Year-round, I opt for savory pies. But come fall, I ditch my go-to chicken potpies for the season’s staple: apple pie.
When it comes to pies, everyone has their own traditions and favorite flavors, but apples have endured as one of the more popular choices. Earlier this year, Holiday Calendar, a platform dedicated to holiday lists, analyzed the grocery habits of 12 million Americans and surveyed 4,500 people across 15 states to determine their favorite pie. It found that apple pie consistently ranked in the top five most popular pies across the country. Additionally, in 2022, Instacart revealed that apple pie accounted for over 27% of its pie sales between February 2021 and January 2022, declaring it a clear favorite among the American crowd.
While there’s no substitute for the fresh-out-of-the-oven homemade version, on-the-go options served at fast-food chains make for good alternatives.
To find which fast-food chain serves the best apple pie, I tried pies from Arby’s, KFC, McDonald’s, Panda Express, and Popeyes and ranked them from my least favorite to my favorite based on flavor, texture, and value.Here’s how every fast-food apple pie ranked.
My least favorite were the Apple Pie Poppers, which were added to KFC menus earlier this year.
A serving of four bite-sized apple pies cost $2.91, excluding tax and fees, at my local KFC in Manhattan, New York. The pies, which also come in a 10-count serving, were the most expensive of all the pies I tried.
Given that this item was a recent addition to KFC’s menu — it was added in April — I was excited to try it.
Each pastry was about 2 inches long and had slits on one side.
I placed an online order through DoorDash and received my pastries within 14 minutes. Despite the quick delivery, when I opened the packet, the pastries were barely lukewarm and already slightly soggy.
When I tasted them, I thought the ratio of fruit to dough was off, with each popper only holding about two tiny cubes of apple.
Three bites into the tiny pocket pie, I still hadn’t gotten the gooey apple taste I love. Instead, I felt like I was eating fried flour.
The four mini pies, which are 340 calories in total, would be great for groups to share, though.
While I don’t see myself ordering these poppers again, I can see how they’re a good snack option because of their size. Groups of friends may also enjoy ordering and sharing them, given that they come in packs of four or 10.
My fourth favorite was the Apple Pie Roll from Panda Express.
The pie roll cost $2, excluding tax and fees, at a Panda Express I visited in Chicago.
At first glance, it looked like a cross between a pie and a Chinese egg roll.
The chain’s first-ever dessert option, introduced in 2023, was created to combine the flavors and textures of an American apple pie and a Chinese egg roll.
It’s made using a wonton wrapper and apple filling, topped with cinnamon sugar.
It came hot and crispy straight out of the fryer and had a warm cinnamon smell.
I was impressed with the freshness of this roll and liked that it is always served hot. Before I even took a bite, I could tell the pastry had a nice crunchy exterior.
However, the overpowering cinnamon and sugar coating made this pie roll too sweet for my taste.
A dessert doesn’t need to be doused in sugar, but this one was, putting it fourth in my ranking.
However, I loved the crunch of the pastry, and the serving had the fewest calories of all the pies I tried — 150 calories — so it may be a good sweet option for some diners looking for lower-calorie options.
My third favorite was Popeyes’ Cinnamon Apple Pie.
The cinnamon-coated dessert cost $1.89, without taxes and fees, at the Popeyes I visited in Chicago.
The pie was not as hot as I would’ve liked, but it had a nice crispy exterior.
Unlike the pies from KFC, this 240-calorie pie has no slits or holes on either side. It comes wrapped with a few fork-like impressions on its corners to prevent the filling from escaping.
I thought this pie had an overpowering cinnamon flavor.
I think spices like cinnamon are less for taste and more for their fragrance — if you add just the right amount, it can be a game changer, but overdo it, as in the case of this Popeyes pie, and it can really throw the whole recipe off-balance.
But I enjoyed its slightly zesty apple filling.
The one thing Popeyes got right was the flavor of its filling, which had just the right hint of lemon and some apple chunks. I’m obsessed with mixing tangy and sweet flavor profiles, and I think it helped this pie stand out from the rest.
My second favorite was Arby’s Apple Turnover.
It cost $1.99 at the Arby’s I visited in Chicago, excluding tax and fees.
At first glance, I thought the frosting drizzle on top seemed unnecessary.
The turnover came in a regular, white-colored pastry packet with no branding. The basic packaging and the sugary drizzle didn’t appeal to me at first, but when I did take a bite, I was pleasantly surprised.
I loved its flaky croissant-like texture and the jam-like apple filling inside.
The inside had the perfect layer of apple filling, which was molten but still a bit thick. It was encased in crisp pastry.
Despite having only one layer of apple filling, this 430-calorie pie did not taste doughy and was well-balanced.
However, it did not have that overall pie feeling. I felt as though I was eating a stuffed croissant.
Most importantly, the apple chunks were missing. The jam-like texture in the filling meant there was a hint of artificialness, which took away from the spirit of the season and the pie for me.
My favorite was the Baked Apple Pie from McDonald’s.
At $1.89 — excluding tax and fees— this apple pie from a Chicago McDonald’s was priced similarly to the one at Popeyes.
The pie came in a signature yellow box and was served warm.
First launched in 1968, the brand’s apple pie was fried in its early days. Over the years, though, it has undergone several transformations. The most significant of these was the switch from frying to baking in 1992. It’s now 243 calories.
I loved that it had a pie-like texture with a lattice on top.
Although the shape of the pie was pretty standard, I was happy to see McDonald’s added patterns to the pastry.
It had the perfect tartness, a nice crunch, and big, chunky apple pieces spread evenly throughout.
This pie had the right ratio of apples to dough, and I enjoyed the warm and soft interior and its crispy biscuit-like exterior.
I shared all the pies with friends, but this was one of just two pies from which I took a third bite — the other was from Arby’s.
Overall, each pie I tried had a unique flavor profile, and they had varied textures, ranging from crispy and toasted to soft and molten.
But the McDonald’s apple pie stood out for its simplicity: a warm, crispy pie with gentle hints of cinnamon and whole chunks of apple, setting the perfect tone for the cozy days ahead.
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