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This Vegan Pot Pie combines a flaky pie crust, heart-healthy chickpeas, and a creamy vegetable and potato filling for a mouth-watering main dish everyone will go back for seconds of. Vegan, Gluten-Free, Oil-Free option.
Hearty and cozy, this Vegan Pot Pie is simple enough to serve on weeknights, yet impressive enough to replace a meaty main for a special occasion like Thanksgiving or Christmas. It’s made with a simple pie crust that’s filled with protein-rich chickpeas, classic veggies, and a homemade cream sauce that’s thick and creamy. It’s the perfect satisfying main course for chilly and rainy days, but is surprisingly packed with veggies, so it won’t weigh you down too much!
Table of Contents
A Healthier, Cozy Pot Pie
Is it just me, or is Pot Pie pretty much the ultimate comfort food? It’s pretty hard to beat a buttery, flaky crust filled with a creamy, hearty, and flavorful filling. It’s a perfect cozy day food to snuggle up with or share with your loved ones during the holiday season. This recipe is my take on a vegan chicken pot pie; with just a few simple swaps, we can make a vegetable pot pie that’s made entirely from plants! Not only that, but it’s just as yummy and cozy as the ones I remember eating in my childhood.
What You Need for Vegan Pot Pie
There are just 4 main components when it comes to making a great pot pie:
- Pie crust: I opted to use my Vegan Pie Crust Recipe, but feel free to use another homemade pie crust or your favorite store-bought brand. If making my homemade recipe, make sure to double the recipe – one crust for the bottom, and one for the top.
- Creamy sauce: Traditional pot pies are typically made with heavy cream or canned soups. Instead, we’re making a healthy, homemade sauce from non-dairy milk, nutritional yeast, and chickpea flour.
- Fresh veggies: I like to keep things classic and use celery, peas, carrots, and gold potatoes for a nice and hearty bite. If you’re short on time or prefer to make things even easier, use a frozen blend of mixed vegetables with green beans.
- Seasonings: Most of the nostalgic flavor and aroma in a classic pot pie can be attributed to the spices and seasoning. All that’s required for this mouth-watering effect is freshly chopped thyme, smoked paprika, and freshly cracked black pepper.
How to Make Vegan Pot Pie
- Par-bake the bottom crust in a pie dish (or follow the instructions of the store-bought version you are using!)
- Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a small saucepan, then simmer, whisking constantly, until thickened. Set aside.
- Melt the butter or olive oil in a large sauté pan, then sauté the filling ingredients until fragrant and tender.
- Stir in the thickened sauce until evenly distributed.
- Fill the par-baked crust with the pot pie filling, then lay the top crust over the filling. Crimp the two pie edges together and cut an “X” in the center of the pie dough.
- Bake, lightly tented with foil, until the crust is golden brown.
- Cool for 5 minutes, then slice and serve warm, as desired.
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- Use a rich and creamy plant-based milk. Not all plant-based milks are made equal. As much as I love the convenience of store-bought non-dairy milk, they are often thin and lacking in flavor. For the best creamy filling, use a rich and creamy homemade milk or a store-bought soy milk or canned coconut milk.
- Thaw your pie crust in advance. If you are using a store-bought, frozen pie crust, make sure to thaw it in the refrigerator until soft and easy to roll out. It is easiest to do this the night before, but typically can thaw in 4-6 hours.
- The longer it cools, the easier it is to slice. You can slice after just 5 minutes, but if you wait longer (15-20 minutes), the filling will continue to thicken and make it easier to cut nice slices for serving. This can be ideal when hosting or serving this pot pie for special occasions.
Serving Suggestions
I love serving thick, warm slices of this vegan pot pie as a hearty main dish. It’s the perfect weeknight dish to complete simpler sides such as Kale & Cranberry Salad, Winter Kale Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette, or a Fall Roasted Vegetable Casserole.
Or, when serving this vegan pot pie as a holiday main, browse my 60+ Vegan & Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Guide and make a complete meal the whole family will love.
If you’re looking for more cozy vegan recipes, you’ll also love this One Pot Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff, this Easy Vegan Chili, and this Marvelous Mushroom Pot Pie.
Storage Instructions for Vegan Pot Pie
Leftover pot pie will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. When storing, tightly cover the pot pie with a layer of plastic wrap or aluminum foil, or transfer slices to an airtight container. Leftovers reheat best in the toaster oven or oven, covered with foil, but can be reheated in a pinch.
Freezing vegetarian pot pie is also possible, but is difficult to do without the crust becoming soggy and/or taking forever to bake from frozen. Instead, I would recommend freezing the pot pie filling and crust separately for up to 3 months. Then, thaw the two components separately in the refrigerator, assemble, and bake.
Substitutions and Variations
- Gluten-free option: Make this vegetable pot pie using my 3 Ingredient Pie Crust recipe. It’s naturally vegan, gluten-free, and grain-free.
- Oil-free option: Replace the melted butter with water or vegetable broth and use an oil-free pie crust. Again, 3-Ingredient Pie Crust would work well!
