This vegan pecan pie is literally the best pecan pie we’ve ever tasted. It’s rich and insanely delicious with a caramelized center and loads of pecans!
I’ve been thinking about making a vegan pecan pie for years, but always backed out of it thinking it would be soo hard to do. I mean, a regular non-vegan pecan pie uses 3-4 large eggs!
So I was daunted by the thought of how it could possibly work and what would hold it all together. The short answer? Cornstarch. And not even that much of it. Along with vegan butter, sugar and maple syrup.
This pecan pie holds together beautifully and no one would ever guess there are no eggs involved at all.
Love vegan pies? Check out our vegan apple pie and our vegan pumpkin pie.
How To Make Vegan Pecan Pie
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
The Crust:
- Add flour, sugar and salt to your mixing bowl and mix together.
- Now add vegan butter and mix it in with your hands until crumbly.
- Add ice water and mix into a ball of dough.
- Place the dough into the fridge for an hour for the gluten in the dough to relax (this helps to prevent the crust from shrinking during baking)
- After an hour, bring out the dough and roll it carefully into a circle wider than the size of your 9-inch pie dish.
- Spray your pie dish with non-stick spray, and place the dough over your pie dish.
- Press the crust down into the edges of the dish. Trim off the excess dough with a scissors.
- Crimp the edges of the crust to create a pattern, or skip this step entirely and just leave the crust straight along the top.
- Place the crust back into the fridge while you work on the filling.
Top Tip For The Crust: If you want to save time on this recipe you can absolutely use a store-bought unbaked 9-inch pie crust.
The Filling:
- Melt vegan butter and light brown sugar in a saucepan and add maple syrup, vanilla extract and sea salt. Whisk together until the sugar has melted.
- Mix cornstarch with coconut milk until smooth and then add it into the saucepan and whisk in quickly. Add the chopped pecans and mix everything together.
- Pour this out over the crust and smooth down.
- Add pecan halves to the top of the pie to decorate.
- Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes until the center is bubbling and the crust is lightly browned.
- Allow to cool for an hour on the countertop and then move to the fridge until set (1-2 hours) before serving.
Top Tip For The Filling: The cornstarch/coconut milk mix just gets whisked in very quickly, then the chopped pecans are added, mixed in well (but quickly) and then it’s off the heat and the filling gets poured out over the crust. We don’t want this step to take too long because we don’t actually want the cornstarch/coconut milk mix to start thickening things up already, we just want it mixed in. The bulk of the thickening effect should take place during the baking process.
Ingredient Notes & Tips
Pecans: We used raw unsalted pecans. Chopped pecans for the filling and pecan halves to place on top before baking.
Maple Syrup: Pure maple syrup created the best taste and texture results in this pie. We did try a version with a maple flavored table syrup and it works and it is delicious so if you wanted to use a table syrup or a dark corn syrup it will work, but my top vote is for pure maple syrup in this recipe.
Cornstarch: A little cornstarch goes a long way in this recipe and we only needed 1 and ½ tablespoons. It’s possible that you could use tapioca starch or arrowroot but we have not tested this.
Coconut Milk: We used ¼ cup unsweetened full fat canned coconut milk to mix with the cornstarch and this helps the filling to thicken and bind together. You can switch this with another non-dairy milk if you prefer.
Make It Gluten-Free
The filling for this pie is already gluten-free, so if you want the pie to be gluten-free then either use a store-bought gluten-free pie crust or make a gluten-free pie crust from scratch.
Jessica In The Kitchen has a great recipe for a gluten-free vegan pie crust made with simple ingredients.
How To Serve Vegan Pecan Pie
Pecan pie can be served either warm or cold. It’s ideal to let it cool completely so that it sets.
But after that, if you want to serve it warm, then just heat each slice in the microwave for 20 seconds or so before topping with vegan whipped cream or vegan ice cream.
Make Ahead, Storing and Freezing
Make Ahead: You can make this pie a day or two in advance and store it (covered) in the fridge. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
Storing: This pie stores really well in the fridge (covered) for 5 days.
Freezing: This pie freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and let it come to room temperature before serving.
More Vegan Pie Recipes
- Vegan Sweet Potato Pie
- Vegan Caramel Pie
- Vegan Key Lime Pie
- Vegan Chocolate Tart
- Vegan Banoffee Pie
- Vegan Chocolate Pie
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Pecan Pie
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 ¼ cups All Purpose Flour (156g)
- 1 Tbsp White Granulated Sugar
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (113g)
- 1 Tbsp Ice Water may need up to 1 and ½ Tbsp
Filling:
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (113g)
- ¾ cup Light Brown Sugar (150g)
- ½ cup Maple Syrup (120ml)
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp Sea Salt
- 1 ½ Tbsp Cornstarch
- ¼ cup Coconut Milk (60ml)
- 2 cups Chopped Pecans (300g)
For Decorating:
- 1 cup Pecan Halves (110g)
For Serving:
Instructions
- Prepare the crust. Add the flour, sugar and salt to your mixing bowl and mix together.
- Now add the vegan butter and mix it in with your hands until crumbly.
- Add ice water, only as much as needed to form it into a ball of dough (we used 1 Tbsp but you may need up to 1 and ½).
