Canned Pumpkin Pie Recipe For an Easy Holiday Dessert

Sure, you can eat pumpkin pie in the summer, but let’s face it, it doesn’t quite hit the spot. When fall rolls around, and as Thanksgiving approaches, the brisk weather practically begs for the warm, inviting flavors of pumpkin and spice. This seasonal dessert is one that many look forward to every year, and it’s a staple at the dessert table of practically every family gathering, holiday, or potluck throughout the -ber months.

Maybe you have a trusted family member or friend who makes your favorite pumpkin pie every year, or perhaps you rely on getting the giant 12-inch one from Costco. But if you’re ready to make it yourself, luckily this dessert isn’t hard to master — especially with the right type of pumpkin and a good recipe. Before you reach for the can in the baking aisle to attempt this canned pumpkin pie recipe, here’s what you should know.

Best Pumpkin For Pie

In most recipes, using fresh over canned ingredients is thought to produce better-quality results, but when it comes to pumpkin pie, that isn’t necessarily the case. Canned pumpkin is favored in many pumpkin pie recipes because it always has the same smooth texture and balance of moisture. Fresh pumpkin, meanwhile, can vary in water content and texture (sometimes it’s stringy or watery) and interestingly, it has a less intense pumpkin flavor. This is because the majority of canned pumpkin is made with a specific type of pumpkin called Dickinson pumpkin or a derivative of this variety. The kinds of pumpkins that you find at a grocery store or pumpkin patch are field pumpkins or sugar pumpkins.

These types of pumpkins can be turned into a puree to use in a pumpkin pie, but the resulting texture and flavor, while tasty, may be more squash-like than what you’re used to. Making them into a pie is also more time-consuming because you have to de-seed, roast, and puree the pumpkins. For more control over the outcome and a more traditional pumpkin pie flavor, it may be best to stick to canned pumpkin instead.

Pumpkin Pie Filling vs. Puree

When shopping for canned pumpkin, you’ll see three similar-sounding names on the labels of the different products on the shelf: pumpkin puree, 100-percent pumpkin, and pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie puree and 100-percent pumpkin are interchangeable, but pumpkin pie filling is something else because it also contains sweeteners, spices, and other additives that allow you to just pour it straight from the can into a pie crust and then into the oven.

While canned pumpkin pie filling is certainly a convenient option, it doesn’t give you much control over the level of sweetness or the balance of different spices. Depending on what brand you get, it can also give your pie an artificial taste, which may not be ideal if you’re aiming for a homestyle flavor. For these reasons, it may be better to opt for pumpkin puree or 100-percent pumpkin. Both contain just the one ingredient and nothing else, allowing you to add your own ingredients to create the perfect pie.

How to Make Canned Pumpkin Pie

It doesn’t take many ingredients to make pumpkin pie from canned pumpkin puree. The simplest approach is to mix a can of pumpkin puree with a can of condensed milk, two eggs, and about a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice (adjusting based on your preference).

If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can combine cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, or substitute it with apple pie spice, which is the same blend of spices but without the ginger and cloves. And if you don’t have condensed milk, it can be replaced with regular milk sweetened with sugar.

One of the most common mishaps when making pumpkin pie is ending up with a runny filling that doesn’t hold its shape when you try to cut into it. This usually happens when you don’t use enough eggs, or don’t let the pie bake long enough. Too few eggs and the filling will be runny, but too many will cause it to become more like a cheesecake. The consistency of the filling should be thick and pourable, similar to pancake batter or custard. Once your filling is ready, line a pie dish with a pie crust dough — feel free to use either a store-bought crust or your favorite pie dough recipe — and then pour the filling in.

Since pumpkin pie continues to bake even after you take it out of the oven, it’s a common practice to slightly underbake it so the filling doesn’t dry out or crack on top. While this method works, it’s important to not remove the pie too prematurely. The best way to go about this is to check on your pie around the 45- or 50-minute mark, and give it a gentle shake. When the edges have firmed up but the center is still slightly jiggly, it’s ready to remove the pie from the oven. Once cooled, it will be firm yet moist and ready to enjoy.

Find the full recipe to make canned pumpkin pie ahead.

Kalea Martín writes primarily about food and cooking for PS, but as a former figure skater and hockey player, she covers fitness, too. Prior to becoming a lifestyle writer, Kalea covered hotels, restaurants, and travel for Luxos Magazine in Milan and worked in marketing at HarperCollins Publishers.