Lard and Butter Pie Crust
This lard and butter pie crust is the flaky, tender, flavorful piecrust you’ve longed for but may not have had the nerve to make.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, stashed in the freezer until cold
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 13 tablespoons (6 1/2 oz) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch (12-mm) cubes
- 8 tablespoons (4 oz) cold lard, cut into 1/2-inch (12-mm) cubes
- 4 to 6 tablespoons ice water
Instructions
- In a food processor fitted with metal blade, combine the flour, salt, and sugar.
- Toss in the butter cubes and process with five 1-second pulses.
- Toss the cold lard into the processor and continue pulsing until the butter is no larger than the size of peas and the flour is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal, about four 1-second pulses. Dump the flour mixture into a medium bowl.
- Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of ice water over the flour mixture. Working quickly, use a fork to fluff and mix thoroughly. Squeeze a handful of dough—if it doesn’t stick together, add the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Handling the dough as little as possible, divide it into 2 balls, one slightly larger than the other. Flatten each portion of dough into 6-inch discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll each portion of dough to slightly larger than your pie plate. Carefully drape the slightly smaller portion of dough in the plate. If desired, prick the bottom crust with the tines of a fork, if desired.
- Fill with your favorite pie filling recipe, top with the remaining portion of dough and crimp the edges. Trim any excess dough that hangs over the edge. Freeze the unbaked pie for up to several weeks or transfer it to the fridge for at least 30 minutes before baking according to your recipe. Originally published January 9, 2002.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 portionCalories: 214 kcalCarbohydrates: 22 gProtein: 3 gFat: 13 gSaturated Fat: 8 gMonounsaturated Fat: 3 gTrans Fat: 1 gCholesterol: 33 mgSodium: 305 mgFiber: 1 gSugar: 2 g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Recipe © 2002 Cook’s Illustrated. Photo © 2019 Lynne Ann Mitchell. All rights reserved.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This was one of the best pie crusts I’ve ever tasted. It was also one of the easiest to make. With this recipe in your arsenal, you’ll always get great compliments on your pies.
This is the recipe I used for my lard and butter crust last year and let me tell you, I’ll never go back to Crisco again!! I bought some leaf lard from Surfas (a specialty store here in Los Angeles). It was plentiful and cheap. I then rendered it in my crock pot for many hours (and it STUNK! Word to the wise, put your crock pot outside if you don’t want your house to reek.) I was left with three mason jars full of beautiful, snow-white lard that I used in the crusts. I was a bit nervous because of how bad it smelled while rendering, but it really turned out amazing. This is my go-to crust recipe and method from now on!
We couldn’t agree with you more, Courtney, on all counts (including the stench of rendered lard). So glad you feel the same as us about this spectacular pie crust recipe!
I made your lard and butter crust tonight for an amazing chicken pie recipe I have and I have to say it was the most amazing pastry I have ever made! What a fabulous recipe and it turned out so perfect! can’t wait to use it for a fruit pie this fall! Thanks SO much!!
Lizbeth, so glad you enjoyed it! It is wicked good.
Oh wow, this crust. I’ve been baking pies for about 3 years (which doesn’t seem like long, but I make a LOT of pies. It’s my thing) and have mostly just used different butter crust recipes. I tried this recipe after I discovered that a fancy meat shop near my work sold leaf lard, and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to just butter again. The only change I made was I put in 16 tbsp of butter (a stick and a half). My old butter pie crust recipe used 3 sticks of butter, so this was still less fat than normal for me.
I made 2 pies for my coworkers, and everyone agreed that this was the bust crust they’d ever had–even the ones who had pie-making moms. I’m about to make pies for 3 very large Thanksgiving dinners, so I might try hacking this together with the Cook’s Illustrated vodka crust recipe and use some combo of shortening/lard/butter to save money (fancy leaf lard is expensive) but I will definitely be saving this recipe for later use.
Love to hear that, Chelsea. The melding of lard and butter in pie crust is a revelation, is it not?! I use that vodka trick all the time. It’s magical. Happy, happy Thanksgiving.