Walmart Bakery Pies Ranked From Worst To Best

Who needs to learn to make pies from scratch when the Walmart bakery cranks out a slew of flavors on the daily, all ready to be enjoyed without needing an heirloom recipe or a working oven? The selection of sizes and flavors provided by America's biggest big-box retailer is a stunning list of fruit, creme, and specialty creations that cover every taste and occasion imaginable. Thanks to a selection of larger pies and smaller one-person bakes, there's a pie to suit the tastes of the pickiest pie fan.

But that doesn't mean all the pies In the Walmart bakery perform equally well. Obviously, there will be a matter of personal preference that determines which flavors work best and which fail the test. I couldn't keep my curiosity to myself on the occasion arose to sample these bargain bakes, so I rounded up my trusty taste test team, and cracked the lids (or tore the boxes) on a baker's dozen of the options that I could find at my nearby Walmart and created a hierarchy — or a pie-rarchy, rather — that ranks these tempting pies for worst to best. Some are pies are seriously delicious, while others deserve to be panned.

Since when did cherries start growing without their quintessential color? That question came to mind when I cracked into a Freshness Guaranteed cherry pie and saw pallid white spheres that looked more like Boba than fruit. In fact, the first bite that I took was more gel than cherries, which carried sweetness and tanginess but felt suspiciously devoid of character. It was only after I peeked under the crust of the rest of the pie that I saw there was an attempt to pack real cherries into the deal; they just weren't of the caliber that a more proficient cherry pie would provide.

Of course, this three-bite treat rings up at under a dollar, so I was foolish to expect big things. But my tasting partners corroborated my suspicion: This cherry pie wasn't worth the 84 cents on the price tag. Maybe I picked a bad one, or maybe they're all like this. No matter what the situation is, there are so many better selections to be had. Leave this cherry on the tree.

The visual impression you get from the collection of tiny freshness guaranteed pies are that they are slightly better versions of Hostess or McDonald's pies. Where this assumption plays out most clearly is in the apple pie, which is a dead ringer for the closed crust hand pies, only this one comes in a pie tin and requires a little extra work before you can bite into it. This isn't a terrible thing if you dig the gooey center and limited apple presence of those other pies. But if you're expecting a shrunken version of a handcrafted apple pie, you'll be as disappointed as I was.

Maybe the untold truth of apple pie is that making one by hand is a tricky balance to strike. The fact that just about everyone knows what a proper apple pie should taste and feel like means that you know an impostor when you eat one. This phony baloney apple pie is a pale imitation and a weirdly unexpected Walmart fast food dupe in taste and texture that's best left to McDonald's to create. Skip this one; you won't be missing anything.

Part of the tiny pie portfolio in the Walmart bakery is Good Life's sweet potato pie, which is part of the Patti LaBelle sweet potato pie catalog. The box blends in perfectly with the Freshness Guaranteed pies, except for the little graphic of Ms. LaBelle's face on the label. Considering that these pies are pretty popular products, I had hopes that a tiny version of the sweet potato pie would be a prime pick. Instead, the center turned out to be gummy rather than creamy with a bold nutmeg flavor that made sweet friends with the sweet potato essence, but couldn't save the strange texture.

I've heard great things about Patti Labelle's pies, so when I realized this was part of the selection I was kind of stoked to finally give it a try. I have to believe it is the smaller size and unrefrigerated nature of the pie that makes it a wonky and woeful option. Though I would not be eager to purchase a second mini sweet potato pie, being let down by this one doesn't prevent me from holding out hope for the full sized version when I finally gave that one a sampling somewhere down the line.

What is a lemon pie if it's not tangy enough to make your mouth water? Anyone interested in finding out can give Freshness Guaranteed lemon pie a try, but prepare to be baffled. It ends up being more like a weak lemon glaze that was afraid to be too tart, so it soaked itself in sugar and lost its true spirit. That may be fine for people who don't exactly swoon over desserts from the sour and the spectrum. But I am a fan of a truly taste bud-twisting lemon pie, and anything less than a pastry that makes my salivary gland go crazy as soon as it hits my tongue is bound to be a buzzkill. This one unquestionably killed my buzz.

I know my expectations are probably unrealistically high for a pie that costs $0.84 and can be consumed in a single sitting. But my thought is if you can't deliver on a lemon pie, don't call it a lemon pie; keep going in the direction of sweetness and call it a citrus pie or something that won't set dessert snobs up for heartbreak.

