How to Make Pie Crust in a Food Processor
Perfectly flaky and delicious pie crust doesn’t have to be complicated. Learn how to make perfect pie crust in a food processor for the easiest homemade pie crust ever!
There are times when I just don’t have the energy or patience for traditional pie crust. I need a shortcut so I can get it done fast and move on to other things. Food processor to the rescue!
This pie dough method saves time and effort, but still yields a perfectly flaky all-butter double pie crust. I use this recipe most of the time now when I make homemade pie crust, and once you’ve learned it, it’s sure to be your go-to also!
Table of Contents
- What you'll need for this recipe
- How to make pie crust in a food processor
- Recipe tips and FAQs
- My favorite pie recipes
- More pie help
- Recipe for making pie crust in the food processor
But don’t just take my word for it! Here’s what others are saying about this easy food processor pie crust:
“Easiest, tastiest, way to make a pie crust dough, something I’ve never been able to do! I made my first chicken pot pie Thank you! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” —from reader Barbara J.
“Absolutely perfect crust. I am 70 years old. This is the easiest recipe I have ever used. Goodbye premade refrigerated crusts! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐” —from reader Arliene
“For the first time I made a pie crust that I am happy with! No mess, perfect pie at the end! I will keep this recipe forever! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ” —from reader Elisa
What you’ll need for this recipe
- All-purpose flour
- Butter: I’ve switched to baking primarily with salted butter and I love the extra boost of flavor, but unsalted butter is fine too.
- Sugar: Optional, for dessert pies only.
- Salt
- Water (Or use buttermilk if making my famous buttermilk pie crust recipe)
- A food processor: This recipe and method is specifically designed for making in a food processor. Feel free to use my foolproof flaky pie crust recipe instead if you prefer.
Now that we have everything ready for this recipe, let’s get started!
How to make pie crust in a food processor
- Add dry ingredients to food processor. Put flour, salt and sugar (if using) into a large food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
- Pulse to break up the butter. Add cubed butter and do a quick pulse 3-5 times until the smallest butter pieces are the size of large peas. (It’s okay if you have some bigger pieces at this point. You don’t want them any smaller than that as the butter will be further broken up in the next step.)
- Add liquid. Begin to add the cold water and then turn on the food processor while continuing to add all of the liquid.
- Let dough start to come together with the food processor running. Once you’ve added all the liquid, you should only need to let it run for a few seconds more, less than 10 seconds total. (The food processor will actually start making a louder sound when this happens).
- Do not over mix! The dough should NOT come together completely into a ball at this point. (Use photos as a guide to what it should look like. It looks loose, but holds together when pinched.)
- Remove from food processor and form dough into disks. Dump the crumbly-looking dough out onto a clean surface and work it together with your hands to form two disks. (If the dough doesn’t come together at this point, sprinkle more water on top 1 tablespoon at a time.)
- Chill until ready to use. This pie crust should rest in the fridge for 1-2 hours, but you can store it longer if you wish— up to 3-5 days in the fridge and 2 months in the freezer.
Recipe tips and FAQs
I recommend at a 10-cup food processor for this recipe, though you can get away with a smaller one. I just like to have enough space for everything to be blended evenly and quickly. Here is the Magimix food processor that I was gifted ages ago and still love. Cuisinart makes a nice one too. If you want a more budget-friendly option, Hamilton Beach also has some options. *Affiliate links
I use the standard S-shaped multi-purpose blade.
Most likely you added too much liquid to your pie crust. After adding 1/3 cup of water and following the recipe as written, your dough may look crumbly and like it won’t hold together. But it will! Trust the process (and the processor!).
It’s also possible the dough is too warm and the butter has softened. Start with cold cubed butter and work quickly, and if the dough gets too warm you can always stick the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes to get it cold again.
If the dough still won’t come together as you work it with your hands, sprinkle additional liquid 1 tablespoon at a time over the dough. (Do not add extra liquid during the food processor steps, as it’s too easy to add more than you need. Only add as you’re working with the dough by hand.)
Be sure to also measure flour correctly so you don’t have too much, which can also cause dough to be too dry.
You can store pie crust in the fridge for up to 5 days (though I try to use it within 3 days) or freeze it for a few months or more. If freezing, double wrap in plastic wrap first. When ready to use, let thaw in the fridge overnight.
My favorite pie recipes
- Cranberry Blueberry Pie
- Mile High Apple Pie
- Sweet Cherry Pie
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
- Classic Pumpkin Pie
More pie help
Recipe for making pie crust in the food processor
How to Make Pie Crust in a Food Processor
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour , measured with "spoon and sweep method"
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (optional)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter , cold and cubed
- ⅓ cup (75 grams) ice cold water
Equipment
Instructions
- Put the flour, sugar (if using) and salt in a large food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse a few times to combine.
