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This is the Best Gluten-Free Vegan Pie Crust you’ve been waiting for!! After years of testing, this recipe is my all-time pie crust winner—it’s crisp, flaky, and buttery and perfect pre-baked, par-baked, or baked along with the pie filling. It’s also grain-free and paleo-friendly. Thanks to Flora Plant Butter for sponsoring this post!
Meet my new favorite, go-to pie crust recipe! Pie crust is one of those things for which you need a go-to recipe. I am a pie crust aficionado. I love it and will happily rip the crust off the side of a pie to eat all by itself. In my gluten-free vegan world, my go-to pie crust needs to be a gluten-free vegan pie crust, and this is it.
It’s flaky, tender, and so buttery—even though it’s gluten-free and vegan! Large flakiness points go to Flora Plant Butter, a magical vegan butter substitute that tastes and bakes so much like butter. We use it just the way I’d use regular butter for a pie crust, cutting it into the dry ingredients and baking. It creates magical little layers of flaky goodness.
What do you need for this pie crust?
- Almond Flour: Almond flour works so well here for flavor and texture!
- Tapioca Flour or Arrowroot Starch: Using tapioca or arrowroot starch helps keep the pie crust crispy and makes it easier to handle.
- Coconut Sugar: optional! You can skip this if you use the pie crust with a savory recipe, like a quiche or a pot pie. Keep it in for something sweet.
- Sea Salt: a must in every recipe.
- Flora Plant Butter: the vegan butter of my dreams! The Flora Plant Butter (all vegan-friendly) works SO well for this recipe. It performs like regular butter to give a fabulously flaky, buttery crust. Make sure to use the unsalted version to control the salt level.
- Flax Egg: A regular egg will also work here if you’re not vegan!
- Water: Make sure your water is ice cold to keep the butter chilled
How to make a flax egg?
To make a flax egg, combine 1 tablespoon of flax meal with 2.5 tablespoons of water. Whisk them together and allow them to sit for 5 to 10 minutes or until a gel consistency has formed.
Can I use this pie crust with other pie recipes?
YES! Make this gluten-free vegan pie crust instead of the one the recipe calls for, or wherever it calls for a pre-made pie crust. It also works splendidly for tart crusts.
Do you need to pre-bake this gluten-free vegan pie crust?
No, definitely not! I tested this crust in all kinds of ways, and it worked well in all of them. It baked up perfectly for a no-bake pie filling, getting crispy and holding its shape well even after the filling was added. I also tested parbaking it for the pecan pie photos in this post, and that also worked! Whatever your pie recipe calls for, this gluten-free vegan pie crust will do the trick.
For no-bake pies, bake the crust all the way through for about 15 minutes until it’s golden brown and cooked all the way through. Allow to cool completely before adding your filling.
For baked pies: Par-bake the crust in the oven for about 10 minutes until the edges start to set. Remove from the oven, add filling (and top crust or crumble if required), and return to the oven to finish baking.
Can I prepare this gluten-free vegan pie crust ahead of time?
Absolutely. You can prepare the dough up to five days ahead of time—or even longer if you keep it in the freezer. You can store it in a disc wrapped in plastic wrap, or you can prepare it in a pie dish and refrigerate or freeze it like that. Just make sure it’s well wrapped so it doesn’t dry out.
I hope you love this pie crust as much as I do! The recipe is memorized around here, and if you make as much pie as I do during the holiday season, you’ll probably end the year with it memorized too :D Enjoy!!
Need some pie inspiration?
- Apple Crumble Pie (Gluten-Free, Paleo & Vegan)
- Pumpkin Pie (Gluten-Free, Paleo & Vegan)
- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (Gluten-Free & Paleo)
The Best Gluten-Free Vegan Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 1 cup (96g) blanched almond flour
- ¾ cup (105g) tapioca flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 6 tablespoons (84g) plant butter of choice, cold and cubed into small pieces
- 1 flax egg, can also use a regular egg if not vegan, see Notes for how-to
- 2 tablespoons ice-cold water
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, tapioca flour, coconut sugar, and salt.1 cup (96g) blanched almond flour, ¾ cup (105g) tapioca flour, 2 tablespoons coconut sugar, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Add the vegan butter and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until it’s in small bits, no larger than a pea. You can also do this in a food processor if you prefer.6 tablespoons (84g) plant butter of choice
- Add the egg and 1 tablespoon of the cold liquid. Gently mix to combine, and add the other tablespoon of liquid if needed. You can use a little bit more cold water/milk if needed for it to come together, but don’t let the dough get too wet and don’t over mix! Small streaks of butter are expected, and I recommend erring on the side of less liquid as long as the dry ingredients are all moistened.1 flax egg, 2 tablespoons ice-cold water
- Wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper and refrigerate for at least an hour, or up to 4 days.
