Classic Vegan Apple Pie

This incredible vegan apple pie uses just a few common pantry ingredients, tastes like childhood and can be as simple or complicated as you make it!

Ingredients you'll need

This vegan apple pie uses common pantry ingredients including:

The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Notes about the ingredients

Vegan butter (block-style preferred) or solid coconut oil. It's always better to use block butter for pastry as it's easier to handle and makes the pastry flakier. If you want to use coconut oil, I'd recommend refined coconut oil if you don't like the taste of coconut. I've also included an option for using vegan margarine/spread too!

Apples. You can use sweet snacking apples (such as pink lady) or, tart apples (such as granny smith) for a less sweet filling, use granny smith apples. I used a combination for a more complex flavor.

Corn starch/flour. When the pie is baking, the juices come out from the apples and mix with the cornstarch (and other ingredients) to create a delicious finger-licking sauce inside the pie.

How to make shortcrust pastry

I prefer making shortcrust pastry in a food processor as it is quicker and mixes the ingredients more thoroughly. Just make sure you don't pulse the mixture for too long!

If you don't have a food processor, you can just use a large mixing bowl and a pastry cutter.

Add all the ingredients to your food processor (or bowl) and pulse (or mix) until the mixture comes together. The dough will likely need some chilled water so add it gradually until the pastry forms flaky crumbs (like the picture on the right).

If you're using a food processor, this will only take 1-2 minutes.

Once the pastry comes together, place it in an airtight container or wrap it in plastic. Chilled dough is always easier to work with!

Making the apple pie filling

While the pie crust is chilling, you can make the filling!

For this vegan apple pie, you can use peeled or unpeeled apples. Once you've thinly sliced all of the apples, toss them in a large bowl with the rest of the filling ingredients.

Cover the bowl and set aside the apple mixture for at least 30 minutes. This will allow all the flavors to develop and for the apple to soften and caramelize.

Rolling out the pastry

If you've refrigerated your pastry for only 30 minutes, you should be able to roll it out immediately. If your pastry has turned into a cold solid brick, let it soften at room temperature for another 30 minutes or so.

I recommend rolling out the pastry on a well-floured surface or in between two sheets of baking paper!

Assembling the pie

Transfer your rolled-out pastry to your greased pie tin. There are a few ways to do this which you can see in King Arthur's Youtube video. If any large holes form in the pie crust, simply patch them up with excess pastry (no one will see it after baking).

Next, use of pair of scissors to trim off the excess pie crust. Then use a fork to prick the bottom of your pie crust.

Pile all your apple slices onto your bottom crust, trying to make sure there aren't any large gaps!

You can make the top of your pie as simple or as decorative as you want!

If you're short on time, top the pie with a single layer of pastry and cut a few 'vents' in the middle to allow air to escape while it's baking. Or you can turn the pastry into a crumble to make an apple crumble pie or skip it altogether and make my vegan apple tart.

To see how I made a lattice design, check out the video in this blog post (at the top of the post or in the gray recipe card at the bottom).

Shortcuts for making this apple pie

If you just don't want to make the pastry, use store-bought shortcrust pastry. A lot of store-bought pastries use vegetable shortening so are accidentally vegan.

Or if you don't want to prepare the apple filling, use canned pie apple! Having a pre-made filling will reduce the baking time to 30 minutes. Or bake the pie until the pastry is golden brown.

To make this pie for Thanksgiving or a special celebration, you can make the pastry and filling ahead of time! The pastry can be made 3 days beforehand and refrigerated (or 2 weeks beforehand then frozen).

The apples can be prepared a day beforehand and left to macerate in the fridge overnight. On the day of baking, allow your pastry to come to room temperature so you can roll it out and assemble your pie.

Expert tips and customizations

More vegan pie recipes

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