Pies are defined by their crusts. A filled pie (also single-crust or bottom-crust or tart), has pastry lining the baking dish, and the filling is placed on top of the pastry but left open. A top-crust pie has the filling in the bottom of the dish and is covered with a pastry or other covering before baking. A two-crust pie has the filling completely enclosed in the pastry shell. Shortcrust pastry is a typical kind of pastry used for pie crusts, but many things can be used, including baking powder biscuits, mashed potatoes, and crumbs. Pies can be a variety of sizes, ranging from bite-size to those designed for multiple servings.

The origin of the English word 'pie' is actually rather mysterious. The first known use of the word 'pie' appears in 1303 in the expense accounts of the Bolton Priory in Yorkshire. However, the Oxford English Dictionary is uncertain to its origin and says 'no further related word is known outside English'. A possible origin is that the word 'pie' is connected with a word used in farming to indicate 'a collection of things made into a heap', for example a heap of potatoes covered with earth. One source of the word "pie" may be the magpie, a "bird known for collecting odds and ends in its nest"; the connection could be that Medieval pies also contained many different animal meats, including chickens, crows, pigeons and rabbits. One 1450 recipe for “grete pyes” that might support the "magpie" etymology contained what Charles Perry called "odds and ends", including: "...beef, beef suet, capons, hens, both mallard and teal ducks, rabbits, woodcocks and large birds such as herons and storks, plus beef marrow, hard-cooked egg yolks, dates, raisins and prunes".

Historically, early pies were in the form of flat, round or freeform crusty cakes (represented by modern galettes) consisting of a crust of ground oats, wheat, rye, or barley containing honey inside. These galettes developed into a form of early sweet pastry or desserts, evidence of which can be found on the tomb walls of the Pharaoh Ramesses II, who ruled from 1304 to 1237 BC, located in the Valley of the Kings. Sometime before 2000 BC, a recipe for chicken pie was written on a tablet in Sumer.

The Romans made a plain pastry of flour, oil, and water to cover meats and fowls which were baked, thus keeping in the juices. However, these were more like the practice of clay baking, where the covering was meant to protect the goods baked inside from the direct heat or the fire and the pastry cover was intended to be discarded and not eaten. This was also the common practice in the early modern period and persists for the cooking of fish even today. It should be noted, however that the 1st-century Roman cookbook Apicius (De Re Coquinaria) makes various mentions of recipes which involve a pie case. By 160 BC, Roman statesman Marcus Porcius Cato (234–149 BC), who wrote De Agri Cultura, notes the recipe for the most popular pie/cake called placenta.

In the early Medieval period the earliest pie doughs were probably an inedible, stiff mixture of rye flour and water. The earliest pie recipes refer to coffyns (the word actually used for a basket or box), with straight sealed sides and a top; open-top pies were called traps. Until the mid-16th century this British pie dough known as "coffyn" was used as a baking dish. These pies were meant to be eaten with the hands. The hardened coffyn pastry was not necessarily eaten, its function being to contain the filling for baking, and to extend its shelf-life. Indeed, the thick crust was so sturdy it had to be cracked open to get to the filling.

The first unequivocal reference to pie in a written source is in the 14th century (Oxford English Dictionary sb pie). The eating of mince pies during festive periods is a tradition that dates back to the 13th century, as the returning Crusaders brought pie recipes containing "meats, fruits and spices". Some pies contained cooked rabbits, frogs, crows, and pigeons. In 1390, the English cookbook A Forme of Cury had a recipe for “tartes of flesh”, which included a ground-up mixture of "pork, hard-boiled eggs, and cheese" blended with "spices, saffron, and sugar". The "coffyn" dough for the 14th-century apple pie recipe from the The Forme of Cury was probably a simple mix of water and whatever flour was available in late middle ages. The recipe included spices, apples, raisins pears and figs. The 14th-century French chef Taillevent instructed bakers to "crenelate" pie shells and "reinforce them so that they can support the meat"; one of his pies was high enough that it resembled a model of a castle, an illusion enhanced by miniature banners for the nobles at the event.

Until the start of the 15th century, most pies were expected to contain meat or fish. In the 15th century, more custard and fruit pie recipes began appearing, often with apples and figs and dried fruit like dates and raisins. Fresh fruit did not become widely used until sugar dropped in price during the 16th century. The first cherry pie is recorded in the late 16th century, when Queen Elizabeth I was served cherry pie. Elizabeth was often given gifts of quince or pear pies for New Year.

It was in the 16th century that a puff paste began to be used to make flakier pie crusts. In Gervase Markham's 1615 book The English Huswife, there is a recipe for puff paste where the paste is kneaded, rolled thinly many times while layering with butter. This made a flaky butter pastry to cover meat for pies or for tarts. There is also a pie recipe that calls for "an entire leg of mutton and three pounds of suet..., along with salt, cloves, mace, currants, raisins, prunes, dates, and orange peel", which made a huge pie that could serve a large group. According to Markham, crusts made with fine wheat flour required the addition of eggs to be sturdy enough for raised pies.

In the Georgian era, sweetened pies of meat and dried fruits began to become less popular. In recipe books of the period sweet veal, sweet lamb or sweet chicken pies are given alongside recipes for unsweetened alternatives with the same ingredients made for those who could "no longer stomach the sweetened flesh meats enjoyed by earlier generations". Pumpkin pie was fashionable in England from the 1650s onward, then fell out of favour during the 18th century. Pumpkin was sliced, fried with sweet herbs sweetened with sugar and eggs were added. This was put into a pastry case with currants and apples. Pumpkin pie was introduced to America by early colonists where it became a national dish.

In 1806 Mrs Rundell in her Observations on Savoury Pies in A New System of Domestic Cookery stated that 'There are few articles of cookery more generally liked than relishing pies, if properly made'. Alexis Soyer, a celebrity cook of the 19th century said in his book Shilling Cookery for the People (1860) "From childhood we eat pies - from girlhood to boyhood we eat pies - in fact, pies in England may be considered as one of our best companions du voyage through life. It is we who leave them behind, not they who leave us; for our children and grandchildren will be as fond of pies as we have been; therefore it is needful that we should learn how to make them, and make them well! Believe me, I am not jesting, but if all the spoilt pies made in London on one single Sunday were to be exhibited in a row beside a railway line, it would take above an hour by special train to pass in review these culinary victims".

The alphabetical list of all the pie recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 574 recipes in total:

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Hot Water Pastry      Origin: Britain	Lemon Meringue Tart      Origin: Britain	Mincemeat Baklava      Origin: Fusion
Hot-water Crust Pastry      Origin: Britain	Les Palmiers du Jour de Valentine (Palmiers for Valentine's Day)      Origin: France	Mincemeat Croissants      Origin: British
Hungry Monk Banoffee Pie      Origin: England	Leshes fryed in Lenton (Fried Cakes for Lent)      Origin: England	Mincemeat Eccles Cakes      Origin: Britain
Huntsman's Pie      Origin: Scotland	Licky Pasty      Origin: England	Mincemeat Eccles Cakes II      Origin: British
Imqaret (Date Diamonds)      Origin: Malta	Licky Pie      Origin: England	Mincemeat Pie      Origin: American
Individual Mutton Pies      Origin: England	Linden Chocolate Mississippi Mud Pie      Origin: American	Mincemeat Samosas      Origin: South Africa
Irish Rich Pastry      Origin: Ireland	Linzer Torte      Origin: Germany	Mincemeat Streusel Traybake      Origin: Britain
Israeli Mamul (Israeli Date Pastries)      Origin: Israel	Liv Syrnyk (Easter Cheesecake with Sultanas)      Origin: Ukraine	Mincemeat Strudel with a Medieval Twist      Origin: Britain
Italianate Easter Cheesecake      Origin: Britain	Lobster and Clotted Cream Tart      Origin: Britain	Mincemeat Tart      Origin: Britain
Jam Pasty      Origin: England	Lumbardy Tarts      Origin: Britain	Mincepies      Origin: Britain
Jamaican Beef Patties      Origin: Jamaica	M'hajeb (Filled Pastries)      Origin: Algeria	Mississippi Mud Pie      Origin: American
Jubnyeh (Sweet Cheese Fritters)      Origin: Somalia	Macadamia Nut and Toffee Tart      Origin: Australia	Molleux chocolat cour de framboise (Chocolate Tarts with Raspberry Filling)      Origin: France
Kèiskuch (Cheese Cake)      Origin: Luxembourg	Macadamia Nut Cheesecake      Origin: American	Monkfish Wellington      Origin: British
KöttfÄrs och olivpaj (Mince and Olive Pie)      Origin: Sweden	Macadamia Tart      Origin: Australia	Montrose Cakes      Origin: Scotland
Karipap (Pressure Cooker Massaman Beef Curry)      Origin: Malaysia	Macaroon-topped Mince Pies      Origin: British	Mushroom Pie      Origin: France
Käsküeche (Alsace Cheesecake)      Origin: France	Mackerel Pasty      Origin: England	Mushroom Pudding      Origin: Britain
Kingdom of Fife Pie      Origin: Scotland	Maids of Honour Tarts      Origin: Britain	Mussel Pie      Origin: Bermuda
Kip Pastei (Surinamese Chicken Pie)      Origin: Suriname	Mango Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust      Origin: Fusion	Mutton and Potato Pies      Origin: Britain
Knotweed Meringue Pie      Origin: Britain	Mansfield Gooseberry Pie      Origin: England	Mutton and Turnip Pie      Origin: England
Koeksisters      Origin: South Africa	Manx Gooseberry Crumble      Origin: Manx	My Lady of Portlandàs Mince Pyes      Origin: Britain
Koeksisters II      Origin: South Africa	Manx Pasties      Origin: Manx	Myrang Aval (Apple Meringue)      Origin: Britain
Krampez Yar (Cornish Chicken Pie)      Origin: England	Maple Pecan Pie      Origin: American	Namak Paray      Origin: Pakistan
Krautstrudel (Cabbage Strudel)      Origin: Liechtenstein	Marigold Tart      Origin: Britain	Nepali Momo Wrappers      Origin: Nepal
Kroštule (Dalmatian Pastry)      Origin: Croatia	Marrow Patties      Origin: British	New Orleans Style Pumpkin Pie      Origin: South Africa
La Galette des Rois (Kings Cake)      Origin: France	Meat and Potato Pasty      Origin: England	New York Cheesecake II      Origin: America
La Pastiera di Grano (Neapolitan Easter Cake)      Origin: Italy	Meat Fuggan      Origin: England	New Zealand Fish Pie      Origin: New Zealand
Le Galapian      Origin: Monaco	Medieval Simnel Cake      Origin: England	Nigerian Meat Pasties      Origin: Nigeria
Leche Frys in Lentoun (Almond Milk Fruit Pie)      Origin: England	Melktert (Milk Tart)      Origin: Namibia	Nigerian Meat Pie      Origin: Nigeria
Leeky Larrup      Origin: England	Meringue Nests      Origin: Britain	Oggi      Origin: Welsh
Leftover Turkey Fricassee      Origin: Scotland	Meringue-topped Mince Pies      Origin: British	Onion Bhaji      Origin: India
Leftovers Pie      Origin: Britain	Mesru (Date and Pistachio Pastries)      Origin: Mesopotamia	Orange Crumble Mince Pies      Origin: Britain
Lemon and Lime Meringue Tart      Origin: Britain	Microwave Bramble Crumble      Origin: Britain	Oxtail Pot Pies      Origin: South Africa
Lemon Cheesecake      Origin: Britain	Microwave Spicy Mid-winter Pie      Origin: Britain
Lemon Meringue Pie      Origin: Britain	Mille Feuille      Origin: France

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