Make this southern style vegan pecan pie recipe for dessert, with gooey pecan filling and no corn syrup or refined sugar. You’ll never miss the eggs!
The best vegan pecan pie
Some recipes turn out perfectly on the first try.
Then there are other recipes, like my Vegan Brownies or this Thanksgiving classic vegan pecan pie, that need a little bit more work.
When you are making up a recipe completely from scratch, all bets are off the table, and my first healthy pecan pie experiment burned to a crisp.
The second trial was so awful even my dad would not touch it, and he will eat anything.
Happily, this story ends well and the third time was the charm.
This is without a doubt the richest, gooiest, and best plant based pecan pie I have ever tried. I hope your family loves it too!
Trending recipe: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Dairy free and healthy pecan pie
Since I already mentioned ingredients the pie does not contain, let’s talk about all of the good things it does include.
Pecans are packed with nutrition and over 19 vitamins and minerals, including magnesium, iron, and calcium.
They are also high in heart healthy unsaturated fats and fiber.
In place of eggs, I chose to use flax eggs. Superfood flax seeds offer a healthy dose of Omega-3s and have been shown to reduce cholesterol and inflammation.
And I replaced the unhealthy corn syrup of traditional pecan pie with another nutritional powerhouse: blackstrap molasses.
Try topping the pie with Keto Ice Cream or my favorite Coconut Ice Cream.
It is also fantastic liberally topped with Coconut Whipped Cream.
Recipe ingredients
The pie calls for pecans, molasses, liquid sweetener, dairy free butter, ground flax, pure vanilla extract, salt, and optional bourbon.
Pecans – You need a heaping one cup of chopped pecans.
I usually use raw pecans since they are often less expensive. If you prefer, you may use roasted pecans instead.
Or swap out some of the pecans for an equal amount of walnuts or cashews.
Molasses – This ingredient gives the pie its classic thick texture and adds the rich flavors of caramel and gingerbread.
If you can find blackstrap molasses, I highly recommend it because it is a natural sweetener that is actually healthy, with over 20% of the RDA for both calcium and iron in just one tablespoon of molasses!
However, original molasses will also work in the vegan pie recipe.
Liquid sweetener – Since molasses is only slightly sweet, you need a second sweetener to ensure the results are not bitter tasting.
Pure maple syrup is my go to choice here. Agave is another great option.
While honey is often interchangeable in recipes that call for maple syrup, it is not considered a vegan ingredient and therefore should not be used if you will be serving the pie to strict vegan guests.
Vegan butter – You can either buy a plant based butter like Earth Balance or choose a neutral nut butter like almond butter, nut free pumpkin seed butter, or pecan butter.
The butter or nut butter adds richness and depth of flavor to the pecan pie filling.
Margarine or shortening work if they are all you can find. For healthier baking, I try to avoid any margarines with hydrogenated oils.
Chocolate chips – The ingredients note that you can add chocolate chips to the pie if your heart desires, and I like using mini chocolate chips because you get more chocolate in every bite.
However, I actually did not add any chocolate chips to the pie this time, because I already have an actual Healthy Chocolate Pecan Pie recipe on the blog.
Vegan pecan pie recipe video
Above – watch the video of how to make vegan pecan pie.
Plant based pie crust
Feel free to use any nine inch store bought or homemade pie crust recipe you want, especially if you need a gluten free pecan pie crust.
Directly below is my personal favorite vegan pie crust, which I prepared for the base of the pecan pie in the photos.
Easy Vegan Pie Crust
- 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour or white flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
- 1/3 cup cold water, or more as needed
Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl, then stir in all remaining ingredients to form a dough. If the dough is too dry, very slowly add more water or oil. Or if the dough is too sticky, add a tablespoon more flour at a time. Press firmly into a pie pan.
Optionally, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and prebake the pie crust for ten minutes. Or if you are in a rush, you can skip this step and simply bake the crust along with the filling.
You may also like this Vegan Cornbread
How to make vegan pecan pie
If using a homemade crust or the recipe below, prepare it ahead of time, and set aside.
Whisk all pecan pie ingredients together except the garnish, and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes. This step can be done the night before if you want to let it sit overnight.
As long as your flax is good, the mixture should be noticeably thicker when you remove it from the fridge after sitting.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Pour the filling into either a store bought pie crust or prepared pie crust. Arrange the extra pecans on top as desired.
