Y’all my Southern chess pie is legit the best chess pie recipe on the internet (maybe the planet) boos. The creamy, tangy, gooey custard filling melts in your mouth when baked inside a flaky beyond buttery crust. While the taste is beyond bomb, its real charm is in its simplicity. We keep it plain Jane with ingredients you are bound to already have in your pantry. This is pure comfort in a chill mode package boos. Regardless of how effortless it is to throw together, it’s a showstopper nonetheless.
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They’re Lovin’ It! Here’s what They’re Sayin’:
“I tried this recipe and my pie was awesome!!! Thank you so much will be baking another one for holidays it was a hit!!!”
—MARY s.
When it comes to Southern pies, the chess pie recipe is an OG right up there with sweet potato pie and pecan pie. It might not get as much love but it really should boos. It’s super simple, super satisfying, and super delish. I hope you enjoy this slice of heaven as much I do.
What is Chess Pie?
Chess Pies are a Southern specialty that likes to keep it simple. The main staple ingredients consist of eggs, sugar, butter, cornmeal, buttermilk and a bit of flour. Basically, the South realized you ain’t gotta complicate things to make a great pie, and low and behold, the chess pie found its roots. This is a bare bones classic done right but there are several flavor variations out there. The texture is what makes this pie a winner. It’s super creamy, rich and sweet.
The Lowdown of the Best Chess Pie Recipe
Cuisine Inspiration: Southern Classic
Primary Cooking Method: Baking
Dietary Info: Pure indulgence ahead y’all. Can be made gluten-free with some adjustments.
Key Flavor: Creamy, Sweet, Slightly Caramelized Custard Vibes
Skill Level: Pretty Easy (No Sweat, Fam!)
Simple Ingredients
No need to head to specialty stores for these ingredients. In fact, you may already have just about everything you need at the crib.
Beyond Versatile
You can get your creativity on right here. This pie can legit become anything you can dream up. Do you boos!
Make-Ahead
This homemade chess pie tastes just as bomb a few days later. If you need to make ahead, go for it. Just bake it in advance and pop in the fridge.
Crowd-Pleaser
Whether you trot this out to the new neighbors or serve it up for holiday feasts, be ready for an onslaught of compliments and the inevitable “Can I have the recipe?” questions.
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make Homemade Chess Pie
- Unsalted Butter: This gives us that rich and decadent base like only butter can give.
- Granulated Sugar: Sugar sweetens things up and helps create the crisp topping once the pie is baked up. If you find this pie to be too sweet or not sweet enough, try increasing or decreasing by a ¼ cup.
- Cornmeal and All Purpose Flour: Both work as stabilizers in our custard filling. They make sure the pie sets up creating a fire final texture, especially that cornmeal that gives a unique grit. Don’t skip it.
- Eggs: They are the base of any custard pie y’all. I highly recommend using fresh, high-quality eggs; their yolks will have a brighter orange color.
- Buttermilk: This gives us a nice tangy flavorful filling that stays moist.
- Vanilla: That splash of vanilla really gives us an amazing aromatic essence.
- Lime or Lemon Juice plus Zest: I like to brighten up the flavors a bit. That citrus addition pops everything as well as adds acidity.
- Salt: This also enhances flavor and balances the sweetness. I’d stick to kosher salt here.
- 9” Pie Crust: I like to go with my homemade here but honestly grab a frozen one and throw this pie together even faster. In fact, I love keeping a frozen crust in my freezer at all times. It is an absolute God-send during the busy holiday season boos.
How to Make Chess Pie
PRO TIP: If you ain’t got time to play around with a homemade pie dough, frozen store bought is fine. Just blind bake according to the instructions on the package.
PRO TIP: No worries if the filling looks somewhat curdled. It ain’t no thing. Your pie filling will still bake up like a dream.
PRO TIP: Don’t let this baby brown up too fast. After 15-20 minutes, throw a piece of aluminum foil on top to create a shield that prevents the pie from burning.
How to Serve Old Fashioned Chess Pie
- Whipped Cream: Just add a sprinkle of cinnamon on top of a slice along with a dollop of whipped cream and get your life!
- Ice Cream: Go classic with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to let the buttermilk chess pie shine or go all out with scoops of raspberry ice cream, cookie butter ice cream or coffee ice cream.
