Why you’ll love this dairy free pumpkin pie
Believe it or not, Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and I’m already hard at work testing pies and casseroles and all sorts of pumpkin-related things. I wanted to make sure you were prepared for the holiday with the best dairy free Thanksgiving recipes because I don’t want you to miss out on your favorite dishes just because they have dairy in them.
Pumpkin pie has been a tricky one for me. Traditional recipes call for evaporated or sweetened, condensed milk, which tend to be hard to substitute. So to keep things simple, I decided to make my pumpkin pie with coconut milk in place of evaporated milk. I did change the ratio of liquid-sugar-eggs just a little to make sure we didn’t end up with a soft, gooey mess when it came out of the oven. See also: Are eggs dairy?
More dairy free pumpkin recipes: dairy free pumpkin cookies / roasted garlic pumpkin hummus / pumpkin dinner rolls / pumpkin cream cheese muffins / pumpkin risotto
A few notes on pie crust:
I should start by saying that I am a fan of store-bought crust. I don’t think it’s worth the energy to make your own, especially since dairy free cooking can be so complicated and time-consuming. If you have a favorite pie crust recipe, than definitely use it. To give myself a little more crust to work with for the edge, I always roll mine out just a little.
Do I need to pre-bake the crust for pumpkin pie? You don’t need to blind bake your crust for this recipe, but it wouldn’t hurt. The process of blind baking just allows the crust to crisp up a little more, so you don’t end up with a soggy crust.
Melissa’s tips + tricks:
- Choose the right coconut milk. I recommend using a full-fat, canned coconut milk that contains about 60% coconut. If your coconut milk contains too much water, you will end up with a soggy, mushy pie.
- If you have a pie crust shield, use it when baking your pie to prevent the crust from getting too brown.
- Check doneness by inserting a toothpick into the very center of the pie. If it comes out clean, it’s ready.
- Serve your pie with dairy free whipped cream or your favorite dairy free vanilla ice cream.
More dairy free Thanksgiving recipes: dairy free green bean casserole / homemade stuffing / vegan scalloped potatoes
Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- 1 store-bought pie crust, or
- 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
Instructions
- Prepare your crust. Preheat your oven to 425˚F. Roll your crust to fit your pie plate and trim or flute the edges as desired.
- Blind bake the crust. Crumble a piece of parchment paper to make it more pliable, then add it to your crust and fill with pie weights. Then, bake the crust for 15 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and carefully remove the pie weights. Allow crust to cool completely before filling.
- Make the filling. In a large bowl, mix remaining ingredients with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into cooled pie crust and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350˚F and continue baking for 40 – 45 minutes, or until filling has set.
- Bake the pie. Remove from oven and allow pie to cool completely before loosely covering. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Do you not know coconut is a tree nut?
It is not. It is actually a fruit, though it’s commonly confused due to its name.
This pie was delicious! I didn’t notice a strong coconut flavor and thought the flavor and texture were absolutely perfect! It received perfect ratings from everyone who tried it, even those who aren’t dairy free. Thank you so much for this recipe!!
what could I replace the eggs with ?
You can try making the recipe with an egg replacement such as a flaxseed egg. I have not made it this way and cannot guarantee it will turn out, so I’d give it a shot before making it for guests.
Does the course salt get mixed with the ingredients or sprinkled over the pie afterwards?
Mixed in to balance the sweetness of the sugar.
This came out great! I could not tell the difference. Thank you.
I did not use pie crust. Baked directly in ramekins. Should have reduced bake time. I used half coconut sugar half erythritol and 1 tsp vanilla. It is delicious! Custard-like and so lovely!.
Great recipe! I realized just before Thanksgiving that I’m lactose intolerant, and pumpkin pie is an absolute must-have for me! I actually had to make it 3 times before I got it right because of the coconut milk. The first time, I think I bought lite milk that had a confusing label, and the pie was a bit watery. The second time, I bought coconut cream, and it was too sweet for my taste! The third time, I double checked that the coconut milk was high fat (~14g) and low sugar (~3g) and the filling was a great flavor and thick consistency! I also added about 1 tsp of vanilla extract because I just love that flavor. Thanks again, you made my turkey day!!
Followed recipe exactly and the pie never set even after baking extra time. I thought the filling seemed awful thin but decided to give it a shot anyways. Crust started to look extremely dark halfway through and had to be covered in foil. Baking temps and ratios seem like they are all significantly off. Such a disappointment as it took a lot of time and ingredients. Can’t recommend. And I should mention I am a seasoned vegan baker.
I’m sorry to hear that the recipe didn’t work out for you. I’ve made this recipe so many times, I’m not sure how it wouldn’t turn out. I am curious if you actually used eggs, since you mentioned you are vegan. If you skipped the eggs, or used a substitute, I’d love to know. Thanks!
If you want a sweet tasting pumpkin pie you need to substitute 1 cup coconut milk fir use 1 can sweetened condensed milk. Because Pumkin Puree is not sweetened, and 1 can coconut milk is not sweet enough to compare.
We made this recipe today, for a test to see if it would okay for everyone. It doesn’t compare to store bought pumpkin pie, due to lack of sugar. BUT IT HAS PERFECT TEXTURE, PERFECT COOKING TIME, perfect if you like no sugar taste. In order for my husband to eat it. He likes maple syrup on it and a big glob of cool whip the size if the slice, so every bite has sugar with it.
Sure, you could use sweetened, condensed milk, but the recipe isn’t dairy free then, which was the entire point of this recipe. They do make a dairy free version of that now, but when I first created this recipe, it was hard for me to find so we were relying on canned coconut milk. Thank you for your feedback! Leaving this here for anyone that it might help.
This is amazing & wonderful texture, i would like to also make a separate one for our vegan guests too. What would you recommend I substitute or adjust? Thank you so much, I’ve also made your green bean casserole, yummy!!
I make this for fall dinners for large family gathering as well as for Thanksgiving! Always a hit!