The BEST Vegan Pumpkin Pie (Easy & Perfectly Set!)
And if you’re looking to show off how amazing vegan takes on the holiday classics can be, you definitely have to try my easy caramelized vegan pecan pie and gooey vegan apple pie! They’ll go perfectly alongside any Thanksgiving feast, vegan or not.

Quick Look: Vegan Pumpkin Pie
- Method: Whisk or mix the pumpkin pie filling, pour into your par-baked crust, bake, and chill
- Why Make THIS Version? Everything you love about classic pumpkin pie, but made unbelievably without eggs or dairy
- Secret to Success: Avoid aerating the pumpkin pie filling, use the correct amount of starch, and allow the pie to slowly cool to prevent cracks
- Key Ingredients: Pumpkin puree, vegan heavy cream, cornstarch or arrowroot starch, maple syrup, light brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice
- Best for: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Friendsgiving, or make-ahead fall & winter celebrations and dinner parties
- Make ahead: Recommended for optimal chilling!
Table of contents
Why this vegan pumpkin pie recipe works:
I’m not exaggerating, this pie has completely replaced not only my own non-vegan family’s pumpkin pie, but that of our friends’ families and readers as well.
My first year I made this recipe, we had two pumpkin pies- a regular one and this vegan one. There were no slices left of the vegan. That says it all. Here’s why everyone chose my pie over one made with dairy and eggs- even if they weren’t vegan:
- Creamy, custard-like pumpkin pie filling, all without eggs and dairy. Just as a pumpkin pie should be. The filling sets beautifully thick because we’re using a combination of cornstarch or arrowroot and vegan heavy cream instead of evaporated milk!
- It’s ridiculously easy to make. You can use a hand mixer or even a good old fashioned whisk and bowl, and this pie will turn out perfect every time.
- Only 8 simple ingredients. And most of which are already in the pantry.
Serve this with my vegan pecan pie and vegan chocolate pecan pie, and you are guaranteed the dessert maker for every holiday forthcoming!

Key ingredients:
- Pumpkin puree: 1 full can is all you need! I really like Farmer’s Market canned Organic Pumpkin Puree. I’ve also tested this with Trader Joe’s organic pumpkin puree and Whole Foods. The best results are with Farmer’s Market in my opinion!
- Vegan heavy cream: I’m not a big fan of using coconut milk here. Personally, I definitely taste the flavor come through. And you really don’t want that in a classic pumpkin pie!
- Cornstarch: This is one of my favorite vegan egg replacements for pies that require a custard-like filling (like my vegan banana cream pie!). The cornstarch really acts like egg yolks and creates the perfect custard texture, all without actual eggs. You can also use arrowroot starch if you’re allergic to corn!
- Light brown sugar: Using light brown sugar over regular sugar adds extra flavor and moisture in the pie because of the added molasses.
- Maple syrup: This will help not only thin out the vegan heavy cream just a smidge so that it’s not superrrr thick. But it will also add a really rich flavor to the pumpkin pie!
- Pumpkin pie spice blend: I really like to use Simply Organics’ blend here. It’s my absolute favorite! Or you can find an easy DIY blend with a quick search. All you’ll need is ground cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Vanilla extract & sea salt: Flavor enhancers. Do not skip!
How To Make the BEST Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Easy vegan pie crust:
I also give the option for making a gluten-free pie crust. All of the details on how to customize this pie crust all are in my Perfect Pie Crust Guide. For gluten free, you can use my oat flour pie crust or traditional flaky gluten free pie crust!


Best ever vegan pumpkin pie filling




Key pumpkin pie baking tips:
This vegan pumpkin pie recipe is very foolproof to ensuring that your pumpkin pie won’t have any cracks in it.
However, there are a few tips that I want to go over to ensure that your pumpkin pie doesn’t crack:
- Bake at the correct temperature: do not stick your pie into the oven until it is fully preheated. I would actually recommend waiting an extra 5 minutes after the initial “ding” that it’s preheated to ensure that it’s at the right temperature.
- Bake the pumpkin pie on the middle or low rack. I personally have had great success baking on the middle rack, so that I can put a baking sheet below in case of any accidents of pie crust. However, if you know that your oven is more powerful than most, I would stick the pumpkin pie on the lower rack to be safe.
- Look for the middle being “set”: what this means is that the pumpkin pie won’t be as glossy as it was when it first went in. The edges to the very middle should be mostly baked in place, but it will wiggle a bit when you remove it. It will also look darker at first. You didn’t burn it! This pumpkin pie recipe will need at least 4 hours (preferably overnight) to chill in the fridge after it has baked.