- Drizzles: Get your whole life by serving this with a drizzle of caramel sauce or chocolate ganache or a scoop of hard sauce right on top boos.
- Go Fruity: This chess pie recipe can really take things up a notch with a bit of strawberry sauce or lemon curd right on the side.
- Sunday Supper: Serve this up with a hearty beef stew, scalloped potatoes Southern cornbread, collard greens and a slice of this.
- Southern Dinner: Plate up some smothered pork chops, Southern green beans, sweet potato cornbread and some easy chess pie.
- Pie Parade: Set up a pie buffet for Thanksgiving or just because you feel like it. Add my big mama’s sweet potato pie recipe, pecan pie, egg pie, key lime pie, shoofly pie and pumpkin pie.
Recipe Substitutions for Buttermilk Chess Pie
- Butter: No unsalted butter? Grab salted and omit the salt in the filling.
- Sugar: You can use brown sugar instead of granulated for a deeper more caramel vibe.
- Buttermilk: No buttermilk around? Make your own! Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to milk and let sit for about 5 minutes until it curdles and use here.
- Vanilla: Really amp up the vanilla with a vanilla paste or use almond extract for an entirely different flavor profile.
- Citrus: You can ditch the citrus and use white vinegar or apple cider vinegar to get that acidity.
- Pie Crust: You can switch up the base by using a graham cracker crust.
Recipe Variations and Additions
- Gluten-Free: Grab your fave 1:1 ratio gluten-free flour blend and use a gluten-free crust instead.
- Go Chocolate: Add cocoa and make this a chocolate chess pie.
- Bring On the Spice: Warm spices can really give this Southern chess pie all the cozy feels. Just toss in some nutmeg, ginger or cinnamon.
- Coconut Flavor: Substitute some of the buttermilk with coconut milk then add some shredded coconut. Both will add all the coconut energy and give it some additional texture.
- Brûlée It!: Once the pie has cooled, sprinkle a thin layer of granulated sugar over the top of the pie and use your kitchen torch to go over the top until that bomb golden caramelized crisp crust develops.
- Bananas Fosters It Up: Replace half of the granulated sugar with brown sugar, add a little rum to the pie filling, bake it up and top with this bananas fosters filling.
- Creamsicle Baby!: Replace the lemon and lime with orange zest and juice. Even swirl a bit of orange marmalade through the filling before baking off and serve with a layer of whipped cream.
Expert Tips and Tricks for this Easy Chess Pie
- Go Quality: When you make a simple pie like a chess pie, you gotta lean on better high quality ingredients to make a difference in the overall flavor. So upgrade your butter, eggs and vanilla y’all to make sure that flavor is poppin.
- Don’t Skip the Cornmeal: To create the classic texture of a chess pie, you gotta have that cornmeal. That’s why I didn’t include this ingredient in the recipe substitution notes above. I believe it has no replacement in this recipe. It gives that signature gritty crunch that makes this pie’s flavor and texture unique
- Temperature is Crucial: Don’t even think of using cold butter or eggs in this recipe boos. If the butter is too firm or cold, it will not properly cream with the sugar. If the eggs are too cold, that custard won’t even think about setting up.
- Blind Bake the Crust: If you want that bottom crust to be super flaky, definitely bake before you add the filling. If you don’t, the bottom will be soggy due to that custard filling soaking into it.
- Just a Pie Shield: Baking a pie for about an hour in a hot oven can brown that crust super fast. I like to throw on a pie shield if I find that crust is browning way too fast. We don’t want it to burn. Keep it cute. Also if you notice the filling is browning fast, add some foil to the top.
- Check Doneness: The edges should be set while the center will give a slight wiggle jiggle but not be complete liquid. You might be tempted to keep on baking if you see it jiggling somewhat but don’t or you will overbake it. It will continue to set as it cools.
- Chill Out: You gotta let that pie set up just right so let it cool to room temperature for a few hours. It also makes a world of difference in the texture.
How to Store Southern Chess Pie
- Room Temp: Chess pie can keep well at room temp for up to 3 days. Just keep it covered in a cool area.
- Fridge: You can keep this pie covered in the pie plate or in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4-5 days just wait until it has cooled completely before storing it. Bring it back to room temp when you want to serve so that custard melts in your mouth.