If you remember those weird little plastic-wrapped pecan pies found at convenience stores and probably passed up on by shoppers more often than not, you know exactly what you'll be getting from this disappointing tart. The only flavors I detected were sugar and corn syrup and a little more sugar. The crust was nice, but you're not going to buy a tiny pecan pie just so you can enjoy the shell. You need the whole experience to be there, and this nibble doesn't do the trick.

Pie lovers with favorite flavors in mind aren't likely to be swayed by a big box chain's weak attempt at recreating a classic. If Walmart's home label can't pick up the magical caramely pecan middle stuff, why even bother putting a pecan pie in the mix? The brand would be better off calling it something else or eliminating it from the lineup entirely. No more little Freshness Guaranteed pecan pies for me, thanks.

With a tiny Freshness Guaranteed pumpkin pie in your lunch bag or as an after dinner treat, you can re-create the feeling of a holiday dinner anytime you feel like it. It's an adorable miniaturization of a full-size pumpkin pie that resembles its larger relatives in every way, and even slices cleanly to make super cute servings that kids are sure to go over. Flavor-wise, the center is not too sweet, offering a nutmeg-heavy take on pumpkin pie filling, with a bottom crust that's entirely passable.

As with any proper pumpkin pie, the surface is eager for a blast of whipped cream to shake things up. And while it's never going to match your mom's five-ingredient homemade pumpkin pie, it's still a fun find for snackers in search of something to tide them over until the holidays roll around again. Just don't grab a cartful and expect to pass them off as single-serving Thanksgiving desserts and you'll be golden.

This isn't anything like strawberry creme pie you're probably used to, where actual strawberries join fluffy whipped cream in a sweet song in dance loaded into a nostalgic piecrust. The Freshness Guaranteed definition of a strawberry creme pie includes an oddly stringy strawberry yogurt filling that taste suspiciously like Cap'n Crunch Berries rather than actual strawberries. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but it is something to keep in mind when you see these pies lining racks in the bakery section and impulse aisles and think you've hit the snackpot.

Still, the weird texture and bright flavor are intriguing enough for me to take a second bite just to see if what I was tasting was true. For better or for worse, it was. While I'm not saying that this is a great replacement for an actual strawberry creme pie, It is a unique find in the collection of little pies and one that I wouldn't be averse to trying again. But not soon. I need some recovery time first.

Though Marketside puts on a pretty picture with its blueberry pie, this pastry offers more of a rumor of blueberry than delivering a full-fledged fruit flavored filling. The elegant top crust with its sand dollar design is a lovely addition to your dessert table, but once you slice in and see the rich navy blue hue of the filling, your taste buds prepare for an out and out country style blueberry pie bursting with the juicy essence of the fruit. It's a watery impersonation that you get instead, no matter how many follow up bites you take in search of a blueberry motherlode. My cohorts in the taste test were as underwhelmed as I was.

What keeps this full size high from slipping further down the list is the fact that it's made with real fruit. Even if it doesn't have the overpowering flavor of blueberry that I may be looking for in a pie like this, it also doesn't have the fake candy flavor of artificial blueberry. This would be a huge mistake to make with blueberries in an 8-inch pie, which means either Marketside isn't including any and depends solely on the real blueberries to provide the flavor, or the uses of settle that it doesn't jump out. Either way, it's a lifeline for a blueberry pie that certainly could use one.

Having had such a disappointing experience with the Freshness Guaranteed cherry pie, my spirits were bolstered when I bit into the blueberry pie and discovered it had a bright flavor that came across as actual blueberry pie filling. The effect was closer to blueberry jam than homemade pie filling, but considering the petite nature of the crust, it was a fitting form that gave this pie the personality of a Pop Tart with just a little more going for it.

Who knew a tiny boxed blueberry pie could best a larger bakery-style version? I'd have no trouble grabbing a bunch of these pies for a party as a fun replacement for a full-sized dessert. My co-taste testers were equally impressed with the sweet juiciness and loved the fact that the blueberry flavor came through so boldly, even if it was the result of flavoring. At least there was flavor to appreciate this time.

Freshness Guaranteed improves upon the premade chocolate filled snack pie template by loading up its chocolate creme version with a silky filling that I was pleased to discover is fudgier than Jell-O Pudding and a whole lot more chocolatey, too. I was picturing the weird gumminess that comes from a Hostess chocolate pie, but thankfully there's a smoother texture to this pie's decadent center. There's also no extra glaze on the outside to add sugar upon sugar, and the crust is baked instead of having that greasy fried flavor that the shelf stable Hostess brand has by nature.

