How to make easy vegan pie crust in the food processor (or by hand) in 15 minutes or less! This pie crust is flaky, tender and delicious. No one would guess it’s free of animal products!
Don’t be intimidated by pie crust! I’ll show you how to make homemade vegan pie crust from scratch in no time at all.
This is a classic pie crust recipe, vegan and perfect for all your baking needs! I’ve made the process easier by utilizing the food processor, but you can make it by hand if you prefer.
How do you make vegan pie crust in the food processor?
It couldn’t be easier! First off, you must measure 1/4 cup (or 4 tablespoons) of vegan butter and vegetable shortening. Refrigerate it ahead of time, at least 30 minutes, so that it is very cold when you’re ready to begin. The cold fat is very important to achieving a tender, flaky pie crust, so don’t skip this part!
- First, add the flour, sugar and salt to the food processor. Pulse a few times to combine.
- Add the cold cubed vegan butter and pieces of vegetable shortening.
- Process about 10 seconds, until it looks like a coarse meal.
- While the processor is running, add a few tablespoons of ice water, until it begins to clump together.
On a lightly floured surface, work the dough into a ball, but don’t use your hands too long or it will warm up the fat, which you don’t want.
Roll it out to about 12 inches in diameter.
Transfer the dough to pie plate. I do this by wrapping the dough around my rolling pin, and then quickly and carefully transferring it.
Don’t worry if it’s not perfect! Mine usually looks something like the photo below, kind of a mess. Simply push it into the pie plate, gently. Trim off any excess, and replace any broken areas.
Flute the edges or make another special edge. This tutorial is so helpful!
My Best Tips for a delicious vegan pie crust:
- Make sure everything is very cold when you start. You can even put the pieces of the food processor that will touch the dough in the fridge for awhile before you begin. The cold fat is essential to a delicious pie crust!
- Use a combination of vegan butter and vegetable shortening – The vegan butter gives a buttery flavor, while the shortening helps the structure of the crust. I recommend Earth Balance brand of vegan butter, it has the best flavor.
- Don’t use your hands too much at all! Again, you don’t want to warm things up. And don’t over mix.
- Use just enough ice water to where it comes together, not too much or you will have a mess. When you can squeeze it in your hand it’s done, though it will look a bit crumbly.
That’s it! For a gluten free crust, check out my Gluten Free Pie Crust made with almond flour.
Use this pie crust for Vegan Pumpkin Pie.
Easy Vegan Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup vegan butter, cold and cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, cold and into a few pieces
- 3-4 tablespoons ice water
Instructions
- Make sure your vegan butter and shortening are very cold before starting. Refrigerate along with the shortening for at least 30 minutes.ย
- Add flour, sugar and salt to food processor with the "S" blade. Pulse a few times to combine.
- Add cold vegan butter and shortening. Process for about 10 seconds, until it looks like a coarse meal (see photos above for reference).
- Now while the food processor is running, drizzle in 3 tablespoons of ice cold water. When it begins to clump together, stop. You may need to add 1 more tablespoon ice water for it to come together.
- Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball. Don't use your hands too much or it will warm the dough, which will make your pie crust less flaky and light.
- Roll the dough with a rolling pin to about a 12 inch circle, and transfer to a pie plate. I usually wrap it gently around my rolling pin and then carefully transfer it. Don't panic if it's not perfect, you can fix it in the pie plate!
- Gently push the pie crust all around the dish, trimming off any excess and replacing any spots that need repair. See this tutorial for fluting the edges and making other special pie edges.
- It's now ready to use immediately, or refrigerate until you are ready to use. Simply double the recipe for 2 pie crusts (top and bottom).
To make by hand:
- If you don't want to use a food processor, you can make the pie crust by hand. Simply whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the cold butter and shortening. Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut it in, then drizzle in the ice water and stir until the dough comes together.
How to pre-bake a pie crust
- For a recipe that calls for a pre-baked pie crust, follow these instructions. If possible, freeze the pie crust lined in the pie plate for 30 minutes. This will help it not shrink down when it bakes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once the crust has been frozen for 30 minutes, line it with aluminum foil or parchment paper (foil is easier to work with). Fill the crust to the top with sugar, or dried beans, pie weights or rice.
- Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes for a pie that will cook further in the oven. For no-bake filling pies, bake for 60-70 minutes. Cool before filling.
- Instructions for baking pie crust will depend on the pie's specific recipe, but these are general instructions for pre-baking pie crust.
Notes
- Nutrition information is for 1/8th of the crust.
- Make ahead - After making the dough, roll into a ball or shape into a patty and wrap well in plastic wrap or other food wrap. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or place in the freezer for up to 3 months (if going in the freezer, also place in a freezer bag or container). Make sure to let the dough come to room temperature before rolling out so that it doesn't crumble.
This is the best pie crust recipe. It’s flakey and just perfect. Love it ๐ค
Thanks, Eva, for your wonderful review and feedback! Wishing you happy cooking!
Can this be made to a chocolate pie crust? If so, how much cocoa powder do you recommend? Thank you!!
I haven’t tried it but probably! Perhaps replace 1/4 cup of the flour with cocoa powder.
Hi can I simply refrigerate or freeze sunflower oil to Substitute the vegetable shortening?
I don’t think that will work the same unfortunately, but I’ve never tried it.
Hi, it’s very hard to get vegan butter where I live. Do you know if I can substitute margarine, or maybe a mix of margarine and more vegetable shortening? Or do you have another suggestion for a substitute?
Hi Sarah. Yes, I think margarine could work as a substitute to vegan butter for the crust. Happy baking!
This recipe is so easy! Iโve made it several times. I never thought I could make homemade crust, and now itโs my go-to. Thanks so much!
