Shredded Apple Pie
Delicious Shredded Apple Pie that melts in your mouth! Serve with caramel and vanilla ice cream for the best fall or Thanksgiving dessert.
I received special permission to post this recipe on my blog, so you all should feel pretty special right now! This is, without a doubt, the best apple pie you will ever eat. Period. This delicious Shredded Apple Pie was served at the best restaurant here in Southern Utah, Rococo’s Steakhouse. I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about it before. I worked there throughout high school, and the owners, the Sullivan family, are my family’s long-time friends.
SHREDDED APPLE PIE
Instead of diced apples, like most apple pies have in them, the apples in this pie are shredded with a cheese grater. It makes every bite so soft, and almost melts in your mouth. We would warm up each piece and drizzle the tops with caramel sauce and have a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. It is incredible!
Shredded Apple Pie was one of the most requested desserts up there. I say ‘up there’ because Rococo sat on top of the black hill, overlooking our beautiful city. The view was amazing, especially at night when all the city lights were on. Customers would always request window tables so they could enjoy the view while they ate. There are so many reasons I miss that place and am still so sad it closed its doors.
For that reason, I am SO happy I wrote down the recipe one night at work. I made this at home the first Thanksgiving Kale and I were married, and have made it every year since. It’s become a Thanksgiving tradition at our house. This is the kind of recipe I will pass on to my kids, and I hope that they will pass it on to their children. It is that good! Enjoy it at Thanksgiving, celebrate with it on the Fourth of July, or serve it for any special occasion; this pie is a classic that never gets old.
Find my expert tips on how to make a homemade apple pie below! Don’t forget to tag me in all of your creations @lifeinthelofthouse on Instagram or Facebook. Let’s stay connected. ❤️
Why You’ll Love This Shredded Apple Pie Recipe:
- Unique Twist On A Classic: Instead of sliced apples, this pie uses grated apples, creating a soft, tender filling with incredible texture in every bite. This elevates the traditional apple pie in every way!
- Perfectly Spiced: A blend of cinnamon, vanilla, and just a pinch of salt brings out the natural sweetness of the apples without overpowering them.
- Rich & Comforting: With butter, sugar, and eggs baked into the filling, the pie develops a custard-like richness that pairs beautifully with the shredded fruit.
- Simple Ingredients: Made with pantry staples and fresh apples, this recipe comes together easily without complicated steps.
- Crowd-pleasing Finish: Served warm with ice cream and a drizzle of caramel, it’s a cozy, fall-inspired dessert that feels both rustic and indulgent.
- Holiday-Ready Dessert: This apple pie recipe is perfect for fall gatherings, Thanksgiving, or any time of year you are craving this comforting favorite.
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup salted butter softened
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- tiny pinch of salt
- 2 large eggs
- 3 large Red Delicious Apples, peeled then grated with a cheese grater (about 3 cups of grated apple)
- 1 Unbaked frozen deep-dish pie shell (I like to use Marie Callender’s frozen deep dish pie shells)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (*After you grate the apples, squeeze out any excess liquid they create).
In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and eggs with an electric hand mixer on medium speed. Beat until combined.
Fold in the shredded apples. Pour mixture into the unbaked pie shell and spread out evenly. Place pie on a large cookie sheet.
Bake pie for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until center is set. (Start to check it at the 50 minute mark.)
Carefully remove from oven. Let pie cool and rest 1 hour before serving. Serve each slice of pie warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Enjoy!
Servings
Serves 8 total.
Storage and Reheating
Store leftover shredded apple pie covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To keep it fresh, wrap the pie tightly with plastic wrap or place slices in an airtight container. For longer storage, you can freeze the pie (whole or sliced) for up to 2 months. Just be sure to wrap it well in foil and place it in a freezer-safe bag or container. When ready to enjoy, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. To reheat, warm individual slices in the microwave for 20–30 seconds or place the whole pie in a 300°F oven for 10–15 minutes until heated through. Serve warm with ice cream or caramel for that fresh-baked taste.
Holly’s Tips for The Best Apple Pie:
- Soften The Butter First: Make sure your butter is softened (not melted) so it creams smoothly with the sugar and eggs, giving the filling its rich, custardy texture.
- Grate Apples Evenly: Use the large holes on a box grater for consistent shreds. This helps the apples bake evenly into the filling.
- Squeeze Out Excess Liquid: After shredding, press the apples gently with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel to remove extra juice—this keeps the pie from being watery.
- Don’t Overmix: Fold the grated apples in gently so they keep their texture and don’t turn mushy.
