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Home > Vegan Recipes

Vegan Shortcrust Pastry Recipe (for Pie and Tarts)

11/24/20 by Nicole | 5 Comments

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5 from 5 votes. Leave a review!

Learn how to make a simple, buttery and unbelievably flaky vegan shortcrust pastry that’s perfect for making pies or tarts! This recipe uses a vegan butter substitute to create delicious pastry that’s super versatile and doesn’t require any fancy tools to make.

Pastry can be such an intimidating recipe to attempt, so read along for my best tips and tricks to get it right (it’s not too hard, I promise!). I don’t use any special tools or techniques, just my hands to get the perfect pastry every time!

This recipe makes one pie shell. If you need a top layer, double the recipe.

Blind baked vegan pie pastry with rolling pin on a marble background. Dairy free and eggless but still browned and crisp looking.

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Is Shortcrust Pastry Vegan?

Shortcrust pastry is used to create pie or tarts and contains butter as the fat source. This is different from a “typical” pie dough recipe that uses lard or vegetable shortening for fat.

Since classic shortcrust pastry uses butter, it’s not a vegan recipe. However, using vegan butter substitute is a simple switch that allows for it to be made dairy free!

With vegan butter instead of vegetable shortening, this pastry has more flavor and some added salt content; perfect for savory recipes or to contrast sweet recipes nicely! If you prefer less salt, use an unsalted vegan butter substitute (if you can find one).

Close-up image of fully baked vegan shortcrust pastry in a glass pie plate

Vegan Shortcrust Pastry Ingredients

Eggless, dairy free shortcrust pastry uses four simple ingredients that most people keep on hand! To make this vegan recipe you’ll need:

  • All-purpose unbleached white flour: all-purpose white flour is the base for this delicious vegan pie crust and helps create a soft, delicate pastry.
  • Salt: a touch of added salt brings out the flavors of pastry and vegan butter. This is optional depending on how salty your vegan butter substitute is.
  • Vegan butter substitute: the key ingredient for any pastry is a source of solid fat. For shortcrust, that fat is butter. Look for a vegan butter substitute that’s firmly solid at room temperature and quite solid when cold (in the fridge). Margarine will not work as it’s too soft to create the right texture for a flaky crust. I use Earth Balance original for this recipe as it’s the easiest vegan butter substitute to find, but any similar product should work!
  • Ice cold water: for the best texture, keep the dough as cold as possible before baking. By ice cold water, I literally mean water with ice cubes in it to ensure it’s as cold as possible!

That’s it! Just four ingredients for a decadent and flaky vegan pie crust.

Image of vegan shortcrust pastry, unbaked and still in dough form; ready to put in the oven

How to Make Dairy Free Shortcrust

As noted above, only four simple ingredients are needed for this recipe.

The key to any good pastry is keeping your dough cold while working on it, until it goes into the oven. Before starting, make sure the dairy free butter substitute you’re using is nice and cold in the fridge and you have some ice water handy!

This recipe makes one pie crust. Double the recipe if you need a top layer for your pie.

Step 1: Measure Ingredients

To keep the pastry as cold as possible, work quickly. Make that easy and stress-free by preparing all the ingredients before you start.

Begin by measuring the flour. To measure flour in cups (without using a scale), carefully spoon flour into the measuring cup until it’s heaping. Then use a flat edge (the back of a knife works perfectly) to scrape excess flour off. You now have a perfectly measured cup.

Scooping flour straight from the bag can compress it, leaving you with excess.

Salt can be taken out of its container directly with a measuring spoon.

For the butter, press it down into a ½ cup measuring cup so there’s no air pockets left. It’s best to use the same technique as with the flour; measure to a slightly heaping amount then scrape off excess with the back of a knife. Keep the butter in your fridge until ready to use.

For the water, get a bowl and fill it with ice and cold water. Keep a tablespoon close by to measure the water when needed.

Step 2: Whisk Dry Ingredients

Place the measured flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and gently whisk together.

Eggless and dairy free pie pastry ingredients whisked together in a large glass bowl

Step 3: Cut Butter into Flour

Cutting fat into flour can be intimidating the first time (or few times) you try it. There are a few techniques that work but I strongly prefer to use my hands.

An argument against using your hands is that they’re warm and can melt the butter. This is a valid point, however if you work at a quick pace and chill the dough before rolling, you can still achieve a wonderful flaky texture without tools like a pastry cutter or food processor.

To cut vegan butter into flour, remove small pieces of butter from the ½ cup you measured (use a knife to scrape out small amounts and toss them into the bowl of flour). Once about half the butter is in pieces throughout the flour, begin to “cut” it in by pressing on the butter with your fingers. This breaks the butter into smaller pieces and allows them to become coated in flour.

Image showing how to cut butter into the pie shell dry ingredients

For the first half of the butter, continue cutting until most pieces are the size of a chickpea (or as small as a green pea).

At this point, add the remaining butter the same way, using a knife to drop small pieces into the flour. Cut this butter into the flour using your fingers, but don’t break them down as small. These butter pieces should be left about the size of a nickel or penny.

