms of crust quality, design of crust, type of filling, baking method, size, shape, etc. And each type of pie has numerous variations.

So, in this article, we are going to make an extensive list of all the different types of pies out there by putting them in board categories. We will also discuss the most popular varieties of pies out there. So, let’s get started!

Types of Pie Based on the Crust

For many people, the pie crust is just as important as the filling that goes in, if not more so. An ideal crust should complement the flavor and texture of the filling and remain firm long after baking. Let’s be honest, no one likes a soggy pie.

But you can play around with the crust to give different properties. Some crusts are flaky while others are crispy. Some pies have a thick crust, while others have a thin pastry. Additionally, you can make different designs with the crusts. So, here are different types of pie according to the nature and layout of the crust:

Shortcrust Pie

A shortcrust pie is any pie that utilizes a shortcrust pastry as its crust. This pastry can also be found in many quiche recipes, tarts, etc.

The key thing about shortcrust pastry is the fat-to-flour ratio. Typically, in a shortcrust pastry, you add 1 part fat and 2 parts flour. So, the fat-to-flour ratio ends up as 1:2. Normally, you tear or grate the fat into small pieces and rub it into the flour. Then you loosely bind the mixture with a small amount of ice water and roll it out.

This gives a shortcrust pastry its signature buttery, crumbly texture as it tears apart very easily when you bite it. As there is no leavening agent here, such as yeast or baking powder, the crust does not rise in the oven. So, you end up with a thin crust that breaks apart in your mouth.

Here are some popular pies that utilize a shortcrust pastry:

Chicken pot pie
Shortcrust apple pie
Chicken and spinach quiche
Rustic strawberry tart
Caramelized shallot and goat’s cheese galette
Vanilla custard pies

Deep-Dish Pie

Similar to the deep-dish pizza synonymous with Chicago-style pizza, a deep-dish pie is where you use an extra deep baking tray. A regular pie dish is 1 inch to 1 and ½ inches deep. A deep dish is at least 2 inches deep, giving the pies their characteristic high edges and long crusts. This also allows you to put more filling in a single pie.

Some delicious examples of deep-dish pies are listed below:

Pumpkin meringue pie
Deep-dish salted caramel apple pie
Classic pumpkin pie

Crumb Crust Pie

In a crumb crust pie, instead of the usual pastry dough, the crust consists of crushed crackers or cookies. The most common variety of this is called a graham cracker crust, which is made from crushing graham crackers.

This sort of crust is typically sweeter than regular pastry dough and much easier to make. Unlike traditional pie crust, you do not need to bake the dough. It goes especially well with cream pies and cheesecakes. Pies that use a crumb crust are:

Cheesecake
Banana cream pie
Key lime pie
Peanut butter pie
Lemon meringue pie

Tart

A tart is like an open-faced pie. Instead of the crust covering the bottom and all the sides, a tart only has a bottom crust. You achieve this by baking tarts in a tart pan, which is much more shallow than a regular pie pan.

But the distinction does not stop there. A classic pie crust is supposed to be crispy and flaky. The crust on a tart, on the other hand, is similar to a shortcrust pastry, which is crumbly and buttery.

You can view tart as a more intricate, elegant version of the classic pie. A typical pie is humble, wholesome, and rustic. The image of an ideal tart is small, quaint, neat, and tidy.

Now, here are some examples of popular tart recipes from around the world:

Vanilla sable tart
Apple tart
Bakewell tart
Butter tart
Crostata
Norman Tart
Pasta Flora
Egg tart
Custard tart of flans pâtissier
Portuguese custard tarts
Treacle tart
Chocolate tart

Lattice Pie

The beauty of a lattice pie is less in the nature of the crust and more in the elegant design it features. It is kind of similar to a double-crusted pie. But instead of simply rolling a sheet of crust on top to cover the whole pie, you cut that sheet into long strips and make intricate designs on top.

We say intricate but the designs can be as simple or as complex as you want. As long as you cover the whole pie and properly space out the strips, your pie will look stunning. You can cut the dough with a sharp knife or a pizza cutter.

Once you get all the strips ready, put them on one side. Fill the bottom crust with your desired filling. And then gently place each strip according to the design you prefer. Typically, most people go with a weaved design, which results in many windows appearing on the top.

So, here are some amazing pie recipes to go with your eye-catching lattice crust:

Classic apple pie
Salted caramel apple pie
Cherry pie
Blueberry pie
Strawberry rhubarb pie
Peach pie

Double-Crust Pie

A double-crust pie is exactly what it sounds like, it has two crusts – one on the bottom and one at the top. So, it is like the lattice pie but much less stress-inducing and requires less labor.

