Ina Garten’s Secret Ingredient for Flawless Pie Crust Isn’t Flour or Butter

When I was growing up in the Midwest, no Thanksgiving menu was complete without two mandatory homemade pies: pumpkin and pecan. I’d lend a hand with holiday dessert duty, and throughout the year, Mom would let me chip in and assist with her homemade fruit pies, too, to celebrate what’s in season. (That magical time when berry and apple harvest overlapped was simply the best!)

Despite the fact that I have amassed 30 years of practice at pie making and have been a food writer for more than 15 years, I admit that my crusts are far from consistent. Similar to my recently-remedied pasta problem, my results have been unpredictable; causing me to feel less-than-confident with signing up to bring pie to the potluck. Some pastries would turn out bakery-quality. Others? Total bummers: dry, crumbly, cracked, or tough.

Since earlier this summer, Ina Garten was able to school me and boost my confidence about grilling steaks perfectly every time, I dove into her recipe archives to see if she could be my crust counsellor, too. As soon as I spotted fan comments like “pie crust has always been my nemesis, but this recipe has changed everything,” “hands down the best crust I've ever made,” and “works beautifully every time,” I was excited to see if I could score her secret.

Why Making Pie Crust Can Feel Challenging

The “bones” of this baked good recipe are extremely simple. You just need flour, fat, salt, water, and sometimes sugar. Mix, roll, and place the pastry in a pan, and you’re all set for dessert success.

It sounds straightforward. But as is the case with many desserts, the little details make a big difference. Three in particular: 

1. Ingredient accuracy. It’s extremely easy to add too much flour. Food scientists estimate that when home cooks add flour by volume to recipes (scooping up a cup instead of measuring with a food scale), we tend to add 30 to 50% more weight than we need. This further increases the risk for tough and dry dough.
2. TLC. Pie crust is also easy to overwork if you’re not careful. In baking recipes like sourdough bread, you want to knead and fold the dough to form gluten. This promotes elasticity and structure that allows the bread to rise to the occasion. With pastry dough, some gluten is necessary for dough to keep its shape in the pan. But there can be too much of a good thing here. If you overwork pie crust, that gluten makes the consistency more chewy and tough than tender.
3. Temperature. Cold ingredients are key; especially cold fat, which can play a magic trick once it’s in the oven. As little pockets of cold fat incorporated into the flour are exposed to heat, the water evaporates. The steam that’s generated puffs up the flour to form distinct layers for a flaky texture. If fat is too toasty, it will simply melt into the flour yielding a dense crust.

How to Make Ina Garten’s Perfect Pie Crust (Including the 1 Secret Ingredient You Need)

Luckily, Ina Garten’s Perfect Pie Crust saves the day by addressing each of these potential issues. 

Ina recently told a fan, “weighing ingredients is the most precise way to measure, but because I know many people do not have kitchen scales, I always use measuring cups to make sure the recipe works without a kitchen scale." To ensure she—and we—are as accurate as possible, Ina suggests using a spoon to fluff up the flour, then sprinkle it in to overflow a dry measuring cup. Using the back of a knife, gently scrape off the excess. If you're fond of a food scale, you can check your math: 1 cup of all-purpose flour weighs 4.25 ounces or 120 grams.

To reduce the risk that we overwork the crust, Ina’s crust comes together in a food processor. 

And lastly, the secret to Ina’s perfect pie crust is the same our Test Kitchen pros have sworn by for decades with our fan-favorite Best Pastry for Double-Crust Pie. They say, “for the flakiest crust, it's important to use ice-cold water and work quickly.” Ina agrees, and her key ingredient is about ½ cup ice water for two crusts. This is essential for those satisfying steam pockets.

Following Ina’s lead is as easy as one, two, three:

1. Mix. In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, pulse all-purpose flour, salt, and sugar. Add diced very cold unsalted butter and very cold vegetable shortening, then pulse about 8 to 12 times more. The butter should be pea-sized. With the food processor running, pour ice water down the tube. Pulse until the dough forms itself into a ball. 
2. Refrigerate. Lightly dust a clean counter with flour, then dump out the dough ball. Cover it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about half an hour.
3. Roll and bake. Unwrap the dough, cut it in half, and place each crust on a clean flour-dusted surface. Use a rolling pin to form each into a circle. Transfer each crust to a pie pan (Ina likes to fold the circle in half, place it in the pan, then unfold and shape it to fit). Fill or blind bake according to your recipe.

After trying this pastry process with our Maple Bourbon Apple Pie filling and being treated to flawless results, I can see why Ina named this her “Perfect Pie Crust” recipe. It’s low-fuss with a high flakiness factor, with a delightfully light texture and buttery, shortbread-like flavor. I can't wait to recreate this for Friendsgiving this year.

Ina’s pie crust earns bonus points for the fact that it’s easy to cut in half if you just want a bottom crust for your pie. But keep in mind that you can make it ahead, wrap well, and refrigerate for 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.