Learn how to make an easy, perfectly tender, flaky and crispy vegan pie crust with my easy step-by-step recipe. This vegan shortcrust pastry is suitable for sweet or savoury pies with either cooked or no-cook fillings, tarts, pot pie crusts, quiches, pastries, pasties and galettes.
Prep Time10mins
Cook Time17mins
Course: Baked Goods
Cuisine: vegan
Servings: 8Will make a 9 or 10 inch pie crust (double the recipe for a top & bottom pie)
2 cups (250 grams)all purpose flour, (plain flour in the UK)
½teaspoonfine salt
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (120 grams)vegan butter, or refined coconut oil. The butter or coconut oil must be very cold and hard.
about ½ cup (120mls)iced water
OPTIONAL (only for a sweet crust)
¼ cup (50grams)white or cane sugar
Instructions
With a food processor
To a food processor add the flour and salt (and optional sugar if you are making a sweet crust).
Add the butter to the food processor and pulse a few times until the mixture looks like very coarse bread crumbs. You should be able to visibly see small lumps of butter.
Gradually add the ice-cold water (making sure no ice cubes fall in), pulsing the food processor until there is enough moisture for the dough to come together. You might not need all of the water. You might need a teeny tiny bit more. It varies a little every time.
Remove the blade and use your hands to bring the pastry dough together then turn out onto a well floured, clean surface. It should come together easily and feel pliable and soft.
Sprinkle the top of the pastry with a light dusting of flour and roll out to 2 or 3 inches larger than your pie/quiche/tart dish.
Lift carefully by partially rolling the rolled out pastry around the rolling pin, and gently lower into the dish.
Use a scrap of pastry from the overhang to roll into a small ball and use it to push the dough into and up the sides of the pan. The less you handle it with your hands the better. The ball of dough stops your body heat from melting the fat in the dough.
Trim around the edges with a sharp knife or crimp if you are lining a pie dish. If you are lining a quiche/tart pan, use the ball of dough again to push the edges up just a tiny bit (a few millimetres at most) above the rim of the pan. This helps compensate for any shrinkage that might occur.
Prick all over the bottom of the crust with a fork, then place the pastry crust in the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes. There is no need to cover it unless you are storing it for longer (details RE storing for longer are in the recipe notes).
To make by hand
Add the flour and salt (and optional sugar if you are making a sweet crust) to a bowl and mix them up to combine.
Cut the butter into smaller chunks and add it to the flour mixture, cut it in either with a pastry cutter or a fork until it looks like coarse bread crumbs.
Gradually add the ice-cold water (making sure no ice cubes fall in), stirring with a knife until the dough starts coming together. You might not need all of the water and you might need a teeny tiny bit more. It varies a little each time.
Use your hands to bring the pastry dough together (but don't handle too much). It should come together easily and feel pliable and soft. Turn it out onto a well floured, clean surface.
To blind-bake
Preheat oven to 400°F (200 °C) with a metal baking sheet or tray big enough to fit your pie dish on in there as it preheats.
Line the chilled pie crust with parchment paper. Cut a piece the size you need then screw it up in your hands really tightly like you are going to throw it in the trash. then straighten it out and push it gently over and into the pie crust. It makes it much easier to nestle it in there nicely.
Fill with baking beans, dried beans or dried rice and put on the preheated tray in the oven. Bake for about 17 minutes or until the edges of the crust are just beginning to turn a gentle golden brown.
Remove from the oven and gently lift out the parchment paper along with the baking beans/rice. Then return to the oven and bake for around 7 to 8 minutes more, or until the bottom of the crust is just beginning to turn a gentle golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
To fully bake
Follow the blind-baking instructions but when you remove the parchment paper and baking beans/rice, then return it to the oven, bake for about 15 to 16 minutes or until the bottom crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Video
Notes
When the pie is being filled with a no-cook filling, it is essential to fully bake the pie crust and cool it completely before adding the filling. For pies that will go back in the oven, like quiche or pumpkin pie, the crust can still be warm when you add the filling.Success tips
Use ice-cold water. Fill a glass or jug with water and add a good handful of ice cubes.
Use very cold and hard vegan butter or coconut oil. Softer margarine-style vegan butters like Flora or Becel will not work well in a pie crust. You need a hard one like Earth Balance, the Flora Plant Butter blocks or Miyokos.
Don't handle the pastry dough with your hands any more than absolutely necessary. They are warm and will melt the fat.
Use a piece of balled-up scrap pastry dough to mould the pastry into the sides of the pie dish rather than using your fingers. This helps to keep it cool.
Prevent crumbly pastry by making sure you use enough water when mixing it up. Too little water will make your dough very difficult to work with.
If it's summer or your kitchen is particularly warm, chill the flour and all bowls/utensils before starting.
Roll the dough so it is a bigger circle than the diameter of your pie dish. You can lift up your dish over the rolled pastry to see if it is big enough. It should be at least 2 or 3 inches wider all around so there is plenty to cover it and go up and over the sides.
Once you have lined your pie dish, chill it well before blind baking or baking. This step is absolutely essential to avoid major shrinking.
When lining the pie crust with parchment paper, cut a piece the size you need then screw it up in your hands really tightly like you are going to throw it in the trash. then straighten it out and push it gently over and into the pie crust. It makes it much easier to fit it in there without damaging the pastry.
Prevent a tough baked pie crust. This can be caused by not using enough fat in the crust (be sure to weigh and measure accurately with a digital scale) and/or by overworking the dough. Handle as little as possible and keep the dough cold.
Before pouring a wet filling into a blind-baked crust, brush the entire surface of the pastry with a very thin coating of oil. This forms a protective barrier and stops the liquid from seeping into the pastry.
Making in advance & freezing
Uncooked and unrolled pastry dough - Make the vegan pie dough up to 3 days ahead. Place in a tightly sealed freezer bag, airtight container or wrap tightly and thoroughly in cling wrap and place in the fridge until needed. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge. You might need to leave it out at room temperature for a few minutes to warm and soften very slightly before rolling it.
Rolled, lined and uncooked - After lining the pie dish you can carefully store it in the fridge for up to 5 days or the freezer for up to 3 months. Be sure to cover it tightly so it doesn't dry out and be very careful it doesn't get knocked while in the fridge or freezer. Blind-bake or cook it completely straight from the fridge or freezer. Add an extra minute onto the bake time if it's coming from the freezer.
Blind-baked or completely baked - Stored in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 4 days.
Avoid a soggy bottomBlind-bake or fully bake the crust as per my instructions. This makes the pastry drier and liquid doesn't absorb into it as easily. This means it stays crisper. Another step that really helps when a wet filling is being used, is brushing the crust all over with a very thin coat of oil (olive, canola, vegetable or sunflower oil) before adding the filling. The oil creates a forms a protective barrier and stops the liquid from seeping into the pastry.