Outstanding Pumpkin Pie that non-vegans will crave. I made the pie and the heavy whipping cream recipe posted here and they were terrific.
Made this with your pumpkin pie recipe for vegan turkey day this year. I did have an issue with the rolled out crust sticking when I tried to transfer it, which led to me trying to quickly reform it and roll it again and a little more sticking. Although my pie wasn’t going to win any awards at the county fair this year, the filling and the crust both got rave reviews. Will be saving this to practice on a few more times before next year!
I’m so glad your pie got rave reviews. Next time when making pie crust, sprinkle a bit more flour on the surface your rolling it out on, as well as the top of the dough as you roll it. That will prevent it from sticking and make for an easy transfer.
I followed recipe as is, including shortening and butter in fridge for over 2 hours, and moved quickly but the dough is so soft it falls apart when I try and move it off floured surface after being rolled out to pie plate (even trying to put it on rolling pin). Any suggestions? Thanks!
It sounds like the dough got way too wet somehow. Is it crumbling and dry, or does it appear wet?
Hi what about gluten free 1:1 arrowhead flour?
I haven’t tried it but I think it should work pretty well.
Thank you Nora, I bought arrowhead mills 1:1 and it seems like they made it with love. ๐ I am hoping it will work. ๐
Can this dough be frozen or refrigerated for few days before rolling out? Iโd like to have this pre-pared for thanksgiving meal.
You can, yes. After making the dough, form it into a ball or flatten it a little bit and wrap well. Place in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze up to 3 months. Make sure to let the dough come to room temperature before rolling out, or it will crumble everywhere. Hope that helps.
Excellent Pie CRUST!!! This was one of the best pie crusts I have ever had. It was easy to make….I added the extra water, it was perfect….. easy to roll, didn’t fall apart, crisp and flakey and tasted great…we all agreed this is a great recipe and plan to use it for everything from now on. We doubled it to make a veggie pot pie that I had a recipe for, but didn’t like the crust it used….so I used your recipe for the crust and it was perfect. Thank you ๐ oh…and it didn’t shrink, I put it in the fridge for 30 min before baking like suggested, didn’t have room in freezer.
Hi Christine. How wonderful the crust worked out wonderful for you! Thank you for taking time to share your fabulous review and comments! Happy cooking!
what size pie plate did you use?
Hi Jasmine. I use a regular 9 inch pie dish. Hope this helps!
I liked the crust. I had issues with the dough falling apart when I tried to roll the dough around my rolling pin. I made apple pie cookies.
The dough might have been a bit dry in that case. Next time, you can try adding an extra 1-3 tablespoons of ice water.
hi nora! so unfortunately I dont have a food processor, but I do have a vitamix lol- can I still make this crust and blend it all together in a vitamix blender instead of a food processor? tysm! -ace
I’d follow the instructions to make it in a bowl, by hand instead of a blender or food processor. I would not use a vitamix. Hope that helps!
Amazing recepie! Delicious pie crust. Wooks perfectly for pie and quiches.And when make tartelettes and you have to roll the dough many time , it never get to stiff.
Thank you
You are welcome! Thank YOU for your great feedback and review!
Hello, is there anything i can use instead of vegan butter as they contain coconut oil and i am not allowed this on my OMS diet.
I don’t believe all vegan butters have coconut oil, I’m quite sure that Earth Balance does not. I suppose you could use all vegetable shortening but the crust won’t taste as good. But I would try to find a vegan butter without coconut oil for best results.
Used coconut oil instead of butter and shortening. I keep it in the fridge so it was completely solid and didnโt blend well. I just ignored the remaining small pieces and tried to roll out the dough. It was sticky as hell. I ended up scraping it off the counter and just pressing it into the pie plate by hand and was convinced the dough was ruined. Luckily I didnโt throw it away because it turned out to be perfect! I LOVE recipes you just canโt mess up ๐
What can be used in place of vegetable shortening?
You can use all vegan butter, I do this a lot.
I tied this vegan pie crust to bake a cherry pie for my sonโs girlfriend for Christmas. I followed the recipe and prepared it in my food processor as suggested. It turned really well. I read on another site after the processor step, dump it onto a clean lint free dish towel to form into a disk. Transfer the disk onto a sheet of parchment paper. Place another sheet over the pastry. So the disk can be rolled out between two sheets of parchment until you have the desired diameter for your pie plate. Then placed it in the fridge until ready to use. Thank you for the recipe! Iโve tried many unsuccessfully.
Hi Sally. I’m really happy to hear that the pie crust turned out well for you! Thank you for sharing your helpful idea! I appreciate your fantastic feedback!
Another comment about the shortening, most are hydrogenated and I’m not a fan of using those, can you recommend a shortening that is not a strong flavor that will work the same?
You can just use all vegan butter, it works really well and is what I usually use these days.
If I don’t have shortening, can I just double the vegan butter?
Hi Heidi. Yes using all butter will work.
Thanks Nora! I made it! My crust wasn’t nearly as pretty as yours but it tasted great. I used Daring plant chicken. Next time I am going to try it as mini pies in a muffin tin.
This crust has an AMAZING taste and texture and wasn’t too hard to make for a beginner!
You have the most Delicious recipes!! I used solid coconut oil rather than the vegan butter due to allergies. It worked great and was delicious. Your pumpkin pie recipe was great as well.
Hi Beth. I’m happy that you are loving my recipes! Thank you for your fabulous feedback and review! I’m glad the pumpkin pie turned out delicious!
Could someone use coconut oil for both the butter & shortening?
I’m not sure, I haven’t tried it. I think it might burn easier, so watch the edges when you bake it.