- Chickpea flour substitution: Replace the chickpea flour with all-purpose flour or brown rice flour, if gluten-free.
Yoast FAQs
It can be tricky to know which store-bought pie crusts are made without animal products, but thankfully, most of the widely available options are vegan friendly. Marie Callender’s pie crusts are one of the most popular, widely available options.
While pot pie is traditionally baked in a flaky pie crust, it can be enjoyed without crust with a side of vegan mashed potatoes (very similar to Vegan Shepherd’s Pie), flaky biscuits, or a store-bought puff pastry crust (use my Marvelous Mushroom Pot Pie for Inspiration!). Or, make my quick and easy No-Boil Chickpea Noodle Casserole for a fun twist on the classic recipe.
In this particular recipe, the classic chicken is replaced with wholesome, plant-based chickpeas. They’re a great source of protein and have just the right hearty texture. Some readers have also shared success making this pot pie using hydrated soy curls. If you’re an experienced home-cook, feel free to experiment and find your favorite vegan protein alternative.
Both the pie crust and chickpea pot pie filling can be prepared up to one day in advance, but should be refrigerated separately until ready to assemble. Then, when ready to serve, fill the pie crust with the easy pot pie filling, top with the top layer of pie crust, and bake as
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
Vegan Pot Pie with Chickpeas
Ingredients
- 2 layers pie crust or 1 layer puff pastry, homemade or store-bought; see notes
For the Sauce:
- 2 cups unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons chickpea flour*
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
For the Chickpea Filling:
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter or oil
- 1/2 yellow onion fine dice
- 2 sticks celery fine dice
- 1/2 cup carrots fine dice
- 3-5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper plus more to taste
- 2/3 cup gold potatoes peeled and diced
- 2/3 cup frozen peas thawed
- 1 1/2 cup chickpeas drain and rinse if using canned
Instructions
- Prep: Prepare your pie crust according to recipe or package instructions. Grease or line a 9” pie pan and par-bake the bottom crust. Keep the top crust chilled until just before baking in step 6. Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Make the Sauce: Whisk the flour, nutritional yeast, salt, and milk together in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 3 minutes, whisking constantly, until the sauce has thickened. Set aside; the sauce will thicken further.
- Aromatics: Melt the butter in a large sauté pan with a lid over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrot and sauté for 3 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic, thyme, smoked paprika, and black pepper; sauté for an additional 2 minutes, to toast the spices.
- Cook the Potatoes: Add the potatoes to the pan and mix well, then add 1/4 cup (60 ml) water to the pan and cover. Cook for 5 minutes, to steam the potatoes.
- Make it Saucy: Uncover the pan and add the chickpeas and peas. Mix well, then turn off the heat. Add in the prepared sauce and mix until evenly distributed to complete the pie filling.
- Assemble: Roll out the top pie crust according to recipe instructions. Transfer the chickpea filling to the par-baked crust, then top with the remaining crust. Use a fork to crimp the two pie edges together, then use a sharp knife to cut a “X” in the center of the pie dough to allow for ventilation.
- Bake: Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 15 minutes. Check on the pie; if if the crust is already golden, loosely tent with foil to prevent burning. Bake for an additional 10-12 minutes, checking for doneness every 5 minutes or so, until the crust is golden brown.
- Serve: Let the pie sit for 5 minutes, then slice and serve warm. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Pie Crust: I like to make this all-butter pie crust (just use vegan butter!), or you can make my 3-Ingredient Pie Crust if you are gluten-free. The GF pie crust burns more easily, so you may need to tent the top of the pie with foil if it starts to get too brown. You can also use your preferred store-bought crust!
- Puff Pastry: You can also make this recipe with puff pastry. Thaw the pastry according to package directions while you prepare the filling. Transfer the filling directly to a greased pie plate (or cast iron pan). Roll out the puff pastry until it will cover the pie, then transfer to the pie dish and trim the edges. Cut holes in the pastry for ventilation and bake according to recipe instructions.
- Chickpea Flour: Chickpea flour can be replaced with all-purpose flour or brown rice flour.
- Make-Ahead: Both the pie crust and chickpea filling can be prepared up to one day in advance; store in the fridge until ready to use.
- Gluten-Free: This recipe is both gluten-free and grain free if made with chickpea flour and my 3-Ingredient Pie Crust
Wow, wow, wow! I made this for a Christmas dinner and everyone loved it! 2 pies would’ve been even better! The crust came out beautiful! Thank you for a lovely recipe that is sure to be a family favorite in the years to come!
Thank you so much and happy to hear the family enjoyed it!
Hi! I am planning to make this recipe on New Year’s Eve, but I’m wondering if I could also make this in little muffin tins instead of one big 9 inch pie tin + would the baking time also be different? Thanks!
Hey there! That would be cute! We’ve never tested it that way, the potential issues I would see is having enough pie crust (I feel like smaller individual pies would use up more of the dough) and baking times would definitely be different – possibly a slightly lower temperature for about just as long. Like I mentioned, we haven’t tested it that way so those are just some educated guesses! If you give it a try let us know how it goes!
