With the holidays coming up, I know a lot of us are probably thinking about pies and other goodies, so I took the liberty of scoping out the premade crusts at my grocery store. What I found:

Pillsbury/Pet-Ritz = contains LARD (in both refrigerated and frozen forms)
Kroger brand = contains LARD (in both refrigerated and frozen forms)

(As if lard wasn't bad enough, they've also partially hydrogenated it. Why don't you just shoot us?!?)

Mrs. Smith's = appears to be vegan (comes frozen only)
Marie Callendar's = appears to be vegan (comes frozen only)
Pepperidge Farm puff pastry (sheets and shells) = appears to be vegan (comes frozen only)

Merci beaucoup for the info : )

It is so easy to make pie crust in a food processor. Just put everything in, blend, and then roll out your crust. Just don't let the dough get too warm and it won't be tough. No need to buy pre-made crusts.

People think I'm totally insane when I pull all the pie shells out of the freezer an start reading, thank you for saving me the work. I used the ms. smiths to make a pot pie a few weeks ago and it wasn't bad. That puff pastry is a holiday staple too.

I'm not much of a baker, and I don't have a food processor, so for me the premade ones are a lifesaver. And my finicky, homemade-crust mother even says they're pretty good!

It is so easy to make pie crust in a food processor. Just put everything in, blend, and then roll out your crust. Just don't let the dough get too warm and it won't be tough. No need to buy pre-made crusts.

<<<<is a baking student perfectly able to make perfect pie crust, but is often too lazy/busy to take the time. I'm pretty much always too lazy to make puff pastry from scratch at home, my home kitchen sucks.

It is so easy to make pie crust in a food processor. Just put everything in, blend, and then roll out your crust. Just don't let the dough get too warm and it won't be tough. No need to buy pre-made crusts.


rolling out a crust can be a pain in the bootie. Pre-made is so much easier especially if you have to make a few. As for me, theres a need to buy a pre-made crust if I need to make a pie :yes:

Thanks Tess!!

Sometimes I think pie crust is a ya-got-it-or-ya-don't type of thing. I always hear about how awful and hard it is to make scratch pie crust, but it's always been pie (har har) for me.

Yeah - I'm in the "make it myself" camp... I have never used a food processor though? And I have an oil-based crust recipe that I've used for years that turns out so nice...

If I can do it, anyone can. Our first apt. kitchen didn't have enough counter space so I covered the IRONING BOARD with wax paper and rolled it out there - using an old glass milk bottle, yeah, no rolling pin either...
(I have since graduated to a real kitchen and decent tools however.)

That said, if I am in a hurry or making pies I want to take some place in a disposable pan (potlucks, bake sales, etc) then I use the Marie Callendars pre-made crusts. They're about the most "realistic" that I've found, but still nowhere close to "homemade".