This vegan pumpkin pie is also paleo and has a richer and creamier pumpkin filling than your traditional pumpkin pie! A great grain-free and gluten-free pie for Thanksgiving dessert. With a how-to recipe video.
I’m SO excited about this recipe. I made it about a month ago and have been trying to be patient and not post it before Halloween. But according to the people on Instagram, it’s never too early for pumpkin pie so here we are!
Pumpkin pie has never been a favorite of mine because of the texture. To me, it’s just kind of bla. But this vegan pumpkin pie?! Definitely the opposite of bla. :D I’ve made some no-bake cashew-based desserts before, like these no-bake paleo vegan key lime pies and this paleo vegan maple frosting but this one is different in that it’s baked.
The result is a super creamy, rich and decadent pumpkin pie. I’m not vegan nor paleo but I’m telling you… if I had the choice between this filling and one with sweetened condensed milk and eggs, I’d much rather have this one. Nobody will know that it’s allergy-friendly and made healthier.
Before I made this, I tried some recipes that basically just used coconut milk in place of the evaporated / sweetened condensed milk and coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. But nope. I can’t have any coconut taste in my pumpkin pie.
I did use some whipped coconut cream on one piece, but to be honest, it was just because I wanted the pie to look more interesting for the pictures. I then wiped it off and put it in a smoothie because coconut taste is not welcome here. ;) And seriously – the texture in this cashew-based recipe is so much better than the coconut milk based ones!
The crust is the same one I used in this paleo chocolate fudge pie and like I said in that post, the only kind of crust I really like is a cookie crust.
This isn’t at all a cookie crust but it’s still a great crust (if you like regular pie crust!). I used a chia egg in the pictured pie but a regular egg works just as well!
If you can eat grains and aren’t vegan, the whole wheat cookie crust in this blueberry cream cheese pie would be my favorite crust to use in this (or really – any!) pie. I’m not sure if you’d need to pre-bake the crust, though. I’m guessing not but I’m not positive!
Prefer a cheesecake? This Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake is one of my favorite recipes on the blog!
There are a few downsides to this pie. I think it’s really best to prepare it the day before serving (or the day of). I didn’t cut into the pie until after it had chilled overnight and both the crust and filling were perfect.
The next day (so two days after I had made it), I thought the crust wasn’t as good. It had gotten kind of soft. And I thought the filling started tasting a little weird on the fourth day.
If you’re worried about not being able to eat it all before the funkiness sets in, freeze it! I’m pretty sure it’d freeze well, though I doubt the crust would be as crisp.
The other negative thing about this paleo vegan pumpkin pie is that it uses a full cup of maple syrup. If maple syrup is super expensive in your neck of the woods, you could try using half agave or brown rice syrup (if you’re not paleo) or half honey (if you’re not vegan). By the way, I haven’t tried any of these ideas – they’re just suggestions. :)
By the way, if you’re vegan, I recommend checking out my post on Is Maple Syrup Vegan? Some manufacturers use an animal product during production that you may or not be okay with.
If you’re paleo but not vegan, definitely also give my paleo pumpkin donuts a try! They’re seriously SO good!
And if you’re vegan but not paleo, check out this gluten-free pumpkin mousse pie for another great gluten-free pumpkin recipe.
And for the vegans, I have vegan pumpkin muffins! Which you also coat in cinnamon sugar, making them donut-like.
I’d love to hear what you think about this paleo pumpkin pie! It’s one of my very favorite recipes ever.
Vegan Pumpkin Pie (paleo, grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 8-12 slices
Ingredients
- 2 cups (200 grams) blanched almond flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon (33 grams) coconut oil
- 1 chia egg1 or 1 large egg (50 grams, out of shell) for a non-vegan version
- 1 1/3 cups (193 grams) raw unsalted cashews, soaked and drained2
- 1 cup (240 milliliters) maple syrup, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 15-ounce (425-gram) can pumpkin puree
- 2-3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice3
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/8 teaspoon salt
- I used whipped coconut cream and healthier maple candied walnuts (just to make the pictures look nice – I don't think the pie needs it!)
For the crust:
For the filling:
For garnish:
Directions
- Position the rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat it to 350 °F (175 °C).
- Prepare the crust. You can either mix the dry ingredients together and then stir in the wet ingredients with an electric hand mixer or by hand (which will take some time and strength) until well combined or use a food processor. To use a food processor, place the almond flour in the bowl of a food processor fitted with an S-blade. Sprinkle the sugar and salt over the top and then add the coconut oil and egg / chia egg. Pulse just until a ball forms.
- Press the mixture up the sides and over the bottom of a 9" pie plate. Set aside while preparing the filling. If you don't have a pie shield then you should create one now out of foil. Set it aside until you need it after it's baked for about 20 minutes.
- Blend all the filling ingredients in a high-powered blender (I don't think this will work in a food processor) at medium or high speed for about 1 or 2 minutes or until completely creamy and no lumps remain.