You will see this sort of structure commonly in the case of fruit pies. This is because a fruit filling has a lot of juice, which may seep out during baking. The top crust prevents this and keeps the juices intact. Another benefit is that the top crust functions as a lid, cooking the filling similar to a lid-on pot.

This makes double-crust pies the ideal companion in the summer. Almost all fruit pies have a double-crust version. And here are some of the most popular ones:

Apple pie
Strawberry rhubarb
Blueberry pie
Blackberry pie
Jumble berry pie
Cherry pie
Peach pie
Blackberry apple pie

Galette

Now we have perhaps the most free-form pie out there. Galettes do not have a rigid or well-defined structure. It just has to be a round pastry with a filling at the center. This pastry is then cooked in a baking tray, where the filling essentially roasts in the heat.

Since they are essentially formless, you can make them however you want and not worry that it does not look perfect. And this sort of pastry goes beautifully with a fruit filling. Because the filling gets direct heat exposure, you usually do not need to add any thickeners. The juices will thicken up on their own.

Apple galette
Apricot galette
Galettes campinoises
Galette Comtoise
Galette Complète
Strawberry galette

Types of Pie Based on the Filling

Now let’s talk about the other integral part of a pie – the filling. No matter how good and buttery your crust is, it still needs a delicious filling to make it whole. And there are just so many ways you can fill a pie crust. They can be sweet, they can be savory, they can be salty – they can be all of the above.

Fruit Pies

The name gives it away. It is a pie with a fruit filling. The perfect dessert during summertime, you can equally enjoy these pies at any time of the year. You can enjoy them hot or with a scoop of ice cream on top. But they taste just as amazing, if not more, the next day as breakfast. You really cannot go wrong with a wonderful fruit pie.

Fruit pies typically feature a top crust. This can be either in a lattice design or a simple, circular sheet. This top cover helps to keep the juices intact. You can use fresh fruits, canned fruits, or frozen fruits in your dessert. You can keep it simple with one kind of fruit or you can mix and match depending on what you have available.

Typically, you need some sort of thickening agent to bind all of the juice that will come out. Otherwise, you are going to end up with a very soupy filling. But if the fruit is naturally high in pectin, then it will do most of the thickening on its own.

So, here are some ideas for fruit pies to get your creative juices flowing:

Pineapple pie
Apple pie
Key lime pie
Strawberry rhubarb pie
Blueberry pie with ice cream
Blackberry pie
Cranberry pie
Peach pie
Mixed berry pie
Applesauce pie
Raspberry pie
Grape pie
Banana cream pie
Huckleberry pie
Pear pie
Cherry pie

Cream Pies

A cream pie is where the filling is some sort of cream. This is invariably a dessert dish and it almost always comes with a whipped cream topping. You can make a filling that bakes along with the crust in the oven. Or you can make a cream filling that does not need baking. You simply pour it into a pre-cooked crust.

This dessert is always served cold after it has been in the refrigerator for a significant amount of time. You can also mix in tropical or seasonal fruits of your choice. Another common way of serving any cream pie is with a meringue on top.

Apart from eating, this type of pie has another prominent yet silly use. If you wanted to throw a pie at someone, whether it be as a prank or part of a comedic routine, this would be the pie of your choice.

But strictly for the purpose of consuming, here are some terrific cream pie ideas:

Chocolate cream pie
Banana cream pie
Peanut butter pie
Coconut cream pie
Key lime pie
Lemon meringue pie
Vanilla cream pie
Cheesecake

Custard Pies

On the surface, custard pies and cream pies may look eerily similar. And sometimes, people will use the term interchangeably. But the key difference between a regular cream filling and a custard filling is eggs. A custard filling is any cooked filling that is usually a mixture of eggs, milk, and sugar, along with other optional ingredients such as vanilla or nutmeg.

Eggs are an optional ingredient in pastry cream. Thanks to the eggs, particularly the egg yolks, custards have a richer, thicker consistency compared to the pastry cream. And because you use raw eggs, you always have to cook the custard filling, whether that be before putting in the crust or baking with the crust.

Similar to cream pies, these desserts often feature a whipped cream or meringue topping. They are also served chilled. People who have not tried making it themselves will probably be caught surprised at the fact that pumpkin pie, one of the all-time classic pies, is actually a custard pie. So, here are some other popular custard pies around the world:

French coconut pie
Buko pie (traditional Filipino coconut pie)
Chess pie
Egg pie
Rhubarb custard pie
Pumpkin pie
Sweet potato pie

Nut Pies

Similar to fruits and custards, there are several pies that utilize a nut or a mixture of nuts as their star component. These are always a dessert pie and served chilled. But you can also serve them warm out of the oven.

