This simple crustless pumpkin pie recipe is an absolutely delicious pumpkin dessert that’s easy to make and surprisingly healthy!
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The best crustless pumpkin pie
This is the original recipe for crustless pumpkin pie, first published over a decade ago.
It currently includes more than five hundred positive reviews from readers who’ve made and love the perfectly spiced flavor and ultra smooth custard texture of this homemade pie.
Over the years, the fan favorite pumpkin pie recipe has developed something of a cult following. Many commenters write in to tell me that they bake it not just for Christmas or Thanksgiving dessert, but all year round!
Some even eat it for breakfast.
And hey, why not? The fancy orange winter squash pie is low in calories, high fiber, low fat, and packed with vitamin A, calcium, and healthy ingredients.
Trust me, this will be love at first bite.
Also make these Sweet Potato Brownies
Crustless pumpkin pie recipe video
Above, watch the step by step video.
This is amazing. It is like eating the inside of the pumpkin pie, but more custardy. I like it better.
Why you’ll love this recipe
Tastes like pumpkin custard. The texture and flavor are so rich, decadent, and impossibly smooth. Each bite melts on your tongue, like a custard or mousse in the form of a pie.
Low calorie. You could actually eat the entire eight servings of pumpkin pie and still consume less fat and fewer calories than just one slice of many traditional pies.
Not that I recommend eating an entire pie in one serving… But you could.
Great use for canned pumpkin. One of the best things about this recipe is that it calls for a whole can of pumpkin puree. So there’s no need to worry about how to use up leftover canned pumpkin when you’re done.
No sweetened condensed milk. Unlike other crustless pumpkin pie recipes, this one does not require condensed or evaporated milk or heavy cream.
Oil free and low fat. The favorite holiday dessert also includes soy free, nut free, paleo, gluten free, added sugar free, low carb, and dairy free options. It’s a great choice for a Weight Watchers diet too, because the pie is very low in points.
Readers also love these Snowball Cookies
Crustless pumpkin pie ingredients
Pumpkin Puree – The recipe calls for a standard 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree. This can be the classic Libby’s or any generic or organic canned pumpkin.
Be sure to not accidentally buy pumpkin pie filling, because canned pumpkin pie filling already includes extra sugar and spices. In contrast, the only ingredient in pumpkin puree is cooked pumpkin.
Flour – I’ve made the pie successfully with whole grain spelt flour, oat flour, white all purpose flour, sorghum flour, and almond flour or almond meal. Clearly I’ve made this recipe more than a few times!
If you wish to use coconut flour, it needs much less flour, because coconut flour soaks up liquid like a sponge.
Milk – I love the extra creaminess you get from using coconut milk or oat milk. Whole milk, skim milk, soymilk, or unsweetened almond milk also work.
A few of the comments mention swapping some of the milk for Greek yogurt or cottage cheese to get more protein. I haven’t tried these substitutions, but please feel free to leave feedback if you experiment.
Spices – Ground cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice add warm Fall coziness to the homemade pie. Your entire kitchen will smell deliciously like autumn.
Sweetener – Granulated sweeteners, such as sugar or unrefined date or coconut sugar, give you the best consistency in my opinion. Pure maple syrup and honey do also work. Or use your favorite sugar substitute (erythritol, monk fruit, stevia baking blend) if you want keto crustless pumpkin pie with no sugar added.
Egg – The original recipe called for ground flax or cornstarch, but so many readers made it with eggs that I’ve now included that as an option. You can still make it without eggs if you prefer.
Vanilla – Pure vanilla extract enhances the comforting spice of the pumpkin recipe. Do not substitute imitation vanilla flavoring.
Other Ingredients – Two teaspoons of baking powder help the pie to set without a crust. Salt balances the sweetness and adds depth of flavor.
Trending recipe: Pumpkin Banana Bread
Frequently asked questions
I like canned pumpkin because it makes the cooking process so easy. Just open the can and you’re done.
However, grocery stores are often out of canned pumpkin, especially around holidays like Thanksgiving. If you cannot find a can of pumpkin puree, an alternative is to buy a fresh pumpkin. (Sugar pumpkins or pie pumpkins work best.)
Roast and then puree the flesh to make homemade pumpkin puree.
You absolutely can use roasted or canned sweet potato puree instead of the pumpkin. In fact, I’ve done it already: Crustless Sweet Potato Pie. Butternut squash puree works too.
For an eggless and vegan crustless pumpkin pie, simply choose the egg free option and your favorite dairy free milk.
Almond milk, oat milk, soymilk, or coconut milk are all great choices.
For mini crustless pumpkin cupcakes or bites, pour the filling into cupcake liners instead of a pie pan. Bake 20 minutes at 400° Fahrenheit (204° Celsius) or until the sides are set. Let cool, then refrigerate until centers firm up.
It is! The most magical part about this recipe is its texture. Soft and creamy, yet easy to cut clean slices at the same time, with no crust needed.
I’d recommend one of my other pumpkin pie recipes, already tested to bake successfully in a crust. Try this Vegan Pumpkin Pie or my favorite Healthy Pumpkin Pie.
