Best Vegan Apple Pie (Eggless & Dairy-Free)

Oh, my, is that a yummy piece of homemade pie? To that, we reply, we cannot lie. This is the best vegan apple pie you’ll ever try. It has a gooey, cinnamon-speckled apple pie filling and a light buttery crust that can be laid on flat or braided into a lattice.

Close your eyes and picture sweet, glistening apple slices spiced with cinnamon, lemon, and a dash of nutmeg, all topped with a golden, flaky, and buttery vegan crust. Imagine sitting down to a plate full of pie and leaning down to feel the comforting warmth and smell the enticing flavors. Are you drooling over this delicious dessert memory?

If you’re ready to take the path that leads to pie perfection, arm yourself with a basketful of apples and let’s get baking! 

Why This Vegan Apple Pie Recipe Is So Awesome

Since you’re reading this recipe, we’re assuming that you already love apple pie. Why should you give our simple but scrumptious recipe a try? Here’s why! 

• Super versatile (use your own apple varieties!)
• Very tasty with a homemade texture you’ll adore
• Satisfying to make in your very own kitchen
• Fresh and inexpensive to make
• Soy-free, dairy-free, and nut-free

What Is The Best Apple to Use for Apple Pie?

The best rule of thumb is to use a variety of apples. Apple pie tastes best when many different tastes and textures are incorporated underneath the dough. Although you can use any apple you wish (and we encourage this!), here are few common favorites. 

• Braeburn – One of the best choices for apple pie due to its innate cinnamon and nutmeg flavors. Also has a lovely balance of tart and sweet goodness.
• Granny Smith – A green-skinned favorite that gives a wonderful tart contrast to the sweeter apples and is available all year round.
• Honey Crisp – The perfect combination of sweet (which intensifies when baked) with just a hint of tart, while holding its shape well when cooked. 
• Macintosh – Slightly sour with a nice soft, white texture. A classic.
• Pink Lady – Super crisp and rosy-skinned with a delicate balance of sweet and tart. 
• Jonagold – A mixture of Jonathan and Golden Delicious, this apple is a fantastic choice because of it’s sweet, bold flavor and firm, acidic profile. 
• Cortland – This apple doesn’t turn brown as quickly as the others and has a super juicy and crisp texture.

Key Vegan Apple Pie Ingredients

Apples: The star of our pie, apples bring a naturally sweet and tangy flavor. By using a mix of apple varieties, especially tart ones, you achieve a more complex taste and texture. Apples are also a great source of dietary fiber and vitamin C!

Lemon Juice and Zest: Lemons add brightness and zing to the filling, enhancing the apples’ natural flavors. The zest is optional, but adds an extra layer of citrus aroma, while the juice prevents the apples from browning and balances out the pie’s sweetness.

Granulated Cane Sugar & Brown Sugar: These sweeteners complement the tartness of the apples. Brown sugar also introduces rich molasses undertones that give depth to the pie’s flavor profile.

Cinnamon & Nutmeg: Quintessential spices for apple pie, they introduce warmth, depth, and a hint of spice. Cinnamon is aromatic and slightly sweet, while nutmeg adds a subtle, nutty warmth.

Vegan Butter: This dairy-free alternative provides a rich, buttery flavor and helps in creating a luscious filling. It also aids in caramelizing the sugars. 6. Cornstarch: Acting as a thickening agent, cornstarch ensures that the filling isn’t too runny, giving it a nice, gooey consistency that holds together when sliced.

Vegan Pie Crust Dough: A good crust is essential for any pie, and it’s easy to make yourself! Make sure the bottom crust layer is rolled out very thinly, since a thick bottom crust may not bake through. Using vegan dough ensures a flaky and tender base and top without any dairy or animal products.

Cooking Oil Spray/Vegetable Oil: This aids in preventing the pie from sticking when baked, ensuring that your pie comes out of the dish smoothly when serving.

Plant-Based Milk: Used as a wash for the top crust, plant-based milk gives the pie a glossy finish and helps in achieving a beautiful golden-brown color. It also helps the cinnamon and sugar mixture stick to the top of the crust. If you don’t have plant-based milk, water can be used instead!