Place on the oven’s center rack, and bake for thirty five minutes. Without opening the oven door even a crack, let the pie sit in the turned off oven for an additional ten minutes before removing from the oven and letting it cool.
Slice and enjoy.
Once cool, store leftover vegan pecan pie in an airtight container or covered with aluminum foil in the refrigerator for up to around five days.
Vegan Pecan Pie
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup or agave
- 2 tbsp molasses or additional pure maple syrup
- 3 tbsp almond butter or vegan butter
- 1/4 cup ground flaxmeal whisked with 1/3 cup water
- 2 tbsp bourbon (optional)
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)
- 1 handful whole pecan halves for garnish
- 1 9 inch pie crust or use the vegan pie crust recipe included above in this post
Instructions
- To make vegan pecan pie, first whisk all ingredients except the whole pecan halves, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. During this time, the filling will gel thanks to the flaxmeal. As long as your flax is good, the mixture will be noticeably thicker when time is up. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Pour filling into your crust. Arrange the halved pecans over top as desired. Bake on the center rack for 35 minutes, then do not open the oven door but let sit in the now-turned-off oven for an additional 10 minutes to slowly cool down.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
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More Vegan Pie Recipes
Mary says
Can this be made a day ahead (baked and everything) and kept in the fridge? Or will that change its consistency?
Alternatively, can the filling be made and left in fridge for 24 hours?
CCK Media Team says
It can all be made the day ahead 🙂
Lauren says
Katie, hi! This will seem like a very odd question. Do you think you can use this same filling and bake it as bars in an 8×8″ pan, using a crust from one of your bar recipes? I can’t see why not, but I wondered what the expert might suggest. Can you offer any thoughts? I like the idea of having the same thickness of filling, but in bar form as opposed to pie form. Thank you in advance! –Lauren
Lauren says
I decided to try to use your filling but with oats instead of pecans, and baked in an 8×8″ glass dish instead of a 9″ round pan since the dimensions are relatively equal. For a crust, I used a scaled down version of your sugar cookie dough. I think it turned out quite well. Thanks for your ideas!
Carrie says
LOVED this pecan pie recipe!
Anne says
I absolutely love this! Recently my sister has started some unique dietary choices. I’ve been having trouble cooking for her because I’m trying to be very accommodating. I’m absolutely in love with pecans and I think this will be an awesome recipe! I could make this for Thanksgiving usually my family oversees the desserts. I know my mother will be super happy to see this because pecan pie is her favorite. Thank you again so much for this fantastic recipe. I hope you have a delightful day and a happy Thanksgiving.
Deborah says
Enjoy your recipes.
Could this be made as a pudding like dessert without the pie crust (in small cups or dessert bowls) and served with whipped cream or ice cream??
CCK Media Team says
Hi, we think so! Or try this similar one for mini pecan pies 🙂 https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/vegan-pecan-tassies/
Hanna says
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was SO delicious. I love the molasses flavor! I used King Arthur’s gluten free pie crust mix and used country crock plant based butter. Best gluten free, dairy free, egg free pie I’ve made yet. Thanks for the recipe!
CCK Media Team says
Thank you so much for making it!
Katie D. says
I made this tonight in a store bought crust, using almond butter and mini chocolate chips. My in-laws came for dinner, and after saying goodbye at the door, I went for a second slice only to discover the entire pie is gone! Toast! I was astonished how firm (and gooey) it became. I added five minutes extra cook time for security.
Nik says
It was delicious though it didn’t set well and was too thin. Maybe more volume might be better just to mimic traditional pecan pie.
Lindsay says
Hello! I am excited to make this and would like to add the chocolate chips. Do I add them before refrigerating the pie filling or after right before baking?
CCK Media Team says
Hi! It is entirely up to you, any time works!
Morgan says
Hi! If I were to use eggs in place of the fax/water combo, how many eggs would I use?
Thanks 😊
Anonymous says
Susan Crowe says
Thank you! I wanted to bake a pecan pie for my wife but I wanted it to be healthy so she didn’t feel guilty eating it all. This pie is so delicious! It was my first attempt at pecan pie and it was easy. Again, you made Thanksgiving GREAT this year. Thank you!!
Monica Ugodnikov says
This pecan pie is amazingly delicious .
It’s a favorite of my family!