One of my taste test helpers told me during the taste test that her high school math teacher had brought the whole class Freshness Guaranteed mini pies to celebrate Pi Day. Having sampled them all, I hope the students learned that their best bet for a perfect pie day pick is definitely a chocolate creme. If I ever have an appetite for something sweet while strolling the Walmart aisles, there's no question I'll be tossing a few of these bargain bites into my basket.

As long as Marketside apple pies exist, I'll never try to make my own homemade version again. Why would I when for around $6 I can grab this tasty classic and warm it up a little to give it the ol' from-scratch razzle dazzle without chasing down a laundry list of ingredients and spending a ton of time peeling and chopping and making handcrafted crust? Having made apple pies in the past, I easily recognize that there's nothing I could do to improve upon what this Walmart pie offers. With forward notes of cinnamon spicing up juicy apples and just the right amount of glaze inside to hold everything in place, plus a light-touch top crust that crumbles delicately when you slice into it cinnamony, every aspect of this apple pie shines through with bakery level authenticity rather than big box grocery store assembly line monotony.

Beyond tasting great and being composed like a proper bakery pie, the top crust is a sturdy yet lovely design; the well-placed cuts and fluted edge that don't overplay their decorative nature but still give the pie a nice finish. It's an easy pick for a simple after dinner dessert or a striking addition to the dessert selection at a special occasion, and it will set you back a ton of money.

I thought a premade pecan pie would be more candy-like, with a tell-tale texture that gives a cheap chewiness with not much flavor to speak of. Instead, bite after bite of this impressive pie revealed a richness that was far beyond my expectations. The pecans are plentiful, spread evenly across the top to create a satisfying crunch that challenges homemade pecan pies to step up their game. The bottom crust is tasty, too, and has a perfectly baked shell that gives easily to fork pressure and crumbles like a cookie.

It isn't every day that a store-bought pie makes me question why I would ever bother to make one from scratch again, let alone a pie from Walmart. But this pecan pie is a major win for anyone who happens upon it. From the perfectly toothy and not at all runny gel to the lightly toasted pecan halves resting on the surface to the exceptional crust holding it all together, it's a wholly well-rounded (pun intended) pecan pie. It would have topped the list easily had it not been for one slightly more mind-blowing power player in the Walmart pie posse.

This may be one of the best store-bought pies I've ever tasted. Caramel apple is a from-scratch favorite of mine that I've tasted many times through the years, a practice that sets a high bar for other versions. Marketside spares no space on top of the pie, covering every inch with buttery crumble and an outrageous drizzle of chewy caramel that comes across more as melted candy than slippery sauce. The crust is sturdy enough to hold its own against the apple center without getting soggy and provides just a bit of savory sensibility to counteract all of the sweetness. The resulting combination is a steal at around $7 for a bakery fresh–adjacent pie, one that could top your table straight out of the box just as easily as it could rest in your freezer until you're ready to indulge.

I'm seriously considering grabbing one or two of these tasty treats to bring to Thanksgiving, though I won't try to pass them off as my own. I don't really think it would matter; Marketside Caramel Apple Pie is a decent enough knock off of a homemade pie to give dessert fans something special to enjoy, even if it comes out of the box and not straight out of the oven. And at less than $10 a pop, they'll also be easy on my holiday food budget.

I've seen the pie selection at Walmart on many occasions and have always wondered how good tiny boxed pies could be. The real eye-opening part of this taste test was walking through the bakery section and discovering the full-sized 8-inch pies that are on display every day via the Marketside label. To get a proper sense of how all the pies play amongst each other, I had every intention of trying the entire suite of flavors found online. However, when I made my shopping trip, I discovered a few advertised flavors missing, namely Marketside versions of Key lime, chocolate creme, and coconut creme. Sadly, I compiled the list without those.

As to where the taste test itself, I gathered my trusty taste-testing team — my kids — to help me determine which of the prize were the most flavorful and which were the ones you could easily bypass in favor of better desserts. We were on a mission to figure out which pies had the truest and most enjoyable flavor, as well as crust you can trust and freshness that helped the elevate the whole experience. Naturally, the full size Marketside pies ticked off all the boxes much easier than the smaller Freshness Guaranteed pies, which have an extended shelf life thanks to a slew of preservatives that diminish taste and enjoyment, but not entirely.