This easy to make vegan pie crust has a light and flakey crust you’ll love! No chill time required to make, this crust comes together in under 15 minutes with only a few simple ingredients.
It’s the perfect base for a delicious apple crumble pie or a sweet pumpkin pie! Not to mention it works in both sweet and savory pie recipes. This pie crust is ready for your family favorite recipes and the holiday season.
Free from: dairy, casein, eggs, fish, shellfish, soy, sesame, peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, corn, celery, and more
This is a recipe I’ve been making for years. It comes together so quickly with the help of a food processor, but don’t worry, you don’t need one to get a delicious crust. Once you make this homemade pie crust, you'll never go back to store bought.
Jump to:
Ingredients
One of the things I like best about this recipe is the fact that the ingredients are simple and nothing strange is required for it. Vegan butter is mixed with vegan shortening and flour with a few extra leaveners to get a flakey pie crust.
Here is what you’ll need:
- Flour - I use all-purpose flour when making my pie crusts. It has a good protein percentage to make the crust sturdy without being tough. Stay clear of bread flour.
- Vegan Butter + Vegan Shortening - The combination of shortening and butter gives the crust the best mix of flavor (from the butter) and strength (from the shortening). However, you can totally use all of one or the other depending on what ingredients you have on hand.
- Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Apple Cider Vinegar - Don’t worry, it won’t taste like vinegar! This helps the flour to soften while baking and gives an extra boost to the baking powder to make the crust puff nicely.
- Salt
- Ice cold water
Instructions
The full instructions with the measurements of each ingredient are written in the recipe card below! Bookmark this page so you’ll always have this recipe on hand.
For this recipe, you can use a food processor to mix everything up, or you can mix by hand using a pastry cutter. Both methods result in a delicious crust, however, I highly recommend that you use a food processor. The processor helps all the ingredients come together quickly, and when making pie crust you want the ingredients to be as cold as possible. Room temperature butter and ingredients won't come together as nicely. A cold pie crust is a happy pie crust!
If you don’t have a food processor, you can still make this with a large bowl and a pastry cutter. Place the bowl and pastry cutter in the fridge and let them chill before making the pie crust.
Begin by adding all of your dry ingredients of flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder to the food processor (or bowl). Pulse a few things to bring the mix together. If making in a bowl, quickly mix the dry ingredients together with the pastry cutter.
Next, add the butter and shortening to the food processor and pulse several times until the mixture resembles wet sand. If making in a bowl, use the pastry cutter to cut the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients till it resembles wet sand.
Now, add the apple cider vinegar and ice water to the dough. Pulse until the dough comes together in a rough ball shape. Begin with just a few tablespoons of water and add more if needed. I can’t give you an exact amount because pie crust depends on where you live, what the weather is like, and what your altitude is. If mixing by hand, the same applies of adding water slowly until it forms a rough ball.
No matter which technique you are using, now the instructions are the same.
Using your hands, carefully and quickly press it into a dough ball, and then flatten it slightly into a dough disc.
Now, roll the dough out onto a sheet of parchment paper that has been dusted with flour to prevent any sticking. You can cover the disc with another sheet of parchment paper if you like, but I haven’t found that to be necessary.
Gently roll the dough using a rolling pin into a general desired size and shape.
Now, add the pie plate on top of the rolled dough. Quickly flip the dough over into the pan. This is where using parchment paper comes in handy!
Remove the parchment and press the dough into the pan.
Pinch your pie crust into whatever shape you like and you are done!
Top tips
Grate the vegan butter and pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes before making the pie crust. This is especially important if you are making the pie crust without a food processor. The extra cold butter makes for a better result while baking.
Sometimes, I even like to chill the dry ingredients for a few minutes in the freezer as well.
Try to use less water than you think you'll need. This will prevent the dough from sticking too much.
FAQs
Do I need to chill this dough?
Nope! No chilling is required. However, I will pop this crust into the fridge while I finish making my pie filling if making a pie that has a filling. If making a no bake pie, you can pre-bake this crust directly after making it.
How many crusts does this make?
This makes 1 pie crust big enough to fill a 9-inch pie pan comfortably.
This recipe will easily double or triple depending on your needs. If making a simple pie with a top and bottom crust, make a double. If you are making a more elaborate pie crust with braiding and cutting out shapes, make a double and a half or even a triple batch.
Can I pre-bake this crust?
Yes! Using pie weights, you can pre-bake this crust for 30 minutes to use in your favorite no-bake pie recipes. The crust will be done when it is golden brown.
Help! My dough is sticking to everything!
Don’t worry! You just need to add a little more flour to the dough. Next time, use a tablespoon less of ice water when making.
Allergy Substitutions
To make this gluten free, I suggest making my gluten free and vegan pie crust recipe that has slightly different ingredients and has been made especially for gluten free flours.
How to store
This pie crust is perfect to use immediately after making for all your pie recipes.
To store this crust you can freeze it both before and after baking.
To store before baking: Wrap the crust in the pie plate in plastic wrap. Keep in the freezer until ready to use for a max of 3 months. To bake from frozen, add an additional 10 minutes to the final baking time.
To store after baking: Wrap the crust in the pie plate tightly in plastic wrap or another airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days before using.
More vegan pie recipes to love
If you try these out, please leave a comment below! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers. And if you want more delicious, dietary friendly recipes you can subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!
Recipe
Equipment
- food processor (optional)
- Large bowl
- pastry cutter
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- parchment paper
- Rolling Pin
- pie pan
- Pie weights (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter see note
- 4 tablespoons shortening see note
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 3-4 tablespoons ice water
Instructions
- Make sure the vegan butter and shortening are very cold before starting. You can even pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes before you start. I also will sometimes place the flour in the freezer as well.
- Add flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to the food processor. Make sure you are using the “S” blade attachment. Pulse a few times to combine the ingredients.
- Add the cold vegan butter and shortening. Process until it looks like wet sand, between 10 and 15 pulses.
- Now add apple cider vinegar and 2 tablespoons of ice cold water to the food processor. Continue to pulse until it begins to clump together. This takes me on average 15 to 20 quick pulses. You may need to add a few more tablespoons of water for it to come together.
- Place the dough onto parchment paper with a light covering of flour. Shape the dough into a disc.
- Roll the dough with a rolling pin until you have about a 2 inch border around an inverted pie pan. This is about 12 inches wide.
- With the pan inverted on the dough, gently flip the pie pan, parchment, and dough over in one quick motion. Now your dough is in the pie pan with no fussing with the rolling pin! Don’t panic if it isn’t perfect, you can fix it now.
- Carefully push the pie dough into place and trim off any excess to repair any spots you need. Crimp and flute the edges as you like.
- Now it is ready to be used immediately. You can refrigerate it until you are ready to use.
To Make By Hand
- Whisk the dry ingredients of flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and shortening.
- Using a pastry cutter, start to mash the fats into the dry ingredients. When it resembles coarse sand, you are finished.
- Now add the apple cider vinegar and 2 tablespoons of ice water to the dough. Stir until the dough comes together. You may need an additional spoonful of water.
To Pre-Bake Pie Crust
- Freeze the pie crust for 30 minutes before baking to help it keep from shrinking.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare the pie by placing aluminum foil or parchment paper into the pie. Fill the crust with dried beans, rice, or a pie weight.
- Place in and oven and bake for 25 minutes for pies that will cook more in the oven after filling. For no-bake pies, bake for 35 minutes. Cool completely before filling.
- Instructions for each pie will vary slightly; this is only a general instruction for a pre-baked pie crust.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Leave a Reply