Vegan Pot Pie

What to expect?

This plant-based vegan chicken pot pie is filled with a light yet filling stew that will fill the room with aroma and delight your taste buds with flavor. The stew is loaded with fresh vegetables such as carrots, celery, potatoes, onion, corn, green peas, and tender king oyster mushrooms to replace the shredded chicken used in a typical chicken pot pie. It is then topped with a flaky puff pastry crust in a stunning lattice pattern.

Not only is this pot pie delicious and nutritious, but it is perfect for batch cooking. Over time the flavors continue to intensify, so it is even better the next day. It is also versatile, with many alternatives and customization options (see the Variations section below for some ideas).

Ingredients

To make this hearty vegan pot pie recipe, you will use sauteed vegetables, aromatic herbs, and fresh spices for the stew and a flaky puff pastry for the crust. All of the ingredients are likely already in your pantry or are very easy to find in your neighborhood grocery store:

• Olive oil – You can also sauté the vegetables in a water or veggie broth for an oil-free option.
• King oyster mushrooms – The best substitutes for chicken. We have lots of oyster mushroom recipes where it is the star ingredient.
• Onion
• Garlic cloves
• Carrots (medium)
• Celery stalk
• Potatoes
• Green peas – You can use fresh, canned, or frozen peas.
• Sweet corn – You can use fresh, canned, or frozen corn.
• Thyme (fresh)
• Bay leaves
• Dairy-free milk – I recommend my homemade cashew milk.
• Vegetable broth
• Puff pastry dough – use a gluten-free one if you need to.

🛒 You can find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Instructions

Prepare the vegetables

1. Peel and chop the onion and garlic. 
2. Wash and chop the celery.
3. Wash, peel, and dice the potatoes, then slice the carrots.
4. Set aside the fresh, frozen, or canned peas and corn.
5. Using a fork, shred the king oyster mushrooms.

Cooking the veggie stew

1. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and onion and cook for 1-2 minutes.
2. Add the chopped garlic and cook for a few seconds.
3. Add the sliced carrot, diced celery stalk, shredded oyster mushrooms, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and fresh thyme sprigs. Stir the herbs and spices over the veggies.

4. Add dairy-free milk and veggie broth and bring to a boil.

5. Once boiling, add the diced potatoes. Cover the stew with a lid and cook for 10 minutes.

6. Add the green peas and the sweet corn. Gently stir a couple of times.

7. To thicken the stew, mix some cornstarch and the milk from the stew in a separate bowl.

8. Stir it into the pot and bring it to a simmer. Stop when the stew is thick.

Making the puff pastry lattice pattern

For the best results and proper sizing, cover the stew with the puff pastry and cut it into a circle the same size as the skillet or pie pan. Using a knife, pierce some holes into the pastry. If you prefer to have a stunning lattice pattern top crust but do not have a lattice cutter, use the following instructions:

1. Ensure you thaw the puff pastry completely, then unfold it and place it on the lightly floured parchment paper. You can also use its liner in place of the parchment paper.
2. Lightly dust the puff pastry dough with flour. Use a rolling pin to flatten it until it is slightly larger, but do not roll it completely thin.
3. Cut the puff pastry into 1-inch thick strips using a sharp knife or pizza cutter.

4. Keeping the puff pastry on the parchment paper or liner, set half of the strips in a horizontal direction and the other half in a vertical direction.

5. Weave the horizontal and vertical strips together.

6. Once completely weaved, cut the four corners at an angle, as shown in the photo.

7. Using your hands, lift the parchment paper with the weaved pattern on top and flip it on top of the stew. Remove the parchment paper.

Baking vegan pot pie

1. Preheat oven to 400 Fahrenheit (200 Celsius). 
2. Once preheated, place the pot pie in the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Cooking tips

• Chop the vegetables evenly – To ensure the vegetables get cooked through evenly, cut them into equal-sized pieces. Since carrots need more time to cook than the other vegetables, we add them first, followed by the mushrooms and potatoes, then the peas and corn.
• Avoid overcooking the vegetables – The stew in the pot pies is cooked before it is baked. If you overcook the vegetables during cooking, they will turn mushy once baked.
• Make the soup thickener in a separate bowl – To avoid lumps, make the thickening slurry in a separate bowl and then slowly stir it into the stew.
• Weave the puff pastry separately – To avoid the puff pastry getting too wet, do the weaving on parchment paper versus on top of the stew when making the lattice pattern.

Variations

You can make this vegan pot pie in many different ways to suit your tastes and preferences. Customize it with one of the many following variations:

• Instead of the puff pastry crust, try it with other vegan pie crust, such as our gluten-free crust.
• Swap out the oyster mushrooms for portobello mushrooms or a different protein such as soy chunks, TVP, extra firm tofu, or vegan beef chunks. You can also try tempeh or seitan, although they may not suit all diets.
• Add nutritious legumes such as sweet peas, chickpeas, cannellini beans, or kidney beans.
• Add jackfruit to the stew for texture and flavor. See our jackfruit stew recipe for inspiration.
• Mix in leafy greens like spinach, kale, or other root vegetables such as rutabaga or celeriac. Add butternut squash, cauliflower, zucchini, and bell peppers. The important thing is to keep the over proportions the same so that you do not overload the pie! You can find inspiration from our vegan chicken and dumplings or vegetable stew.
• Give it a flavor boost with other herbs and spices, such as cumin, paprika, ginger, or cinnamon.

Serving ideas

Pot pies are a meal on their own. However, you can make it more filling and delicious with the following serving ideas.

• With more veggies: Serve your pot pie with a side of oven-roasted asparagus, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, beets, sweet potatoes, or other root vegetables. It also goes great alongside our delicious sautéed carrots or green beans.
• With salad: A crisp, green salad is an excellent compliment to a hearty pot pie.
• With gravy: Drizzle it with our savory vegan onion gravy or mushroom gravy.
• With butter: Brush the top crust with vegan butter for a buttery flavor.

Equipment

• Cast-iron Dutch Oven – We use a 3-quart / 2.8-liter enameled oven for this recipe.
• Stockpot – If you do not have a Dutch oven, you can use an instant pot or any other heavy-bottomed casserole dish.

Storing tips

This vegan pot pie is so flavorful and delicious it will not be hard to devour it all in one sitting. However, in case you have leftovers, it is very easy to store for later. Just ensure you bring the pie and stew to room temperature before attempting to store it.

In the refrigerator – Once completely cooled, store it in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

In the freezer – Once cooled, place the pie or pie slices in a sealed plastic bag, then wrap them with aluminum foil. You can also store it in an airtight, freezer-safe container. Freeze for up to two months.

Reheating – To preserve the crispy crust and firm potatoes, place in the oven at 350 F and broil for 10-15 minutes. You can also reheat it in the microwave, although the pie crust and potatoes will be softer.

FAQs

More vegan stew recipes

We have approximately 30 vegan stew recipes, and here are our some of our favorite ones: