This Vegan Pumpkin Pie is a delicious vegan dessert with a simple pumpkin-flavored custardy filling and buttery pastry crust. It’s also super easy to make egg-free, even if you are new to vegan baking.
I love making vegan versions of classic pies. Since I was a kid, I’ve been baking pies. All sorts of pies. To the point that I’ve developed an expertise that allows me to make vegan versions of all the classics, such as my Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie, Vegan Strawberry Pie, Vegan Blueberry Pie, and Vegan Pecan Pie.
Is The Classic Pumpkin Pie Vegan?
No, a classic pumpkin pie is not vegan. Did you know that pumpkin pie contains three eggs and most of the time some butter in the crust?
While pumpkin pie is not naturally vegan, you can easily make an egg-free, dairy-free pumpkin pie at home and celebrate the holiday with family and friends.
I guarantee that this vegan pumpkin pie recipe taste like the real thing and even non-vegan eaters will be amazed by its flavor and texture.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here’s how to make my pumpkin pie. All you need are:
- Vegan Pie Crust – You can of course use a store-bought vegan pie crust, but the best is to make my vegan pie crust recipe or almond flour pie crust recipe for a vegan gluten-free option. If you choose to go for the second option, don’t try to make the fancy decoration on the sides of the pie crust, The almond flour crust is much more fragile than a wheat flour crust.
- Canned Pumpkin Puree or feel free to use fresh pumpkin and make my homemade pumpkin puree recipe to make your own.
- Soft Brown Sugar or sugar-free erythritol to cut down the sugar in the recipe.
- Maple Syrup – You can use any liquid sweetener such as agave syrup or coconut nectar.
- Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, Salt – for a classic pumpkin pie spice taste.
- Vanilla Extract – for flavor.
- Canned Coconut Milk or canned coconut cream for a creamier texture.
- Cornstarch – You can also use arrowroot flour or tapioca starch.
Preparing The Pie Crust
You don’t need to prebake the pie crust for this pumpkin pie recipe. It means you can use any pie crust you love to fit your food allergies or health goals.
You can use the pie crust options below:
- Vegan gluten-free pie crust – This crust is made of almond flour and arrowroot flour and therefore, also a grain-free pie crust option
- All-purpose vegan pie crust – This one tastes like the classic flakey buttery pie crust you used to love in any pies recipes.
- Any store-bought vegan pie crust.
Fill a 9-inch pie plate with the rolled pie crust. Prick the bottom with a fork and refrigerate while making the pumpkin pie filling.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Slightly grease the 9-inch pie pan with olive oil or coconut oil. Cover the pan with the rolled dough and prick its bottom with a fork.
Press the sides of the pie crust to create a lovely design – this is tricky with almond flour pie crust and not recommended.
How To Make Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin pie is one of these classic desserts that you can’t go without during the fall season.
- To make an egg-free pumpkin pie with a custard-like filling, I am using a combination of coconut milk and starchy flour. Canned coconut milk or canned coconut cream is higher in fat than other dairy-free milk. Therefore, they add a similar creaminess as the egg yolk does in a classic pumpkin pie recipe.
- Whisk your coconut milk with the cornstarch until it has dissolved and no lumps show (photo 1). This mixture creates a custard egg-like texture to the filling, and that’s how you make a vegan version of your old-time favorite pumpkin pie filling.
- Next, whisk in the remaining ingredients: brown sugar, canned pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spices: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and salt (photo 2).
- Whisk until just combined (photo 3). Don’t over-whisk the ingredients because this is one of the common mistakes in making pumpkin pie that results in cracks on top of the pumpkin pie filling. While many recipes call for a blender or food processor to mix the pumpkin pie filling ingredients, I don’t recommend that option to avoid a cracked top.
- Pour the vegan pumpkin pie filling into the prepared pie crust (photo 4).
- Finally, bake the pumpkin pie on the center rack for about 50 minutes at 350°F (180°C).