Cane Sugar & Cinnamon (Topping): A sprinkle on top before baking gives the pie a delightful crunch and an extra layer of sweetness and spice. By understanding each ingredient’s unique role, you can ensure your vegan apple pie is as flavorful and delicious as its traditional counterpart. Enjoy!

What can I do with the extra dough that I have left over?

Great question! Don’t throw away your extra dough. You can use it to make tiny little pies (just roll out a piece of dough, stick in a slice of apple inside, sprinkle on a little sugar, roll it up, and bake until golden brown) or use cookie cutters (a sharp knife works, too!) to create designs that you can add to the top of your pie. Ideas for shapes include: apples, leaves, half moons, hearts, etc. To attach, brush a little bit of water on the back of the dough shape and press it gently into the crust.

How to Store Your Leftover Apple Pie

The amazing thing about apple pie is that you can refrigerate or freeze it easily. Place your pie in a covered container or dish and refrigerate for up to a week. To freeze, wrap your pie slices up completely with either aluminum foil or plastic wrap (individually works best) and place the slices into a freezer-safe container or bag. The apple pie slices should last up to 3 months if sealed well.

To reheat from frozen, simply let the apple pie thaw overnight in the fridge and heat in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or zap in the microwave for a minute or two (depending on the your oven or power of your microwave). If you don’t have time or forget to take your pie out ahead of time, just let it sit out at room temperature for a few hours before heating. 

How Can I Prevent A Soggy Bottom?

To prevent a soggy unbaked bottom crust:

Partially Pre-Bake the Bottom Crust: Pre-bake the crust for a few minutes before adding the filling. This process, known as blind baking, ensures the crust starts to cook before it’s exposed to any wet ingredients. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, prick the bottom crust with a fork and line with aluminum foil or parchment paper, fill it with pie weights, rice, or dry beans, and bake for around 14-15 minutes for a partially baked crust.

Thickener: Use thickeners like cornstarch, flour, or tapioca in the filling. This absorbs some of the excess moisture and prevents it from seeping into the crust. This is one of the reasons why this we use cornstarch in the apple pie filling for this recipe.

Reduce Juices: If you’re using fruits, consider boiling down their juices before adding them to the filling. This concentrates the flavor and reduces the overall moisture content.

High Oven Temperature: Begin baking at a higher temperature. This will set the crust quickly and prevent the juices from the filling from making it soggy. After the initial high heat, reduce to the desired temperature to finish baking.

Lower Oven Rack: Place your pie on the lowest oven rack. The direct heat at the bottom will help cook the base faster.

Prevent Overfilling: Avoid adding too much filling, especially if it’s a wet mixture. More moisture means a higher chance of a soggy bottom.

Use a Glass or Metal Pie Dish: These materials conduct heat better than ceramic, ensuring the bottom gets adequately baked. Using a transparent glass pie dish is especially helpful because you can see if the bottom of the pie is well baked.

Cooling: Allow your pie to cool on a wire rack. This lets the steam escape and prevents the crust from getting soggy from the residual heat. Venting: Ensure your pie has adequate vents on the top crust or lattice. This allows steam to escape and prevents it from settling on the bottom crust. Remember, the type of filling, the crust recipe, and even the oven’s idiosyncrasies can all play a part, so you might need to tweak these suggestions based on your specific situation.

Tips for Serving Up Your Dairy-Free Apple Pie

I think we can all agree that the best vegan apple pie tastes incredible without any frills or fancy ingredients. In our opinion, the simpler it is, the better it tastes. With that in mind, we have a few fun suggestions for serving up your satisfying slice of fruit pie. Let us know your favorite!

• I’ll Have Mine With Cheese, Please! – Have you ever heard of pairing chunks of cold cheddar cheese with warm apple pie? If you’ve never tried it, this is the time! It may sound weird and wacky but, believe us, it’s out of this world! One of our favorite vegan cheddar cheeses is Violife Epic Mature Cheddar.
• Fruit-Filled Fantasy – If you like to add a little pizzazz to your apple pie, consider adding chopped fresh or dried fruit or nuts such as apricots, raisins, dates, figs, berries, peaches, walnuts, pecans, or almonds. ¼ cup of nuts and/or ½ cup of fruit is a good amount to begin with. Adds a terrific texture and fun fruit flavor.
• Ultra Creamy & Oh-So-Dreamy – What could be better than a dollop of decadent vegan ice cream or wondrous whipped cream with your heavenly piece of pie? There’s something magical about a solitary scoop of chilled ice cream melting on top of a lovely and warm, just-out-of-the-oven slice of pie. Mmmm…so good.

