This is the best vegan pumpkin pie ever and the only recipe you’ll ever need! It’s rich, creamy, deliciously spiced and perfect for the holidays.
This vegan pumpkin pie is seriously delicious. It’s perfectly sweet, loaded with fall spices and flavors and absolutely NO ONE would be able to guess that it’s vegan.
It’s also the easiest pie you’ll ever make, especially if you use a store-bought pie crust. It’s as simple as adding your ingredients to a blender, blending it, pouring it out into your pie crust, baking it, cooling it and voilà!
Of course if you want to make your pie crust from scratch then we’ve got you covered with that too.
This pie is heaps of fun to make, comes out perfectly every time and is the perfect Thanksgiving pie.
And if you love some delicious vegan holiday pies, then check out our vegan sweet potato pie and our vegan apple pie too.
How To Make Vegan Pumpkin Pie
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
The Crust:
- Add all purpose flour, sugar and salt to the food processor and pulse to combine.
- Now add coconut oil (must be solid, not melted) and pulse until the mixture is crumbly.
- Add ice water and pulse it to combine. It should look like a dough now and if you break off a piece and roll it in your hands it should easily roll into a ball.
- Remove the dough from the food processor, transfer to a floured surface and roll the dough into a big round ball.
- Using a rolling pin roll out the dough from side to side into a large circle that is wider than your 9-inch pie dish.
- Spray your pie dish with non-stick spray and then roll up the crust in your rolling pin (or just pick it up carefully) and carefully unroll it over the top of your pie dish. Carefully tuck the crust in along the edges of your pie dish.
- Take a scissors and trim off any excess dough but make sure that there is a little overhang over the edges of the dish.
- Place your pie crust into the fridge while you prepare your pie filling.
The Filling:
- Add canned pumpkin, coconut milk, brown sugar, maple syrup, cornstarch, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract and salt to your blender and blend until smooth. If you don’t have a blender, then just add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and use a hand whisk to whisk it until smooth.
- Pour this out over your pie crust and smooth down with the back of a spoon.
- Place into the oven to bake for 60 minutes at 350°F.
- Allow to cool on the counter until it reaches room temperature and then place into the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight until set.
- Serve with vegan whipped cream.
Recipe Tips
THE PIE CRUST: The pie crust is made with coconut oil. The recipe is from our vegan pie crust recipe and works wonderfully as an easy, homemade option.
If you prefer a buttery crust: Check out the crust from our vegan apple pie that is made with vegan butter. If you’re using that pie crust then you can halve the recipe as the apple pie crust makes a double crust (top and bottom).
Alternatively, if you want to save time in this recipe, you can use a store-bought unbaked 9-inch pie crust.
TENTING WITH FOIL: We find it useful to tent the pie with foil after 40 minutes of baking and then place it back into the oven to bake for the final 20 minutes. This prevents the pie from over-browning. Sometimes the full 60 minutes baking time can result in some uneven browning on top of the pie and over-browning of the crust. If you have a pie crust shield then you can use that instead which will prevent the crust from over-browning. However, you may still have some uneven browning on top of your pie.
BROWNING: In these photos, we tented the pie with foil at the 40 minute mark. You can see that the browning is nice and even on top. Nonetheless, the pie when it first comes out of the oven is very dark in color, but it lightens as it cools.
In our video we didn’t tent the pie with foil and you’ll notice there is some uneven browning on top of the pie when it comes out of the oven. However, it also lightens up as it cools.
TIP: The best thing is to tent the pie with foil after 40 minutes of baking (or use a pie crust shield), or your pie crust may be over-browned.
How To Tent With Foil
Tenting with foil is to loosely cover the pie with foil in a tent like shape so that it doesn’t press down on the pie from the top. It prevents the pie and the crust from over-browning while allowing it to bake for the full 60 minutes, so that it bakes through and sets perfectly.
Ingredient Tips and Substitutions
Pumpkin Purée: The easiest option is to use canned pumpkin purée. It must be plain pumpkin purée and not pumpkin pie filling.
You can also use fresh homemade pumpkin purée. We have tested it with this recipe and it works perfectly. It’s just important that you make sure your pumpkin purée isn’t too wet. It must be similar in consistency to what you would get in a can. The best way to do this is to place peeled and chopped pumpkin onto a parchment lined baking tray. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes (no oil or spices) until soft and cooked. Let it cool and then add to the food processor and process into a purée. Let the purée stand in a strainer over a bowl and let any excess water drain off before using.