If you like a denser pastry (as opposed to a flaky one) you can certainly cut all the butter into small pea-sized pieces. The larger you keep the pieces, the flakier the crust (but don’t keep the butter pieces overly large).

Step 4: Stir in Water and Form a Disk of Dough

Carefully add 3 tablespoons of water from the bowl of ice water. Use a fork to stir this water in until a ball of dough begins to form.

At this point you can carefully use your hand to press the dough into a ball, making sure all the flour and butter are incorporated. The dough should easily hold together when pressed but not feel sticky.

If the dough crumbles when pressed, add more water (one tablespoon at a time) until it holds together. If the dough feels sticky, stir in some extra flour. It’s far more likely that the dough is too dry; this is by design since it’s much easier to add extra water than flour.

Grab a large piece of plastic wrap and wrap your disk of dough (shape it into a round, flat disk to make rolling easier). Place the shortcrust dough into your fridge to rest and chill for at least 20 minutes. Overnight chilling is fine if you want to make the dough one day and use it the next day.

Image showing how to form dairy free pastry on plastic wrap sheet, prior to rolling into a thin vegan pie crust

Step 5: Roll Vegan Pastry Dough

When the dough is rested and chilled, it’s ready to roll. This is a good time to preheat your oven to 400 °F since it needs to be hot when you’re ready to cook the pastry.

To roll the dough, sprinkle a layer of flour over your counter (or whatever surface you’re using) and place the dough onto the flour. Sprinkle some flour on top of the pastry too. If possible, dust your rolling pin with flour.

Begin rolling the pastry using gentle pressure from the center and push outwards. Take your time and keep the vegan shortcrust pastry well coated with flour so it doesn’t stick to the counter or rolling pin. You’ll likely need to keep dusting the pastry with flour (on the top and bottom).

Once the pastry is about ¼ inch (½ centimeter) thick, transfer to the baking dish you’re using. In my pictures and videos, I use a small glass pie dish.

Image showing how to roll vegan eggless pie shell without sticking or cracking the shortcrust pastry

Step 6: Transfer Pastry to Baking Dish

The best way to transfer pastry is to carefully roll it onto the rolling pin, place onto one edge of the pie plate and unroll, leaving enough slack in the pastry so it can sink down and fill the dish.

Gently maneuver the pastry around so it covers your baking dish. Cut excess pastry from the edges (I run a knife along the edge).

You can now shape the edge; the easiest way is to gently press your thumb in even spaces. This creates a slightly wavy pattern, but decoration is optional so use whatever technique works best for you.

Image showing how to transfer a vegan pie crust from rolling surface to glass pie plate without damaging the perfectly-rolled dough

Step 6: Blind Bake (or Fill and Bake)

The pastry is ready to fill and use in whichever recipe you like. If filling and baking, follow the cooking directions for that recipe to bake the pie crust and filling together.

If you want to blind bake the vegan shortcrust pastry (cooking the pastry with nothing in it, then later filling with something that doesn’t need to cook), poke lots of holes with a fork along the bottom of the pastry.

It’s also helpful to use some sort of weight to hold the pastry down. To do this, place a layer of parchment paper across the pastry and fill with a weighted object that can go in the oven. You can buy stones or marbles specifically for this purpose.

I’ve blind baked this recipe a couple times without weighing it down. I found if the oven is hot, and plenty of holes have been poked (see pictures), added weight isn’t required.

Image showing a blind baked vegan pie shell with rolling pin in the background

How to Refrigerate and Freeze Shortcrust Pastry

This recipe can be used in many ways, so it’s best to store according to the recommendations for your specific recipe.

On its own, cooked shortcrust can last up to 5 days on the countertop (assuming the filling in it is okay to be stored this way) or for up to a week in the fridge (if the filling needs to be kept cold). Depending on the filling, the bottom may become soggy as the dish sits, so keep this in mind as you eat your delicious creation!

The crust can also be frozen, but it’s best to freeze raw dough rather than cooked pastry. To freeze the dough, simply prepare it to the point where you have a disk of dough wrapped in plastic wrap. Place this into a freezer bag and keep frozen for up to 3 months.

To use frozen dough, allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight. Don’t thaw at room temperature as it should be chilled when rolling. Make sure it’s thawed completely as frozen dough won’t roll well.

If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!

Close up of an empty, baked pie shell in a glass pie pan.