- Add the cubed butter and quick pulse 3-5 times until butter is broken up and the smallest pieces the size of large peas. It's okay if you still have some larger pieces.
- Begin to gradually add ⅓ water through the top, and then while still pouring, run the food processor until all the water has been added and mixture begins to come together (mixer will actually begin to make a different sound), but stop before it forms a complete ball. It will look a little crumbly but actually holds together when you pink it. (This whole step should take less than 10 seconds total!)
- Turn dough out onto a clean surface and form into 2 equal disks with your hands. If the dough won't come together as you work it, add more water 1 tablespoon at a time, sprinkling it over the dough.
- Once formed into disks, cover in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours and up to 3-5 days. Pie crust also freezes very well, up to 2 months. Double wrap in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn, and thaw overnight in the fridge before using.
- Use pie crust as desired with your favorite pie recipes.
Notes
- Makes two 9-inch pie crusts (for 2 single crust pies, or 1 double crust pie).
- More pie crust recipes: Check out my more traditional tutorial on how to make the flakiest pie crust. You can also find my buttermilk pie crust variation here. It’s my favorite for fruit pies!
- I have only used this method for traditional all-butter pie crusts. It’s possible that other types of pie crust and recipes will have different results.
Note: This tutorial was originally published in 2020. While the recipe and method remain the same, instructions have been expanded and improved for more clarity.
Wowzer! Super easy and fast! The only thing that took a little time was cubing the butter. I have a medium sized food processor and it worked great.
Have the dough resting in the fridge. Made two batches for tarts.
Thanks for sharing this. I loved it.
Honestly, I haven’t made a pie crust from scratch for a very long time. I just got some apples from upstate NY so of course a pie was in my near future. I choose your recipe because it used the food processor and the instructions were thorough with pictures. It was easy and delicious. I had forgotten how much better a real pie crust tasted and I had a few leftover pieces to make a tasty treat for my dogs.
Wonderful and super easy. Thank you!
Wow, Pie Crust looks amazing, thank you!
Hi – I just tied to make pastry in my food processer, I think I had too much as i doubled the recipe. It didn’t go into ‘breadcrumbs’ but became a big lump. What can I do, or is it just garbage?
Hmm yes a double batch may have been a bit ambitious. If it’s one big lump it might have been overworked, which would produce a tougher crust, but it’s hard to know without trying it.
Omg, always hated making traditional pie crust. Always found it tedious. This was so easy and absolutely amazing. My daughter told me she didn’t k ow what I did but this was the best crust ever so buttery and flaky. This will be my go to crust recipe from now on! No mixing by hand required the processor did it all. Start to finish maybe 5 min. Thank so much!
So happy to hear you loved this method Joanne! I agree, such a delicious crust for minimal effort. Happy pie baking!
I had to use 2/3 cup of water to hold the dough together but the crusts still came out great. This was my first attempt at homemade crust and I will use this recipe again. Thanks for sharing!
Found this recipe today, worked brilliantly, made a pithivier style pie with it.
Okay. Thanks for the instructions and recipe. I bought my Cuisinart FP11 (11 cups) so I could use it for pie crusts, to do just as instructed here. I mixed the flour and salt in the processor. I added the cup of cubed butter, but the machine could not “reach” the butter up on top. I opened the top and tried to “introduce” the butter, with no luck. I failed! Ack! Whahoppen?
thank you so much!
I love, love, love this recipe. I use it all the time, making more pies, pot pies. It’s a miracle pie dough. I’ll never use another!!
I have a question? What size food processor do you need to make this pie crust. I have an old food processor that is maybe 15 years old. I think it might be 11 cups. But my dough doesn’t mix well. The butter/crisco gets clogged in the bottom outside edges. It doesn’t mix it well when I start to add the water. I have been searching for a new reasonable priced food processor but not sure what size I need.
I have a 12 cup Cuisinart and it is absolutely wonderful…
My pie crust was too sticky I had to add a little flour on the board. I added the right amount of water. Will my crust come out too sticky when I try to roll it. I will let it in the frig, will this help?
It sounds like you added too much water, or maybe not quite enough flour. You can always compensate by adding more flour to the surface as you roll it out to prevent sticking.
I made this today. December 18, 2020. It looked exactly like the posted shots in your recipe. I used LARD instead of butter. I didn’t put in the optional sugar. The crust rolled out beautifully! I must make thinner crust. I made a 9 in. pie and had enough leftover to make a small (6 in.?) single crust pie.
OMG I absolutely love this recipe. It reminds me of my grandmothers pie crust. So good and easy!