Coconut Milk: This must be canned, full fat, unsweetened coconut milk. It needs to be thick and creamy so that your pie will be the right consistency. There is no coconut flavor in the end result. If you switch this for a thinner non-dairy milk such as almond milk then your pie may be too thin and won’t set properly.
Brown Sugar: You can also use coconut sugar if you like. The sugar can also be slightly reduced if you prefer.
Maple Syrup: You can switch this with a different kind of syrup if you like. Or you can just replace it with extra brown sugar.
Cornstarch: This helps the pie to set so it is a crucial ingredient. You can possibly also use tapioca starch but you may need to use double the amount. Arrowroot (in the same quantity as cornstarch) will likely also work.
Pumpkin pie spice: I used my super awesome homemade pumpkin pie spice in this pie. You can also make your own or use a store-bought option, it will be the same either way.
Pumpkin Pie Q&A
How long should I let my pumpkin pie cool?
Let it cool on the counter until it reaches room temperature. Then transfer to the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Can I use fresh pumpkin purée instead of canned?
Yes you can! You just need to make sure that your freshly made pumpkin purée isn’t too wet. It should be the same consistency as what you will find in a can. To achieve this, let your homemade pumpkin purée stand in a strainer so any excess water can drain off.
Can I make it gluten-free?
The filling for this pie is already gluten-free, so to make an entirely gluten-free pie you’ll just need to use a gluten-free pie crust. You can either purchase an already made gluten-free unbaked pie crust, or you can make your own. This recipe from Detoxinista looks awesome.
Make Ahead, Storing and Freezing
Make Ahead: This is a perfect pie to make ahead of time. It needs a few hours to chill and set in the fridge anyway and overnight is even better. So if you make the whole pie the day before, then you can simply store it in the fridge. When you’re ready, add vegan whipped cream and serve.
Storing: Keep your pie stored in the fridge (covered) where it will keep for up to a week.
Freezing: It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Let it cool completely and chill/firm up in the fridge as usual. Then wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap, followed by foil to prevent any freezer burn and freeze. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
More Vegan Pumpkin Recipes
- Vegan Pumpkin Cake
- Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
- Vegan Pumpkin Bread
- Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes
- Vegan Pumpkin Cookies
- Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
For the Pie Crust:
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour (145g)
- 1 Tablespoon White Granulated Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ cup Coconut Oil (55g) Solid
- 4 Tablespoons Ice Water
For the Filling:
- 15 ounce Can Pumpkin Purée (425g) not pumpkin pie filling*
- ¾ cup Coconut Milk (180ml) Canned, Full Fat, Unsweetened
- ¾ cup Light Brown Sugar (150g)
- ¼ cup Maple Syrup (60ml)
- ¼ cup Cornstarch (32g)
- 3 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ½ teaspoon Salt
For Serving:
Instructions
- Prepare the crust: Add all purpose flour, sugar and salt to the food processor and pulse to combine.
- Add the coconut oil (must be solid, not melted) and pulse until the mixture is crumbly.
- Add ice water and pulse it to combine. It should look like a dough now and if you break off a piece and roll it in your hands it should easily roll into a ball.
- Remove the dough from the food processor, transfer to a floured surface and roll the dough into a big round ball.
- Using a rolling pin roll out the dough from side to side into a large circle that is wider than your 9-inch pie dish.
- Spray your pie dish with non-stick spray and then roll up the crust in your rolling pin (or just pick it up carefully) and carefully unroll it over the top of your pie dish. Carefully tuck the crust in along the edges of your pie dish.
- Take a scissors and trim off any excess dough but make sure that there is a little overhang over the edges of the dish. Place your pie crust into the fridge while you prepare your pie filling.
- Prepare your filling: Add canned pumpkin, coconut milk, brown sugar, maple syrup, cornstarch, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract and salt to your blender and blend until smooth. If you don't have a blender, then just add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and use a hand whisk to whisk it until smooth.
- Pour this out over your pie crust and smooth down with the back of a spoon.
- Place into the oven to bake for 60 minutes at 350°F. To prevent over-browning, bring it out after 40 minutes, tent it with foil and then return to the oven for the remaining 20 minutes (*see notes).
- When you remove the pie from the oven, it will still be quite wobbly in the center, this is completely fine, it will firm up when cooling. Your pie may also be quite dark in color when first removed from the oven, it lightens up a lot when cool.
- Allow to cool on the counter and then place into the refrigerator to set completely, around 4 hours at least or overnight if possible until completely chilled and set. Serve with vegan whipped cream.