Vegan Pumpkin Pie FAQ:
Absolutely- in fact, this pie is designed to be made ahead of time. You shouldn’t bake this vegan pumpkin pie the day of serving, as it needs time to set overnight. I recommend baking at least 1 day ahead. But you can actually prepare it up to 3 days ahead of time!
Absolutely! The best results will be with my homemade vegan pie crust. However, a store bought crust will work fine. Just make sure you follow the instructions for how to prepare your chosen store-bought crust!
Yes! I’ve tested this before. As long as you’ve pureed the cooked pumpkin to be the same consistency as a can of pumpkin puree (i.e. superrrr silky and smooth), it will be lovely!
Absolutely. The only component you’ll need to be concerned about is the pie crust for this vegan pumpkin pie. You can use my vegan pie crust recipe (linked in the recipe card) and use gluten-free 1:1 flour or use my gluten-free vegan pie crust, which is slightly different but designed just for gluten-free flour for the best results.
Yes, you can! The flavor will be slightly different. However, I’ve tested this option, and it works great.
🌟MADE THIS RECIPE & LOVED IT?🌟Leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below! This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
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The BEST Vegan Pumpkin Pie (Easy & Perfectly Set!)
- Prep Time: 30
- Chilling time: 240
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 5 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Ingredients
- 1/2 recipe vegan pie crust or gluten free vegan pie crust *
- 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) maple syrup
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup (240 mL) vegan heavy cream
- 1/4 cup (50 g) cornstarch
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Prep: Measure out all ingredients for the pie crust and the pumpkin pie.
- Make the pie crust first: Follow the instructions for making the pie dough through the linked recipe. You can either halve the recipe or make the full recipe and save one pie dough disc for another pie (like my vegan pecan pie).
- Follow the instructions for par-baking: Follow the instructions listed in the pie recipe to par-bake the pie. Once the pie is par-baked, you can make the pumpkin pie filling.
- Make the pumpkin pie filling: If you just baked the pie crust, reduce the oven temperature to 350F. In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to mix together pumpkin puree, light brown sugar, maple syrup, heavy vegan cream, cornstarch powder, vanilla, sea salt and pumpkin pie spice until smooth and there are no clumps of cornstarch.
- Pour the filling into the pie crust: Pour filling into the pie crust and cover the edges of the pie crust with either a pie crust saver or tin foil. If you have cut outs, place the parchment paper with the cut outs on a baking sheet and not onto the pie to decorate it just yet. Bake the cutouts only for 7-8 minutes then remove from the oven. I recommend baking them towards the end of the pumpkin pie baking time.
- Bake the pumpkin pie: Place the pie into the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the tinfoil, and continue to bake for another 15-20 more minutes. The center of the pie should be wiggly still! That’s okay!
- Allow the pie to cool: Turn off the oven and crack the oven door to allow the pumpkin pie to begin to cool. Let the pie sit in the off oven for 10 minutes. Then remove from the oven and allow the pie to cool for 15 minutes at room temperature. Then transfer the pie set overnight or for a minimum of 4 hours.
- Serve and enjoy: When ready to serve, decorate with the pumpkin pie cut outs and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
Gluten free: Use King Arthur Measure for Measure flour for the gluten free pie crust. You can also use this amazing oat flour pie crust.
Homemade pumpkin puree: I recently tried this, and it totally works! This recipe will work great with homemade fresh pumpkin puree. Just make sure you’re weighing out how much pumpkin you’ve made (aiming for 15 ounces).
Pumpkin spice: If you like a heavily spiced pie, you can add 2 tbsp. Otherwise, stick with 1 tbsp.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 178
- Sugar: 13.1 g
- Sodium: 182.2 mg
- Fat: 8.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 24.1 g
- Fiber: 1.2 g
- Protein: 1.5 g
- Cholesterol: 11.3 mg


