Nutrition Smackdown: Pumpkin Pie vs. Apple Pie

What is healthier? Pumpkin pie or apple pie?

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Pumpkin Pie

It's T-minus 24 hours to T-day, arguably the most important meal of the year. Are you ready? We're not talking menu planning, grocery shopping and food prep, but that other important aspect: are you going to have apple or pumpkin pie? To help you with that important choice, we've put the two iconic holiday pies head to head in a nutrition showdown.

Pumpkin Pie:

Nutrition stats: 316 calories, 7 grams protein, 5 grams saturated fat, 41 grams of carbohydrates. Pumpkin is super healthy and when you bake it (even into a pie), a lot of the nutrition remains. A single slice of pumpkin pie delivers 250 percent of your day's supply of vitamin A, plus  a good amount of iron and B vitamins.*

Make it even healthier: Swap lowfat evaporated milk for cream and you'll cut the saturated fat from the recipe.

Apple Pie:

Nutrition stats: 411 calories, 4 grams protein, 5 grams saturated fat, 58 grams carbohydrates. The double crust takes away nutrition points from apple pie, bumping up both calories and carbs. While there's a smattering of B vitamins and iron (from the enriched flour in the crust), apple pie pales next to pumpkin pie's accolades.*

Make it even healthier: Use some whole-wheat pastry flour in the crust to add extra fiber and a more toothsome texture without making it taste like health food.

Winner: Pumpkin Pie

The single crust keeps calories light, while the star of the show, pumpkin, pushes the nutrition of this pie way beyond apple.

But, of course, Thanksgiving comes but once a year. You may want to make the smartest choice: have both.

*Note: The nutrition information is taken from the USDA National Nutrient Database for generic "prepared from recipe" apple and pumpkin pies. Specific recipes will have different nutrition information.

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