Video
Notes
- Pie Crust: You can use a store-bought 9-inch unbaked pie crust instead of making a crust from scratch if you want to save time on this recipe. It must be an unbaked crust though to work well in this recipe.
- Pumpkin Purée: The easiest option is to use canned pumpkin purée. It must be plain pumpkin purée and not pumpkin pie filling. You can also use fresh homemade pumpkin purée. We have tested it with this recipe and it works perfectly. It’s just important that you make sure your pumpkin purée isn’t too wet. It must be similar in consistency to what you would get in a can. The best way to do this is to place peeled and chopped pumpkin onto a parchment lined baking tray and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes (no oil or spices) until soft and cooked. Let it cool and then add to the food processor and process into a purée. Let the purée stand in a strainer over a bowl and let any excess water drain off before using. You will need 1 and ¾ cups homemade pumpkin purée.
- Coconut Milk: This must be canned, full fat, unsweetened coconut milk. It needs to be rich and creamy so that your pie will be the right consistency. There is no coconut flavor in the end result. If you switch this for a thinner non-dairy milk such as almond milk then your pie may be too thin and won’t set properly.
- Brown Sugar: You can also use coconut sugar if you like. The sugar can also be slightly reduced if you prefer.
- Maple Syrup: You can switch this with a different kind of syrup if you like, or replace it with a ¼ cup extra brown sugar, or omit it altogether for a less sweet version.
- Cornstarch: This helps the pie to set so it is a crucial ingredient. You can possibly also use tapioca starch but you may need to use double the amount. Arrowroot (in the same quantity as cornstarch) will likely also work.
- Pumpkin pie spice: You can make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice or use a store-bought option, it will be the same either way.
- Tent with foil: Tent the pie with foil after 40 minutes of baking and then place it back into the oven to bake for the final 20 minutes. This prevents the pie from over-browning. Sometimes the full 60 minutes baking time can result in some uneven browning on top of the pie and over-browning of the crust. If you have a pie crust shield then you can use that instead which will prevent the crust from over-browning. However, you may still have some uneven browning on top of your pie.
- Make Ahead: This is a perfect pie to make ahead of time as it needs a few hours to chill and set in the fridge anyway and overnight is even better. So if you make the whole pie the day before, then you can simply store it in the fridge and when you’re ready, add vegan whipped cream and serve.
- Storing and Freezing: Keep your pie stored in the fridge (covered) where it will keep for up to a week. It is also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Let it cool completely and chill/firm up in the fridge as usual. Then wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap, followed by foil to prevent any freezer burn and freeze. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
- This recipe was first published in November 2016. We have given it a makeover with some new photos and lots of extra tips and tricks. The recipe itself is unchanged.
Hi, I’m preparing this recipe now but my filling is rather watery compared to the pictures but I used all of the recommended ingredients. Is that normal or can I add something to thicken it up?
Hi Skylar, if all the ingredients were in the right quantities then it should be fine. Did you use homemade pumpkin purée?
This pumpkin pie is delicious! Great Fall dessert.
Thanks Toni!
This is the BEST pumpkin pie EVER! And I have tried a lot of recipes online. But now I’ve found the one and there’s no need to look any further. Thanks so much for creating this masterpiece! Can’t wait to impress everyone at Thanksgiving.
Thanks so much Martha! I’m thrilled you love the recipe! 🙂
Made this for a work event, the filling turned out gritty, not sure why. And the crust was a bit crumbly to make. Weighed out all the ingredients and used high quality flour, again not sure why. It also didn’t make enough for a 9” pie- I had to double the batch. It smells wonderful, and we’ll see how it tastes tomorrow!
Hi Mel, do you mean the filling was gritty before baking or after? If it was before then that would be from the sugar and will smooth out after baking. I’m not sure why the crust didn’t make enough because we use this as the crust on a lot of our pies and our dish is most definitely 9-inches. Hope you enjoy it when you taste it later! 🙂
This was amazing! Followed the pumpkin recipe exactly and it came out fantastic. (Didn’t make my own crust this time around). Really satisfied the good ol pumpkin pie craving that I was looking for. Love that maple syrup is a part of the pie. Also instead of sugar I blended up some dates and molasses into the mixture when blending which was a lovely sweetness subbing for the brown sugar. I challenge myself to use the natural sweets when I can but sugar will always reign supreme in baking. THANK YOU!
Awesome Meggie! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
I reduced the sugar to a third and it was sweeet enough for me.
It does not have a coconut flavor. It was very tasty!
Thanks for sharing Isabel!
