Thanksgiving is known for its endless pickling methods, divisive side dishes, and quarrelsome family members. It’s no wonder hosting can be stressful. Unless you’ve got The Right Stuffing, that is. This series is dedicated to all things Thanksgiving and will help you create dishes that will make it to your table year after year, even if it can’t help you manage your family members.

Thanksgiving dinner brings two things to mind: turkey and pie. We’ve talked about turkey a lot, so I think we’ve waited long enough. Side dishes vary from year to year, but dessert requires at least one pie. Single crust or double crust, apple or pumpkin, baked or no-bake, pie is the first thing you think of when you wake up from a post-turkey nap. I know it can be tempting to skip pie prep and just buy a pre-made frozen pie or one of those “homemade” pies from the grocery store, but I encourage you to put the box down. Making a pie can be a challenge, but it’s worth it for the fresh, flavorful results. Here’s a guide to help you make an excellent Thanksgiving pie from scratch (or nearly from scratch), no matter what recipe you use.

There’s a lot of fuss about making the perfect pie crust. While it’s true that the crust can be tricky and takes some practice to master, it’s not the priority. The filling is the star. You don’t define a pie by the type of crust you choose. It’s apple, pecan, pumpkin—it’s what’s inside that counts. (Honestly, we’re all just pies, right?)

First, choose your filling. This will help you choose the right crust, decide whether to bake it raw or blind bake it first, and figure out how to prepare the filling in advance.