The filling of a typical nut pie includes cream or custard in which you mix all of the nuts. This type of dish usually only has a bottom crust. And the top layer is the layer of nuts.

Pecan pie
English Walnut pie
Mixed nut pie
Greek honey nut pie
Chocolate walnut pie
Butterscotch pecan pie
Maple nuts pie

Chiffon Pies

So, a chiffon pie has less to do with the ingredients than the nature of the filling. A chiffon pie is characterized by an especially light and airy filling. It is noticeably lighter than a cream or custard filling.

The mixture of eggs and gelatin provides the structure for the filling. You can also do this with a custard. Then this custard is folded into a meringue or whipped egg whites, which gives the trademark light and airy texture.

Lemon chiffon pie
Pumpkin chiffon pie
Strawberry chiffon pie
Chocolate chiffon pie

Meat Pie

So far in this list, we have only discussed dessert pies that are semi-sweet to very sweet. But pies can be a vessel for savory flavors just as well as for sweet flavors. And nowhere is this more true than a meat pie.

A meat pie can indicate a wide range of pies that all have one thing in common – they all have meat in their filling. You can use any type of meat you want and pair it with other savory ingredients.

A very common version of meat pies is pot pie. It is particularly prominent in North America and has a filing of poultry, beef, lamb, or pork. The pie features a top crust and a very flaky texture.

Meat pies are best served warm. Many people prefer to eat them with a side dish such as mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, or baked beans. If the filling is particularly juicy or has a lot of gravy, you would typically make a starchy side dish to soak it all up.

Chicken pot pie
Shepherd’s pie
Clam pie
Fish pie
Pork pie
British pasty
Rabbit pie
Scotch pie or mutton pie
Steak pie

Types of Pie Based on Size and Shape

The main pie variations come in the form of the crust and the filling. But even with the same filling, you can make wildly different pies that differ in terms of size and shape. This could be due to a matter of convenience, choice of cookware, or just because that was the standard in that particular region.

Classic Pie

So, a classic pie is one that we are all familiar with. It is 9 to 10 inches wide, 1 and ½ inches deep, baked dish with a flaky, firm crust. Pies have been part of human civilization for centuries. And the picture of a classic pie brings with it a rustic, vintage feel.

Classic pies usually have very wholesome, seasonal flavors. This makes them one of the best comforts to have, be it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Of course, the most classical scenario for a classic pie would be a thanksgiving dinner along with roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy.

Some of the best examples of classic pies are:

Pumpkin pie
Apple pie
Strawberry rhubarb pie
Blueberry pie
Fresh cherry pie
Maple syrup pie
Peach pie
Apple crumble pie
Cranberry walnut pie
Banana cream pie
Sweet potato pie

Hand Pie

Now we have a group pie born purely out of convenience. And few foods are as convenient as a pie you can eat with just one hand. These are small, mostly double-crusted pies that look like small pockets with fillings. Or they may look like miniature versions of their bigger counterparts.

The origin of hand pies reflects the sheer utility of such a dish. Initially, the pie was a popular lunch for British TIn miners. They could grab the snack, on one hand, eat the filling, and dispose of the crust without needing to clean their hands. Of course, nowadays, the pastry casing is just as vaunted as the filling.

Hand pies can be either baked or fried. Fried pies are mostly for desserts, filled with a fruit filling. Savory hand pies are often in the form of miniature pot pies. They are very popular during the winter.

Spicy potato hand pie
Rhubarb hand pie
Rustic greens hand pie
Chicken pot pie

Types of Pie Based on the Topping

So, you can make a pie with only a crust and filling and you will end up with a delicious dish. But the beauty of pie is that you can play around to your heart’s content. One of the ways you can make any pie extra special is by putting a rich, unique topping on it. You will normally see this sort of topping on dessert or sweet pies.

The topping can be highly decorative or simply functional. These toppings can offer a nice contrasting texture to the rest of the pie.

Meringue Pie

A meringue is a confection made from whipping egg whites and sugar. Occasionally, you add a little bit of acidity to the cream such as vinegar, lemon juice, or cream of tartar, which helps to stabilize the cream. Slather this meringue on a pie of your choice and you will end up with a meringue pie.

The key to a good meringue is in the stiff peaks. By whipping the egg whites constantly, usually with a stand-mixer or hand beater, you denature the proteins in the whites and make them hold that shape. This is different from whipped cream as it does not have much fat. So, a meringue is much lighter and fluffier compared to regular whipped cream.