- Place the dough into the fridge for an hour for the gluten in the dough to relax (this helps to prevent the crust from shrinking during baking)
- After an hour, bring out the dough and roll it carefully into a circle wider than the size of your 9-inch pie dish.
- Spray your pie dish with non-stick spray, and place the dough over your pie dish pressing the crust down into the edges of the dish. Trim off the excess dough with a scissors.
- Crimp the edges of the crust to create a pattern, or skip this step entirely and just leave the crust straight along the top.
- Place the crust back into the fridge while you work on the filling.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Prepare the filling. Melt the vegan butter and light brown sugar in a saucepan and add the maple syrup, vanilla extract and sea salt. Whisk together until the sugar has melted.
- Mix the cornstarch with the coconut milk until smooth and then add it into the saucepan and whisk in quickly. Add chopped pecans and mix everything together (see notes*).
- Pour the filling out over the crust and smooth down.
- Add pecan halves to the top of the pie for decoration.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until the center is bubbling and the crust is lightly browned.
- Allow to cool for an hour on the countertop and then move to the fridge until set (1-2 hours).
Notes
- The cornstarch/coconut milk mix just gets whisked in very quickly, then the chopped pecans are added, mixed in well (but quickly) and then it’s off the heat and the filling gets poured out over the crust. Don’t let this step take too long because we don’t want the cornstarch/coconut milk mix to start thickening the filling up at this stage, we just want it mixed in. The bulk of the thickening effect should take place during the baking process.
- Pie Crust: If you want to save time on this recipe you can absolutely use a store-bought unbaked 9-inch pie crust.
- Measure the flour correctly for the pie crust. Either use the spoon and level method (spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife – don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup) or weigh it on a food scale.
- Pecans: We used raw unsalted pecans. Chopped pecans for the filling and pecan halves to place on top before baking.
- Maple Syrup: Pure maple syrup created the best taste and texture results in this pie. We did try a version with a maple flavored table syrup and it works and it is delicious so if you wanted to use a table syrup or a dark corn syrup it will work, but my top vote is for pure maple syrup in this recipe.
- Cornstarch: A little cornstarch goes a long way in this recipe and works great for thickening up the filling. It’s possible that you could use tapioca starch or arrowroot but we have not tested this.
- Coconut Milk: This is mixed with the cornstarch. You can switch this with another non-dairy milk if you prefer.
- Serving: This pie can be served either warm or cold. It’s ideal to let it cool completely so that it sets. But after that, if you want to serve it warm, then just heat each slice in the microwave for 20 seconds or so before topping with vegan whipped cream or vegan ice cream.
- Make Ahead: You can make this pie a day or two in advance and store it (covered) in the fridge. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
- Storing and Freezing: This pie stores really well in the fridge (covered) for 5 days. It also freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and let it come to room temperature before serving.
- Prep time does not include the time spent chilling (pie crust 1 hour before rolling out and 2-3 hours for the baked pie to cool and set).
- Nutritional information excludes vegan whipped cream or ice cream.
Excellent! I made this for our Christmas dessert. I grew up eating a non-vegan version of pecan pie at Xmas and this version was equally as satisfying – my Texan mother agreed. 🙂
The one tip I can offer is to roll out the dough on top of a sheet of baking paper. I didn’t do this at first and I was unable to pick up the dough without it breaking. So I re-rolled it on top of a sheet of baking paper and then I was able to lift it up in one piece, easy!
This is the 4th recipe I’ve tried from this blog and they all turn out beautifully.
Thanks again 🙂
Thanks so much Janelle!
Hello Alison,
Your recipes look delicious. I was wondering how they transfer to Uk measures eg teaspoons, tablespoons and cups?
Thank you
Lins
UK measures for teaspoons, tablespoons etc are the same as the US, so no adjustments are needed.
This pie is absolutely wonderful! I’m not vegan, but my in-laws are, and this is my go-to recipe for vegan pecan pie.
The only issue I’ve ever had is that it really sticks to the pie pan. I’ve used glass and ceramic pans, and I’ve greased them, but it always sticks. That’s not a huge deal though; this pie is so good, even if it’s hard to get out of the pan. Maybe next time I’ll try baking parchment in the pan, or even a spring form.
Thank you so much for the recipe! It’s hard to find good vegan treats, and this really fits the bill.
So glad you love the pie Meg! I find non-stick spray to work best, but if that hasn’t worked then parchment paper on the bottom will definitely help!
I will try the parchment paper. Thank you!
I made this pie with my daughter and it was a very easy recipe to follow. It is chilling now in anticipation of tomorrow! I’m fairly certain it’s going to be delicious because It sure tasted great going into the shell!
The vegan pecan pie recipe looked so promising. I used shortening made from palm oil. After cooking for 12 minutes, the oil had separated and was bubbling outside of the pie crust; at 30 minutes, the pie started burning. Should I have used a different kind of shortening? Why did it burn after only 30 minutes?
Hi Susan, our recipe doesn’t use any shortening, and I don’t recommend changing ingredients. I recommend following the recipe exactly, otherwise I have no idea what the results may be.
I can’t wait to try this. So many of your recipes are our favs. My SIL makes a non vegan pecan pie for the holidays and I would love to surprise her with this one. She adds choc chips so I may try that too. TY!
Awesome Kristine! I hope you love it! Let us know how it turns out with the chocolate chips! 🙂