Oh where to even start? There’s this Healthy Apple Pie, or my Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies. Apple Bread is great for breakfast or a healthy dessert. And Black Bean Brownies are super popular for any occasion!
If you have time, sift the flour before combining it with the other ingredients. Sifting flour is a great baking trick to distribute ingredients more evenly and prevent clumps of flour in your batter.
Still craving pumpkin? Make 100 Calorie Pumpkin Cake
Pumpkin pie topping ideas
Or try topping each slice of pumpkin pie with homemade whip cream, cashew cream, marshmallow fluff, powdered sugar, or Air Fryer Apples.
I once served it with a layer of candied pecans arranged on top, and guests raved about it. People said it tasted like crustless pumpkin pecan pie.
You may also opt to simply eat it plain, letting the pumpkin spice flavor profile shine.
How to make pumpkin pie without crust
Step 1: Gather your ingredients. And read through the instructions. There is nothing worse than getting halfway through a recipe before realizing you’re missing a crucial ingredient or necessary baking equipment.
Step 2: Preheat the oven. Set the temperature to 400° Fahrenheit or 204° Celsius. Grease a 9 inch pie pan (I use a glass pan), then set this pan aside.
Step 3: Whisk wet ingredients. Combine the pureed pumpkin, milk or plant based milk, pure vanilla extract, and optional egg in a large measuring cup or mixing bowl. Stir well with a fork or wire whisk. No blender required for this one bowl pumpkin pie.
Step 4: Add dry ingredients. Stir the flour, sweetener, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, salt, and optional cornstarch into the bowl until well incorporated. (Tip: You can stir the dry ingredients together days in advance to save time. Store the mix in a sealed Ziploc bag.)
Step 5: Transfer to the pan. Pour the pumpkin mixture into your prepared baking pan. Place on the center rack of the preheated oven.
Step 6: Bake the pie. Cook for thirty five minutes or until the edges of the pie are firm and the middle is still slightly jiggly but no longer liquid.
Step 7: Let cool. Carefully remove the pan from the oven. Set it on a wire rack on the counter to cool. Then place the still underdone pie uncovered in the refrigerator for at least six hours or overnight. It will firm up considerably as it chills.
Tips for serving and storing leftovers
You can serve the recipe cold or gently warm each slice for a few seconds in the microwave if your friends and family like hot pumpkin pie.
Once the filling sets, cover the pie pan tightly with saran wrap or aluminum foil. Or store individual slices in a lidded container.
It should keep for up to five days refrigerated.
You can also freeze pumpkin pie in an airtight container for up to three months. Thaw fully before serving.
Crustless Pumpkin Pie
Ingredients
- 15 oz pumpkin puree (425g)
- 1 cup milk of choice (240g)
- 1 large egg or 2 tsp cornstarch
- 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (12g)
- 1/2 cup sugar or granulated sugar free sweetener (100g)
- 1/3 cup flour (such as spelt, oat, white, sorghum, or almond) (40g)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon (4g)
- 2 tsp baking powder (8g)
- 1 tsp ground pumpkin pie spice (2g)
- 1/2 tsp salt (3g)
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit (204° Celsius). Grease a 9 inch pie pan, then set the pan aside.
- 2. Whisk pumpkin puree, milk, vanilla, and optional egg in a large measuring cup or bowl.
- 3. Stir in the flour, sweetener, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, baking powder, salt, and optional corn starch until well mixed.
- 4. Smooth the mixture directly into the prepared pan. No crust required.
- 5. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 35 minutes or until the edges are set and the middle is slightly jiggly.
- 6. Let cool on a wire rack on the counter. Then refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight, during which time the crustless pumpkin pie will firm up to an easily sliceable texture. Serve cold or hot, with whipped cream if desired.
- 7. Once the pie sets, refrigerate any leftovers covered tightly in the pan or in a lidded container for up to 5 days. Or freeze slices for up to 3 months and thaw before serving.
Video
Notes
More pumpkin desserts
Applesauce Muffins (Use pumpkin puree instead of banana)
I told my mom about this recipe so she could make it for me for Thanksgiving since I won’t be able to have the other desserts in my family. When I told her about the website she goes “why am I not surprised that the website you found has chocolate in the title? Ashley and her chocolate.” What can I say, I’m addicted.
hey Katie, thanks for another great recipe! i’ve never had pumpkin pie and it took me a year to finally find pumpkin puree here in Austria (nobody uses it as such ^^), but now i just stumbled across it in my local vegan goodies store, so i’ve decided to try this pie for halloween. only thing that i’ll have to still do research on is what pumpkin spice it. i’m sure the internet will enlighten me and i guess you might not have been aware that in some countries nobody really would have heard of this before. (i’ve been told, Austria is a bit like a place that got stuck in time in some ways ;)) i’m sure i’ll make it work somehow, though. so far, all of your recipes that i’ve tried have worked out splendidly (i’m converting everyone to giving tofu a chance with your amazing chocolate fudge pie!).
anyway, looking forward to trying this one out! 😀
<3
Hope it turns out well! If nothing else, I think you could get away with just exchanging the pumpkin pie spice for more cinnamon.