It really is an excellent filling recipe (I use store bought shells)! Will definitely save and make again.
AMAZING!! Oh I’m so happy to hear it!! ENJOY!
hiya! i’m looking to deviate from my usual v pumpkin pie recipe this year after finding your blog! curious if you think it the silk whipping cream would work as the “heavy cream” for this recipe?
Omgsh yay! WELCOME!! I use Silk all the time here, so yet it definitely works 🙂 Enjoy!!
just made this tonight. used fresh, baked pumpkin
I did double the pumpkin amount to 4 cups (32ozs)and adjusted the other ingredients appropriately. I used less sugar since homegrown pie pumpkins are Fairly sweet.
totally vegan and tastes great.
thanks for this recipe!
I already have a vegan pie crust I love to make (using home-milled soft wheat flour and chilled coconut oil), but I made your pumpkin pie filling and LOVED IT (except it was a bit sweet for my taste and in future will leave out the sugar, using only the maple syrup). I made six mini pies with this recipe, using a “jumbo” muffin pan and they came out AWESOME. One procedure you teach is to freeze the crust while making the filling. This was a GREAT game changer for me. I used to purposely do just the opposite, but I tried your way and it was WONDERFUL…! I inserted my pie crust-lined jumbo muffin pan into a 2-gallon freezer bag, (clipping it closed at the end with a clothespin) and that stayed in the freezer at least 30 min while I made the filling and did some dishes and preheated the oven. As soon as I filled the muffin tin and inserted into the oven I had a good feeling about that! Sure enough, the jumbo-muffin-sized pies were ready in about 25 minutes and my pie crust came out BETTER THAN EVER, super flaky. I don’t have a camera right now — will very soon! — but they came out really cute.
The recipe says one can, but it the comments it says 1/2 cans of pumpkin. Which is it?
Hi Jayne! So sorry for the confusion! the written recipe is correct- 1 can (15 ounces). Enjoy!
This recipe was really SO GOOD. I’ve made my share of runny, bland, grainy vegan pumpkin pies over the years, but this will be my keeper. Thank you!
Hi! This looks great! One question – how much pumpkin? The ingredients list says 1 can, but your homemade purée comment is 1.5 cans worth and you mention that in a comment or two. I saw you updated it recently, so wanted to see what the correct pumpkin amount is with the other ingredients. Thank you!
Hi Erin! So sorry for the confusion and thank you for giving the heads up on this! You’re right, this was due to an update. Please use 1 can (15 oz) for this yummy pumpkin pie. 🙂
Hi! Did you recently update the ingredients? It looks like the instructions aren’t updated yet. Do you still combine everything together at one time? Thank you!
Hi Sam! So sorry for any confusion! Yes, we had recently updated the ingredients but the instructions should now be updated too! Thanks for your patience!
Hello! I just asked a question about vanilla, but I have another. I watched the video to see about the vanilla amount, but I noticed that the video doesn’t match the recipe listed here. In the video there is no brown sugar, but in the ingredients sugar is listed. Also in the comments I’ve seen you say to use 1.5 cans of pumpkin, but the ingredients only list 1 total can. Did the recipe change since then, or am I looking at the wrong thing? Sorry for all the questions, all of your recipes have worked beautifully for me and I want to make sure I am following correctly. Thanks for your time!
Hi Emily! So sorry for the confusion! Thank you for the heads up on this and we’ll update the video ASAP! In the meantime, always follow the recipe card at the bottom of the page for the most updated version of any recipe on the site! Thank you so much!
I’ve been using this recipe for a few years now and all of a sudden, in your ingredient list, it has vegan heavy cream and cornstarch. This recipe’s ingredients have always been listed to match your instructions and that is to use coconut milk and arrowroot powder. Why are these no longer listed under your ingredients for the pie filling?
Hi Kristin! So sorry for the confusion! We have updated (and improved!) the recipe in the recipe card at the bottom of the page. Thank you for the heads up and we’ll get the instructions matched up ASAP! Thanks so much for being here. 🙂