A family member has a corn allergy. Can I use potato starch in place of corn starch?
I’m not sure about potato starch, but tapioca starch and arrowroot are substitutions that you can try. We have info about this under ‘ingredient tips and substitutions’. Arrowroot should work in the same quantity as cornstarch but you may need to use double the amount of tapioca starch.
hi! 🙂 made a bunch of mini pies in a cupcake tray as I don’t have a pie tin and they turned out super yummy 🙂 was wondering if you had a recipe for leftover filling as I now have around 1-2 cups left due to them not needing as much as a full pie? thanks in advance 🙂
So glad it worked out great as mini pies! I don’t have a recipe for leftover filling, but you could freeze it and then use it for more mini pies at a later stage if that helps! 🙂
This pie is amazing! My boyfriend and I made 3 pies last night so each of our families could have some. For some reason the crust was really hard after it had baked and cooked. Any advice for how we can make the crust better? we did not have a food processor so we ended up using a blender to make the crust and at some points it was difficult to roll it out.
Hi Makayla, so glad to hear you enjoyed the pie! The crust can be made by hand if you don’t have a food processor. Just work the coconut oil into the flour with your hands, and then add the water. I highly recommend either weighing the flour or using the spoon and level method, so spoon it into a measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup. If you use the exact right amount of flour then it should be easy to handle and shouldn’t be hard to roll out. If it still is, it might need a touch more water. Another reason for it being hard or tough is too much handling of the dough, if it was hard to roll out then that probably means you needed to handle the dough more than if it was easy so that could have caused some over-working of the dough. I’m also not sure how much doing it in the blender might have over-worked the dough, so that’s why I think by hand would be better if you don’t have a food processor. Hopefully this helps for next time! All the best! 🙂
Hi! I just wanted to say that I LOVE this recipe!!! I used it and it honestly tasted better than original pumpkin pie!! My mom and sister have been vegan for over 2 years and I was a vegetarian for 8 years; a few months ago, I’ve decided to go vegan. Since it’s fall time, I thought it was the perfect time to use this recipe! Overall, I just wanted to say thanks for sharing this recipe with us, it is delicious!! Have a good day! 🙂
So happy you enjoyed it!
Great pumpkin pie filling recipe. I used real blender mashed pumpkin that I had frozen from last year and after defrosting it I strained out the excess water by leaving the pumpkin in a sieve for an hour or so. Used 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger and a dash of allspice and nutmeg instead of store bought pumpkin spice. I used a store bought vegan crust. Pie turned out fantastic. Loved by all. Great recipe whether you are vegan or not. Thanks!
Thanks Zena!
Can you use light coconut milk instead of full fat?? Excited to try this recipe out!!
Hi Vanessa, the issue is that it might not set quite as well, because the light version isn’t as thick and creamy.
I’ve made this three times now and it has turned out wonderful everytime! My non-vegan family says this is one of the best pumpkin pies they have had.
I reduced the sugar and upped the cinnamon a tiny bit for my own taste preferences – it still came out perfect. What a wonderful recipe!
Awesome! Thanks AJ!
Greetings Allison. We grew butter squash decided to substitute for the pumpkin.
Squash was steamed, then the skin was removed. The cooked squash was then placed in a collider to drain any excess moisture. I then followed your recipe, and used a submersion blender to mix all ingredients. Baked, let it cool. Must say it was delicious.
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing Ron!
hello.
have you tried freezing this recipe?
i need to make a bunch in advance, then thaw to serve.
thank you
Hi Erin, yes you can freeze it. Let the pie cool completely and then wrap it in several layers of plastic wrap, followed by foil to prevent any freezer burn. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight.
*Edit to my previous comment submitted a couple min ago*
It looks like I used 3 tablespoons of pumpkin spice instead of 3 teaspoons! Doh!
Regarding the crust: After comparing to your pictures, mine is actually about the same thickness or slightly thinner than yours (maybe because I was trying to cover a wider pan rim than you.) Also, I mixed everything by hand, if that makes any difference.
Any tips or tricks for improvements would be appreciated! Thanks!
Hi Harmony! Thanks for sharing! Glad you figured out what caused the spice issue, that would have been a little on the strong side, hahaha! 🙂 It could be that the crust was a little dry since you struggled with it a little and found you had to handle it a lot. It should be soft and easy to handle. So I am guessing that the issue may have been a little too much flour. If you don’t weigh it out on a food scale then the best way to measure it is the spoon and level method, which is to spoon it into a measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup. Hope this helps for the next time! All the best!