- Use A Quality Pie Shell: A sturdy deep-dish shell (like Marie Callender’s) holds the custard filling well and bakes up golden without collapsing.
- Bake On A Cookie Sheet: It prevents oven messes in case of overflow and makes moving the pie easier.
- Cool Before Serving: Resting for at least an hour allows the custard to firm up, giving you clean, beautiful slices.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Absolutely! Yes! While Red Delicious are naturally sweet and soft, you can mix in tart apples like Granny Smith for added flavor and balance. Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, or Fuji apples work well. For a balanced flavor, consider mixing a sweet apple with a tart one.
Peeling is recommended for a smooth filling, but leaving the skins on is fine if you prefer a more rustic texture. The pie will be slightly firmer with the skins left on.
After grating the apples, squeeze out any excess liquid before folding them into the filling. This ensures a custardy, not soggy, pie.
Yes! You can assemble the pie and refrigerate it for a few hours before baking. For longer storage, bake, cool completely, and freeze for up to 2 months.
Absolutely. A deep-dish shell works best to hold the custard-like filling. You can pre-bake slightly if you want extra crispiness.
Start checking at 50 minutes. The pie is done when the center is set and doesn’t jiggle significantly. Overbaking can dry it out.
Yes, but it’s best served warm with ice cream or caramel sauce. Cold slices will be firmer and less custardy.
You can! A dash of nutmeg, ginger, or a splash of bourbon can complement the apples nicely without overwhelming the classic flavor.
Similar Recipes
Craving more apple recipes? Give my Apple Crumble Bars and Caramel Apple Poke Cake a try next.
Big fan of chocolate? My Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie is everything you love about a warm, soft chocolate chip cookie in pie form.
In the mood for something different? My Butterfinger Pie is creamy and delicious with loads of crushed Butterfinger candy bar.
Wanting another classic fruit pie? My Raspberry Cream Pie features a graham cracker crust topped with layers of cheesecake and raspberry filling!
Looking for something you can serve chilled? My Asphalt Pie (Winger’s Copycat) is a frozen mint ice cream treat with crushed Oreo cookies, caramel sauce, and mint ice cream. It is out of this world delicious!
Have you made this Shredded Apple Pie recipe? 🍎
Leave a review, and don’t forget to tag me in your creations on Instagram and Facebook! @lifeinthelofthouse! #ApplePie #ThanksgivingPie #LifeInTheLofthouse
Shredded Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup salted butter softened
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- tiny pinch of salt
- 2 large eggs
- 3 large Red Delicious Apples, peeled then grated with a cheese grater (about 3 cups of grated apple)
- 1 Unbaked frozen deep-dish pie shell I like to use Marie Callenders frozen deep dish pie shells
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (*After you grate the apples, squeeze out any excess liquid they create.)
- In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and eggs with an electric hand mixer on medium speed. Beat until combined.
- Fold in the shredded apples. Pour mixture into the unbaked pie shell and spread out evenly. Place pie on a large cookie sheet.
- Bake pie for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until center is set. (Start to check it at the 50 minute mark.)
- Carefully remove from oven. Let pie cool and rest 1 hour before serving. Serve each slice of pie warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
*Recipe updated 7/10/25: Please note, I increased sugar to 1 cup and grated apple to 3 cups. The previous recipe had 3/4 cups of sugar and 2 1/2 cups of grated apple.
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE FOR LATER?
PIN IT TO YOUR FAVORITE PINTEREST BOARD! 📌
9 or 10′ pie pan ?
Janice, Either will work, just as long as it’s deep dish. I use the frozen pre-made Marie Callander pie shells whenever I make this! 🙂
This was so easy and a new favorite for my family.
Have you ever tried making a bunch of these and freezing them before or after baking them? I have a BIG bag of apples to use up and this recipe sounds amazing! 🙂
Which worked best to freeze…. before or after baking.
I have been searching for this recipe since I had it years ago at my mom’s friends house. This is the only way I will eat apple pie. So very delicious!
Hi Holly,
I made 3 pies. They are awesome!!
I was a little hesitant about making this recipe, but I wanted to use some apples before they went bad. Also, I thought, maybe I could freeze them for a couple of Thanksgiving dinners. I couldn’t wrap my taste buds around grated apples and thought I was taking a chance. Boy was I wrong!
This is a much simpler pie than the famous Grandma Opal’s (allrecipes) and another apple pie recipe I’ve perfected.
I tried hand grating a couple of apples and gave that up. Got out my blender and using the grating attachment to finish up the remaining 7 apples. How easy it that?
Thank you for posting this recipe. It will be used here in my house and hopefully, passed on. I had to write you!