- Pour the filling over the unbaked pie crust and bake for 45-55 minutes or until the topping looks slightly puffy and has turned slightly brown. I put a pie shield over my crust after about 20 minutes to prevent it from browning too much. The pie will still be quite soft but firms up as it chills.
- Let cool completely, about 2 hours, and then refrigerate for another 2 hours. Best served on the day of making or the next day. Keep refrigerated for up to 2 days and freeze leftovers after that. By the way, the pictured slices are WAY too big. I didn't realize how rich the pie was until after I had sliced them!
Notes
- To make a chia egg, mix together 1 tablespoon of ground chia seeds and 2 1/2 tablespoons water. Let sit 5-15 minutes or until goopy like an egg.
- To soak the cashews, place them in a large mug, small pot, or some kind of container that's safe to pour boiling water into. Pour enough boiling water over the cashews to cover them. Let them sit 2 hours.
- Since everyone's ideal amount of pumpkin pie spice is different, I recommend starting off with 2 teaspoons, blending, tasting and adding more, if desired. I used 3 teaspoons.
Crust adapted from Elana's Pantry.
Join over 12,400 readers and sweeten up
your inbox with new posts for free!
This subscription is free of charge and can be canceled at any time.
127 comments on “Vegan Pumpkin Pie (paleo, grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free)” — Add one!
6 comments are awaiting moderation!
I’m attempting to use my mother’s oat/pecan (yes, grains:) crust recipe with your filling. Her crust does not require baking, although the oats are initially toasted. Therefore, what would be your baking temp/time recommendation? I’m also wondering if it needs to be baked at all; perhaps just setting time in the fridge? In fact, only part of my mom’s filling is cooked on the stove and ultimately placed in fridge. It’s a lovely, scrumptious chiffon-esque filling but it’s not vegan:( Hoping to hybrid the two. Ty!
The crust on this recipe isn’t baked, either, and I don’t think using toasted oats will make a difference. So I wouldn’t change anything. However, it could be that your crust bakes far faster than mine. Or slower. Or should ideally be baked at a different temperature. That’s something I can’t know until trying it. :/ Make sure to have a pie shield handy in case it starts burning quickly. And yes, the filling needs to be baked. :) I hope it’ll work out!
THE best pumpkin pie ever!
Vegan or not. My family doesn’t want to even hear about other versions. BTW I am the only vegan in the family.
Haha. I love that they don’t want to hear about other versions! Yay! I’m so glad that it was a hit for your non-vegan family. Thanks a ton for your feedback and sorry for my slow reply!
absolute best vegan gf filling ever!! tried three recipes this year in the name of research of course!! this was the winner hands down. used wholly gluten free pre made crust. soooooooo goooooooood!!!!!!!
I’m so sorry for just now seeing your comment! I’m so glad that this pie was the winner! I also keep trying different ones but never like the filling as much. Thanks for the crust tip and for your feedback! Sorry again for my slowness.
Do you think you could use this pie filling in a home-made graham cracker crust? I’m worried about the almond flour working out and don’t need it to be gluten free.
I’d be worried that a graham cracker crust would burn during that long baking time. So I can’t really recommend it (though I may be wrong!). Sorry about that!
Hey Erin- you said in your post you only like a cookie crust and I’m kind of the same way. I find most of the paleo crusts with almond flour get pretty soggy and weird after the first day or so. My question is why did you not make this pie with a cookie crust? I’m wondering if the crust from your pecan pie bar recipe would work here??? We purchase everything organic including nuts and maple syrup etc. so it’s super expensive when I make something therefore I always try to troubleshoot with the recipe offer before I begin! Thanks in advance & I hope you get this soon because I’m planning on making this tomorrow as a trial run for Thanksgiving.
***recipe author (sorry!)
Hello! I didn’t make it with a cookie pie crust because I’ve never found a paleo cookie pie crust that tastes good. I’ve tried over 100x over the years (seriously). I wanted to make this pie paleo so I didn’t try it with the cookie crust in the pie bars. I’m pretty sure that pie crust doesn’t work in a pie pan (just in an 8″x8″ as bars). Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful! This crust doesn’t get soggy and weird after the first day but it does get moist.
Erin, I made this yesterday and cut into it today per your advice. I always measure everything in grams (Btw-thank you for providing grams for your recipes!!) and I make sure the recipe is followed exactly and I made no modifications. Anyways, all of it around the perimeter set up to about the middle third which is kind of like a pumpkin mousse ie: sort of on the runny side. I’m wondering if maybe I didn’t cook it long enough? It was really hard to tell when it was done because it was browned and sort of puffy as you said. It still tastes absolutely phenomenal. I have been trying to master pumpkin pie with no eggs or cream/milk for years and have never been able to do it. WELL DONE!
I’m glad it still tastes good! And hmm. It shouldn’t be runny at all. Did you watch the recipe video in the post? At the very end, you can see exactly what the middle should look like when I cut off the end of my pie piece. If you didn’t make any changes at all, I’m guessing the only thing you could do is bake it longer. Or did you use a different size pan? Oven running on the low side? I’m sorry I’m not much help!
