This vegan pot pie with cauliflower and store-bought puff pastry is creamy, savory, and so indulgent. Ideal for warming up chilly winter nights.
This year, allow me to introduce this vegan pot pie. Cauliflower takes place of the traditional shredded chicken; coconut milk replaces dairy; and flaky, buttery store-bought puff pastry makes the whole thing absolutely irresistible to all types of eaters (vegetarian or otherwise). Miso – one of my all-time favorite ingredients – rounds the flavor out with the umami you would typically get from chicken.
This recipe does involve multiple steps and dirty dishes, but I promise: it’s hard to mess up and 100% worth the effort.
Key Ingredients + Substitutions
- Cauliflower: You can use an entire small head, but if your cauli is massive, use half or three-quarters.
- Potato: You can’t have pot pie without a potato! Use Idaho, white, or Yukon Gold potatoes.
- Onion, Carrots + Celery: Together known as “mirepoix”, this trio forms the aromatic base of the pie.
- Coconut Milk: A traditional pot pie filling is creamy thanks to butter and milk/cream. For a dairy-free version, unsweetened full-fat coconut milk makes the perfect substitute.
- All-Purpose Flour: Thickens the filling.
- Miso: Compensates for the umami you’d typically get from chicken in a pot pie. (You can sub with Yondu if you have it.)
- Puff Pastry: This rich, flaky, French-style dough creates wonderful things like wellingtons, tarts, and hand pies. It’s sold in most supermarkets in the freezer section. Pepperidge Farm is vegan, but doesn’t have the best ingredients. DuFour and Trader’s Joe’s brands have “cleaner” ingredients, but are not vegan.
How to Make Vegan Cauliflower Pot Pie
Step 1: Roast the Cauliflower and Potato
Place the chopped vegetables on a baking sheet, toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast until golden, about 25 minutes. (Pre-roasting these before adding to the filling eliminates excess moisture – preventing a watery filling – and develops the vegetables’ flavor.)
Step 2: Sauté the Aromatics
In a pot or Dutch oven, sauté the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and thyme until softened, about 10 minutes. The point here is to sweat the vegetables, not brown them.
Step 3: Simmer the Filling Mixture
Stir flour into the aromatics and cook for a minute. Then add the broth, coconut milk, and miso. Bring to a simmer and cook until it thickens to roughly the texture of pancake batter.
Step 4: Finish the Filling
Lastly, stir in the roasted vegetables and frozen peas.
Step 5: Assemble the Pie
Transfer the filling to a casserole dish. Lightly roll out the thawed puff pastry just so it is large enough to cover the top of the pie. Then transfer the dough onto the dish.
Step 6: Make Air Vents and Bake
Lastly, cut a few X’s into the dough with a small knife so that steam can escape the pie as it bakes. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
This pie is pretty much an entire meal on its own, but if you wanna add a side salad, I recommend this Tuscan kale salad, vegan kale caesar, or Moroccan carrot salad.
Make-Ahead Tips
This vegetarian pot pie is best eaten while still warm from the oven. Leftovers are still delicious, but puff pastry does lose some crispness as it cools. If you wanna get a headstart on the recipe, make the filling up to 1 day in advance (i.e. work through step 7), cool it, and store it in the fridge. Add the dough right before baking.
More Festive Vegan Mains…
- Vegan Cassoulet
- Tempeh Shepherd’s Pie
- Asparagus Puff Pastry Tart
- Veggie Lasagna with Cashew “Ricotta”
Let me know if you try this recipe! Give it a rating below and leave a comment, and don’t forget to tag @thenewbaguette on Instagram with your creation.
The Full Recipe
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Vegan Pot Pie with Cauliflower and Puff Pastry
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 servings 1x
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This vegetarian pot pie is creamy, savory, and so indulgent. Ideal for holidays and warming up chilly winter nights. (This recipe has been updated from its original November 2022 version.)
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed* (see note below)
- 1 small head of cauliflower, cut into small bits (about 5 cups)
- 1 large Idaho potato (about 1/2 pound), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into half-moons (about 1 cup)
- 2 celery stalks, diced (about 1 cup)
- 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme, Italian seasoning, or poultry seasoning
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup mushroom or vegetable broth
- One 13-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons white miso (or Yondu, if you have it)
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- If your dough is frozen, thaw it at room temp while you make the filling; it takes ~40 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- Place the cauliflower and potatoes on a large baking sheet. Add 2 tablespoons oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and lots of pepper. Toss to coat and roast until golden, about 25 minutes, tossing once halfway through.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add all the ingredients from the onion through the thyme, as well as the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and lots of pepper. Cook until the vegetables are soft and the onion is translucent, about 12 minutes.
- Stir in 1/4 cup flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Add 3/4 cup broth, the coconut milk, and 2 tablespoons miso. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat until the sauce has thickened, about 3 minutes.
- Turn the heat off. Stir in the roasted vegetables and 1 cup peas. Transfer to a 9×13” casserole dish.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 400ºF.
- When the dough has thawed, roll it out a bit so it’s large enough to cover the top of the pie (see tips below). Transfer the dough onto the pie* and fold the edges over if needed. Cut 8 X’s into the dough at evenly-spaced intervals to let steam escape during baking.
- Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Sold in most supermarkets in the freezer section. Pepperidge Farm is vegan, but doesn’t have the best ingredients. DuFour and Trader’s Joe’s brands have “cleaner” ingredients, but are not vegan.
- If the dough is cracking, it’s still too cold to roll out and needs more time to thaw. If the dough is sticking to the rolling pin or counter, sprinkle it lightly with flour. If the dough is wet/slimy, it has gotten too warm and should be refrigerated for a few minutes to firm up again. If you don’t have a rolling pin, use a bottle of wine/vinegar.
- The easiest way to transfer the dough to the casserole is to gently roll it onto the rolling pin and unroll it over the pie (see photo above).
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 of the recipe
- Calories: 325
Elin says
Definitely comfort food. I used cooked, shelled edamame instead of peas for more protein. For the crust, I thawed out a frozen whole wheat pie shell and inverted it over the (round) baking dish as I couldn’t find any puff pastry that didn’t have funky ingredients. Will be making this one again!
Alexandra Shytsman says
So glad this worked out for you, Elin! Thanks for sharing the modifications you made 🙂
Michele says
Delicious- made twice in one week!
Alexandra Shytsman says
Love that! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review 😀
Vis g says
Very good recipe loved it
Alexandra Shytsman says
Glad to hear it! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review 🙂
Meg says
I made this for Christmas Eve dinner and it’s a keeper! I’m just getting familiar with puff pastry and I know nobody will mind eating my future experiments. Very savory and satisfying.
Alexandra Shytsman says
Hi Meg. That’s awesome! I’m so glad this pie made it to your holiday celebration. Thank you for taking the time to leave a review.