You can master a homemade vegan pie crust recipe without lard, butter, or even vegan butter. It’s a perfect choice for classic apple pies, festive pumpkin pies, fresh fruit pies and even easy no-bake pies.
With its rich flavor, butter typically comes to mind when making a pie crust. While other vegan pie crust recipes call for vegan butter, we find it to be a little temperamental and not as forgiving as shortening. We use vegetable shortening in this vegan pie crust recipe because it’s a great dairy-free alternative that consistently yields tender treats.
Ingredients
- Flour: All-purpose flour does the trick for most pie crust recipes, including this vegan version.
- Shortening: Butter and lard are popular options for pie crust recipes, but we use vegetable shortening for the fat in this easy vegan pie crust.
- Ice water: Water that’s as cold as possible helps create flaky layers in the crust. It keeps the dough cold, which then creates steam within the pastry in the oven as it bakes.
Directions
Step 1: Combine the ingredients
Whisk together the all-purpose flour and salt together in a large bowl.
Editor’s Tip: Make sure you know how to measure flour the right way. Remember: Baking is science!
Step 2: Cut in the shortening
Use a pastry cutter to cut in the vegetable shortening until crumbly. Stop when the crumbs resemble the size of peas. Gradually add the ice water, tossing with a fork until the dough holds together when pressed. If it doesn’t hold together, add a bit more ice water.
Editor’s Tip: If you don’t have a pastry cutter on hand, consider a food processor or a fork.
Step 3: Shape the dough
Gently remove the dough from the bowl, and shape it into a disk.
Step 4: Wrap the dough
Wrap the dough with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator to chill for an hour or overnight.
Editor’s Tip: The dough for this vegan pie crust will look a little bit different than a traditional pie crust. It might have some cracks in it, and that’s OK.
Step 5: Roll it out
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8-inch-thick circle.
Step 6: Trim and flute
Transfer the dough to a 9-inch or 10-inch pie plate. Trim the crust to 1/2 inch beyond the rim of the plate, and flute the edge.
Editor’s Tip: Shortening crusts are super fragile, which means they can sometimes be a little crumbly. If this happens, just press your crust back together. If you’re having issues with traditional fluting, try a simple fork fluting. Or, for added flair, learn how to decorate pie with cookie cutters.
Step 6: Bake
Finally, assemble or prebake (also called blind baking) the pie crust according to your recipe directions.
Editor’s Tip: Here’s how to blind bake pie crust if you’ve never done it before.
Vegan Pie Crust Variations
- Swap out the shortening: If you don’t have vegetable shortening on hand, substitute with vegan butter or coconut oil.
- Tips for using vegan butter: If using vegan butter, make sure to go with a brand that has a tasty, buttery flavor like Earth Balance. Keep it nice and cold, so that you can easily cut it into the flour mix.
- Tips for using coconut oil: If you substitute with coconut oil, make sure that the oil is hardened, not melted. Then, use a food processor rather than a pastry cutter to mix the oil into the dough. The dough will have a coconut flavor, so be sure that this will work well with the type of pie you’re making.
How to Store Vegan Pie Crust
Instead of rolling out the dough and baking, wrap the disk in plastic wrap, and keep it in the fridge for three to five days. You can also roll out the crust, place in the pie plate, and refrigerate it, covered in plastic wrap.
If you want to store the baked pie crust, first let it fully cool. Then wrap it in aluminum foil, and keep it in an airtight container or storage wrap for three to five days at room temperature. Just make sure that the container you use is big enough to hold the crust without crushing it.
Can you freeze vegan pie crust?
Unbaked pie crust keeps really well in the freezer. After you’ve shaped it into a disk, wrap it up, and keep it in the freezer for two to three weeks.
You can freeze a baked and fully cooled pie crust for up to three months, wrapped and stored in an airtight container or resealable bag. Thaw it in the refrigerator before filling. Know that frozen and thawed pie crust may be a little less crisp than a freshly baked crust.
Tips for Making a Vegan Pie Crust
How can you keep the pie dough from sticking to the surface when rolling it out?
Before rolling the dough out on your countertop, sprinkle a generous amount of flour across your work surface. Then, dust the rolling pin with a bit of flour.
What fillings can you use in vegan pie crust?
If you’re not set on a recipe, we highly suggest our vegan pumpkin pie, vegan pecan pie or vegan apple pie. You could also make the filling for vegan potpie using this pie crust.
Serve the finished pie with a scoop of vegan ice cream and maybe even a dollop of vegan coconut whipped cream.
