Learn how to make an easy, healthy pie crust without any oil or butter. This naturally vegan, oil-free, healthy pastry crust needs just 4 simple ingredients and can even be made gluten-free. It's easy to work with, with no chilling required. It won't melt while you roll it out or shrink in the oven. Use it for sweet or savoury pies and tarts with baked or no-bake fillings, and quiches and galettes.
Pie crust with no shortening, oil, butter, or even vegan butter? Is this for real?
Yes! And this healthy pie crust is completely fuss-free too. Because it is an oil-free pie crust recipe, you don't need to worry about it melting in a hot kitchen or your hands being too warm, and it won't shrink while it bakes. It's virtually foolproof!
This healthy pie crust recipe is so worth mastering because it can be used to make all of your favourite savoury or sweet pies and tart crusts, whether they have cooked or uncooked fillings. We're talking anything from pumpkin pie to butter tarts and vegan quiche. You can even use it to make pastries, pasties and galettes.
This healthy pastry recipe makes one pie crust suitable for a top or bottom. If you want to make a double-crusted pie, simply double the recipe.
Mel x
Ingredients
Here are the 4 ingredients you need to make a healthy pie crust at a glance, along with some important ingredient notes & substitution ideas:
- Flour - You can use all-purpose flour (plain flour in the UK), wholewheat flour or a good all-purpose gluten-free flour containing xanthan gum, like Bob's Red Mill 1 for 1 Baking Flour. I haven't tried it, but I'm 99% sure spelt flour will also work.
- Almond flour - For pie dough to work, it needs a fat source, and my healthy pie crust is made without shortening, butter, vegan butter, or oil. That means the fat in the dough comes from the almond flour, just like in my healthy oil-free biscuits and almond flour chocolate chip cookies. Almond flour is made from blanched almonds and is soft and very fine. I don't recommend using almond meal because it is coarser and isn't made from blanched almonds. If you are in the UK, use ground almonds (it's finely ground and blanched). Use any leftover almond flour to make my vegan parmesan cheese!
- Salt - For flavour. Use fine salt, not coarse salt, so it disperses evenly throughout the dough.
- Dairy-free milk - This should be unflavoured & unsweetened. Milk gives a much better result than water in this recipe.
- OPTIONAL Sugar - This is only needed if you are making a sweet crust.
Success Tip
Please note that each ingredient has a very specific job, so when making this vegan pie pastry it is important to not make any subs and to be precise with your measurements. I highly recommend the use of a digital scale for measuring flour and butter. Cups are not accurate enough for the best and most consistent results when baking.
How To Make Healthy Pie Crust
Can't wait to make this vegan, oil-free pie crust? The full printable recipe is below, but first, let me walk you through the steps to set you up for success in your kitchen:
1 - Mix everything together in a large bowl.
2 - Use just enough milk to bring the dough together into a smooth, supple ball.
3 - Roll out the pie crust and drape it over your dish, or simply press it into the dish with your hands if you don't mind it looking a little "rustic".
4 - Crimp or trim the edge. If making a pie that doesn't need blind-baking/parbaking, you can go ahead and make your pie. If you need to blind-bake/parbake the crust, prick the base all over with a fork. The pie recipe you are using will tell you which is necessary.
5. Line with scrunched-up parchment paper, then fill with baking beans, dried rice or dried beans and blind bake or fully bake.
Pie Crust Success Tips
- Prevent crumbly pastry by making sure you use enough milk when mixing the dough. Too little and your dough will be difficult to work with and prone to cracking.
- Roll the dough bigger than the diameter of your pie dish. It should be at least 2 or 3 inches wider all around.
- Preheat a large metal baking tray in the oven and place the pie crust on it to bake. The heat from the metal helps create a crisp bottom.
- To prevent a tough pie crust, weigh the flour and almond flour with a digital scale to ensure the ratio is correct. If the flour-to-fat ratio is off, you will not get the intended texture. Cup measurements are not accurate enough for flour or flour-like substances.
Making in advance & freezing
Here is how to make healthy pie crust pastry in advance:
- Uncooked and unrolled pastry dough - Make the healthy vegan pie dough up to 3 days ahead. Place in a tightly sealed freezer bag, airtight container or wrap tightly in cling wrap. Place in the fridge until needed or freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge. You might need to leave it out at room temperature for a few minutes to warm and soften slightly before rolling it.
- Rolled, lined and uncooked - After lining the pie dish, you can carefully store it in the fridge for up to 5 days or the freezer for up to 3 months. Cover it tightly so it doesn't dry out, and be very careful it doesn't get knocked while in the fridge or freezer. Blind-bake or cook it completely straight from the fridge or freezer. Add an extra minute to the bake time if it's coming from the freezer.