Vegan Shortcrust Pastry (Pie Crust)

This vegan shortcrust pastry is deliciously flaky with lots of buttery layers of flavor. Using a vegan butter substitute is the perfect way to enjoy a classic recipe, made dairy free!
5 from 5 votes. Leave a review!
Prevent screen going dark
Prep Time 20 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 35 mins
Servings 1 Pie Shell
Calories 1417 kcal
Cuisine American-inspired, Vegan

Equipment

  • Large bowl
  • Whisk
  • Rolling pin
  • Plastic wrap
  • Pie plate/ baking dish

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour , unbleached
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup vegan butter , cold
  • 3 tablespoons ice water
Prevent screen going dark

Instructions

Step 1: Measure Ingredients

  • Measure flour by gently spooning a heaping amount into the measuring cup then use the flat edge of a knife to scrape off excess.
    1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

Step 2: Whisk Dry Ingredients

  • Add flour and salt to a large bowl and whisk together.
    ⅛ teaspoon salt

Step 3: Cut Butter into Flour

  • Add half the butter (¼ cup) in small pieces to the flour. Use your hands to cut this butter into the flour until the pieces are about pea-sized. To cut the butter in, press on the pieces with your fingers to make the butter smaller and ensure each of these smaller pieces are coated in flour. Work as efficiently as possible to help keep the butter cold.
    ½ cup vegan butter
  • Add the remaining vegan butter to the flour and cut this butter in, using the same technique as above; this time, keep these butter pieces larger, about the size of a nickel or penny. At this point there should be flour-coated pieces of butter throughout, but the mixture will still look grainy and there will be loose flour (it won’t look like dough yet).

Step 4: Stir in Water and Form a Disk of Dough

  • Create a well in the center of the flour-butter mixture and add ice cold water (literally water with ice cubes in it to make sure it’s very cold).
    3 tablespoons ice water
  • Use a fork to mix water into the flour until everything is just mixed (as soon as there are no more dry pieces of flour, stop mixing). At this point the dough should form. If you press the dough together it will stick to itself and not just crumble away. It shouldn’t be so sticky that it’s sticking to your hands. If the mixture is too dry (not holding together) slowly add more water, ½ tablespoon at a time. If it’s too sticky, add some additional flour 1-2 tablespoon at a time.
  • Shape the dough into a round, flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Allow to rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, up to overnight. If you want to freeze the dough, this is the time to do that.

Step 5: Roll Vegan Pastry Dough

  • When ready to roll the dough, preheat the oven using the temperature indicated in the recipe you’re using to fill the pastry with. If blind-baking, set the oven to 400 °F.
  • Sprinkle flour over your rolling surface and place the dough in the center of this. Sprinkle more flour over the top of the pastry dough.
  • Gently roll using light pressure from the center of the dough to the edges. If the edges begin to crack, lightly press them together, avoiding getting extra flour in between the cracks (it shouldn’t crack too much; if it is, not enough water was added to the dough).
  • Continue rolling, adding extra flour to the top and bottom of the dough as needed (you can peel the dough up to add extra flour to the bottom). Roll to ¼ inch/ ½ cm thick.

Step 6: Transfer Pastry to Baking Dish

  • Transfer the dough to your baking dish. It’s easiest to roll the dough onto the rolling pin then lift to transfer, unrolling loosely over the baking dish.
  • Shape the pastry as needed, cutting excess dough from the edges.

Step 6: Blind Bake (or Fill and Bake)

  • If blind baking, poke holes with a fork across the bottom (see pictures for indication of how many holes to poke). Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the top edges have browned and the crust is lightly crisped all over.
  • If adding filling before baking, refer to the other recipe for baking directions.
  • Enjoy your delicious, buttery and flaky vegan pastry!

Video

Notes

Accuracy of nutrition information cannot be guaranteed (certain ingredients may not have all nutrients listed in the database); amounts may vary (and will vary depending on brands of ingredients used); all nutrition fact values rounded to the nearest whole number.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 Pie ShellCalories: 1417 kcalCarbohydrates: 120 gProtein: 16 gFat: 97 gSaturated Fat: 13 gPolyunsaturated Fat: 26 gMonounsaturated Fat: 47 gSodium: 1039 mgPotassium: 183 mgFiber: 5 gCalcium: 30 mgIron: 7 mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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    Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (with Banana)
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    Vegan Avocado Chocolate Pudding Recipe

About Nicole Stevens

Nicole is a vegan Registered Dietitian (RD) and founder of Lettuce Veg Out.

She helps people thrive on a vegan diet with balanced recipes and easy-to-understand nutrition science.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jillian

    January 10, 2023 at 1:03 pm

    Great recipe! Please boycott Earth Balance though - palm oil is not cruelty-free whatsoever.

    Reply
    • Nicole

      January 11, 2023 at 8:51 am

      Thanks and luckily there's more options for vegan butter available now, even in the very rural area I live in.

      Reply
      • Ella

        January 13, 2023 at 9:31 am

        Would this work with margarine in a pinch?

        Reply
        • Nicole

          January 13, 2023 at 11:30 am

          I've never tested it but I really don't think it would work (at least, not work well enough to be worth trying which is why I've never tested it). Margarine is just too soft to cut into flour properly which is the key step to make a flaky pastry. If you really need to use something other than vegan butter, cold coconut oil is much more likely to work - just keep the oil as cold and solid as possible. I haven't tested with coconut oil either, so no guarantees it'll work. Hope this helps.

          Reply
          • Ella

            January 14, 2023 at 11:47 am

            Thank you, you that's really helpful! I'll try it with coconut oil 😊

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Hi, I'm Nicole! As a vegan Registered Dietitian, I empower vegans to live a balanced life and gain confidence in the kitchen.

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