Pies That Kill
The best part of Thanksgiving may also be the worst thing your body ingests this month. From the 2,030-calorie slice of mud pie to the Chili’s offering that's worse than two Big Macs, The Daily Beast ranks America’s unhealthiest pies.
Thanksgiving is as much about food as it is about family, and around many dinner tables next week dessert will be the king course. That means ovens across the country will be stuffed with pies of all stripes, from mincemeat to cherry to pumpkin to coconut cream.
Of course, chains like Perkins Family Restaurant would prefer to bake your family’s pies for you. And families that lack a star baker may very well take them up on their offer. With that in mind, The Daily Beast decided to take a look at which pies to avoid this Thanksgiving, and beyond. Beware—a single serving of some of these pies may have more calories than an entire Thanksgiving feast.
To find the most indulgent desserts for the upcoming holiday season, The Daily Beast collected nutrition data on more than 40 pies from 17 national restaurant chains (many chains, of course, do not offer pies, while restaurants like Perkins specialize). We ran the nutritional-value numbers across the four categories available for each eatery: calories, saturated fat, sodium, and carbohydrates. Adjusting our methodology slightly to achieve greater accuracy, we compared each pie’s individual statistics against the average for each category. Each chain was limited to six items on this list.
#1, Ice Cream Mud Pie Elephant Bar Calories: 2,030 Saturated fat (g): 91 Sodium (mg): 720 Carbohydrates (g): 155
#2, Iron Skillet Apple Pie Don Pablo’s Calories: 1,303 Saturated fat (g): 29 Sodium (mg): 1,027 Carbohydrates (g): 147
#3, Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie Chili’s Calories: 1,290 Saturated fat (g): 33 Sodium (mg): 680 Carbohydrates (g): 163
#4, Sizzling Apple Pie Applebee’s Calories: 900 Saturated fat (g): 15 Sodium (mg): 990 Carbohydrates (g): 144
#5, Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Pie Outback Steakhouse Calories: 880 Saturated fat (g): 27 Sodium (mg): 741 Carbohydrates (g): 89
#6, Peanut Butter Silk Pie Perkins Calories: 960 Saturated fat (g): 33 Sodium (mg): 420 Carbohydrates (g): 73
#7, Bourbon Pecan Pie Houlihan’s Calories: 954 Saturated fat (g): 26 Sodium (mg): 441 Carbohydrates (g): 98
#8, Peanut Butter Pie Fatz Cafe Calories: 928 Saturated fat (g): 25 Sodium (mg): 353 Carbohydrates (g): 78
#9, French Silk Pie Denny’s Calories: 770 Saturated fat (g): 30 Sodium (mg): 400 Carbohydrates (g): 59
#10, Chocolate French Silk Pie Perkins Calories: 760 Saturated fat (g): 27 Sodium (mg): 330 Carbohydrates (g): 66
#11, Coconut Cream Pie Perkins Calories: 640 Saturated fat (g): 23 Sodium (mg): 470 Carbohydrates (g): 60
#12, Apple Pie à la mode Steak ‘n Shake Calories: 640 Saturated fat (g): 16 Sodium (mg): 500 Carbohydrates (g): 80
#13, Coconut Cream Pie Denny’s Calories: 630 Saturated fat (g): 24 Sodium (mg): 370 Carbohydrates (g): 65
Some pies here include a touch of bourbon, a lot of sizzle, and globs of peanut butter and ice cream. Enjoy these slices at your waistline’s own risk.
What other pies are deadly to eat? Visit The Daily Beast to find out.