Unbelievably Vegan Pumpkin Pie Recipe (No one will know!)

This incredibly easy vegan pumpkin pie is unbelievably dairy free and made without eggs! With the flakiest vegan pie crust, and perfectly set pumpkin pie filling, absolutely no one will know this homemade pumpkin pie is vegan (and easily gluten free too). A family favorite Thanksgiving recipe for years to come!

Unbelievably vegan pumpkin pie for all eaters

If you’re looking for the best pumpkin pie recipe of all time, vegan or not, this is it.

I’m not even joking, this truly unbelievably vegan pumpkin pie will be the best dang pumpkin pie you’ll ever taste. And it’s easy! SO easy! You can have it all!

Like my vegan pecan pie and vegan chocolate pecan pie, your vegan Thanksgiving dinner is just not complete without some pumpkin (but check out this vegan Thanksgiving desserts post for more recipes other than vegan pies!). 

Just sweet enough with maple syrup and full of those warming pumpkin spices, this pumpkin pie is smooth to slice into, holds its shape, and with a beautifully delicious and flaky homemade pie crust, it will be the showstopper at your Thanksgiving table!

Every year at Thanksgiving, someone always brings a store bought pumpkin pie even though I make a large one for everyone, and every year, my pumpkin pie is the only one completely gone!

If that doesn’t tell you that this is the best pumpkin pie recipe, then I don’t know what will!

Why this is the best healthy pumpkin pie

This pumpkin pie doesn’t taste healthy in the slightest, and yet it’s low in sugar, completely vegan, egg free, gluten free, dairy free, can be made Paleo, andddd packed with nutrient dense pumpkin puree.

You can’t even tell that it’s vegan nor even by looking at it (I feel like people think healthier desserts don’t look as good as the more traditional ones).

While I try to hit all of these various health markers so that everyone can have them, I always strive to have the dessert taste just like or better than the original or traditional version. This vegan pumpkin pie does just that.

Not that there’s anything wrong with a traditional pumpkin pie. But I believe that everyone deserves to enjoy something they love on Thanksgiving, and food is love and love is inclusive!

Every single person who tried this pie, even one of my mom’s friends who I didn’t even tell that I made the pie, was speechless and kept going back for another slice.

What is a substitute for eggs in pumpkin pie?

So this pumpkin pie that we’re making is actually naturally vegan and dairy free, but the kicker is that we’re using arrowroot to replace the eggs!

Arrowroot powder is a fantastic binding agent that is derived from the cassava root.

It’s very similar to cornstarch, so if you’d like to replace the arrowroot with cornstarch, you absolutely can, but for those that want to keep this pumpkin pie both corn-free, allergen-friendly and vegan, arrowroot powder is the move.

How to make a vegan pumpkin pie (overview)

For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.

I know many people resort to buying their pumpkin pie because let’s be honest, you just cooked all that food, the last thing you want to think about is making a dessert for Thanksgiving.

Well, this happens to be an incredibly easy pumpkin pie.

Easy vegan pie crust:

First, we’ll start by preparing the vegan pie crust.

I also give the option for making a gluten-free pie crust as well.  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!

The full steps to making this crust are found below in the recipe card, but these are basics steps to making the flakiest vegan pie crust recipe:

1. Pulse the flour and arrowroot starch (or tapioca starch or cornstarch)in a food processor until mixed.
2. Add in the cubed vegan butter or coconut oil, and pulse again until it’s a grainy sand texture.
3. While the food processor is blending, add in 5-7 tbsp of chilled water and continue to process the dough until it becomes a thick, smooth clump of dough.

Then you’ll form the dough into a disk and chill, much like you would a regular pie crust. Roll the pie crust out to be larger than the pie dish you’re using (I used a 9″ pie dish).

Carefully transfer the pie crust into the pie dish and gently press the dough into the dish. You can do any design for the edges. I chose to simply mold them to the dish since I liked the pie dish ruffles!

Use any scraps of dough and create little pie crust designs. I used the pie cutters from William Sonoma for the pumpkin and leaves.

Blind bake the crust for 7-8 minutes (this will ensure we don’t have any soggy crusts!). Then we can make the filling while the crust is cooling!

Best ever vegan pumpkin pie filling

Now that you know the trick behind making pumpkin pie filling vegan, let’s actually get to making the filling.

All you’ll need is:

• Pumpkin puree (see the next section for using fresh versus canned)
• Maple syrup
• Coconut sugar (a replacement for brown sugar)
• Pumpkin pie spice: This is a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves! You can also make your own pumpkin spice blend!
• Coconut milk or dairy free milk of your choice
• Arrowroot powder
• Vanilla (a must!)

Basically what you need to do is mix together all of the ingredients in a large bowl using a hand mixer. You can also whisk everything together or use a food processor to blend. Then pour the filling into your homemade pie crust, and bake!

How to keep pumpkin pie from cracking

This healthy vegan pumpkin pie recipe is foolproof to ensuring that your pumpkin pie won’t have any cracks in it.

Really, whether or not a pumpkin pie cracks is highly dependent on the recipe, and I’ve tested this one dozens of times, in a variety of ways to determine what’s the best way to avoid cracks.

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.

How to carefully transfer your pie dough to your pie dish

This was definitely the most intimidating part of making pumpkin pie when I first started. The trick is to work with really cold dough, though, and you’ll be absolutely fine!

Make sure that you’ve chilled your vegan pie dough for at least 30 minutes. Then when you’re rolling, make sure to pick up the edges every once in a while to ensure that your dough is easily moveable and not sticking.

When it comes time to transferring the dough to the pie pan, you should be able to easily just pick up the dough and place it over your pie dish!

FAQ’s

• Make sure you’re using pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling! I say this because I’ve been there, and I’ve seen other people go there! Always better to be safe than sorry!
• Any dairy free milk will work! I recommend coconut milk or a creamy oat milk because I like to keep my vegan recipes as nut free as possible when I’m serving to other family members because of nut allergies. However, if it’s just for me, you can also use cashew milk or almond- go for whatever you prefer!
• If you don’t have pie weights to blind bake the crust: You can also use either dried beans, uncooked rice, or even flour! Yes, you can use flour to par-bake your curst! Just make sure that the crust is lined with parchment paper and either the beans or the flour reach the top of the crust to prevent any sinking.
• Can I use homemade pumpkin puree? Yes, you can! You can absolutely use your own fresh homemade pumpkin puree in this pie, and it works great. I recently tried this myself, and I was stunned by the results. Just make sure that you’re using a food processor to blend your pumpkin into a really fine puree. If you don’t, then the whole recipe won’t work so be sure you’re pureeing the pumpkin much like you would find in a can.
• This vegan pumpkin pie needs to set in the fridge overnight! When you first bake it, it will appear very dark and might not have that glossy look to it, like you normally see with pumpkin pies. This is normal and don’t fret! When you let it set in the fridge overnight, it develops the glossy look.
• If you don’t have a hand mixer for the pumpkin pie filling: Guess what? You can easily use a blender, whisk, or a food processor!

You are just going to absolutely love this super easy vegan pumpkin pie!! It honestly tastes just like traditional pumpkin pie- no one will know it’s vegan, eggless, and dairy free!

If you make this pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, let me know in the comments below! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations, so be sure to tag me on Instagram and Pinterest 🙂

Happy Pumpkin Pie Eating!

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Watch how to make the best vegan pumpkin pie:

If you make this recipe, please be sure to 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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