People will most often pair this meringue with a sweet pie filling. Some of the classic examples are:

Lemon meringue pie
Key lime pie
Chocolate meringue pie
Cranberry meringue pie
Peanut butter meringue pie
Rhubarb meringue pie
Grapefruit meringue pie
Sweet potato meringue pie

Crumble

So, you will see many varieties of pies, especially at fares and such, that will have sandy, grainy top crust. This top part is not a crust, however, rather it is a crumble. Now, depending on where you are, this topping may be called a crisp, crumbler, or streusel. But they invariably refer to a crumbly coating of butter, sugar, and flour.

The invention of a crumble topping goes back to the early nineteenth century. People would mix butter, sugar, and flour and roll them in between their hands until they became crumbly like breadcrumbs. Modern versions of crumble can also include things such as chopped nuts, rolled oats, etc. along with spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg.

These crumbly, buttery toppings go especially well with fruit pies. The sweetness of the crumble balances the tart of the fruit filling to make for a more well-rounded taste. Plus, the crumble is a nice bit of texture to complement the soft filling.

Apple crumble
Blueberry crumble pie
Peach crumble pie
Cherry crumb pie
Huckleberry crumble

Types of Pie Based on the Nature of Filling

If you were to look at the type of filling people use in pies, you can pile them into two very broad categories first. You have the savory pies in one hand and on the other, you have pies with a sweet filling that are meant as a dessert.

Sweet Pie

When most people hear the word pie, they likely imagine a classic dessert dish. These are pies that all feature a sweet filling. They can be made out of fruit, chocolate, custard, or cream. The key point is that they have plenty of sugar and are meant to satisfy your sweet tooth.

These pies are typically served at the end of dinner or a feast. For example, pumpkin pie is one of the best ways to end a traditional thanksgiving dinner. These pies can be double-crusted, open-faced, or have a single bottom crust. They often feature a meringue or crumble topping.

So, here are the most common pies around the world that are of the sweet variety:

Apple pie
Pumpkin pie
Blueberry pie
Banana cream pie
Apple crumble
Banoffee pie
Chiffon pie
Pecan pie
Butter tarts
Egg pie
Key lime pie
Pecan pie
Buko pie
Cashew pie
Chestnut pie
Rhubarb custard pie
Turtle pie
Shoofly pie
Lemon meringue pie
Strawberry pie
Maple syrup pie

Savory Pie

A pie with a savory filling is almost as common as its sweeter counterpart. Typically, people eat these pies as part of their dinner or breakfast. So, the filling is often in the form of a stew or soup.

You would typically cook these fillings in a pot. But by making pastry casing, you get a temporary cooking vessel that is also edible. So, you get the best of both worlds. The filling often involves some sort of meat. But a purely vegetable filling is also common.

Chicken pot pie
Shepherds’ pie
Bacon and egg pie
Chicken and mushroom pie
Pork pie
Rabbit pie
Steak pie
Scotch pie
Curry pie
Fish pie
Steak and kidney pie

Pies That Are Not Real Pies

Within this diverse world of pastry and filling, there exist a few outliers. These baked goods have the word “pie” in their name. But when you classify it in terms of quality, it falls into another category of baked products.

A famous example would be Boston’s cream pie. From every aspect of baking, this product is a cake. It tastes like a cake and is made like a cake. But at the time of its inception, pies and cakes were made in the same pan. So, people used the terms interchangeably. Thus, we ended up with a dessert that is pie in name only.

So, here are a few examples of products that use the name pie in a very loose sense:

Lotte choco pie
Spaghetti pie
Shepherd’s pie (the versions without any pastry casing)

Cheesecake is Also a Pie

Despite what the name suggests, a cheesecake is more of a pie than an actual cake. A cheesecake usually consists of a bottom layer of crust and one or more layers of filling. And the filling is entirely flourless. All of these characteristics make cheesecake a pie rather than cake.

Most Popular Pie in America

Pies are an integral part of many nations’ cuisines, not least Americas. In almost every home in the US, you will find that at least one particular pie holds a special place.

According to the American Pie Council, Americans consume around $700 million worth of pie each year. Around 112 million Americans consumed at least one frozen pie, pastry, or muffin in 2022. Through the growth of online groceries, around 3.6 million pies were shipped throughout the country via the online retail store Instacart.

So, here are the most popular pies in the United States:

Apple pie – 19% of people who responded to various surveys gave their vote for this classic, which makes for about 36 million Americans. This makes apple pie the clear winner.
Pecan pie
Cherry pie
Pumpkin pie
Pot pie