Perfect Vegan Apple Pie! With a flaky, buttery pie crust and tender, cinnamon sweet apple filling, this is the only apple pie recipe you need.
Apple Pie is perfect for the 4th of July, Fall or on the holiday table. It’s a classic recipe that everyone should know how to make, and I will teach you how! No one would ever guess this pie is vegan. Tender, sweet apples are stuffed in between two flaky pie crusts. You will definitely want to pick up some non-dairy vanilla ice cream for this one!
If you love apple desserts, make sure to check out this Vegan Apple Cake or Vegan Apple Crisp!
Ingredients needed
- Pie Crust – For best results, use my Vegan Pie Crust Recipe, and double it. There is no need to pre-bake the crusts. For an easier pie, it’s fine to use store bought vegan pie crusts. Or gluten free pie crust if needed.
- Apples – I used a variety of granny smith, honey crisp and pink lady. Avoid red apples or gala, which get mushy in pie.
- Lemon Juice
- Sugar
- Flour – For thickening the apple filling.
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla
- Non-dairy milk + coarse sugar for the crust, optional
How to make apple pie
Before making the filling, prepare two pie crusts. Chill the balls of dough in the refrigerator while you make the apple mixture. (the full printable recipe is in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.)
- In a large saucepan, add sliced or chopped and peeled apples, along with the lemon juice, sugar, flour, cinnamon and vanilla. Cook over medium heat until the apples just start to soften, 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Roll out the bottom pie crust and place in a pie pan/plate. Fill with apple mixture. Dab with vegan butter.
- Roll out the top crust and place over the top. Trim, seal and flute. Brush with non-dairy milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for about 40 minutes at 425 degrees F.
- Remove the pie once golden brown and the apple mixture is bubbly. Let the pie sit for about 30 minutes if you can. This will allow the mixture to thicken more.
Want more vegan pie recipes?
Perfect Vegan Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 2 vegan pie crusts (double recipe)
- 7-8 medium sized apples (granny smith or honey crisp are best)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- few tablespoons non-dairy milk for brushing pie crust + sprinkle of coarse sugar, optional
Instructions
- Prepare the crusts: Make a double recipe of Vegan Pie Crust. Do not roll out immediately, but chill the two pie crusts as balls of dough in the refrigerator to rest until the filling is ready. Alternatively, you may use two store bought pie crusts, but the crust won't taste as good!
- Make the apple filling: Peel and slice or chop the apples and add to a large saucepan. Add the lemon juice, sugar, flour, cinnamon and vanilla. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, just until the apples start to soften, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Sprinkle flour on a clean counter or surface and roll out the bottom pie crust to about 12 inches in diameter. Wrap it around your rolling pin and gently transfer to a 9 inch pie pan and cut off any excess hanging dough.
- Add the apple filling, mounding it slightly in the center. Dab the top of the apple mixture with vegan butter.
- Roll out the second crust and gently place it on top of the filling. Trim, seal and flute the edges. Cut a few slits in the crust to vent. Brush with a little non-dairy milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the apple juices are bubbly. If the crust gets too brown, place a pie shield around the crust.
- Let the pie cool at room temperature for 30 minutes if you can (the filling will thicken a bit and cool down). Serve with vegan whipped cream or non-dairy vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!
Notes
- If using store bought pie crusts, check the ingredients list to ensure vegan friendliness. There are several that are naturally vegan, but making your own is always going to taste better.ย
- Gluten free option: Use my gluten free pie crust (double the recipe) and use a gluten free flour or cornstarch in the apple filling instead of regular flour.
- I like granny smith apples, honeycrisp or even pink lady apples for apple pie. I often use a mix.
THIS RECIPE LOOKS REALLY GOOD, I WAS WONDERING IF ITS OKAY IF I NOT COOK THE APPLES BEFORE AND I JUST MIX IT WITH THE SUGAR AND CINNAMON AND PUT THEM DIRECTLY ON THE OVEN?
If you don’t cook the apples first, they will release a ton of liquid in the crust and the pie will be watery. So I would not do this.
Can you prep the pie and then freeze it and bake at a later date?
Yes, you could freeze the pie before baking.
Iโll use a combination of Granny Smith and Honey crisp apples. How may do I need to use for one pie? Thank you.
7-8 apples, it’s listed in the ingredients section of the recipe card. That sounds great, enjoy!
hi nora! i haven’t made the pie yet, but I was wondering what would happen if I didnt use the pie pan you used? or if it wasn’t the clear glass one cuz I only have one at the moment and its just a normal metal pan. its just a circle, with little handles on the side- so you wouldn’t be able to put the crust on the sides.. is it still possible to make this delicious pie with this pan? thank you for your recipes <:) -skitzo
I think that should work, as long as it’s roughly about 9 inches and not much smaller. You don’t have to use glass.
I’m eleven and I made the pie. My family loved it but I had a little trouble with the crust because I add to much water so it was not flaky. It was still so good.
