This classic vegan pumpkin pie is so rich and creamy, no one will believe it’s vegan. The filling can be made in a blender for a quick and easy fall dessert the whole family will love.
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So now that we’ve got our Thanksgiving entrée covered, let’s talk about the NEXT most important component of our holiday meal – dessert! Yes, after nearly 7 years of blogging, I finally have the perfect Thanksgiving dessert for you.
It’s a classic vegan pumpkin pie!
I’ve been making a variation of this pie for 12 years. The first year I made this recipe I was newly vegan and I didn’t yet know the difference between regular and silken tofu (we will get into that in a moment). What resulted was a chunky pumpkin and tofu pie that DID NOT impress.
While that was not a pie I felt good about serving, I did learn a lesson and I have never made that tofu mistake since. Now I’ve been perfecting this pumpkin pie recipe for the past decade and friends, I think you’re going to love it.
Recipe Video
Recommended Ingredients and Equipment
This pumpkin pie is so rich and creamy with the perfect custard texture that no one at your holiday table will believe this dessert is vegan!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Silken Tofu – It’s very important that you use silken tofu. Silken tofu is a shelf-stable product found usually in the international food aisle of most well-stocked grocery stores. Like regular tofu, silken tofu comes in soft, medium, firm, and extra firm. For this recipe, I recommend using extra-firm.
- Pumpkin Puree – Make sure to use canned pumpkin and NOT pumpkin pie filling.
- White and Brown Sugar – Check out my guide to vegan sugars and alternative sugar replacements. For a healthier sugar alternative, I recommend coconut sugar.
- Cornstarch
- Spices – You will need cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and salt
- Vanilla Extract
- 1 Pie Crust – You can either use homemade or store-bought. Most well-stocked grocery stores carry vegan frozen pie crusts.
Recommended Equipment
For this recipe, you’ll need basic kitchen equipment such as a mixing bowl, utensils, and a pie pan. You will also need a blender or food processor. (<<affiliate links)
Check out the full list of my recommended kitchen tools and gadgets.
How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Step One – Make the Crust
First of all, let me say, there is NO shame in buying pie crust. Most well-stocked grocery stores carry vegan frozen pie crust and most of the time that is what I opt for. If you go the pre-made pie crust route, the rest of this pie comes together in about 10 minutes!
For those of you making your own pie crusts, there are a few tricks I’ve learned.
- Have an even mix of vegan butter and coconut oil. By combining the two, you will get the perfect combination of buttery flavor and flaky texture. Do remember: both your butter and coconut oil should be chilled before using!
- Add just enough water to allow your pie crust to come together. We don’t want overly moist crusts. Wetter pie crusts are easier to work with, but the drier it is, the flakier (aka, more delicious) your pie crust will be.
- Chill your pie crust twice. The first chill allows for the dough to harden just enough to be rolled out. If you chill it for too long, you may need to warm the dough up by kneading it between your hands. The second chill allows the fats to re-firm up. This prevents the butter and coconut oil from melting too quickly in the oven so that your pie crust keeps its beautiful structure.
If you are struggling with making your pie crust pretty. Don’t worry. Rustic is always a lovely look and tastes exactly the same.
Step Two – Make the Filling
In a powerful blender or food processor, combine all the ingredients for the pumpkin pie filling. Blend until completely smooth. Pour the pumpkin pie filling into your pie crust, spread evenly with an offset spatula,
Pro Tip: Getting the right tofu is super important. Silken tofu, unlike regular tofu, is a shelf-stable product found usually in the international food aisle of most well-stocked grocery stores. If you can’t find it, you can buy it online. Silken tofu has a creamier consistency than regular tofu making it a great egg replacement for custards, puddings, and cream pies.
Step Three – Bake
Bake the pie, uncovered, for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, check for doneness. The pie should be mostly firm and the pie crust should be golden brown. If there is still a lot of jiggle to the pie, bake it for another 10 minutes before checking again. You will know the pie is done when the filling starts cracking down the middle.
Let the pie cool completely at room temperature before transferring it to the refrigerator to chill. This prevents the pie from cracking.
Serving and Storing
Serving – Chill the pie for at least 4 hours. This pie is best when chilled overnight. This pumpkin pie should be served cold with coconut whipped cream. Serve this pie with your favorite holiday recipes for a classic dessert that no one will believe is vegan!
Storing – Wrap leftover pie in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or the freezer for up to 2 months.
Tips and Tricks
- Ensure that you are not baking above 350F. Anything higher will bake your pie too quickly and, thus, unevenly.
