Pizza Crust vs Pie Crust: The Ultimate Showdown

  • By: Emma
  • Date: May 19, 2022
  • Time to read: 6 min.

Table of Contents

Pizza crust vs pie crust

Some people might say that there’s no real comparison between a pizza crust and a pie crust. After all, they’re two different dishes, right?

But others would say that the two have a lot in common – they’re both made from flour, water, salt, and yeast, and they can both be used to create delicious meals.

So which is better – pizza crust or pie crust? Well, these two crusts are different. But they are still very similar, and each one has its advantages, so one can say that the answer to our main question is both yes and no!

In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the pros and cons of each type of crust, and you can decide for yourself which one is best.

What is pie crust?

Many of you must be familiar with pizza crust, but what is pie crust? Pie crust is a dough prepared with flour, water, and other ingredients such as shortening or lard. It is used to form the base of various desserts.

Pie crusts are usually flaky, which means that they are made up of thin sheets. This allows them to be light and airy, which makes them perfect for sweet dishes.

Pie crusts are cooked before they’re used in pies and other dishes. The fact that it must be cooked before use means that the crust needs to have a high level of moisture to be edible, so this type of crust is not suited for dishes with a lot of fillings.

This means that pie crusts are usually eaten on their own, or maybe with some icing on top.

On the other hand, pizza dough is usually uncooked, which means that it’s typically much wetter than pie crust.

As you can probably guess, this makes pizza dough unsuitable for use in pies and tarts – these dishes need a dryer base to keep their shape properly.

Ingredients of Pie crust

Just like a pizza crust, the ingredients in pie crust vary according to how you want your dough to turn out. However, there are a few things that most pie crusts contain:

Flour: needed for structure and flavor.

Oil/fat: used to add moisture – shortening is the best type of fat to use for this.

Water: needed to make the dough come together properly.

Egg(s): used to add protein and structure, so that your crust will hold up well in a pie dish.

Salt: added to enhance flavors.

Sugar: used to sweeten your crust – you can use granulated

To bake pie crust, you need to blind bake it first. This means that you will need to fill your crust with something heavy for the base so that it doesn’t rise when you bake it.

Pie crusts are usually filled with ceramic pie weights, which are sold in most supermarkets. You can improvise by putting dried beans or clean pebbles into the crust instead.

13 Reasons why pie crust is better than pizza crust

No one can deny that pizza crust is delicious. However, there are many reasons why pie crust might be a better choice for you.

Here are seven of these reasons:

1. Flakiness

Pie crusts have a much higher level of flakiness than pizza doughs do, which means that they’re really light and tender. This makes them perfect for pies, tarts, and other desserts.

2. Crispy crusts

Pie crusts are usually baked with a filling of some sort. This means that you can have a crunchy bottom to your pie, which contrasts nicely with the soft top of the crust.

3. Fat content

Due to their high levels of fat (in the form of shortening or lard), pie crusts are very rich. This means that they’re great for people who like to indulge occasionally – something that is often frowned upon with pizza.

4. Variety

Pie crusts can be used in a wide variety of desserts, which makes this type of dough more versatile than its pizza counterpart.

5. Very little prep time

While it takes a while for pizza dough to rise, you can just mix up a pie crust in about five minutes and then throw it in the oven when you’re ready!

6. Easier to cook with children

This is mainly because of reason number five – there’s hardly any preparation time for pie crust. Also, children are more likely to be able to handle uncooked dough than they are with pizza dough – it’s a gooier and softer inconsistency.

7. Health benefits

Pie crusts almost never include any meats or vegetables, which means that you can enjoy them guilt-free! The pizza crust is often made with healthier toppings, but that doesn’t mean that it’s healthy to eat a whole pizza in one go.

8. Best for kids

If you’re looking for a dish to make for your kids, then pie crust is almost always going to be a better choice than pizza crust. This is because the former has no meat or vegetables that might upset a child’s stomach, and its richness means that it will fill them up faster.

9. Best for parties

Pie crusts are especially good at parties because they can be used for both savory and sweet dishes.

10. Easier to store

Since you use so much less of the pie crust than you would pizza dough, it’s also easier to store away any leftover pie crust in bulk.

11. Less mess is made

As most people aren’t familiar with the best way to handle raw pizza dough, this means that it can end up looking pretty messy before you’ve even cooked it. Pie crusts are easier to cook with, so there’s less chance of making a mess!

12. More aesthetically appealing

While it might be a little gourmet-ish, pie crusts are more aesthetically appealing than their pizza counterparts. They come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, so they can fit in perfectly with most diet plans.

13. Lower risk of burning

Since pie crusts require less time to cook than pizza dough does, there’s less of a risk of burning them.

5 Reasons why pizza crust can be a better choice for you!

Although pie crust might be a great choice for a lot of people, pizza crust has some significant benefits which might make it the better option for you.

Here are three of these reasons:

1. Vegetable and Meat

For those who love vegetable and meat toppings on their pizza, pie crust is not going to be a good choice. The dough of a pie crust will only get in the way of the delicious toppings that you love so much! In these cases, it’s better to have all of your favorite ingredients on top of a pizza base.

2. It’s a meal!

Pie crust is great for people who are looking for delicious desserts, but what about those times when you’re not in the mood for anything sweet?

Pizza crust can come with a range of meats – chicken, beef, pork – as well as vegetables to make it into a complete meal. Pie crust would just ruin all that hard work!

3. No butter is needed

Although pie crust tastes great with butter, you don’t need any extra fat to make your pizza taste amazing. All of the flavors come out perfectly on their own, so there’s no need for anything else!

4. It gets crispy!

The reason that pizza crust is so great is that it can get crispy without drying out. Pie crust can be delicious, but it’s always going to be a little bit soggy unless you serve your pie right away.

5. You don’t need a fork and knife

It might sound silly, but pizza crust is best enjoyed when you pick it up with your hands! While both forms of dough need to be handled with care, pizza crust is the only form that you can hold like a slice of bread.

For these reasons and more, pizza crust might be a better choice for you than pie crust. Now the choice is yours!

Conclusion

In summary, pizza crust comes with its own benefits that make it a more useful kitchen tool than pie crust. Pie crust, on the other hand, is often used for desserts so there are some cases where pizza crust will be preferred over it – unless you are looking for some delicious dessert, of course.

Happy Eating!

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