I’ve made a more “traditional” (vegan) crust, it’s a very comforting and delicious meal ???? also easy to make
Perfect for this time of year! Thanks!
The whole family lived this pot pie. Thank you for the recipe!!
You’re so welcome and love that your family enjoyed it!
Made this for Thanksgiving yesterday and it was amazing. My family agreed and we ate the whole thing up! Switched out potatoes for butternut squash and added in some fresh sage and rosemary and more peas. I will be making this again soon because its just so good.
Awesome! So glad everyone liked it and hope you had a good time!
Made this for thanksgiving and it was a hit! I added some lemon zest and juice to brighten the flavor, and some rosemary and sage as well for more depth. I prebaked the bottom crust right before I assembled the pie, but recommend doing it ahead of time so everything is cooled – the heat from the dish and bottom crust made the top crust hard to handle.
Glad to hear it was a hit! Hope you had a good Thanksgiving!
So delicious! Made for a friendsgiving and everyone was so impressed! I used frozen pie crust, cashew milk, and flour in place of chickpea flour. What a good recipe find. Can’t wait to make again!
So glad you liked it! Thanks!
Hello,
I was just wondering if nutritional yeast is vital to the recipe, since it’s unavailable where I live. Can i substatue it?
It’s not vital but may alter the overall end result in terms of flavor. Feel free to leave it out!
Amazing!! Will definitely be making again!
Thanks so much!
I’m getting a bit confused reading the comments – can you use chickpea flour instead of ground almonds for the pie crust?
No, that would not work – you can use a store-bought pie crust, or use another vegan pie crust recipe that you find online!
I just made this and it’s so satisfying! Warm, comforting and delicious. I can’t wait to make it for a dinner party or it’d even be great for Thanksgiving! I added some poultry seasoning too, yum!
Totally a great Thanksgiving time meal! Thank you!
Yum! Made it with store bought vegan pastry which is unfortunately also gluten free. Will make my own next time. Filling was yummy though, non vegan bf liked it even more than I did!
Glad you both enjoyed it!
This pot pie is absolutely delicious! I can honestly say that this is better than a traditional one with animal products in it! Thanks so much for the recipe!
That’s so nice of you, thank you!
Amazing! Made this today but used store bought gluten free crust cuz I had it in the freezer. Halved the peas and added the rest with fresh corn. We loved this so much, my hubby and I ate the whole pie for dinner. I love this recipe because it doesn’t call for vegetable broth which all have tomatoes and onions. I can’t eat tomatoes and my hubby onions, and guess what? We didn’t miss it either. Tastes delish without. Thanks for this!
Yay! So glad you guys enjoyed it. Thanks!
This recipe turned out fantastically! I used puff pastry instead of making my own crust and it was great. Another wonderful recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Surprisingly pretty easy and delicious! I have struggled to make pie crust before so I was very surprised how well this simple almond flour crust came together. I thought the “sauce” was a little bland so I added some liquid aminos. I ended up throwing in some vegan sausage but I think it would have been fine without it. For being so healthy this meal is very hearty and satisfying. I’m impressed!
Pie crust can be tricky, glad you found it easy! Thanks for the feedback!
This came out really well, and I was impressed by how reminiscent it was of “real” chicken pot pie! I had some trouble with the dough…I think it got too warm, so it tore while I was trying to get it in the pie plate. Next time, I’ll roll it out between parchment paper, chill it, and THEN try to put it in the pie plate! I also thought the filling was a tiny bit salty, but perhaps the canned chickpeas I used had a little too much salt already. I’ll adjust that next time!
Overall, this was super tasty and very filling. The consistency of the sauce was just right! Thanks for the great recipe. 🙂
So glad you liked it! Yes, warm dough will be tough to work with, chilling before hand will help it keep shape. Some canned beans can be sneaky with the salt, no salt added cans are ideal if they’re available!
Just wanted to leave a message to anyone, like myself, with celiac. there are no frozen vegetables that I know of that are completely gluten free. So be careful – use fresh vegetables to be safe.
Interesting – thank you for the tip, Michelle!
This was soooo good! I added half a block of tempeh and it was a GREAT add in!
Sounds like a great idea!
AMAZING!!!! I made this the other night and it was PERFECT! Before I transitioned to a plant-based diet I was a pot pie junkie lol. My boyfriend is an omnivore but loves the vegan alternatives I try out on him. Bottom line we both loved this dish and ate it all within 24 hours ????. I did no modifications except I used a frozen pie crust. Thanks so much for this!! Will be trying another recipe if yours tonight!
That’s awesome to hear, Sarah!
Hi Caitlin! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! It was delicious! I think next time I am going to sub chickpeas out for lentils because they are a bit more savory, and I didn’t quite get my crust right, but I’ll keep trying! This was my first time ever making a pie, and I think it turned out pretty well!
That’s great to hear Brittany!