- When you’re ready to bake, lightly flour a sheet of parchment paper with tapioca flour. Place the dough on top, add more flour to the top of the dough, and roll out into a large circle, adding more flour to prevent sticking as needed.
- Place your pie pan upside down on top of the dough, and use the parchment paper to flip the dough into the pie pan. Use it to press the dough into place, and then peel the parchment off. If it has a hard time peeling off, place the whole thing (with parchment) into the freezer. After about 10 minutes you should be able to pull it off more cleanly.
- Press the dough into place, fixing any holes, and crimping the crust as desired. This is a gluten-free crust, so it won’t be as easy to work with as a gluten crust, but be patient with yourself as the crust won’t get tough like a gluten crust will either. Trim off any excess dough (save this dough and see Notes).
- Refrigerate or freeze until you’re ready to bake.
- If you’re par-baking the crust: Preheat oven to 375°F and bake for 10 to 12 minutes to par-bake.
- If you’re baking the crust in full to add a no-bake or pre-cooked filling: Preheat oven to 375°F and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.
Hello! Unfortunately, Flora Plant Butter is not available in my area. Is there a similar brand or ingredient you can recommend? Thank you :)
Hi Molly, most vegan butter bars should work well here – just make sure not to use the softer ones in a container, as they won’t get as fluffy. Coconut oil would also work! Enjoy :)
Can this pie crust be used for double crust bottom and top?
Hi Elizabeth, yes it would work great for both!
Thanks , I made a vegan strawberry rhubarb pie and it came out great, have your cookbook it’s great too!
This is my new go to pie crust recipe! I’ve used it for a pecan pie and bakerita’s paleo pumpkin pie, worked great for both. Crisp and flaky!! A little trickier to work with than traditional gluten pie crust (as to be expected) but not too difficult, you get used to it quickly and it’s worth the result.
So thrilled you loved it, Lauren!!
Hi! I can’t have plant butter at all. Do you think I could use palm shortening or coconut oil? Btw, your recipes have saved my life since I got diagnosed with my thyroid issue and started having food reactions. You’re just incredible, thank you!
Hi Noelle, thank you so much for the kind comment, and yes, either of those will work in place of plant butter! Hope you love this one, and any other recipes you try :)
This really is the BEST gluten free crust! It stays together and doesn’t crumble at all! You are a magician for coming up with this. My mom, who is a pumpkin pie aficionado, said she couldn’t tell the difference between this crust and gluten crust. I’m so happy I found this! Just a couple of notes: I used my own vegan butter, which is pretty much 99% refined coconut oil. Half the coconut sugar, doubled the salt, used a real egg well beaten, and 1 tbsp of ice cold water. But that is all just my taste :)
So glad that you’re loving it! Thanks so much for sharing, Noelle :)
I’m sadly intolerant to almonds. Is there a substitute for the almond flour?
Hi Adele, this recipe is specifically developed for almond flour. However, you could try a 1:1 swap for something like sunflower seed flour, tigernut flour, or another nut/seed flour, or you can use 3/4 cup of oat flour. Oat flour is more absorbent, so it could lead to a drier crust. Hope this helps!
I made this crust today and the texture and taste was incredible. The exposed crust did brown way too much, even when covered. I did use real butter. Any thoughts on this? Thank you!
Hi Becky, is your oven running at the right temperature? The difference in real vs vegan butter may have made a difference – this recipe was only tested with vegan butter.
Can I use coconut oil instead?
Yes, just use refined coconut oil to avoid any coconut flavor.