What You Never Knew About Costco's Famous Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Is there anything better than pumpkin pie with its buttery crust, creamy filling, warm spices, and celebratory, autumnal spirit? Of course: Pumpkin pie with all of that magic, quickly and conveniently grabbed for a bargain at Costco. 

It's no wonder that Costco fans eagerly anticipate each year's return of this fall bakery item. Sales for the chain's pumpkin pie reached 5.3 million in 2015, according to Costco Connection, which is even more impressive when you remember these baked treats are only available from September to December. Sure, Costco has plenty of seasonal fall must-buys, and its year-round baked goods are popular in general, but what is behind the blockbuster success of the pumpkin pie? Costco never changes the recipe.

This is pretty significant when you consider it's not at all uncommon for chains to suddenly flip the script for the recipes of even some of their most iconic menu items. But, thankfully, Costco has realized that a classic, tried-and-true pumpkin pie is what its fans want, and that it already landed on the ideal formula for one when it debuted pumpkin pie in 1987. Based on the ingredients listed on the pie, the bakery uses staples like pumpkin, sugar, water, eggs, enriched flour, and shortening — they use over 1 million cans of pumpkin purée every year for these pies. There are also those traditional pumpkin-pie spices; while Costco remains tight-lipped on their exact combo, it's pretty easy to detect cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.

What has changed about Costco's pumpkin pie is its size. It used to be 10 inches in diameter, and now it is 12. This massive pie also weighs 58 ounces. Its nutrition facts state it has 12 servings. This makes this already-tasty treat an even more attractive purchase — you can serve up a delicious pie for the holidays, spend no time baking, and feed over 12 people for around $8, depending on location.

Users on various Reddit threads call this gourdy treat the best store-bought pie they've ever had. Often, the praise includes disbelief over the low price for such a hefty pie. With the start of pumpkin-pie season, too, come TikTok videos of influencers excitedly digging into these treats right in their cars — or even right there in the store. There's even a TikTok account devoted to the mission of convincing Costco to sell its pumpkin pie by the slice in the food court. The notable size can actually seem like a disadvantage to those without massive parties to serve, but there's no need for concern: This dessert freezes well, and it's easy to defrost and enjoy pumpkin pie.