If you try this apple pie vegan recipe, let us know what you think by leaving a comment and rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more vegan recipe inspiration.

Help! I don’t want to make crust from scratch! What do I do?

No worries! You can easily make this apple pie recipe using only a frozen, pre-packaged bottom crust. Add the apple pie mixture as stated above. For a topping, feel free to add granola before cooking for an apple pie crumble. Or simply top with aquafaba whip or coconut whipped cream or vegan ice cream (or anything else you like) once the pie is cooked and cooled. It will be delicious any way you serve it!

How to Avoid Pie Crust Edges From Burning

To help your pie crust edges from burning, make sure that your pie plate is on the middle or lower middle oven rack. If it’s on the top rack, the chances of burning are higher because of the closeness to the heating element. You can also place strips of aluminum foil around the edges about halfway through the cooking time, especially if you notice the edge of the crust getting browned faster than the rest. You can even invest in a handy pie crust shield that protects the crust from burning in the oven.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Apple Pie Vegan?

You would think that most recipes with fruit in them would be vegan-friendly but, sadly, that is not so. Apple pie is not usually vegan because recipes often add milk, eggs and/or butter to the crust and an egg wash may be added to the top crust to give it a glossy shine. We’ve found that you can get the same result using plant milk instead of the beaten egg mixture.

Be very careful when you purchase pre-made crusts. The popular Pillsbury pie dough contains lard, which is an animal-based fat. Plus, it’s pretty high in saturated fat. We recommend using a vegan-friendly version or making your own crust. You can easily adapt any pie crust recipe by swapping out the dairy butter for vegan butter, lard for vegetable shortening, and a flax-egg or egg substitute for eggs. 

Is it possible to turn this plant-based apple pie into a vegan gluten-free apple pie recipe? 

You’re in luck! Besides using a gluten-free pie crust (either homemade or pre-packaged), you can also make your own vegan apple pie crumb crust.  Choose almond flour, coconut flour, or even crushed up gluten-free cookie crumbs to create a bottom layer. Mix 1½ cups of fine crumbs with ¼ cup of cane sugar and 6 tablespoons of vegan butter. Press firmly into a pie plate and bake as usual with apple filling. Also, switch out the all-purpose flour (which thickens the apple pie mixture) for half the amount of arrowroot or cornstarch instead.

Super Easy DIY Vegan Apple Pie Ice Cream 

You might be asking, is it possible to make this myself? Even without an ice cream maker? And we say, YES! This uber-duber, DIY version takes only minutes to mix and only about an hour or so to set. You’ll be so glad you gave it a shot!

• Grab a pint of your favorite, pre-packaged vanilla ice cream.
• Take it out of the freezer and let it sit at room temperature until it is a little melty, but not entirely liquid.
• While you’re waiting, take a slice of apple pie (cold leftovers from the fridge work best) and chop it up into small chunks, including the yummy crust. (In our opinion, the best part!)
• Pour your softened ice cream into a mixing bowl and add the chopped apple pie pieces. Mix gently and well.
• Scoop back into the pint container (this might get messy, but don’t worry too much), cover, and place back into the freezer (not on the door, it’s the warmest part of the freezer) for at least one hour. If you let it re-freeze overnight, it will be even better, especially if you stir it up at least once in the process.

You can do this with any type of pie and it’s so delicious. An excellent use for leftover half-slices or not-so-perfect pieces that you don’t wish to serve to family and friends.

More Vegan Pie Recipes and Delicious Desserts To Try

• No-Bake Chocolate Pie With Graham Cracker Crust
• Vegan Lemon Olive Oil Cake
• Mini Vegan Apple Strudels
• Apple Walnut Pastry Purses
• Vegan Strawberry Shortcakes
• Vegan Blueberry Pie

This non dairy apple pie recipe was photography by JJ Steele for World of Vegan.