Easy Southern Fried Pies Recipe

When a dessert is this quick, easy, and delicious it becomes a family favorite!

You can use homemade biscuit dough, homemade pie dough, or pick up a can of biscuits in the refrigerated section of your grocery store.

Keep it simple!

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
• 🧾 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🎥 Video
• 🥫 Storage
• 💭 Tips
• 👩🏻‍🍳 FAQs
• 📚 Related recipes
• 📞 The last word
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

• SO easy
• Uses convenience foods to cut down on time and mess
• Easily pan fried

A traditional apple hand pies recipe is delicious but take time that most of us don't have on a regular basis.

This fried pie recipe (grandma used to call them "fry pies") uses easy to find convenience foods to cut the prep time down to 5 minutes!

🧾 Ingredients

A couple of quick notes about ingredients for this easy fried pies recipe.

The bourbon or lemon juice is completely optional - and you'll want to match the liquid you use to your fruit filling. For example:

• Blueberry pie filling with amaretto for blueberry pies
• Apple pie filling with bourbon or rum for apple pies
• Peach pie filling with bourbon or amaretto for peach pies

...and so on.

You can add a little extra sugar or brown sugar to the pie filling if you need to.

You can also use ginger ale. The point of adding this small amount of liquid is to give more flavor to the canned pie filling which is sometimes a little flat and bland.

Also, I use peanut oil because it's light and has a high smoke point. If there are allergies or you prefer to use something else any light frying oil will work.

🔪 Instructions

Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.

Step 1

1. Open your can of pie filling and add to a small bowl.
2. Chop large slices of fruit into bite sized pieces.
3. Stir in the bourbon or other liquid ingredients.

Step 2

1. If you are using frozen biscuit dough let it come to room temperature.
2. Sprinkle a little all-purpose flour your countertop.
3. Roll out each biscuit to the size of a saucer, about ⅛-inch thick or a little less.

Step 3

1. Lift up the dough circles to make sure they're not sticking.
2. Lightly dust with more flour if needed.
3. Add about two generous tablespoons of filling to the center of each biscuit round.

Step 4

1. Dampen the edges with a little water or beaten egg using a pastry brush.
2. Fold over and press with the tines of a fork to seal.
3. Cut a slit in the top to let steam escape.

Step 5

1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet until it's about 300 degrees.
2. Add a couple of the pies at a time.
3. Don't crowd the skillet!

Step 6

1. Fry for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom.
2. Turn and fry on the other side until golden.

Step 7

1. Drain on paper towel.
2. Change the paper towels often - they won't absorb oil if they are soaked.

Step 8

1. Brush the top with melted butter.
2. Add, butter side down, to the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
3. Brush the other side with melted butter.
4. Turn to coat the whole pastry in cinnamon and sugar.

Step 9

Serve warm

🎥 Video

Just click on the image below if you'd like to see the full length video on YouTube. It opens in a new tab so you won't lose your place here.

🥫 Storage

You'll want to store your fried pies in the refrigerator unless you're eating them right away. Just wrap them tightly in plastic wrap or put in an airtight container with wax paper or parchment paper between the layers.

You can also freeze fruit fried pies for up to 3 months.

💭 Tips

Expert Tip: Be sure not to crowd the pan when frying - the oil will cool down too much and the fried pies will be greasy.

• Some people like to use homemade pie crust. I like the fluffier texture of the biscuit crust and I think it holds up better. You can use either.
• I like to use a large skillet but you could use an electric fryer or large saucepan for deep frying.
• You can bake these if you prefer. You lose some of the character of a southern fried pie but they're still yummy. Bake at 375F for 10-15 minutes.
• Any kind of canned pie filling will work, including lemon, coconut, pecan, or chocolate.
• Do not leave the warm fried pie on paper towel for too long when you take it out of the fryer. You want to brush with butter and then quickly dredge in the cinnamon and sugar mixture while piping hot.
• If you aren't eating them right away let them cool on a rack so the bottoms don't get soggy.
• Be careful! Biting into a fresh-from-the-fryer, hot fried pie too quickly can give you quite a painful burn. Be sure to let them cool for at least a few minutes.
• Some people prefer a simple glaze on their fried pies rather than granulated sugar or sugar and cinnamon. Just mix powdered sugar with enough milk to make a thick glaze and spoon it over the hot pies while they are on a rack.

👩🏻‍🍳 FAQs

Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.

📚 Related recipes

• 50 Best Pie Recipes on the Internet is the resource you need if you are hungry for pie but are not sure what you want.
• Pie Recipes is where you'll find all the pie recipes here on Restless Chipotle.
• The 25 BEST Thanksgiving Pie Recipes, EVER is a list of my favorite pies for the holidays.
• Oreo Cookie Crust is a simple, no-bake, chocolate crumb crust that you'll want to use all summer long.
• Fluffernutter Whoopie Pies Recipe is my favorite sandwich from when I was a kid turned into a cookie. YUM!

📞 The last word

At some point in my life I decided to stop being the best at every. single. thing.

I decided that done was better than perfect.

I decided that making quick and easy fried pies for my family to enjoy regularly was better than making my original recipe (which takes a couple of hours - but as my 17 year old says... it SMACKS) once a year.

So I begin cutting corners and creating shortcuts - because I want to enjoy making memories with my family - not watching as they enjoy making memories without me.

But I still wanted to honor those old recipes.

So, I figured out how to make fried pies the easy way. I hope you love these as much as I do.

📖 Recipe

First published August 19, 2020. Last updated June 10, 2021 for additional tips and better instructions.