- Freezer: Wrap this baby tightly with plastic wrap then add a layer of foil to protect against freezer burn. Label it with the date. It will freeze for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: If reheating individual slices, a quick minute or two in the microwave will do the trick. For larger portions, reheat in the oven (or a toaster oven) at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yep boos, ain’t no thing to make this whole process easier. Just make sure to blind bake it according to the package instructions before you add the filling.
For sure boos. It can be made a day or two ahead of time. Just store in the fridge and bring back to room temperature when you are ready to serve it up.
Welp, this could be for a couple of reasons. The filling can be runny if you didn’t use room temperature ingredients which results in the custard never setting up. You also may not have baked the pie long enough. You want just a slight jiggle before you remove. If the filling is jiggling up a storm, keep on baking.
Yep it is. The eggs and buttermilk will do this so you will see some curdling but don’t worry, once baked, it will be all good.
Best Classic Pies
Chess Pie
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 9" frozen or homemade pie crust Find my homemade crust here
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp yellow cornmeal
- 1 tbsp all purpose flour
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1/3 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon juice or lime
- 1 tsp lemon zest or lime
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Start by getting your crust ready. For a blind baked crust, use my pie crust recipe, roll one of the disks out into the pie plate then use a fork to poke holes along the sides and bottom of the pie crust. Line the pie crust with parchment paper. Fill with pie weights, making sure the weights are evenly distributed around the pie dish. Pre-bake the crust for 10 minutes. If you would like, you can brush some egg wash on the outside of the crust as well (just take 1 egg and whisk together with a teaspoon of water). If using a frozen crust, following instructions on the package for pre-baking.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer or using your hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy on medium speed (about 3-4 minutes).
- Next add in the cornmeal and flour.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides after each.
- When the egg mixture is well beaten, add buttermilk, vanilla, lemon juice, zest and salt beat until smooth.
- Pour the filling into the pre-baked crust and carefully transfer into the oven.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the edges of the filling are firm but the center remains slightly jiggly but not liquidy. Note: Check the pie after 15-20 minutes and place a piece of aluminum foil on top to keep it from getting too brown.
- Remove from the oven, place on a cooling rack, and allow to come to room temperature, about 2-3 hours.
Video
Notes
- Room Temp: Chess pie can keep well at room temp for up to 3 days. Just keep it covered in a cool area.
- Fridge: You can keep this pie covered in the pie plate or in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4-5 days just wait until it has cooled completely before storing it. Just bring it back to room temp when you want to serve so that custard melts in your mouth.
- Freezer: Wrap this baby tightly with plastic wrap then add a layer of foil to protect against freezer burn. Label it with the date. It will freeze for up to 3 months.
- Reheating: If reheating individual slices, a quick minute or two in the microwave will do the trick. For larger portions, reheat in the oven (or a toaster oven) at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.
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Fire I did a few test runs ahead of thanksgiving just to make sure it’d make the cut and everyone who taste tested gave it an automatic pass. I made it today for tomorrow’s holiday. It’s already the prettiest pie on the dessert table. Thank you!
Absolutely my pleasure. So glad they enjoyed it!
I have autoimmune issues and I can’t have corn or gluten. I thought I would never be able to have chess pie again, and I was absolutely heartbroken.
I got brave though, in honor of pi day, and did a little experiment. I replaced the flour with sweet rice flour, and the cornmeal with a mix of almond flour for texture and coconut flour for thickening/liquid absorption.
I am here to report that this came out FANTASTIC.
I’m literally crying. My favorite pie is back in my life again.
(I had to make the crust myself, I used the almond flour pie crust recipe from Paleo Running Momma)
You did that! Best buttermilk recipe I have tried yet
I tried this recipe and my pie was awesome!!! Thank you so much will be baking another one for holidays it was a hit!!!
I haven’t had Chess Pie in eons. OMG!! It’s better than I even remember. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I would like to say Thank you so much you saved my Thanksgiving. I followed your recipe for this pie and it came out perfect. I have never made this pie thus perfect and my granny taught me. Keep doing what your are doing giving honest down home good food not difficult recipes. Thank you and Bless you. I would love to send pictures I’m so proud of myself!