Marie Callender's Vs Edwards: Which Frozen Pecan Pie Is Actually Healthier?

Pecan pie is a holiday essential, and Marie Callender's and Edwards can lend a little help during a hectic season. While we all love the idea of a homemade pecan pie, there often just isn't time to undertake a project, and frozen options can still be plenty good. But opting for the convenience of frozen can also mean sacrificing on nutrition, because even though many frozen foods are totally healthy, some are loaded with extra additives, salt, and more. And if you are looking out for that with your pecan pie, Marie Callender's is the choice over Edwards.

It turns out that both Marie Callender's Southern Pecan Pie and Edwards Georgia Style Pecan Pie are the exact same size (32 ounces) and both have eight servings per pie, so it's a very even comparison. Different people are going to have different nutritional needs and concerns, but if you are looking at pies the first thing most people are probably thinking about is sugar. Unsurprisingly both pies have quite a lot of it, but Marie Callender's has less. One slice of pie from the popular frozen food brand has 29 grams of total sugar, with 28 grams coming from added sugar, while a slice from Edwards has 35 grams, of which 34 are added. That is 56% and 68% of your daily recommended maximum sugar intake respectively.

However neither brand is that high in sodium. Marie Callender's is a little lower here too, with 200 milligrams to Edwards' 270 milligrams. But that is only 12% of your daily maximum even for Edwards, which isn't much of an issue for a treat.

Saturated fat and trans fat are the two fats that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends limiting, and once again Marie Callender's has the narrow edge here. Both are free of trans fats, which is always good as they are the true unhealthy fat. Saturated fat is less of a concern unless consumed in higher amounts, but both pie slices have a decent amount. Marie Callender's pecan pie has 6 grams per serving, and Edwards has 8 grams. That is 30% of your daily intake for Marie Callender's and 41% for Edwards. While not as high as the sugar content, holiday meals can be high in ingredients, like cream and butter, that also have a lot of saturated fat, so it may be harder to avoid for the rest of the day than sugar is.

As for the more positive nutritional elements that people are usually trying to maximize — protein and fiber – both pies are actually identical. Both Marie Callender's and Edwards have 5 grams of protein per serving, and 5 grams of fiber. Since both pies are the same here, the higher sugar, sodium, and saturated fat for Edwards would have us lean towards Marie Callender's if we were watching out for nutrition. However as an occasional dessert, especially during the holidays, both are totally fine. Nobody is expecting health food when they eat pie, and neither will be a problem in an otherwise balanced diet. So go ahead and enjoy whichever pecan pie you prefer.