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My no-fail recipe for Lard Pie Crust uses a blend of lard and butter to guarantee a shatteringly flaky, incredibly tender, and richly flavored crust for both sweet and savory pies.
Once I discovered that a Lard Pie Crust is the flakiest, most flavorful crust there is, I’ve never looked back. A blend of rendered pork lard and high fat butter unite to create a rich, flavorful crust that accentuates both savory and sweet pies.
When I say ‘lard,’ I don’t mean the highly processed, hydrogenated lard you’ll find lurking on grocery store shelves. Fortunately, excellent quality rendered leaf lard is available online and likely from your local butcher and/or farmers market or specialty grocery store. It’s worth seeking out to make this fluffy, flaky, delectable pie crust.
“Excellent! Just like my Nan’s pie crust (who was a culinary professional for many years.) The perfect balance between butter and lard, great flavor and rolls out beautifully. Thank you.”
Lynne
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe is The Best
- For Flakiness: Pie crusts made with lard are flaky and crisp. Lard has a higher melting point than butter, making pastry easier to work with.
- For Flavor & Tenderness: All-butter crusts have rich flavor and tenderness. The best pie crust recipe: flaky, crisp, tender and flavorful, uses a blend of both lard and butter.
- The “Leaf Lard” Secret: This is the highest grade of lard. It has a very neutral flavor (very little porky flavor) which makes it ideal for pie crusts and baking in general.
Ingredients for Lard Pie Crust
- Flour: All-purpose flour.
- Kosher Salt: Or 1/2 the amount of fine sea salt.
- Lard: Rendered leaf lard / rendered pork lard. (Affiliate links to two online options – the leaf lard is excellent, but the most expensive. I’ve used both of these with good success and you may be able to find these brands locally.)
- Butter: Ideally unsalted, high fat, European style butter. (read about the difference in this Butter Cookies post)
- Ice Water
How to Make Lard Pie Crust
Cut Fat into Flour: Pulse flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor. (See recipe card for by-hand instructions.) Add lard and butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pieces a little larger than peas.
Add Water, Shape and Chill: Sprinkle cold water into flour mixture a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition until mixture clumps together when pinched. Transfer pie dough to floured surface and shape into a disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for one hour or more.
Roll, Flute and Chill Again: Place cool, but pliable dough on a floured work surface. Sprinkle dough with flour and roll from the center out to all edges into a 12-inch round. Carefully transfer dough to pie pan and ease into place, taking care not to stretch it. Trim edges leaving a 1-inch overhang. Flute edges using the thumb of of one hand and the index finger of the other into U or V shapes. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
My Pro-Tips for a Perfect Crust
- How to Handle the Dough: This is my advice from years of testing. The dough should be cool, but pliable. If it feels hard, let it stand at room temperature until it has some give, 15 to 30 minutes. Alternatively, if it feels warm or looks greasy, return it to the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before continuing to roll it out.
- The Secret to No-Shrink Crust: The #1 rule is do not stretch the dough when you place it in the pan; ease it in. The 1-inch overhang I call for is your insurance policy to offset any natural shrinking.
- Make-Ahead & Storage: Refrigerate this pie crust for up to 3 days before rolling out. Or wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before baking.
- Why is My Crust Tough? This is the most common question I get. It’s almost always one of two things: 1) You overworked the dough after adding the water, which develops tough gluten, or 2) Your fats (lard/butter) got too warm and melted into the flour instead of staying in separate, flaky layers. Keep everything ice cold!
How to Blind Bake Lard Pie Crust
To blind bake (pre-bake), line pie crust with parchment paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake pie crust in a 425˚F oven for 12 minutes. Remove parchment and weights and pierce crust all over with a fork. For a partially baked crust, bake 8 to 10 minutes more, or 10 to 12 minutes more for a fully baked crust.
What to Make
It’s true that lard pie crust is ideal for savory pies like Breakfast Quiche, Chicken Pot Pie or Turkey Pot Pie, or to be cut and baked into Pie Crust Crackers to accompany Chicken Pot Pie Soup or Turkey Pot Pie Soup.
But it’s wonderful for sweet pies too. With exceptional flavor depth, it heightens sweet and nutty flavors far more than your average homemade pie crust. (Think: Chocolate Rum Pie, Strawberry Pie, Apple Pie, Peach Pie, Pumpkin Pie or Pumpkin Chiffon Pie – also good with Gingersnap Crust, Pecan Pie.) If you’ve ever had candied bacon or bacon crumbled into a cookie or tossed into caramel corn, you know the kind of decadent deliciousness I’m talking about.
FAQ
Leaf lard is the highest grade of lard rendered from visceral fat surrounding pig kidneys. It has a very neutral flavor (very little pork flavor) which makes it ideal for pie crusts and baking in general as it makes a great non-hydrogenated alternative to shortening.
Yes, you can substitute lard for butter in pie crust. For the best flavor use a mixture of both, replacing up to half of the butter with lard to increase flakiness and retain a buttery flavor.