- Put a water bath at the bottom of your oven. You can do this by filling a sheet pan with water and placing it on the bottom rack. The steam provides a slower and even bake.
- When checking for doneness, you want your pie to be slightly wobbly. Give it a little shake and see how it feels. If it’s too wobbly, the pie isn’t set and will be too soft. If it has no wobble at all, the pie is overcooked and won’t have the custard-like, melt-in-your-mouth feel.
- Let the pie cool completely at room temperature before transferring it to the refrigerator to chill. This prevents the pie from cracking. Chill the pie for at least 4 hours. This pie is best when chilled overnight.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! It is the only kind of tofu that will blend completely into this custard. It is a shelf-stable product found usually in the international food aisle of most well-stocked grocery stores.
Can I use something other than tofu?
Unfortunately, no. This recipe centers around the tofu being the base of the custard. There are no equal substitutions.
More Vegan Pie Recipes
- Fresh Berry Fruit Pizza
- Cream Chocolate Silk Pie
- Vegan Lemon Tart
- Perfect Apple Pie
- Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Pie
- Mini Cherry Pies
Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 1 1/4 cup All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 5 tbsp non-dairy butter
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, solid
- 2-3 tbsp ice water
Pumpkin Pie Filling
- 1 1/2 15 (oz) cans pumpkin puree
- 8 oz extra firm silken tofu
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Start by making your pie crust. Spray a 9″ pie pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter and coconut oil in small pieces – about 1 tablespoon in size – and add to the dry ingredients. Using your hands or a pastry cutter, press the butter and coconut oil into the flour until the fats are evenly distributed and the dough resembles small pea-size pieces.
- Dribble 1 tablespoon of ice water over the flour mixer and kneed together with your hands. Add water as necessary. You want a fairly dry dough (this creates the flakiness) but that has enough moisture to roll out and shape.
- When you have the right consistency, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. When the dough is firm, roll out onto a piece of floured parchment paper until your dough is about 1/8" thick and you have a circle about 12" across.
- Placing your hand underneath the parchment paper, gently flip the crust into the pie pan. Peel off the parchment paper and press the crust evenly into the pie pan, trimming any edges that hang over. Place in the refrigerator and let chill for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Place a baking sheet on the bottom rack and fill it with water. This creates steam which will allow the pumpkin pie to bake more evenly.
- In a powerful blender or food processor, combine all the ingredients for the pumpkin pie filling. Blend until completely smooth. Pour the pumpkin pie filling into your pie crust, spread evenly with an offset spatula, and bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes.
- At 45 minutes, check for doneness. The pie should be mostly firm and the pie crust should be golden brown. If there is still a lot of jiggle to the pie, bake it for another 10 minutes before checking again.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely at room temperature before transferring to the refrigerator to continue chilling. The pie should set for 4 hours but best overnight.
- Serve with coconut whipped cream.
Video
Notes
- Put a water bath at the bottom of your oven. You can do this by filling a sheet pan with water and placing it on the bottom rack. The steam provides a slower and even bake.
- When checking for doneness, you want your pie to be slightly wobbly. Give it a little shake and see how it feels. If it’s too wobbly, the pie isn’t set and will be too soft. If it has no wobble at all, the pie is overcooked and won’t have the custard-like, melt-in-your-mouth feel.
- Let the pie cool completely at room temperature before transferring it to the refrigerator to chill. This prevents the pie from cracking. Chill the pie for at least 4 hours. This pie is best when chilled overnight.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Meryl says
Can i sub shortening for coconut oil in the crust? Very excited to try this!
Sarah McMinn says
Sure.
Sandi says
This is the easiest & flakiest vegan pie crust ever. It is the second year that I have made the pumpkin pie using silken tofu. The best for taste, colour and consistency. Thank you!
Sue says
I didn’t have access to silken so I used regular. It worked out fine! I just processed it longer. So to those that don’t have access to silken, the regular works well ; just process it more .
Sarah says
That’s great to know! Thanks for sharing.
Maxine Baker says
Hi, I made two of the pumpkin pies and they were delish! I had to add almond milk because the filling was way too thick. They turned out perfectly! I did use a pecan/oat crust for my gluten free friend. It was much appreciated.
I signed up for email recipes because you impressed me with recipes. I will definitely be searching for vegan offerings.
Selena says
After making 5 pumpkin pies I found this to be the best recipe of them all!