I have made this apple pie for the second time and it is so delicious everyone loves it thank you Nora for sharing
This was the best apple pie Iโve ever made! Thanks Nora!
Delicious Apple Pie recipe! My family loves it!!
Can this pie be made ahead?
I needed to add around 1/2 of water to the apple mixture to prevent the flour from burning in the pan and to create conditions to allow the mixture to properly soften. Looks great, can’t wait to try to finished product!
Hope you love the apple pie!
Me replying to me: verdict super tasty and making again! We rarely have โmediumโ apples here in WA State, lol, so I used two Granny Smiths and two cosmic crisp apples for this recipe and subbed in coconut palm sugar, very yummy! Just need to remember to a pan in the shelf below in the oven to catch the drips this time!
Hi Liz. I’m glad you loved the apple pie, and want to make it again! Thanks for your fun and great feedback and review!
Iโve never made a double crust apple pie before thatโs actually had a cooked bottom crust instead of a soggy mess, but this came out really well using your pastry recipe. I left the apples to cool down after cooking, and did wait the 30 minutes after taking the pie from the oven before serving, so I think those steps helped.
Thank you for the recipe! It used up some of our Granny Smith harvest. ๐
You are welcome, Ren. I’m so glad the pie was a success for you, and that you enjoyed it! Thank you for your great review and feeback!
So good! Thank you for this recipe?
Delicious! Turned out really great, best vegan apple pie! Perfect end to my Thanksgiving!
Thanks for sharing your awesome review and comments! I’m glad you loved the apple pie!
The shortening contains soy. Is there any other option to a soy free shortening?ย
You can use more vegan butter and no shortening at all if needed. There is soy free vegan butter available.
I made this pie last thanksgiving and we all LOVED it! Iโm preparing my menu for this thanksgiving, and Iโm wanting to do as much prep beforehand as I possibly can. How would you recommend making this pie a few days ahead of time? Could I make the filling and refrigerate in a sealed container for 3 days before I cook the pies? Thanks!
Yes, I would make the filling and store in a covered container for up to 3 days. You could make pie crusts ahead of time as well (either freeze or refrigerate). Hope that helps! Glad you loved the pie!
This is only pie crust and filling I use!!! ITS PERFECTION!!!
Thank so much for you wonderful review! I’m thrilled you love my apple pie!
If using premade crust, do you need to prebake it first?
No, premade crusts do not need to be prebaked.
Could I do a streusel topping instead of a double crust?
I’m sure you could!
Wow!!! This apple pie was such a hit!! My family and I ate every last crumb! The crust you have linked was so flaky and the taste and texture of the apple filling was so perfect!ย
Iโve never made pie crust before, this was incredibly easy to throw together. I made two, wrapped them and put them in the refrigerator while I prepped the apples. Now the part where I actually had to roll these out and place them was a nightmare. Bits of the crust kept sticking to my rolling pin and the actual crust kept sticking to my counter, even though I had sprinkled flour. I had to actually hand press the first crust. I managed to roll up the second on my rolling pin and put it on top of the pie. Because this took me so long and I kept having to add flour to keep the crusts from sticking to everything, the pie came out tasting like apples and flour. ? This is going to take some practice to get right.ย
Homemade pie crust takes some practice, but you’ll get better and better! ๐
I had this same exact problem as well! A trick I learned was to put down a clean dish towel, sprinkle it generously with flour and make sure the rolling pin is always floured before rolling it! Then you can flip it into the pie pan- itโs not the most beautiful way to put it in the pie pan but it gets it in there with minimal touching. You could also put a sheet of cling wrap on top of the dough to roll it out and and it keeps the dough from sticking to the rolling pin! I just made this today and it worked a lot better with the cling wrap ?ย
Thank you Nora for this recipe, itโs magnificent! โค๏ธ
Thanks for the tips, and I’m so happy you enjoyed the apple pie!
Can I put in the fridge after it bakes and heat it up the next day?
Sure!
Could I make this with the top crust as a lattice rather than 1 solid piece? Would it mess up the filling as it cooks?
Go for it! No, it won’t mess up the filling.
Is it possible to eliminate the vegan butter? Will it affect the taste?
You can probably leave it out if needed, of course you will need a vegan butter free crust as well. It will be missing some richness though.
Question: what do you do to make sure you don’t end up with a soggy/runny apple pie?! Have not tried this recipe yet but I will this weekend, will report back on my results! Thank you!
Cooking the apple FIRST tends to help quite a bit, and then giving it plenty of time to cool after baking. If you cut into it right away it will be very runny, but wait a while and not so much. Hope you enjoy!
I made this yesterday and it was delicious. My entire family enjoyed it as well. Thank you for sharing.
I’m so happy you enjoyed the pie, thank you!
looks great thank you
You’re welcome!
Would Fuji apples fall under the red ones you donโt recommend?
I think Fiji would probably be good. They are a bit soft, but that’s fine.
Do you need to drain the juice from the apples first?
No, you can just dump the apple filling right into the crust.