Pastry made with lard is flaky and crisp, but is less flavorful than pastry made with butter. For a flaky pie crust that’s also flavorful, use a blend of lard and butter.
Crisco is not the same as lard. Lard is rendered pork fat while Crisco is a brand of shortening in the United States that has come to be synonymous with the food product, ‘shortening’. It is made by hydrogenating vegetable oil.
It’s a matter of opinion, but in mine, if the lard is not highly processed, e.g., simply rendered pork fat, lard is better than Crisco in every way.
Storage Tips
Refrigerate this pie crust for up to 3 days before rolling out. Or wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before baking.
Lard Pie Crust
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 tablespoons lard ideally leaf lard (recipe note #1), chilled
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter ideally high-fat, European style butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 4 tablespoons ice water or up to 5 tablespoons
Instructions
To Make With a Food Processor:
- Add flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor with knife blade attached. Pulse a few times to combine. Add lard and butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form (a little larger than peas). Sprinkle in ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing after adding each one, until just moist enough to clump together when squeezed. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. Shape dough into a 1-inch thick disc and wrap tightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate one hour or longer.
To Make by Hand:
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add lard and butter and cut in with a pastry cutter /pastry blender or two butter knives until you have irregular coarse crumbs (the size of peas and a little larger). Sprinkle in ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, while fluffing with a fork, until just moist enough to clump together when squeezed. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface. Shape dough into a 1-inch thick disc and wrap tightly with plastic wrap; refrigerate one hour or longer.
To Roll Out Pie Crust:
- When ready to roll out dough, generously flour work surface. Place dough in center and sprinkle with flour. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll into a 12-inch round starting at the center and rolling out toward the edges in every direction. (Dough should be cool, but pliable. If it feels hard, let it stand at room temperature until it has some give, 15 to 30 minutes. Alternatively, if it feels warm or looks greasy, return to the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before continuing to roll it out.)
To Pan and Chill
- Gently fold dough over rolling pin and ease into a 9-inch, deep dish pie pan. Carefully adjust dough, gently pressing to cover bottom and sides. Trim dough edges with a sharp knife, leaving at least a 1-inch overhang to offset shrinking. Flute pie crust edge using the index finger of one hand to press between the thumb and index finger of the other hand to form a V or U shape all the way around. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or until ready to bake.
How to Blind Bake or Fully Bake Pie Crust
- To bake the pie shell, preheat oven to 425 °F (218 °C).
- Line pie crust with parchment paper or foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 12 minutes. Remove paper or foil and weights and prick bottom and sides of crust all over with a fork. Bake 8 to 10 minutes more for a partially baked crust, or for a fully baked crust 10 to 12 minutes longer until golden brown.
Notes
- Lard: My one non-negotiable rule is to look for good quality lard (ideally rendered leaf lard), not the highly processed, hydrogenated lard that is sold in some grocery stores.
- Storage: Refrigerate this pie crust for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before baking.
- Baking: Partially bake the crust for recipes where you’ll fill the crust and continue baking (like quiche), fully bake and cool completely for no-bake fillings.
- Double Crust: For a double-crust pie, increase all ingredients by 50% or double the recipe and make pie crust crackers or cinnamon sugar crisps (Coat rolled out dough scraps with cinnamon and sugar and bake until crispy) with the extra!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe worked perfectly. I made it using the by-hand method using Kerry Gold Butter and locally rendered lard. I couldnt have asked for a better result. Rolled out beautifully, was light, flaky, and very tasty. Thanks for a great recipe! This one wil go to the top of my list!
Thank you so much, LaNaye! I’m thrilled it worked perfectly for you – Kerrygold butter and locally rendered lard sound like an amazing combination. There’s nothing quite like homemade pie crust when it turns out light and flaky. So happy this will be your go-to recipe!
I made this using a food processor. It tasted fabulous, BUT…..the crust was thick and chewy.
I absolutely will make this again, but would like to know why the crust was so dense.
Did I overwork it in the processor (It is difficult to view the consistency using the processor) or did I just not roll it out enough. I had trouble keeping the dough from breaking apart inspite of the fact I used a lot of water.
It also did not brown well, so I kept adding additional time to the process. Rougly 1 hour total.
FYI The pie I made was blueberry. I would appreciate any and all suggestions for my second try.
Hi Ellen! I’m so glad you loved the flavor, but sorry to hear that the texture was off. From your description, it does sound like the dough might have been overworked in the processor, which can make the crust dense and chewy. I’d suggest pulsing just until the dough clumps together when squeezed. Adding too much water can also toughen the crust, so using as little as possible—just enough to hold it together—will help.
When rolling out, if the dough breaks apart, try letting it warm up slightly (just enough to be pliable, but still cool). Chilled dough can crack easily, but dough that’s too warm can become greasy and tricky to handle, so there’s a sweet spot.
Regarding the browning issue, did you fully pre-bake (blind bake) the crust before adding the blueberry filling, or was the crust baked along with the filling from the start? Blind baking as described in the recipe usually ensures better browning and prevents a soggy bottom. I hope this is helpful and I’d love to hear how your second attempt goes!