The Worst Grocery Store Pumpkin Pie Comes From A Beloved Chain

A trip to your local grocery store during the fall reveals pumpkin spice around every corner. Whether you're a sucker for pumpkin spice candles, pumpkin spice yogurt, cereal, lattes, or pumpkin pie itself, pumpkin-flavored items aren't hard to find in 2024. With its pleasing spice mixture, soft, chewy texture, rich smell, and crispy crust, pumpkin pie is a delicious and welcome sight on many Thanksgiving and Christmas tables. But if you plan to add a store-bought pie to your next holiday feast, there's one to avoid.

We taste-tested five different grocery store pumpkin pies and concluded that Costco's pie leaves something to be desired. The retail giant offers a massive pumpkin pie — a whopping 58 ounces for just $6. But bigger doesn't equal better, here, and it took last place in our ranking. While it's enjoyable and tastes enough like pumpkin pie, we found it to be mushy, one-dimensional, light on the flavors of different spices, and with a not-so-great crust-to-filling ratio — in other words, too much mushy filling and too thin of a crust.

If you're looking for the best pumpkin pie you can buy for your Thanksgiving or Christmas get-together, remember that good things often come in small packages. Pardon the pun, but Wegmans' seven-ounce pie takes the cake as a buttery, not-too-sweet, and richly-spiced treat that tastes homemade. For these reasons, our taste tester awarded it first place in our ranking.

No matter where you get your pumpkin dessert, make sure you have enough pie to go around. Experts recommend having multiple pies and getting at least six servings out of each standard nine or 10-inch pie. With multiple pies available, guests can also pick and choose their favorites — and, as a bonus, you'll have plenty of leftovers to enjoy.

If you're sticking with tradition and baking a pumpkin pie from scratch, consider changing up your tried-and-true recipe with these two expert-approved tips for elevating pumpkin pie. Start by browning your butter (assuming the recipe calls for it) and roasting your canned pumpkin or pumpkin puree. By doing so, you'll unlock some extra toasty tasting notes and the butter will be richer, thereby enhancing the warm spice flavors and taking your homemade pie to the next level.