Inspired by my recent choice to go vegan 6 months ago my family decided on their own that we would do a vegan Thanksgiving this year. Normally we buy our pie from Costco because we personally haven’t found one that was better. For this past holiday I was assigned to do the pumpkin pie and I felt like I had high expectations to make it as good, I wanted to show my family that vegan can be just as good when done right! I made four pies that all turned out dark and I almost lost hope. The last two recipes I decided to use were the Vegan Pumpkin Pie recipe from It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken and this pie from My Darling Vegan. I was so happy that BOTH of them turned out equally as good, but the one from My Darling Vegan was the only one that checked all the boxes from me because the other pie was still dark and the spice of it was not what I was aiming for. My Darling Vegan’s was the perfect consistency, taste, and color! My dad even said if I had not told him it was vegan he never would have known.
Sarah says
What a lovely review! Thanks for sharing. I’m so glad it worked out.
Kori says
This recipe is so good! I made it for my (non-vegan) family and it got two thumbs up! My mom even said she will probably make this instead of her non-vegan version next year. I was unable to find extra firm silken tofu so I just used regular silken, added a little extra cornstarch and cooked it 10 more minutes and it turned out great! The texture is spot on and the flavor is great, highly recommend!
Gina says
Would the silken firm tofu work for this recipe? I wanted to make it tomorrow for thanksgiving and I won’t have time to
Order the Extra firm tofu online. Should I adjust another ingredient due to it not being extra firm?
Sarah says
Firm should work fine. You could try increasing the cornstarch by 1-2 teaspoons to help it firm up a bit more. Let us know how it goes!
Sandy says
My pie filling purée in wet, no spatula needed… I used baked pumpkin purée instead of canned…and regular silken as they didn’t have extra firm…crossing my fingers it turns out!
Lisa says
How did it turn out Sandy? I am in the same boat right now and trying to decide if I should do something else prior to baking…
Amber says
What could one substitute for cornstarch? My mother is allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs, corn, pecans, and tomatoes, and I’m hosting Thanksgiving! TIA!
Sarah says
I haven’t tried it but I’ve heard tapioca flour would be the best substitute for cornstarch in this pie.
Jori says
Tapioca Starch or arrowroot starch will work just fine in its place!
Nicki says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I’ve tried so many pumpkin pie recipes over the last 3 years and this is the first one that gave me the texture of my grandmother’s pie that used eggs. I adjusted the spices to reflect her recipe and everyone approved- I even fooled my mom. This will be my go to recipe from now on- the one my daughter will remember.
I can’t thank you enough!
Isa says
More of a question than a comment, can I substitute a sugar alternative to make it more diabetic friendly?
Sarah says
What did you have in mind? I haven’t tried anything else but my first thought is something like coconut sugar.
emily says
I use swerve. They have both brown and regular white sugar. Cannot taste the difference
Sandra says
This pumpkin pie recipe is amazing! Thank you! I just made other vegan pumpkin pies where the crust felt and tasted like cardboard and the filling failed in color and taste. This crust is really easy to pull together. It rolled out nicely between 2 sheets of parchment paper and the edges were easy to crimp. The crust was actually light and flaky after being baked as per recipe. The filling had great color, consistency and taste. I found that I had to add more sugar when I made the second (!) pie but that may be due to the fact that I added more silken tofu and pumpkin.
Really a wonderful vegan pumpkin pie recipe!
Sarah says
I’m so glad you liked it. Thanks for the wonderful review 🙂
Kristen says
I cannot find Silken tofu ANYWHERE in my city. Can you sub in a different type of tofu in a pinch??
Sarah says
Are you looking in the international aisle? It’s shelf-stable and usually with Asian foods. If you still can’t find it, I recommend getting some online. I really don’t recommend using a different kind of tofu, unfortunately.
JoAnne says
This is, by far, the best vegan pumpkin pie I’ve made. Last year I made Sweet Simple Vegan’s pie and nobody would even finish one piece. This recipe was a huge hit, everyone loved it!!! This will be THE recipe from now on. Thank you!
Sarah says
That is so great to hear! Thanks for sharing!!
Eugenie says
I’ve tried for years to find a good vegan pumpkin pie recipe. This is the one! I made it with a gluten free crust and it was great!
Sarah says
So glad to hear that!
Al says
Hi,Darling!
Although I find most,if not all your recipes very attractive,the fact they call for corn starch,sugar,coconut oil,margarin…are a bit of a handycap to me.
Of course I could change ingredients!
Anyway,your photos are delicious looking…
Sarah says
Thanks you!