My husband has been asking for a vegan pot pie recipe since we met. He’s big on vegan comfort food and had lots of requests! Some things I tackled right away, like the reuben sandwich. Others took a bit longer but eventually turned out awesome, like my vegan meatloaf. I decided to give it a go, and I have to say, this vegan chicken pot pie was absolutely delicious! Veggies, herbs, creamy gravy and vegan chicken (which is actually seitan), are all baked up in a flaky double crust to make this savory vegan pie, which, my husband tells me actually tastes better than the pot pies he used to eat before giving up meat. This one is a perfect vegan main dish for holidays and special dinners.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Olive oil. You could technically use any high-heat oil, but olive will give your pot pie filling the best flavor.Mushrooms. The recipe gives you a choice between cremini and button mushrooms but if you’d like to experiment with other varieties, be my guest! Not a fan of mushrooms? Leave them out, or substitute with extra seitan.Onion.Carrots.Celery.Garlic.Seitan. You can use store-bought or homemade seitan. If you make your own using my recipe, make the chicken flavor. You’ll need a half of batch. Not a fan of seitan? Leave it out or use extra mushrooms!All-purpose flour. This is the thickener for our filling. Whole wheat flour can be substituted if you prefer. You could probably also use a gluten-free flour blend, but I haven’t tried this.Dry white wine. You can leave this out for an alcohol-free recipe if you’d like.Vegetable broth. I used Better Than Bouillon in seasoned vegetable flavor.Non-dairy milk. You can use just about any variety, as long as it’s unsweetened and unflavored. Need some guidance? Check out my guide to dairy-free milks.Nutritional yeast flakes. Not to be confused with baking yeast! Look for nutritional yeast in the natural foods section of your supermarket. It will add savory flavor to your pie. Soy sauce. Tamari or liquid aminos can be substituted if needed.Spices. We’re using fresh thyme and rosemary, and rubbed sage. The thyme and rosemary can be replaced with dried herbs if you’d like — just halve the amounts.Frozen peas. Thaw them out before adding them to the filling.Salt & black pepper.Pie crust. I used store-bought pie crust for this pie, but my homemade vegan pie crust could also be used. If using store-bought crust, check the ingredients to ensure it’s vegan, and make sure to use rollable pie dough as opposed to shells (the kind in foil plates). Wholly Wholesome brands is a good vegan option that you can find at Whole Foods.
How It’s Made
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!
The Filling
Cook the mushrooms. The mushrooms should be sautéed by themselves in a bit of oil. You can either do this in a separate skillet, allowing them to cook while you get started on the veggies, or you can cook your mushrooms first and then remove them from the pot before you start your veggies. Save dishes or save time — it’s up to you!
Tip: Resist the temptation to constantly stir your mushrooms as they cook. The slices need to sit on the hot cooking surface for a few minutes in order to brown.
Cook the veggies. Sweat some diced onions, carrots and celery in a pot with a bit of oil. Once the veggies begin to soften up, add your seitan to the skillet. Continue cooking the mixture for a few minutes, until the seitan pieces start to brown.Return the mushrooms to the skillet, then stir in minced garlic and sprinkle in the flour. This is your thickener. Make sure to add it slowly and stir everything in the pot to distribute the flour. Stir everything well so that the flour forms a relatively uniform coating on the veggies and seitan.
Stir in the white wine. Bring the wine to a simmer — it should mix with the flour to thicken up very quickly and coat the veggies. Let it cook just a bit to reduce. Add your broth, milk, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, and herbs. Raise the heat and bring the liquid to a simmer.Let everything simmer until the veggies are soft and the sauce has thickened quite a bit, then stir in the peas and season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
Assemble the Pie
Roll one of your pie crusts out so it’s large enough to fit into the bottom of a large pie dish, then drape it inside your dish. Poke a few holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork.Ladle the filling into the bottom crust.
Note: Ideally you’ll need an extra deep pie dish that’s 10 inches in diameter. If yours isn’t big enough you can either skip the bottom crust to make extra room, or just add as much filling as you can fit. A 2-quart casserole dish could also be used — you’ll just need to modify the shape of your crusts to fit.
Roll a second crust so that it’s large enough to cover the top of your pie. Arrange the top crust over the fillings, trim any excess dough, and pinch the edges of the two crusts together to form a seal. Cut some slits in the top crust for ventilation. You can crimp the edges with your fingers or a fork if you’d like.
Bake It
Bake the pie until your crust is golden. You’ll probably see some filling bubbling up around the edges by the time it’s done!
Make sure to place a larger baking dish or cookie sheet on the oven rack beneath your vegan pot pie to catch any drips. There will probably be a few!Keep an eye on your pie and cover the edges with foil or a pie shield if they start to darken too much.
Let the pie cool for a few minutes when it comes out of the oven, then dig in.
Variations
Make ahead option. Prepare the filling up to two days in advance, then assemble and bake the pie on the day of serving.Single crust option. Just skip the bottom crust! Press the edges of the top crust to the edges of your pie plate to form a seal. You can get away with using a slightly smaller pie plate (9-inches) with this option.
Leftovers & Storage
Vegan pot pie is best served the day it’s made. If you do have leftovers, try to keep them in the original pie dish, covered and sealed tight. They’ll keep for about 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat the entire dish in a 375°F oven until the filling gets bubbly again, or by microwaving individual servings. The leftovers can also be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Main Dishes
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