This year will be my first Thanksgiving without a turkey. Although it’s been several years since I stopped cooking meat at home, Thanksgiving has remained the only occasion when I would keep the meal “traditional” – mainly because I didn’t want to feel as if I’m robbing my family of something. But this year, my mind was made up.
Then I started brainstorming what other “main” I could serve instead. I wanted to make something hearty and indulgent, but didn’t want to go the whole roasted cauliflower or stuffed butternut squash route because to me, those read as sides. Then I landed on this vegan pot pie.
A creamy, saucy interior packed with mushrooms, potatoes, peas, and carrots. A light, flaky, homemade pastry crust on top. Vegan or not, who wouldn’t be excited to dig into that?
How to Make This Vegan Pot Pie
This recipe comes together in several steps. First, you make the crust and chill it in the fridge until ready to bake. You can use store-bought puff pastry, but homemade is always best because you can control the quality of ingredients used.
Next, you tear up some mushrooms and roast them until nicely browned. I tested this recipe several times and found that roasting the mushrooms separately from the other vegetables is crucial for optimal browning and developing the overall flavor of the pie.
After that, you cook the filling. The filling starts by sweating leeks, carrots, and celery until softened. Then you add flour, stock, milk, potatoes, peas, and the roasted mushrooms. This forms a thick, gooey mixture destined for greatness.
Finally, you roll out the crust, lay it over the filling, and bake until golden brown.
About the Crust
This homemade pie crust is made the same way a traditional butter crust is – except instead of butter, this one uses refined coconut oil. (Don’t worry – refined coconut oil has its coconutty aroma stripped away, so your pie won’t taste like coconut). This vegan crust can be made in advance and refrigerated for up to several days, or frozen for up to several months. You can also use it for all types of pies and galettes!
When making the crust, it’s extremely important that your coconut oil is frozen solid. That’s because when the pie goes into the oven, those frozen bits of oil will melt, creating air pockets that contribute to the crust’s flakiness.
If, when rolling out the crust, the dough starts to feel too soft and wet, put it back in the fridge for a few minutes to firm up again. You don’t want it to sit out at room temp for too long. It’s all about preserving that flakiness factor!
Make-Ahead Tips
This mushroom pot pie requires several steps and a pretty sizable time investment (compared to the other recipes on my blog, that is). The good news is you can split the work into two days. On day 1, you can make the crust and chop up all the vegetables. On day 2, you can make the filling and bake the pie.
This recipe feeds six people well and can feed eight with smaller portions. If you’re feeding more than six people, I’d suggest doubling the recipe and making two separate pies.
Vegan Pot Pie with Flaky Homemade Crust
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Main Course
- Cuisine: American
Description
This vegan pot pie is perfect for Thanksgiving or other festive gatherings. If you don’t want to make your own crust, you can use store-bought.
Ingredients
For the Crust
- ½ cup refined coconut oil
- ⅓ cup ice water
- 1 tablespoon apple cider, red wine, or white vinegar
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
For the Filling
- ½ pound mixed mushrooms (like cremini, shiitake, and/or oyster)
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- Fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 small carrots, medium-diced
- 2 celery stalks, medium-diced
- 1 small leek or ½ large leek, trimmed and thoroughly cleaned (See Note)
- 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence (or dried thyme and/or rosemary)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups mushroom broth (vegetable stock also works)
- 2 cups unsweetened unflavored non-dairy milk (almond or cashew)
- 1 tablespoon white miso (Shiro Miso)
- 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Begin by making the crust: Measure out the coconut oil, place it in a bowl, and put in the freezer for 5 to 15 minutes, until the oil is solid.
- Combine the ice water and vinegar in a cup.
- Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse to combine. Remove the coconut oil from the freezer and break it into roughly 1-inch shards. Add to the flour mixture and pulse 10 to 12 times, until the oil is distributed throughtout the flour in pea-sized bits. With the motor running, slowly stream in the water-vinegar mixture until it’s evenly incorporated (do not over-mix – the dough should be shaggy at this point).
- Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap, gather the corners, and quickly shape into a disc. Refrigerate while you prep the rest of the ingredients, at least 30 minutes (or up to several days, if prepping dough in advance).
- Start the filling: Wipe the mushrooms with a damp paper towel, remove the stems, and tear into shreds. Place in a 9×13” casserole dish. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and pepper, and toss to coat. Roast until browned, about 20 minutes, tossing once halfway through cooking.
- Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large, high-sided, heavy-bottomed pot (like a Dutch Oven) over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, leek, garlic, Herbes de Provence, ¼ teaspoon salt, and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are softened, stirring frequently, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the stock and milk, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the mixture has thickened a little, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Ladle about ¼ cup of the liquid from the pot into a little bowl. Add the miso and stir to dissolve. Pour the mixture pack into the pot. Add the potatoes, peas, nutmeg, and roasted mushrooms. Stir to combine and turn heat off. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed. Transfer to the dish in which you cooked the mushrooms.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and allow to rest at room temperature for about 5 minutes (this makes it easier to roll out).
- Place the dough on a large piece of parchment paper and roll out into an approximately 10-inch rectangle, sprinkling the dough and/or the rolling pin with flour if the dough is sticky. Fold the rectangle in half to join the 2 short ends. Roll the dough into a square-ish shape and fold in half again, this time folding the other 2 ends. Finally, roll the dough into a large-enough rectangle to cover the baking dish. (Work quickly – if the dough starts to feel too wet when rolling, put it back in the fridge to firm up for a few minutes).
- Transfer the dough to the top of the pie – again, working quickly. Cut a few air vents into the crust for steam to escape during cooking. Ford over the edges. Bake until the dough is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
How to clean leeks: Trim the root end of the leek, as well as a few inches off the dark green portion (just the part that looks bruised and/or dry). Then slice the stalk in half lengthwise and cut the leeks into thin half-moons. Place the sliced leeks in a big bowl of cold water and swirl them around with your hands to release the dirt. Lift the leeks out of the water and place back onto your cutting board. Drain the water and replace with new water. Repeat the process once or twice more until the leeks are clean.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 of the recipe
- Calories: 390
- Carbohydrates: 40.3 g
- Fiber: 4.4 g
- Protein: 6.5 g
Keywords: pot pie, pie crust, mushrooms, thanksgiving
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