10 Grocery Store Apple Pies, Ranked Worst To Best

The basic formula for a classic apple pie is deceptively simple: a few apples, a flaky pastry crust, and a mix of sugar and seasoning. How many different variations can there possibly be for something so straightforward? Apparently, quite a few, based on the vast selection of grocery store apple pies taking up space in bakery sections and freezer cases. It can make you wonder if you even know what a proper apple pie is supposed to taste like, especially if you use your favorite easy apple pie recipe as a benchmark.

You won't know how each store's apple pie offerings measure up until you have a slice on your plate. By then, it's too late to pump the brakes if it turns out the dessert you purchased is less than ideal. If it's for a party, your guests might find out just how bad a store-bought apple pie can be before you get the chance.

I don't want to call myself a hero, but I couldn't let anyone make a festivity-altering mistake. So to ensure that only the most premium pies end up on your table, I gathered up a bunch of the most traditional grocery store apple pies (no fancy Dutch apple or salted caramel selections) from the chains in my area and dug into each one to get to the core of the issue. Am I full? Very. Was it worth it? Apple-solutely.

Jessie Lord Bakery is an old-fashioned operation based in California that supplies Albertsons stores with a version of its apple pies to sit side-by-side with the chain's own brands. I'd never heard the name before I started researching selections for this round-up, and without flashy packaging or notable labeling — just a simple sticker with the name on top of the plastic case — I'd be surprised if other shoppers weren't unaware of it, too. After sampling a Jessie Lord pie, it may be for the best.

There's nothing terrible about this pie, to be certain. It comes with a soft and agreeable crust and even top, with a gentle blonding that shows it's been baked carefully. The apple filling features nice-sized cubes of fruit, too, which should impart plenty of flavor. But those chunks lose something in the gel that surrounds them — namely, the quintessential taste of apples.

It's undeniable that Jessie Lord Bakery undoubtedly presents a pretty pie. The taste is just a little too nondescript to make this one a recommended purchase.

The truth about Sprouts Farmers Market is that even as it touts its stores as health food-adjacent, the bakery section is stocked to the gills with sugar-laden decadence. The store's signature label apple pie includes not one, but two crusts, a gourmet spin that could either scare off a traditionalist or pull in a more modern pie lover. It's a boon if you're in the market for taking your apple pie to the next level — even if it isn't actually your own pie being elevated.

In the end, having a second crust can't save this lesser-quality bake. It looked so enticing staring out of the cellophane window of the packaging that I was sure it would be a prime selection. Despite the really nice golden color on the crust, it's essentially flavorless, and the apple pie filling is just sweet. There's little suggestion that apples even factor into the mix.

I hoped the extra pastry at the bottom would lend more flakiness and flavor. Now that I've tried it out, I can say that this double-cruster is a one-time-only purchase.

A full-sized 8-inch apple pie from Marketside holds so much promise for dessert enjoyment. Walmart's signature bakery churns out such a range of items that it's easy to overlook this demure bake. It's not as fancy as the label's other creations and is placed pretty low in the ranking of Walmart pies. When compared to the apple pies from other chains, it also doesn't stack up quite as well.

This pie had a blonde crust that's too perfectly even to be considered realistic; it looks manufactured, not like the illusory handmade-looking crusts the other pies on the list offered. It's also very chewy, as if the machine overmixed the dough. Even so, the perfect fluting around the edge was nicely browned. On the inside, the apples were pleasant and cinnamon-heavy, creating a nice autumnal tone. The textures of the filling and the crust are too similar and end up feeling a little mushy.

I'm going to assume that if the 8-inch version isn't a great pie, the 10-inch version isn't either. I'd be happier shopping around than picking up one of these less-than-exciting pastries just because I happened to be in the store and the under-$6 price seemed reasonable.

Family-owned Arizona grocery chain Bashas' has a solid selection of store-baked pastries, and the apple pie gets optimal space at the top of the rack. The store keeps this pie sensibly priced at $6 for an 8-inch round, which is in line with most of the other stores. In the mid-morning when I shopped, there were only a few apple pies left in stock, though there were plenty of blueberry and cherry pies.

Unfortunately, the pie doesn't quite make the cut. The super smooth crust on top tastes as characterless as it looks — not a great way to get started. It's a sweet surprise that the apples inside are nice and tender, and the gel is relatively light. The flavors are decently dispersed, which may redeem a bland shell that lets your palate focus on the filling instead.

It's nice to see a smaller outlet trying to keep up with the big names in the apple pie arena. But a Bashas' apple pie wouldn't be a first choice for me, especially when the larger chains provide a bumper crop of more tempting choices.

There's a whole rack of mini pies in the Walmart bakery, all given the Freshness Guaranteed label. It's easy to get sidelined by sexy flavors like s'mores and chocolate crème, but if you can keep your eyes on the prize and stick with the mini apple pies, you'll enjoy a sweet snack that gives you everything you're looking for in a boxed treat.

The apples here are smaller slivers, floating in a pool of glaze with a bolder cinnamon flavor than I was expecting. The crust was pleasantly golden and tender, too, giving a more fully baked essence than a tiny pie should have. And did I mention that this diminutive delight is priced at 48 cents? It's no prepackaged Hostess apple pie; for less than half a buck, you can get a perfectly enjoyable snack-sized treat that actually feels handmade. You could even approach the home-baked zone if you give it a few minutes in the toaster oven to crisp up the top and add real warmth to the filling.

In a former review of Walmart pies, I ranked this one pretty low. I'm glad I had an opportunity to revisit it for a much more favorable second try. It turns out to be a solid bargain with apple pie spirit to spare.

