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 put this into my calorie tracker and for 8 slices it shows me 11.5 grams of sugar per slice. Probably still better than average pumpkin pie but still high! Anyone know why there is such a difference with my calculations? I’m using 1% milk and the brown sugar (with 2 stevia packets), could that be it?
Looks so good though…just going to have to splurge 😉
The milk could make a big difference. Please remember that calorie counts are meant as a general guideline and will always vary depending on brands or specific ingredients you use.
Katie, the pumpkin pie came out perfectly! At first my mother was so skeptical when I showed her the recipe I was using, saying “if it’s that healthy there’s no way it’ll taste too good”. She’s eating her words (and the pie) as I type this (:
I made this last night, using a cup of skim milk and no oil, and flax for my ‘egg’. Can I just say how AMAZING it is?! And I think the texture is spot-on. Maybe the cow’s milk made a difference there? I had it on top of some plain oatmeal for breakfast, and a slice for dessert after lunch!
I may or may not have already eaten the entire thing. So delicious!!! This satisfies my pumpkin pie craving without overloading me with sugar! I would share, but I don’t know if I can make this pie without eating the entire thing myself 🙂
What program do you use to calculate the nutrition facts? I love that it puts it out looking like a typical nutrition facts label.
I took a screen shot from caloriecount. Then I cropped it in livewriter.
Can this be reheated in the microwave when I’m ready to eat it, or does it have to be eaten cold?
I don’t see why you couldn’t reheat it!
So, I made some substitutions and made this, but I didn’t want to wait until tomorrow to eat it. I reheated half of a serving for 15 seconds in the microwave. Apart from being hot, it was easy to eat with my hands, but I think the heat did make the slice a little softer than it was when it was cool.
My substitutions led my version to be a little less sweet than I would have liked, but that just adds room for me to drizzle sugar free syrup or honey on top. Maybe I could slather on some peanut butter, too.
Thank you so much for the recipe.
Hi Katie! I made this as written on Saturday and it was fantastic! Both my husband and I LOVED it and may test it out on our relatives (who are all doing Weight Watchers). Thanks so much for everything you do–keep up the good work, girl!
This recipe is fantastic! However, I needed a crust, so I naturally wanted to stick to the healthy and made a crust from scratch.
2 cups rolled oats, 0.5 cup sugar (I used splenda and had no problem), 2 t Cinnamon, and 4 T oil
Pack it on the bottom and bake the crust @400 degrees for about 12 minutes, let cool and follow recipe as listed above.
Thanks for the amazing recipes!
Wow, thanks for an awesome crust recipe!
+1!!!!…@Jeremy…Do you suggest coconut oil or another type of oil for the crust…or even Earth Balance?…Thank for the crust suggestion…I’t MAY seem strange to a few readers under a “Crustless Pumpkin Pie” recipe…my personal preference…but there ARE THOSE at the Thanksgiving table who would simply shun a crustless version…I plan on providing one with crust and one without (For Me!)….Katie’s recipe is wonderful (texture-flavor…spot-on) …Giving thanks…early!…for this generous/well-timed share!!..(To both Katie and Jeremy!)
I just made this! 🙂 Waiting for it to cool! I will let you know! You are amazing!!
Oh my gosh! I just died! SO SO SO SO GOOD! 🙂 I’m in heaven!! I just had this for breakfast! 😉 You are are Katie! I love your website! 🙂 Looking forward to buying your cookbook!! 🙂
Hi Katie!
I’m planning on making this for Thanksgiving for my family and not telling them its healthy! I want to pt it in an almond meal crust- do yo think that will affect the baking of the pie at all?
One other qestion: can I use stevia in the raw or stevia extract powder as a substitte for the xylitol?
Thanks, yor blog is a life saver!
Sorry, I haven’t tried so I really don’t know.
This is amazing. The taste and texture is spot on! Such a winner
I made this last night and it is fantastic! To me, it tastes like the real thing! I used chick pea flour, maple syrup only (will use a bit less next time, as I don’t like my sweets too sweet!), subbed NSA applesauce for the oil, and cornstarch for the ener-g/flax. It is nice and firm and the flavor is amazing!
What if I used a pumpkin pie mix? Libby’s pie mix said to just add 2 eggs and 2/3’s can of evaporated milk… can I just follow your recipe leaving out the spices? how would you go about this? or should i substitute those ingredients for vegan ones all together…?
Sorry, I really have no idea.
This recipe is such a delight! My 3 year old gobbled it up:) I used chia egg(out of flax) and still WOW! Will be making next week… Wondering if I could double and use a 9×13? Any suggestions on cook time if I did that, or have you tried it?
Nope, haven’t tried it!
Hey katie! I just wanted to thank you for your website! You and a few other bloggers totally inspired me to create my own blog for healthy recipes !I am only 17 but I love being healthy &..Desserts!! I have so many creative Ideas I just kept to myself..It feels great to share them! If you don’t mind, maybe looking at my blog? I just want your opinion & if I’m on the right track! Thanks again!
P.S You made me fall in love with coconut oil :)!
~Sam~
Looks great, Sam! Good luck with your new blog 🙂
For anyone interested – I made the following adjustments/substitutions and feel the pie came out great:
used 1/2 T ground chia + 3 egg whites
*(i think you could use either or – i just ran out of ground chia and decided to use the trader joes free range egg whites)
in place of all sugar: liquid stevia to taste + 1 snack pack of trader joes unsweetened organic apple sauce
brown rice flour
greased an 8″ deep dish pie pan with coconut oil
**I did use 2 T of sunflower oil
my calculations came out to about 100 calories per slice for 8 slices
Thanks for the great recipe! and the many more I’ve enjoyed 🙂
lauren-
so helpful! question: how much stevia did you use? i can never tell with the extract because so little is so sweet! thanks!
hey esefde –
i used to count how many drops I would use in a recipe but after working with liquid stevia a good bit now, I tend not to count as often. I really just add to taste. The quantity is too small to effect the recipe.
You may find the following helpful:
Stevia Drops: 6 drops = 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp= 1 cup sugar.
Stevia is a very sweet sugar alternative. If you are using it in your baking to replace sugar, you will have to increase both the wet and dry ingredients to accommodate the loss of volume from the sugar. Add in ¼ to ½ cup applesauce, cooked pureed sweet potato or pumpkin, or pureed banana to replace the lost volume and moisture of 1 cup of sugar. Stevia also has a pronounced flavour that not everyone loves- try only a little bit first to see if you like it. It may be best used to sweeten beverages, custards, icing, etc. I know that you can order online flavured stevia drips (like vanilla, chocolate, etc…)- you might find those more palatable. There is also stevia powder, but its often combined with dextrose (corn sugar. a.k.a….. the bad stuff).
http://www.myrealfoodlife.com/part-3-how-to-substitute-sugar/