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Four ingredients and ten minutes are all you need to make this Oil Pie Crust.
This pie crust made with oil is tender and works great when you don’t feel like messing with fussy pie dough.
Raise your hand if you think making a real pie crust can be a pain. That’s me too. I’ll begrudgingly make one for special occasions or when I want to impress.
It’s great when done well with all the flaky, tender layers, but for me, the filling of the pie is the best part.
Oil Pie Crust
Enter this recipe for a pie crust made with oil. I call it the pie crust for everyday life. This is the recipe my family grew up making.
It’s quick and easy and while the flaky layers aren’t there like a traditional pie crust. It is still a tender crust that works beautifully.
And it gets lots of love for being so much easier than regular pie dough. Here is a quick walk-through of the steps to make the crust.
Measure your ingredients. You’ll only need flour, salt, oil and water.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir gently with a fork until the mixture comes together.
This is key, don’t over mix the dough or it will get tough. It is okay if there is some flour remnants at the bottom of the bowl.
Roll the dough out between two sheets of wax paper. Lightly wet the counter with water and then lay one sheet of wax paper on it.
Place the ball of dough on top, flatten slightly and top with another wax paper. Roll out with a rolling pin to the size of your pie dish.
Then, to easily transfer to your baking dish, peel off the top layer of wax paper, and place face down in the baking dish.
Pie Crust Recipe Made with Oil
Arrange in the plate and carefully peel the second layer of wax paper off. Trim excess pie dough and crimp the edges.
Ta da! An easy, tasty pie crust in less than 1o minutes.
This is the pie crust recipe I use about 3/4 of the time, the other times I use this all butter pie crust recipe from King Arthur Flour.
I have to really want to impress someone to use that recipe though because there is more work involved.
Wondering what to fill your pie crust with? Try out any of the pies linked below the recipe.
In a hurry? Grab a jar of Blueberry Pie Filling and have it in the oven in no time. If you’re lucky enough to have apples on hand, The Best Apple Pie Ever needs to happen too!
Mock Apple Pie began as a thrifty way to make a sweet treat from pantry staples in the late 1800s, but became popular during the privations of the 1930s. It stayed popular, though, because of its homey, comforting deliciousness.
Cheater Oil Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1/4 cup cold water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the oil and water at once to the flour and gently stir with a fork until it just comes together in a ball. Do not over stir. Split the dough in half
- Roll out each half between two sheet of wax paper.
- Peel off the top layer of paper and place face down in the pie dish. Peel off the second layer of paper. Trim edges and crimp. Repeat the with other half of the dough. Fill pie with your favorite filling and bake as directed in your recipe.
- This makes 2 crusts, enough for one 8 or 9 inch double crust pie or two single crust pies.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
{originally published 8/6/18 – recipe notes and photos updated 3/31/21}
Here are some great pie recipes for your crust:
When I tried this recipe, I halved the ingredients so it was for a single crust. It didn’t really cover it. Then I realized that I was using a 9-inch pie plate and this recipe was more suitable for an 8-inch pie plate. So I made certain adjustments and figured out how to make this recipe work for my pie plates.
For one 8-in. pie crust:
1 c. all-purpose flour
¾ tsp. salt
¼ c. vegetable or canola oil
⅛ c. cold water
For two 8-in. pie crusts:
2 c. all-purpose flour
1½ tsp. salt
½ c. vegetable or canola oil
¼ c. cold water
For one 9-in. pie crust:
1½ all-purpose flour
1⅛ tsp. salt
⅜ c. vegetable or canola oil
3 tbsp. cold water
For two 9-in. pie crusts:
2½ c. all-purpose flour
2¼ tsp. salt
¾ c. vegetable or canola oil
⅜ c. cold water
Thanks for taking the time to compute that! Glad you liked the recipe enough to take the time to do so.
TRIED IT. YUCK ! I’M BACK TO THE LARD
Sorry to hear that it wasn’t a hit for you. Did you by chance change anything else in the recipe?
My mother used this recipe and I never learned it from her. It really looks like the one my mom always used. The only baking that my mother showed me was how she measured flour. I was wondering how you measured your flour? I searched the net and noticed lots of different approaches which might be the reason why some have experienced issues with the recipe? Just a thought.
Hi Tamara, I typically spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level it off with a knife.
Can I just bake the shell ,and at what temperature?
If you just want to bake the pie crust, you can follow these directions, Donna: https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/perfect-baked-pie-crust/
Can I pre-bake the crust and then fill with the prepared filling and serve ??
It won’t hold together that way, Sandy. You’ll want to pour the pie filling into an unbaked crust and then top it and bake it.