- Blind-baked or completely baked - Store in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 4 days.
Recipe FAQs
No. Leftover almond pulp from making almond milk will not work in this recipe. That's because the fat in the almonds is essential to the success of this recipe, and when you make almond milk, a lot of the fat leaches out into the milk and there won't be enough left in the pulp for the recipe to turn out well. Use your pulp to make almond pulp chocolate chip cookies instead!
This depends on the pie recipe you are making. A recipe will always state whether you need a raw, parbaked or fully baked crust. As a general rule, though, recipes with a very wet filling that could create a soggy bottom, like pumpkin pie or quiche, or recipes where the filling needs a shorter bake time than the crust, usually require a parbaked/blind-baked pie crust. Pies that have a long bake time, like apple pie, don't usually need the crust to be parbaked, and pies with a no-cook filling always require a fully baked and cooled pie crust.
Recipe
Healthy Pie Crust
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
Makes 1 pie crust. Double the recipe for a double-crusted pie.
- 1½ cups (140 grams) almond flour (In the UK, use ground almonds)
- ¾ cup (94 grams) all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour, or gluten-free all-purpose flour containing xanthan gum
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 7 to 8 tablespoons dairy-free milk, unsweetened and unflavoured
OPTIONAL (for a sweet crust)
- 2 tablespoons cane sugar or white sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
- To a bowl, add the almond flour, all-purpose flour and salt. Whisk them together.
- Gradually add the milk, stirring as you go. You might not need it all. You might need a tiny bit more. It varies a little every time. Once it starts looking clumpy, get a clean hand in there and feel it. Use just enough milk so the dough holds its shape when you squeeze it together, feels supple and is easily rollable. Bring the dough together into a ball.
- At this stage, you can either roll out the dough with a rolling pin or press it into your dish or pan with your fingertips.
- If rolling it out, transfer it to a clean, floured surface. If you have a silicone baking mat, they work really well for rolling pastry dough out. Roll out to 2 or 3 inches larger than your pie/quiche/tart dish. Sprinkle with flour as needed to stop any sticking.
- Lift carefully by partially rolling the rolled-out dough around the rolling pin, and gently lower it into the dish. Press into the dish gently, then trim around the edges with a sharp knife or crimp.
- If making a double-crusted pie, fill the pie crust, then cover with the top crust, brush the edges with milk, press together to seal, then crimp the edges and bake as per your recipe.
To blind-bake the crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175 °C) with a metal baking sheet on the middle shelf, big enough to sit your pie dish on.
- Use a fork to pierce small holes evenly over the bottom of the crust. Line with parchment paper. Cut a piece the size you need, then scrunch it up in your hands really tightly like you are going to throw it in the trash. Straighten it out and push it gently over and into the pie crust. Scrunching makes it much easier to nestle it in there.
- Fill with baking beans, dried beans or uncooked rice and place it on the preheated baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges of the crust are dry and just beginning to show a hint of colour.
- Remove from the oven and gently lift out the parchment paper along with the baking beans/rice. Then return to the oven and bake for another couple of minutes until the bottom of the crust also looks dry.
To fully bake
- Follow the blind-baking instructions but when you remove the parchment paper and baking beans/rice and return it to the oven, bake for 15 minutes or until the bottom crust and sides are light golden brown.
NOTES
- Uncooked and unrolled pastry dough - Make the healthy vegan pie dough up to 3 days ahead. Place in a tightly sealed freezer bag, airtight container or wrap tightly and thoroughly in cling wrap and place in the fridge until needed. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge. You might need to leave it out at room temperature for a few minutes to warm and soften very slightly before rolling it.
- Rolled, place in the pie dish and uncooked - After lining the pie dish, you can carefully store it in the fridge for up to 5 days or the freezer for up to 3 months. Be sure to cover it tightly so it doesn't dry out, and be very careful it doesn't get knocked while in the fridge or freezer. Blind-bake or cook it completely straight from the fridge or freezer. Add an extra minute to the bake time if it's coming from the freezer.
- Blind-baked or completely baked - Store in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 4 days.
Rae says
I have not tried this recipe yet. Does this recipe yield a light flakey crust? Other oil free recipes that I have tried are dense and hard when baked. I am looking for a healthy crust recipe that is light and flaky.
Melanie McDonald says
No it’s not flaky. Small lumps of butter/vegan butter (or other hard fat like coconut oil
Or shortening) throughout the dough is what makes a traditional pie crust flaky. It is impossible to make a flaky crust without a source of fat like that. Baking is science at the end of the day.
Like any healthy recipe you need to be realistic and make some compromises.