Allie
Allie, Thank you SO much for your sweet comment! I am so happy the pies were a hit for you. They are seriously my family’s favorite. They are a must made at Thanksgiving and Christmas time. 🙂
I was given a HUGE bag of red delicious apples, so I’m going to give this recipe a try. Red Delicious apples are really only suited for eating, not cooking, or baking, so I’m very intrigued! I’ll make the recipe “as is” for a control, then tweak it from there. I can’t help it, I love putting my own spin on great recipes!
Has anyone tried this recipe with a top crust as well? I’m a pie crust lover and I can’t imagine not having one on top too! I really want to make this for Thanksgiving this year.
I just made this pie with a top crust for Thanksgiving, 2018. My mother always said never use red delicious apples for a pie, so I used Macintosh. I also added one egg and a little extra flour, but otherwise followed the recipe. I used my Cuisinart to shred the apples.
Baked it for about 45 minutes, and then added the top crust for the last 45 minutes or so of cooking. This pie was freaking out of this world! I will never make another apple pie besides this one again.
You just saved me! I was just given a bag of red delicious apples with no clue how not to waste them. So I snooped online and miracle of miracles–I’m two days from Thanksgiving and for sure one of my pies will be made your way! Thank you.
I was given some red delicious apples for Christmas and found this recipe while searching for ways to use them. It is fantastic! I’ve madhe it a couple of times already, and have used a combination of apples when I ran out of red delicious. At a group dinner, this pie went much faster than the regular apple pie and everyone agreed that the shredding made a world of diffference. I won’t use any other recipe from now on!
That is so awesome you loved it too! It really is the best apple pie recipe. I won’t eat any other apple pie! 🙂
Best apple pie I have eaten in a long time. Goes good on anyones table.
My mom has always made her double crusted apple pie with shredded apples and it is the only way i can eat apple pie. she is famous for her apple pies!!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! Loved this pie! so easy and so delicious!
This was so good! I have to say I am not fond of apple pie but I loved this and it was easy to make. A friend left a bag of red delicious apples and I didn’t want them to go to waste so I am looking all over for a simple good recipe. I didn’t have a deep dish pie pan. I am temporarily living in a mobile home and am using a toaster oven. So I took a refrigerated pie crust and put it in the bottom of my nana’s cast iron pan. I mixed everything up and stuck it in the cast iron and in my little oven. I baked it at a little bit higher temp and went a full hour. I sprinkled sugar on top an then broiled it on top for a few minutes to make the top more brown and crunchy. Boy was it Good! I tried it with ice cream and caramel sauce which I love but the pie was so good by itself that I don’t use the ice cream or sauce with it! My family made me make a second pie because we loved it so much!
I made the pie and it is delicious by all accounts! Very easy to make and fabulous taste. I will try a reduced amount of dugar the next time i make it.
Silly question since i’ve never made an apple pie from scratch but does it have to be a glass pie dish or can it be aluminum? Also, does it have to be a deep dish pur shell? I messed up and bought the wtong type of shell and dont want to waste it if need be. Thanks!
It’s like no other ( one the best apple pies I have every had ),
Several people have asked about freezing or said they would do it but I don’t see an update. Has anyone does this? I have #20 that I need to use!
I have never tried freezing this Brandi, so I can’t say how it would turn out. I’m sorry!
I have been making shredded apple pies for 40 yrs my hubby loves them, You get apple in every bite, I make it with 2 crusts, ty for posting this looks yummy!
Just put this in oven, cant wait to taste it, the taste test o of batter had me wanting to eat more! But resisted.
Made this today for Thanksgiving. It was a hit. I did use granny smith apples, and I also added a dash of nutmeg and ginger just because I always put those spices in appLe pie. Served with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Yummy.
This is such an amazing recipe! My husband and I agree it was the best apple pIe we have ever had! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
If I understand it correctly, the pie shell is still frozen and unbaked when you fill with apples? Thank you
Yes, that is correct, Connie. 🙂
I found this recipe this morning when looking for ways to use red delicious apples, and oh my goodness, it is the best apple pie I’ve ever had! my husband doesn’t even care much for apple pie, and he absolutely loved this one!!! This is the only apple pie recipe i will be using from now on. Thank you for posting it.
I made this recioe today, just took it out of the oven and the aroma is wonderful! I will have to come back to post later how it tasted!
I like others that commented, i too had to bake it a lityle longer but all ovens are different.
Stay tuned for the taste test after it cools♡
I previously posted that I made this recipe but was waiting for it to cool, and I would post again after I tasted it.
This recipe is definitely a keeper! The flavor is just AMAZING!
Thank you for sharing this recipe so all of us can enjoy~