With a crisp, nutty top, a rich, perfectly gooey center, and a buttery homemade crust, this is the BEST Pecan Pie recipe you’ll find! My recipe takes just 15 minutes to prep with just 8 ingredients. Recipe includes a how-to video!
The Best Pecan Pie Recipe
You’ve officially found the BEST pecan pie recipe! My carefully tested recipe is guaranteed to produce a perfect pie with a firm, yet slightly gooey center, crisp top, and flaky homemade pie crust base. It’s been carefully tweaked and adjusted for the best possible flavor and texture. Bonus: it’s also really, really easy to make!
If you’ve never had this pie before, you’re in for a treat! It has a nutty (obviously) slightly buttery, brown sugar/caramelized flavor that’s unbeatable, especially when served warm. This recipe is a classic for Thanksgiving (served after the turkey, creamed spinach and dinner rolls!) but honestly, there’s never a bad time it.
Why use my recipe:
- Just 15 minutes of prep.
- Perfectly set filling–no runny mess!
- Uses toasted pecans for extra flavor.
- NO need to blind bake your crust beforehand!
What You Need
Today’s pie filling is made with just a handful of basic ingredients. Here are the ones you should take note of:
- Pecans. Use pecan halves and lightly toast them for the best flavor (it literally takes less than 5 minutes!). If you need a refresher on how to do this, check out my post on how to toast pecans.
- Dark corn syrup. I prefer the richer taste from using dark corn syrup, but if you don’t have any, light corn syrup will work just fine. And yes, corn syrup is an essential ingredient in this recipe! I don’t have any substitutions to recommend. Remember, corn syrup is NOT the same thing as high fructose corn syrup.
- Eggs. Use room temperature eggs and whisk them vigorously until they’re light and foamy.
- Melted butter. Use unsalted butter and let it cool before adding it to your egg mixture. Note: I accidentally say 1 cup instead of ¼ cup in my video 🤦🏼♀️–you only need ¼ cup!
SAM’S TIP: Make sure to check your pie periodically while baking. While I have been able to bake this pie without having to cover it, if you notice that your crust is beginning to turn too brown, cover your pie with foil. I recommend checking your pie 25 minutes into baking, and then continuing to check every 10 minutes or so after that.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Pecan Pie
- Roll out your pie dough, fit it to your plate, and chill it while you prepare your filling.
- Toast your pecans and let them cool.
- Vigorously whisk your eggs until they’re pale and foamy, then whisk in the corn syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla extract, and salt.
- Add the cooled melted butter, then stir in your pecans.
- Pour your filling into your chilled pie crust and bake for 40-50 minutes.
- Let the pie cool for several hours before slicing.
SAM’S TIP: You’ll know your pie is done when the center is fully set–there shouldn’t be any movement when you jiggle the pie plate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This is a great pie for making in advance and freezing. To do so, allow the pie to cool completely, then cover tightly with plastic wrap. Transfer to the freezer and freeze for up to one month. To thaw, place your pie in the refrigerator overnight.
Make sure to bake your pie for the full amount of time (it shouldn’t be at all jiggly when it’s done!) AND let it have plenty of time to cool and set up. I like to let my pie sit on the top of my oven for two hours before transferring it to the fridge.
Since this is an egg-based pie, it should be refrigerated. Just make sure to cover or store yours in an airtight container before placing it in the fridge (this will help keep it from drying out and from absorbing any odors that could be lingering in the refrigerator). I personally think pecan pie is best warm, so I highly recommend reheating your slice in the microwave before enjoying.
If you happen to have some in your freezer, make sure to top your pie slice with vanilla ice cream or even homemade whipped cream–yum!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Perfect Pecan Pie
Ingredients
- 1 9 ½" homemade pie crust (click link for recipe)
- 2 ¼ cups (230 g) pecan halves or coarsely chopped pecans
- 3 large eggs room temperature preffered
- ⅔ cup (158 ml) dark corn syrup
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar tightly packed
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled until no longer warm to the touch (please note that the video states to use 1 cup of butter. This is incorrect, you should only use ¼ cup/57g of butter).
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Prepare homemade pie crust according to recipe instructions. As per instructions, prepare, chill, roll out, and arrange into a 9 ½" pie plate (do not bake). Return to refrigerator to chill while you prepare pecan pie filling.1 9 ½" homemade pie crust
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
- Once oven is preheated, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and scatter pecan halves evenly over the surface. Transfer to 350F (175C) preheated oven and toast for 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool while you prepare the rest of your pecan pie filling.2 ¼ cups (230 g) pecan halves
- In a large bowl, whisk your eggs until pale yellow and foamy (about 30 seconds).3 large eggs
- Add your corn syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla extract, and salt, and whisk until combined.⅔ cup (158 ml) dark corn syrup, 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Add melted, slightly cooled butter and stir well/whisk to combine.¼ cup (57 g) unsalted butter
- Add cooled pecan halves into mixture and stir until until completely coated in syrup mixture.
- Pour pecan mixture into your prepared pie plate and transfer to 350F (175C) oven.