Hey Katie! I made this and froze…just took it out now and there’s this ominous black stuff (is there any way to show you a picture??) in the middle of the pie…what does this mean? I double wrapped it in freezer so I can’t imagine it went back. It looks soo good- tell me I can still use it!
Also, is it a little too underdone (compare middle and sides….) can I put it back in oven now?
Hey Katie!
Can I sub arrowroot powder for the energy or flax?
I would advise against it, they do not have the same role in a baked good in my understanding.
The 3rd pie in one week is currently baking. My husband and I cannot get enough of this and we typically are not pie people! I am currently egg, dairy, gluten, soy, peanut & tree nut free due to my infant son’s allergies and my intolerances and your blog has been such a blessing!! Its so nice to find treats that I can have and enjoy. Thank you Katie!
Forgot to mention: we use our homemade coconut milk and have been throwing in a handful of enjoy life chocolate chips. Last night we made coconut “whipped cream” for on top. The hubs ate pie for breakfast and our 3 year old cried when I told her she needed to have a real breakfast first 🙂 mostly bc I don’t want her eating an entire piece of this bliss. Lol.
Has anyone tried this with half and half or coconut milk? How did it work compared to regular milk?
Not sure how half and half would work, but you’d have to be okay with a coconut flavor in your pumpkin pie to try coconut milk. We have used Almond milk (both original and vanilla, whatever we had on hand) and it is AMAZING. I think we used rice milk once also.
Hi C-C Katie!
I always look forward to your delicioso creations! You are seriously amazing! I can’t wait to try this recipe out – I may not even tell my friends at Thanksgiving what they are, and aren’t actually eating!! Hahaha!!!
Yummmm!!!
Thanks I have friends that have to eat gluten free and a son that is vegetarian as well as a family that likes to eat healthy. I can’t wait to try this recipe because we all love pumpkin pie but gave it up due to the unhealthy calories.
Do you have any nutrition info on this?
There is a link to the nutrition info just below the directions for the recipe.
Just made this and it tastes amazing! I paired it with nonfat greek vanilla yogurt. It was amazeballs. Thanks Katie!
Would it be possible to use the crust from your Healthy Pumpkin Pie recipe for this? I’m baking it for a family who isn’t exactly used to “health foods” and I want to make sure they don’t think it’s too unusual, but at the same time I want to make something I can feel better about eating.
Could you use Lactaid instead of the milk? My daughter is lactose intolerant.
All of Katie’s recipes are non-dairy.
Thanks! I didn’t notice that the recipe said “milk of choice.”
Linked this recipe in my blog here: http://www.simplyfitandclean.com/2013/11/21/holiday-weight-gain/ Thanks for the waistband saving alternative this Thanksgiving!
As we’re getting ready for Thanksgiving again this year, I am THANKFUL for your recipes. I was very sad to think that after going gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free, pumpkin pie would have to be a thing of the past. How devastating! 🙁 I absolutely LOVE this recipe (and our whole family devours it)! I tweaked the spices a bit to mimic the pie my mom made us growing up but I didn’t change a thing otherwise and it always turns out great. I am not sure how many to make this year… Usually our family of 6 requires 2 pies (because there HAS to be leftover pie the day after!), but I may just splurge and make three since I do have so much pumpkin puree in the freezer (and I really could polish off a whole one by myself if I was left unaccountable…. lol). Thank you for sharing your hard-work with us and I am looking forward to your cookbook! I was sorry to read recently that you have had a stressful time in your life, but I have the utmost respect for the way you take such careful consideration into how your readers may “misread” what you’re writing and come away with an unhealthy concept. You take the time to be sure your posts communicate thoroughly what you are trying to say, and your heart for others shines through them. God has good plans for you, Katie. 🙂
Thank you so much for making it, Heather!
This is my first Thanksgiving since being diagnosed with multiple food allergies — wheat, eggs and cow’s milk are all “no-no’s” for me so your recipe was exactly what I was looking for. I used gluten-free flour, Splenda brown sugar blend, unsweetened almond milk and canola oil as some of my main ingredients and everything else exactly as listed including the Ener-G and pure vanilla extract. The end result tastes good but I wouldn’t serve it to guests. Next time around, I’d like it to taste amazing I’m going to use 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice and only 1/2 tsp. cinnamon or 1 tsp. pp spice and 1 tsp. cinnamon b/c I tasted too much cinnamon in this version. I’m also going to use real brown sugar, too. Thanks so much for the recipe – now I feel like I’m no longer missing out on a Thanksgiving classic.
What do you think of coconut sugar?? I have used it (my husband is diabetic) and have been very pleased with it. i read an article that said the claims about low glycemic index have not been proven and that using the coconut trees for the sap used to make it prevents using the same tree for coconuts so is not environmentally very good.
Thanks for your opinion.
It might have a few more nutrients than sugar, but it is still a sugar and therefore should be used sparingly. CCK’s recipes are all lower in sugar already than their traditional counterparts.