This delicious vegan apple pie recipe is the perfect fall dessert to bring to a special occasion or to make after you've gone apple picking and have too many apples laying around!
Best Apples to Use
I like to use the crispiest kind of apples that I can find when making homemade apple pie. My favorite is honeycrisp, but they tend to be so expensive that I don't like to use them in recipes.
I think that pink lady, gala, and McIntosh apples work great because they're both crisp and sweet. I like to use sweet apples instead of tart apples, but you can also try this recipe with Granny Smith apples.
Freshly-picked apples of any kind are also great to use! My favorite thing to do is to make a delicious vegan apple pie after getting a huge bag of apples after going apple picking with friends in the fall!
How to store the pie
To store the pie, cover it with plastic wrap or cling form, or place it in an airtight container and store in the fridge. When taking it out of the fridge to enjoy, microwave each slice to warm it up first.
Vegan Pie Crust
I used a store bought pie crust for this recipe because I find that they turn out great and are also much easier than making your own. However, if you prefer to make the whole apple pie from scratch and make a homemade crust, here is a great recipe for a traditional pie crust made vegan by Nora Cooks.
In this vegan pie crust recipe, she uses all purpose flour, but if you wanted to use gluten free flour, here is another great recipe for a gluten free pie crust from My Quiet Kitchen.
Many stores also sell gluten free crusts, if you prefer going that route. I usually get mine at Whole Foods- this is the one I purchase and I find it works great.
Just to make my pie look a little bit fancier, I transferred the store bought pie crust to a glass baking dish from the pie tin it came in originally. This is, of course, completely optional.
Keeping it lower in sugar than traditional apple pie, but still just as delicious
I tested this recipe so many times because I wanted to make the best vegan apple pie recipe, but also try and keep it as healthy as it can be, without sacrificing on the taste. I tested this recipe with less sugar, and I found that it's perfect with the Âľ cup of total sugar that I added in this recipe, but with any less sugar, it turns out a little bit dry and the apples don't soften up enough that way.
Many classic apple pie recipes call for 1 cup or at least â…” cup sugar, but I found that Âľ cup sugar works just as well and actually keeps the pie from being too sweet. You're welcome to try the recipe with even less sugar than I added, but for best results, I recommend adding the full Âľ cup of sugar.
What you will need for your vegan apple pie recipe
- apples (3 lb)
- 2 store bought pie crusts
- lemon juice
- lemon zest
- brown sugar
- white cane sugar: you can use coconut sugar instead of the white & brown sugar combo, if you prefer.
- vegan butter: you can also sub for coconut oil, but I love this recipe with vegan butter, personally.
- cornstarch
- ground cinnamon
- vanilla extract
- nutmeg
- ginger
- pinch of salt
The full ratios are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
How to make the best apple pie
Preheat the oven to 375*F/ 190*C.
Start by washing and peeling the apples. Remove the core and slice. Make the apple slices about ÂĽ inch in width.
Place the sliced apples in a large bowl, then squeeze out the lemon juice and zest the lemon peel on top. Add the white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Mix everything well.
In a large pan over medium heat, add the vegan butter. Cook it for about a minute, until the butter melts. Then add the apple mixture to the pan.
Cook the apples for about 10-15 minutes, until the they have released their juices and they have become softer. While cooking, cover the pan with a lid and remove it to stir the apples every few minutes.
About 2-3 minutes before taking the apples off the heat, add in the corn starch and stir until the clumps are gone.Â
Add your homemade apple pie filling to the pie pan. Make sure you pour in all of the apple juice from the pan too. Use a spoon to make sure the apple filling is packed in the bottom of the pie crust and that it's flat and leveled on top.Â
Now it's time to add the top crust. You can either add the second pie crust on top of the pie and cut slits into it, or you can make an easy pie lattice.
Making a pie lattice
To turn your normal pie crust into a beautiful lattice, start by using a rolling pin to roll out the pie dough on a clean surface. Then use a pizza cutter to cut up the dough into ½ - ¾ inch strips. Line five strips vertically on top of the pie.
To add the second layer of lattice strips, lift back every other strip of dough. Then place a strip horizontally over the pie and roll the strips back down. Repeat this with all of the other strips of pie crust.
This is much easier to understand when looking at a photo or video than when describing in words! You can look at the photos below, or check out this video that shows the process very slowly step by step.
To make a vegan egg wash, I used a pastry brush to brush on some aquafaba and dairy free milk on top of the lattice crust.
Note: aquafaba is the water from a can of chickpeas and is a great vegan egg substitute.
Place the ready to bake pie on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, incase any of the juice from the filling starts to bubble out.
Foil Ring
You can also add a foil ring around the edges of the pie crust because the outside edges of the pie can tend to burn before the pie is ready. This blog post shows how to easily do this.
Bake the pie for 45-50 minutes at 375*F/ 190*C. It's ready when the crust starts to become slightly golden brown.
Once you remove the pie from the oven, give it plenty of time to cool at room temperature. The filling will still be setting while the pie is cooling, so don't dig in just yet! I like to let mine cool for about an hour.Â
Once the pie has cooled, slice and enjoy it with some vegan vanilla ice cream!
Video
More apple desserts & other sweet treats that will pair well with your holiday dinners:
apple oat bars with caramel topping
The Best Easy Vegan Apple Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 apples 3 lb
- 2 store bought pie crusts
- 1 lemon juice and zest
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ÂĽ cup white sugar
- ÂĽ cup vegan butter
- 1 ½ tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ÂĽ teaspoon nutmeg
- ÂĽ teaspoon ginger
- dash of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*F/ 190*C.
- Start by washing and peeling the apples. Remove the core and slice into pieces about ÂĽ inch in width.
- Place the apple slices in a large bowl, then squeeze out the lemon juice and zest the lemon peel on top. Add the white and brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. Mix everything well.
- In a large pan over medium heat, add the vegan butter. Cook it for about a minute, until the butter melts. Then add the apple filling to the pan.
- Cook the apples for about 15 minutes, until the apples have released their juices and they have become softer. Cover the pan with a lid and remove it to stir the apples every few minutes.
- About 2-3 minutes before taking the apples off the heat, add in the cornstarch and stir until the clumps are gone.
- Add the apple filling to the uncooked pie crust. Use a spoon to make sure the apple filling is packed in the crust and that it's flat and leveled on top.
- Now it's time to add the top crust. You can either add the second pie dough on top of the pie and cut slits into it, or you can make an easy pie lattice by using a pizza cutter to cut up the dough into ½ inch strips. Instructions on how to make a lattice are in the recipe section above.
- To make a vegan egg wash, I used a pastry brush to brush on some aquafaba and dairy free milk.
- Place the ready to bake pie on a sheet pan, incase any of the juice from the filling starts to bubble out.
- You can also add a foil ring around the edges of the pie crust because the outside edges of the pie can tend to burn before the pie is ready. Details on how to do that are also in the post above.
- Bake the pie for 45-50 minutes at 375*F/ 190*C. It's ready when the crust starts to become slightly golden brown.
- Once you remove the pie from the oven, give it plenty of time to cool. The filling will still be setting while the pie is cooling. I like to let mine cool for about an hour.
- Once the pie has cooled, slice and enjoy it with some vegan vanilla ice cream!
Marianne
Made this and it was amazing!
Gaby Dimova
yay ! 🙂 thank you for your feedback!