- Bake 40-50 minutes or until pie is set (the center should not be jiggly). Be sure to check your pie 25 minutes into baking and check periodically after that, if the crust is beginning to brown too quickly, cover your pie with foil to prevent over-browning.
- Allow to cool completely (at least 2 hours) before cutting and serving.
Notes
Storing
Cover pecan pie and store leftovers for up to 3-4 days. Store in the refrigerator, but pecan pie tastes best when its warm so I recommend reheating it in your microwave!Video Note
The video incorrectly states to use 1 cup of butter. This is incorrect, you should only use ¼ cup/57g of butter. Yes I am working on re-filming this.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Beth L Van Prooyen
I was wondering if I could use light corn syrup and dark brown sugar and get the same taste?
Sam
Hi Beth! I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think the flavor will be quite the same. 🙁
Jen
I used like corn syrup and dark brown sugar and it came out fine
Jen
“Light”
Rosy
I’m planning on making this recipe soon! Can the filling be doubled?
Sam
Hi Rosy! You’ll need 2 pie crusts if you double it, but yes it can be doubled. 🙂
Rosy
Thank you!
Daffydil
So here’s the thing: It absolutely erks me when people give a recipe 5 stars, yet they’ve changed the recipe, but I didn’t make the homemade crust because I’m lazy today, and I didn’t toast the pecans, because I’m lazy today and I used white kayro syrup because it’s what I had. This pie turned out fantastic regardless. I did pull after 20 minutes and covered the edges of the pie crust only. The pecans are crunchy and toasted and the filling is divine. I can only imagine, if prepared the way instructed, it would be amped up. Best recipe for pecan pie in my book. Thanks for sharing it!
Maria
Made it this weekend and it was soooo good! I used light corn syrup and cheated a little by using store-bought pie crust. I didn’t notice a difference. It tasted like the pecan pie from a favorite local bakery. I’m definitely making this again! One thing I will probably tweak is to grease my pie pan. I think my crust may have cracked or the filling leaked/spilled over. Parts of the crust stuck to the pan and it didn’t make pretty portions. It was still very yummy nevertheless.
Jan
you can make light corn syrup taste like dark corn syrup. use 1 part molasses to 3 parts light corn syrup
Michael K
A quick and easy pie that comes out perfect every time!Like it says, cook until the center no longer jiggles and you get that perfectly carmelized top and creamy bottom.
Gretchen Smith
Toasting the pecans makes all the difference in the world. The pies were devoured by my family.
Another top notch recipe, Sam!!
RT
It was as good as my granny’s!
Lydia Jones
What if I just want to use frozen pie shells. Do I use regular or deep dish shells?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Lydia! We suspect a regular shell will not hold all of the filling, so deep dish might be best. Enjoy 😊
Doris
The pie turned out great although I had to use light Karo. Will make again using the dark. I voted 4 stars because I’m confused why you call for a 9 1/2” crust. The pecans and syrup only filled abut a little more than half my crust. Turns out with too much crust and too little filling.
Sam
Hi Doris! That’s really odd that it only made it halfway up the pie crust. Did you make any other alterations? You can see mine in the picture and I make it on camera in a standard 9.5 inch pie plate. I’m glad you enjoyed it though. 🙂
Gretchen
Doris, did you use metric measurements and weigh the ingredients? I doubled the recipe and always use a scale when baking. Both pies were delicious and I was told the best recipe ever.
Tanya
Absolutely delicious! Pecan pie was always way down on my list of preferred pies but this recipe turned out a pie that I actually looked forward to eating. I used the homemade pie crust recipe and that was really good too.
Louise
Hi, Sam. I made your pecan pie recipe for Thanksgiving this year. Usually I make the recipe on the Karo syrup bottle, but I wanted to up my pie game:). It was the best I’d ever baked, and it got so many compliments. Toasting the pecans is a MUST – totally amps up the flavor of the pie. The proportions of all ingredients seem just right. Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wonderful! We’re so happy you took a chance on our recipe and loved the results. Thanks for commenting, Louise 😊
Linda H
Hi Sam,
This was It was my first pecan pie & your recipe not only met my expectations it exceeded them. Thank you for sharing your joy for baking!
Cheers,
Lin
AG
I’m making another pie that needs to bake before this one. Is the best way to make the egg/sugar/corn syrup mixture and refrigerate it, assembling the pie only before baking? Only for about an hour until the other pie is done? I feel like that would be better than putting the whole thing together and letting it sit for an hour.
Sam
I just wouldn’t put the filling in the crust before you bake it if you are worried about the crust getting soggy. I would think it would be ok to just assemble it and let it sit, but without having tried it myself I can’t say for sure how it would go. Enjoy! 🙂
sandra
Can you use light corn syrup instead of dark
Sam
Hi Sandra! You can use light corn syrup, I actually cover this in the post. 🙂
Jerri
The flavor of this pie was the best I have had. This will be my new pecan pie recipe. The brown sugar and dark Karo was the perfect combo. And the crust!! What can I say? To die for! Thank you
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We appreciate your kind review, Jerri! Enjoy the pie 😊