How To Know When The Pumpkin Pie Is Baked
That’s always tricky to make pumpkin pie for the first time. So here are my tips to check if the pumpkin pie is ready to be removed from the oven.
You know the pumpkin pie is ready when:
- The top is dry and set to the touch.
- The edges of the pie are set, but the center is still jiggly.
- The crust is golden brown on the sides.
If the border of the crust is darkening too fast, protect it with foil to prevent the crust from burning.
Cooling
As soon as the filling is baked, remove the pie from the oven and keep it in its pie pan.
Let it cool completely at room temperature for 2 hours on the pie plate.
Refrigerating
Cover the top of the pie with a piece of plastic wrap that touches the pumpkin pie filling.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight if you can.
Serving Pumpkin Pie
Serve the pumpkin pie with some of the topping ideas below:
- Homemade vegan whipped cream
- Coconut whipped cream frosting
- Coconut yogurt sweetened with a touch of maple syrup
- Dust of cinnamon
Making Ahead
You can make ahead this pumpkin pie up to 3 days before eating it. Store it in the fridge, with the plastic wrap sticking to the pumpkin pie filling to prevent the custard from drying out.
I don’t recommend freezing pumpkin pie, it gets watery, and the crust softens. You can also prepare the crust the day before and keep it in the fridge, in its greased pie pan overnight. Make the filling just before filling the pie pan.
Allergy Swaps
Below are some allergy swaps options to make this vegan pumpkin pie suitable for anyone.
- Gluten-Free – use my vegan gluten-free pie crust. The pumpkin pie filling is naturally gluten-free.
- Coconut-Free– if you have coconut allergies, you can use any rich non-dairy milk like oat milk. soy milk or soy cream would deliver the best result as it’s creamy as canned coconut milk or cream.
- Sugar-Free – use your favorite sugar-free syrup and a sugar-free granulated sweetener like brown erythritol.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, absolutely, you can use the same amount of homemade cold pumpkin puree in this recipe
You can use the recipe to fill small pie cases. However, the baking time will decrease based on the size of the pie cases.
The smaller the cases, the faster they will bake.
You can, but you will have a bit too much filling for this pie size.
Use foil to cover the sides of the pie crust to prevent it from burning or darkening too fast.
This shouldn’t happen with wheat-based pie crust, but almond flour pie crust tends to darken after 20-25 minutes in the oven.
More Pumpkin Dessert Recipes
Here are some more vegan pumpkin dessert recipes for you to try this fall.
Did You Like This Recipe?
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Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- 1 Vegan Pie Crust
- ¾ cup Canned Coconut Milk - or canned coconut cream
- 3 tablespoons Cornstarch - note 1
- 15 ounces Pumpkin Puree - 2 3/4 cup (1 can)
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 3 tablespoons Maple Syrup - or agave syrup
- 1 ¼ teaspoons Cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon Fresh Ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon Ground Cloves
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Prepare one batch of my vegan pie crust recipe. Roll the crust following the pie crust recipe and place the rolled crust into a greased 9-inch pan. Prick the crust with a fork, set aside, and don't prebake it.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the cornstarch and coconut milk or coconut cream until well dissolved.
- Whisk in all the remaining pumpkin pie filling ingredients: pumpkin puree, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and vanilla extract.
- Pour the pumpkin pie filling into the prepared crust and bake it for 50-65 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until the top of the pie is set if touched. The sides should be fully set and firm. The center is still slightly jiggly but dry on the top and firm on the sides.
- If the edges of the crust darken too fast, cover them with foil.
- Remove from the oven and cool down on the pie plate until it reaches room temperature.
- Film the pumpkin pie with plastic wrap, pressing gently until the wrap touches the pumpkin pie filling. This prevents the top from drying and makes the pumpkin filling custardy and moist. Refrigerate overnight or at least 4 hours before serving.
- Serve with whipped coconut cream and a dust of extra cinnamon.
Storage
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Wonderful! I made the crust using your almond flour recipe. This pie is super yummy!
Thank you so much!