When hunger strikes and you’re on the go, few treats satisfy quite like a hand-held pie from your favorite fast food joint.
These portable pastries have become road trip staples and late-night cravings. I’ve sampled countless fast food pies across America’s drive-thrus and counters to bring you this definitive ranking from disappointing duds to mind-blowing bites.
1. Popeyes Cinnamon Apple Pie
Brace yourself for disappointment wrapped in cinnamon-scented mediocrity. Popeyes’ attempt at apple pie falls flatter than week-old soda.
The filling resembles apple-flavored gel rather than actual fruit. Even drowning it in ice cream can’t save this culinary catastrophe.
2. White Castle’s Fudge-Dipped Brownie Pie
Chocolate overload gone terribly wrong! White Castle’s fudge monstrosity tastes like someone melted a cheap Halloween candy bar over a stale brownie.
The exterior hardens into an impenetrable chocolate shell that requires superhuman jaw strength to crack. Inside lurks a gummy, overly sweet filling that sticks to your teeth for hours after eating.
3. Taco Bell’s Caramel Apple Empanada (Discontinued)
Ghost of fast food past! Before Taco Bell cruelly yanked it from menus in 2019, this empanada was the textbook definition of inconsistency.
Sometimes scorching hot, sometimes freezing cold, with apple filling that ranged from chunky to suspiciously smooth. The caramel sauce? More like a sweet chemical afterthought that left a strange film on your tongue.
4. KFC’s Sweet Potato Pie (Seasonal)
Identity crisis in pie form! KFC’s seasonal offering can’t decide if it’s trying to be Thanksgiving dinner or dessert.
The artificial marshmallow-adjacent topping melts into a weird sugary slick that slides off the lukewarm sweet potato filling. And that crust? About as memorable as elevator music.
5. Arby’s Cherry Turnover
Highway robbery disguised as dessert! Arby’s charges premium prices for what amounts to a glorified Pop-Tart with delusions of grandeur.
The cherry filling screams artificial with its neon-red hue and cough-syrup undertones. Meanwhile, the pastry crust shatters into a million pieces.
6. Burger King’s Dutch Apple Pie
Lukewarm mediocrity served in a cardboard sleeve! BK’s Dutch Apple Pie exists solely for desperate sweet-tooth emergencies when nothing else is open.
The cinnamon-sugar topping promises crumbly goodness but delivers sandy disappointment. Beneath lurks a filling with apple pieces so tiny they’re practically theoretical.
7. Whataburger’s Hot Apple Pie
Texas-sized disappointment! Despite Whataburger’s reputation for quality, their apple pie falls squarely into forgettable territory.
The filling has decent apple chunks but swims in a sea of cornstarch-thickened goop. Their rectangular pie box often tricks you into thinking you’re getting something substantial, only to reveal a sad, deflated pastry inside.
8. Checkers/Rally’s Apple Pie
Surprisingly not terrible! Checkers/Rally’s apple pie delivers exactly what you’d expect from a drive-thru dessert – nothing more, nothing less.
The crust achieves that rare balance between crisp and chewy, while the filling contains recognizable apple pieces. It won’t blow your mind, but it won’t make you regret your life choices either.
9. Jack In The Box Mini Churros
Churros are technically pie-adjacent, right? These crispy cinnamon-sugar tubes might be stretching the definition of “pie,” but they’re too delicious to exclude.
Each bite delivers a satisfying crunch followed by a soft, doughy interior. The cinnamon sugar coating distributes perfectly, avoiding the common fast-food churro pitfall of having all the good stuff fall off before it reaches your mouth.
10. Sonic’s Fried Peach Pie
Summer nostalgia in portable form! Sonic’s peach pie delivers a surprisingly authentic flavor that’ll transport you straight to grandma’s kitchen.
The peach filling balances sweet and tangy notes without tasting like candy. Bonus points for being one of the few chains offering peach over apple.
11. Jollibee’s Peach Mango Pie
Filipino fast-food magic! Jollibee’s tropical twist on the classic hand pie will make you question why apple has dominated the fast-food pie scene for so long.
The filling combines sweet mango chunks with tangy peach pieces, creating a perfectly balanced tropical explosion. The crust shatters with a distinctive crunch that no other chain has managed to replicate.
12. Krystal’s Apple Turnover
Southern secret weapon! While the rest of America sleeps on Krystal’s dessert game, those in the know are quietly enjoying one of fast food’s most underrated apple pies.
The flaky, buttery crust tastes house-made rather than factory-produced. Inside, the apples maintain their integrity instead of dissolving into mush.
13. Popeyes Sweet Potato Pie
Redemption in orange form! While Popeyes bombed with their apple offering, their sweet potato pie is a southern-inspired masterpiece worth seeking out.
The filling tastes like actual roasted sweet potatoes – not just orange-colored sugar paste. The crust strikes that perfect balance between flaky and sturdy.
14. Bojangles’ Sweet Potato Pie
Carolina gold in pastry form! Bojangles’ sweet potato masterpiece could easily pass for homemade at a family reunion – it’s that good.
The filling strikes the perfect balance between smooth and textured, with authentic sweet potato flavor front and center. Worth driving across state lines for!
15. McDonald’s Holiday Pie (Seasonal)
Christmas miracle in custard form! When these limited-edition treasures appear each December, true fast food connoisseurs stock up like apocalypse preppers.
The vanilla custard filling is surprisingly rich and silky – not the plastic pudding you’d expect. But the real star is that sugar-cookie-inspired crust studded with rainbow sprinkles.
16. Taco Bell’s Pumpkin Churro (Seasonal)
Autumn in fried dough form! When fall hits, Taco Bell transforms the humble churro into pumpkin spice perfection that puts most coffee shop offerings to shame.
The exterior crunch gives way to a tender, pumpkin-infused interior that balances spice and sweetness masterfully. This treat captures the essence of fall without tasting like someone emptied a candle shop into your food.
17. McDonald’s Baked Apple Pie
All hail the reigning champion! McDonald’s apple pie has survived menu changes, health food trends, and even its own transformation from fried to baked without losing its crown.
The lattice-topped crust strikes the perfect balance between flaky and substantial. Inside, the apples retain their identity while swimming in a cinnamon-spiced sauce. Gold standard against which all fast food pies must be measured.