If you want a flaky pie crust make a regular pie crust recipe. There’s one here on my website. It’s not like any of us are eating pie every day so one fatty, flaky crust every now and again really isn’t the end of the world.
Having said that this pie crust is really delicious and gets great feedback, so if a healthy crust without butter/oil is what you want you’re probably not going to get better.
Hope that helps!
Dharini says
I came across this when looking for a healthier pie crust without butter to make quiche. Tried it out today and it worked very well! The crust was very tasty and went well with a quiche filling. Thank you for this!
Plant Fueled Family says
This is my go to pie crust recipe for whole food plant based cooking (I use fresh milled soft white wheat and date sugar for sweetener to keep it wfpb).
I’ve tried a bunch of others before and this one is my consistent go to.
Now for anyone new to wfpb baking - I’ll say don’t expect a puff pastry like shell because it doesn’t have all that garbage in it.
Danielle Christensen says
Can one use this crust for pumpkin pie?
Or do you have to bake the crust first?
Melanie McDonald says
You can use this crust for any recipe that needs a pie crust. Whether you parbake it first depends on your pumpkin pie recipe. Some need to be fully baked, some need to be partially baked, and some need to be raw. It's entirely recipe-dependent and comes down to how liquidy the filling is and how long the bake time is. The recipe will state whether the crust needs to be pre-baked fully, partially baked (blind-baked), or not. My pumpkin pie recipe calls for a blind-baked crust and includes instructions for how to do that. Hope that helps!
Bonn says
Really like this recipe! I have been making it into wafers (rolling the dough, then using a cookie cutter), which bake for about 12 minutes. They are delightful with nut butter and jam. Thanks for this great recipe!
Jamal says
how do i make this with apple pie filling from walmart?
Jamal says
I am going to use a pie filling from great value how to bake?
Melanie McDonald says
Double the recipe so you have a top and bottom crust. Make the pie (bottom crust in pie plate, filling in, brush the edges with a bit of dairy free milk then put the top crust on and crimp. Brush with more milk or make a vegan egg wash. I like to sprinkle the top of my pies with sugar too. It gives a nice texture). Place on a metal baking tray in case of any fruit bubbling out, and bake in a preheated oven at 400f until golden and crispy. Probably about 40 mins but it will vary depending on the material of your pie plate and your oven. Hope that helps!
Sharan says
This is the very best pie crust using no oil or butter I have ever made! This is now my go to for all my pies! My daughter agrees and we both are so excited to finally find a good recipe that is outstanding in all areas. Thank you!!!
Danielle Christensen says
Can you use this recipe for pumpkin pies or do you have to bake it first?
Melanie McDonald says
I just replied to your earlier comment.
Larry SMITH says
Question: How long will this last in the fridge or freezer? I'd like to make several at a time and use as needed.
Melanie McDonald says
It will keep well for 3 months in the freezer. You can freeze balls of dough, or you can freeze it rolled out and in the pie pan (as long as the pan is freezer safe), or you can freeze it once it's baked in the pie pan. Whichever is most convenient.
Tammy Argraves says
Hello,
Glad I came across your website. I have decided on this recipe for a pumpkin pie. It looks so easy so Thank YOU!
I don't have much luck it seems with crust recipes, but I am looking forward to trying this one out.
I do have one question, I have cassava flour, and do you know if I could use that in place of all-purpose flour?
Thanks again,
Tammy
Melanie McDonald says
For the best results I recommend following the recipe as written. I've never used cassava flour (for anything) so can't even guess how it would work here, and the recipe has only been tested with all-purpose flour and a good quality gluten-free all purpose flour blend. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
Sharan says
I loved this recipe. Since vegan and oil free I’ve never found a good piecrust so literally stopped making pies. I love pies so saw this and tried it as written. I still need to practice a bit more but my cherry pie and crust were extremely good!!
Thank you! You never let me down!!
Sharan
June says
For a quiche, will it work to put filling in raw pastry then bake or should I blind bake the pastry first? Thank you for this recipe. I appreciate all the testing you must have done to perfect it.
Melanie McDonald says
It's best to blind bake it. As a general rule any filling that starts off really liquidy and wet needs a blind-baked crust. Having said that, if I'm just cooking for me and want to be quick I do sometimes skip it and just brush the uncooked crust with some oil to create a somewhat water tight barrier before pouring in the filling. I wouldn't if I was cooking for anyone else though. Hope that helps!
Shirley says
For once when I searched for healthy, no butter almond flour pie crust I actually found one!!! I’m so excited to make lemon meringue pie and pumpkin pie using this as my crust!!! Thank you
Melanie McDonald says
Happy baking, Shirley!