Those sneaky minds in the Fry's grocery marketing department keep a strategic stack of mini pies right next to the full-sized bakes. How easy it is to grab a miniature version of the sweet delights that catch your eye. And if it's an apple pie, it's going to be a joyful moment when you get home (or to the car) to crack open the box and take a bite.

For such a small pie, there are surprisingly large chunks of apples present. The flavor is subtle, without too many added spices that might overwhelm the apple character. The crust is pretty standard, but I love even the simplest of pie crusts, so I think it works perfectly. The elements come together to create a one-sitting dish that does a shockingly clever impression of its larger companions.

Considering the bargain price point of $1.25, this palm-sized Fry's bake is a pleasant small-serving pastry that would make a great addition to your lunch bag if you need a sweet little something to help you make it through the day without downing handfuls of desktop M&M's. 

The box that holds this frozen Sara Lee specialty pie brags that the apples used are "orchard grown." Unless there's some sort of underground apple lab in the Pacific Northwest that's been kept hush-hush, orchards are the only places you can get apples. So this strange humblebrag shouldn't fool anyone on the search for a pie that can take a deep freeze until it's dessert time; it has the same apples as every other store-bought pie, no matter what Sara Lee tries to pull.

Now that we've cleared that up ... this is actually a very impressive pie, which took a solid 65 minutes to heat in my oven. The finished crust was still relatively pale, although the fluted edges had browned up nicely. The softness of the apples makes a cut slice flatten out into a bit of a mess. If you aren't thrown off by such aesthetic mishmash, you'll be happy to dig into soft apples robed in a golden caramel sauce. The crust was a bit too amorphous for my taste, missing crucial layers that help balance the overall texture. The flavor, however, was warm and somewhat nutty.

The regular price of this pie can top out at more than $10, making it a more precious purchase than the other store-bought pies I tried. But with that extra money comes a dependably delicious pie that's easy to prepare for a more homemade dessert moment.

Instead of sticking with just full-sized pies, Marie Callender's offers frozen pot pie-sized apple pies that let you pull off a fake home bake that's just the right size to split among your kids or enjoy all on your own. There are no leftovers here, unless you're too reserved or full to devour an entire slice of a mini pie.

This one bakes for about 45 minutes before the crust turns golden brown, with foil around the edges to make sure it crisps but doesn't burn. It can also be microwaved if you're in a hurry, but why would you put yourself through that sort of misery? Nobody has ever microwaved a rave-worthy apple pie, no matter whose name is on the box. The crust is a little thinner than it should be, but it's also incredibly buttery and rich for a simple pastry. The apples taste like the best baked apple dish I've ever had, and when it was fresh out of the oven, it had a definite homemade sensibility.

While it's true that, at $4 or so, this very small pie is more costly than the larger pies per serving, it's also a premium option to have stashed in your freezer for fast and easy enjoyment. It's also a top three pie selection that I would have no difficulty recommending to devout apple pie fans.

As a Kroger property, Fry's Food Stores stock apple pies that come with a simple "bakery fresh" label. There's only one full-sized traditional apple pie in the collection, which makes shopping simple, if a little unexciting. Not to worry, though; once you have the pie on your counter and the time arrives to crack it open and serve it up, you'll be happy there were not competing options to distract you.

I call this one a truly classic apple pie. The flaky, unevenly browned crust made me believe there might be real butter in the recipe. The apples are amazing, and the gel really leans into a cinnamon and nutmeg mix. All combined, it imbues this bake with the perky personality of a boutique bakery pie rather than a chain grocery store.

This is an easy win for Fry's. Not only would I recommend it as a prized purchase, but I'd also be willing to transfer it into a glass pan, heat it up, and pass it off as mine (only if I were too pressed for time to make my own, though).

The Albertsons bakery pulls off a stunning victory by conjuring an apple pie that hits all the right notes in a pitch-perfect symphony of flavor and consistency. Who knew this corner of the store held so much delicious dessert potential? Not me; I usually glide right past the racks on my way to see if pineapples are on sale. Now that I know the sumptuous sugar bomb that awaits among the bolillo rolls and baguettes, I'll be making a beeline for the pie counter whenever dessert calls for someone else to do the baking.

What's good here: literally everything. The crust is buttery, and the apples are spot-on, delivering the tree-fresh goodness that rings out more like cider than fruit. They're helped along by a generous chorus of cinnamon and nutmeg singing in perfect harmony, cradled in a gel closer to caramel than to the usual apple pie goo. And I haven't even mentioned the sprinkle of sugar on top of the whole thing.

Rounding out all the high points is the fact that Albertsons makes this pie available in half sizes, which was all I could find when I shopped. It was more than enough to convince me this chain has the best grocery store apple pies, bar none. I'm going in for another bite now ... please look away.

The simplicity of an apple pie makes it easy to taste-test and rank. The sampling came down to three factors: freshness, flavor, and texture. Freshness was an easy one to align, since most of the pies I chose are part of the bakery section, which ensures frequent movement of stock to keep the pies at peak freshness. The two frozen options, Sara Lee and Marie Callender's, were presumed to be fresh, though I took extra measures to ensure that the finished pie took on a fresh-baked quality that aligned them with the actual fresh pies.

For flavor, I broke down the tasting into sweetness, spice, and appley-ness, a word I made up specifically for this round-up. Since there's not much else to an apple pie, it seemed like a fair collection of testing points to include. As for texture, the combination of crust and filling informed the category; I tasted both separately and together to determine what each contributed to the overall pie. Once I knew what each pie brought to the table regarding these factors, it was easy to arrange them in the final ranking. And you thought I was just snarfing down apple pies.