Hi Erin, For some reason it wouldn’t let me reply to your comment so I’m replying to my own but I got your response. I’m pretty sure I under cooked it. I cooked it for 45 minutes and I couldn’t tell whether it was done or not. It’s all gone now though lol we devoured it! I want to make your pumpkin cheesecake next…what would you say the major differences are between this and the cheesecake? There’s so much less sweetener in the cheesecake recipe and I thought this pie had the perfect amount of sweetness so I wouldn’t want less I don’t believe. I found that you and I have about the same sweet tooth because I’ve seen the comments where a few people say some of your recipes are overly sweet. I don’t agree at all as they are perfect for our taste. Also, the crust for your cheesecake recipe…how does it hold up and compare to this one? Thanks so much!
I actually much prefer this crust! I like what the pecans (toasted ones!) add and it doesn’t get as soft as the baked one (but I think that’s normal). When I blended the pumpkin cheesecake filling, I thought it wasn’t very sweet and kind of tasted weird but after a few hours, it tasted great. It was sweet enough for me! I don’t post things if they’re not. ;) If you blend it and think that it’s definitely not sweet enough, you can add a little more maple or some coconut sugar. I’d love to hear how you like it! :)
Hi Erin, I made this pie twice now and the filling always cracked (pretty much split in half). It tastes good, but is not visually very appealing. Do you have any tips?
Hello! Hmm. Are you following the recipe exactly and not making any subs at all? If so, the only thing I can think of is that your oven may be running too hot. I make it every year and haven’t had it crack yet so I’m not sure what the issue could be. Sorry about that! :/
One thing you could do is open the oven door when it’s done baking and let it cool in there! I do that with cheesecakes.
This is definitely the best pumpkin pie that I’ve ever eaten. The crust is tender, nutty and stays together well. The pumpkin filling is amazing! This is my new favorite holiday recipe
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that. :D It’s mine, too. Thanks for your comment (and sorry for my slow reply!).
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
This pumpkin pie recipe was an epic win!!! I love the cashews and how they take the place of the usual arrowroot powder of whatever weird thickener. The filling was creamy and delightful!
I was super hesitant to use so much maple syrup, although we get it inexpensively from the Amish near us. That’s like 225g of sugar, not including the coconut sugar 😳
So I used 1/2 c maple syrup, 1 TBSP coconut sugar and enough liquid stevia to pump up the sweetness to the perfect level.
It turned out amazing! Everyone loved it, even my non-vegan brother and stepdad. I made a second pie with butternut squash (both pies were made with oven roasted squash from our garden) and it is also epic! Even sweeter, of course. 😋
I used a frozen pie crust because circumstances required it for me- time was short. It was great, and I hope to try your crust in the future.
Thanks so much for this recipe, Erin. You rocked it! 🤟🏼
I’m so happy that you liked the pie! I’m glad that it came out well for you with less syrup. :) I made this pie a few weeks ago and paid close attention to the sweetness since some other commenters also mentioned using 1/2 cup of sweetener. I must have an awful sweet tooth because that wasn’t enough for us and I couldn’t get it to blend easily, either (but even with the coconut sugar, it’s “only” 5 to 7.5 teaspoons of sugar for 8 or 12 pieces, so I’m not too upset at that number ;)) And that’s awesome that the non-vegan guys liked it! Woohoo. :D Thanks for your comment!
Great recipe! I’m soaking the cashews as I type! One question: any need to grease the pie tin?
Hi there and sorry for just now replying! No need to grease the pie plate (a recipe should always say if it’s supposed to be :)) I hope you enjoyed the pie!
I can already tell this is magic and it’s not even out of the oven. Firstly, I fought off my wife to lick the blender blades from the filling. Secondly, I think I nailed the crust as it looks heavenly at least.
Lastly I always try recipes militantly faithful the first time to see if I need adjustments, so my food scale came to good use as I went by grams (glad I did because almond flour would vary greatly depending on if you packed it when measuring)
Thanks again for this great recipe that we take to a vegan thanksgiving pot luck!
Yay! I’m happy to hear that it worked out well for you. :) And yes – always a great idea to use a scale! So much less room for error. I hope that it was a hit at the potluck! Thanks for your comment.
This pie filling is the seriously amazing! I have been making it using it baking my own pumpkins and squash instead of the canned pumpkin. I’ve been practicing for Thanksgiving. The crust is not my favorite, it turned out really hard and cardboard like. So, I am experimenting with different crusts. Today I am baking it with half almond flour and half gluten free gram crackers, if I find something amazing I will post what worked.
I’m so happy you like the filling! But the crust definitely shouldn’t be like cardboard. I made this pie + crust about a week ago and have a failed pecan pie with this crust sitting in the kitchen right now. I hope your experiment goes well! Like I said in my post, the only crust I really like is cookie crust so your version sounds awesome to me. :) Thanks for your comment!
How did the crust with the graham cracker taste?
Amazing! The best pumpkin pie I Have ever had.
Woohoo! So glad to hear that. :) Thanks for your comment!
Great idea for Valentines! Thanks for sharing this!
Definitely an interesting choice for Valentine’s Day! :)