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Pie dish

Cookware & bakeware · Bakeware

Pie dish

A round, shallow dish with sloping sides and a wide rim for baking sweet and savoury pies.

Useful to have · No power needed · 2 recipes

Photo: Didriks from Cambridge, MA, USA, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-2.0)

What it is

A shallow round dish, usually 20–25 cm across, with sloped sides and a flat rim where pastry edges are crimped. It may be glass, ceramic or metal. It differs from a tart tin, which has straight, fluted sides and often a removable base, so tarts can be unmoulded while pies are served from the dish.

What it’s for: Holding a pastry crust and filling, with or without a pastry lid, so it bakes evenly.

How to use it

  1. Roll pastry larger than the dish and drape it in without stretching.
  2. Trim, leaving an overhang; blind-bake if the recipe says so.
  3. Add the filling, top with a pastry lid and crimp the edges together.
  4. Cut steam vents, brush with egg wash and bake on a hot baking tray for a crisp base.

Good to know

Tasks
baking fruit pies, baking pot pies and quiches, making custard pies
Cooking methods
Oven-baked
Materials
glass, ceramic, metal, enamelled steel
Care and cleaning
Soak to remove baked-on juices. Metal dishes give the crispest base; glass lets you check browning.
Limitations
The pie must be served from the dish; not ideal for tall or freestanding pies.

Safety

  • Fruit juices bubble over and are extremely hot; bake on a tray.
  • Glass and ceramic can crack with sudden temperature change.

If you don’t have one

  • Tart tin — Works for single-crust pies and quiches.
  • Cake tin — A shallow round cake tin can hold a deep-dish pie.

Equipment guide

How it works: Sloped sides support the pastry while the base sits close to the heat. A dish that conducts heat well (metal) or lets heat radiate straight through (glass) helps the bottom crust cook through before the filling makes it soggy.

MaterialGoodWatch out
Borosilicate or tempered glassNon-reactive, lets you see the browning on the sides and base; holds heat well once hot.Slow to heat; can shatter with sudden temperature changes (e.g. cold liquid into a hot dish, or from fridge to hot oven).
Ceramic or stonewareHolds heat and cooks gently and evenly; non-reactive; attractive for serving.Heavy, slow to heat, can crack with thermal shock; glazes vary in quality.
Metal (aluminium or steel)Conducts quickly; crispest bottom crust.Dark metal can over-brown edges.
Standard pie dish (about 23 cm)
Sweet and savoury pies.
Deep-dish pie dish
Generous fillings.
Pie dish with fluted rim
Easier crimping.

Buying guidance

Starting out: A 23 cm glass or metal pie dish.

  • Diameter and depth stated
  • Wide rim for crimping
  • Oven-safe to at least 220 °C

No brands or prices — check current reviews before buying.

Techniques:Baking

Related tools

Recipes that use it