Vegan Butternut Squash Pie – Updated!
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something. I only include links for products and services I love and believe in. Please check out my disclosure policy for more details!Last year, a friend told me that the best way to make a pumpkin pie was by using butternut squash. It’s supposed to have a smoother texture, not grainy like some pumpkins can be, and it’s a little bit sweeter, to boot.
Update 10.28.2020: I’ve added a form to get my holiday recipe guide at the bottom of this post. If you like what you see here, and you’d like to get your hands on more holiday recipes, definitely give that a look.
For the second year in a row, I’ve made a vegan pumpkin pie using butternut squash, and I love the results. Coconut milk works perfectly to make it creamy, and the pie crust recipe couldn’t be easier.
I’ve been using a recipe from Compassionate Eating and follow it just about to the letter. Recently, a commenter told me the site no longer links to the recipe, so here it is in full, with my modifications and tips below:
Ingredients
Pie crust
- You’re going to halve what you use for the Apple Pie recipe – cinnamon optional.
Filling
- 2 1/2 cups cooked pureed butternut squash
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg; or substitute all 4 for about 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
- 3/4 cup cane sugar
- 8 oz coconut milk
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
First tip: I always go a little easy on the sugar depending on how sweet the butternut squash comes out. Think of ¾ cup as a guideline.
Directions
Start by getting your pie crust and butternut squash ready. My favorite way to cook the butternut squash is to put it in the oven. It’s really easy and you can have it going while you’re getting everything else ready. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place face down on a sprayed jelly roll pan or some kind of cookie sheet with a lip and add a cup of water to it before placing in the oven. Depending on the size of the squash, cook time could take up to an hour but check after 45 minutes. The skin will be a little brown and start to be peeling away from the squash and it should be easy to pierce the squash with a fork.
Use my Apple Pie recipe for the pie crust but make a half portion – so only use 1 cup of flour, 1/4 tsp salt, etc. The key to a great pie crust is cold butter in small chunks. Cut the butter into the flour and salt. Add the water last. I have more detailed instructions on my Apple Pie recipe post. Remember, you need to let the dough chill in the fridge but you’re also waiting on your butternut squash to come out of the oven, so it should time out well. This pie crust recipe is easy and far and away my favorite one. If you’re using Earth Balance Buttery Sticks with salt, skip the salt in the crust recipe.
Once the butternut squash is roasted, puree chunks of it in a food processor. Hopefully you have about 2 1/2 cups from your butternut squash. Every time I do this recipe, I get a fairly average-sized squash from the store and it ends up being plenty. Add the separate spices (or pumpkin pie spice), salt, oil, sugar, and coconut milk to the butternut squash all in one big bowl. Mix around until well combined.
Another tip – When using coconut milk, buy one of the cans of the original stuff (high fat = perfect creaminess) and use all of the solid part of it and only a small amount of liquid. You don’t want the pie filling to be too runny.
By this point, the dough should have chilled for at least an hour. Take it out and roll it. The best advice I have for you when rolling out pie dough is not to go too overboard with flour. I have a tendency to worry that the dough will stick, but keep that out of your mind. Resist adding any more flour to it than the recipe entails, and the crust will come out perfectly. Take your rolled out dough and place it in a sprayed pie pan. Tuck any of the edges or cut a bit off if you need. You can use a fork or scallop the edges by pinching with your fingers. Whatever you want to do to make it look pretty.
Take your awesome filling and pour it into the crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce to 350 and cook for 45 for minutes. When the pie is done, put it in the fridge for at least a couple hours. This is definitely not the kind of recipe you want to make just before a big holiday dinner.
Thanks for reading! How do you make a perfect pumpkin/squash pie?
December 3, 2013 @ 2:28 pm
That sounds really good. I looooove butternut squash.
December 8, 2013 @ 11:31 pm
Thanks, Mary! I hope you get a chance to try it. It always disappears pretty fast when I make it. I also like having either soy whip or vanilla coconut milk ice cream with it.
September 7, 2015 @ 1:40 pm
The original recipe is no longer available on the Compassionate Eating web page. Bummer! It sounded really good based on your tips and hints.
September 8, 2015 @ 9:00 pm
Anita, thank you for bringing it to my attention! I posted how I do my butternut squash pie here, with modifications from the recipe I found and all the great tips I had previously included. I hope you enjoy it!
December 21, 2016 @ 10:32 am
Hello,
I am a vegan I’m always looking for ways to enjoy the foods o love to eat, but on a much more healthier vegan way. I used to watch everything meat, dairy you name it. About 5 years ago, I decided to make some food changes and it’s been the best thing ever for me. I wanted to send you a comment thanking you for this recipe, I know I will tweek it a little, but I will definitely use it.
Thanks,
Gina
April 29, 2020 @ 7:52 pm
I am looking to make a crustless fat-free version of this; do you think it would work to use applesauce to replace the oil and soy milk thickened with cornstarch instead of the coconut milk?
July 31, 2020 @ 9:31 am
Hi, Amelia! Sorry, just saw this comment. I would say that it would pretty significantly change the thickness of the pie, so I’m not sure it would work too well. But if you try it, let me know!
October 2, 2021 @ 10:57 am
Thoroughly enjoyed this pie! I like it better than pumpkin pie. Do you know if this pie would freeze well or not?
December 1, 2021 @ 2:51 pm
Yours was the first recipe that came up in my search and it sounded good to me. I opted for just 1/2 cup of erythritol as I’m not all that keen on super sweet and I only had coconut cream on hand; it came out perfect! Thanks! I’ll check out your other recipes 😉
January 8, 2022 @ 12:19 pm
Hi, Rita! Not sure if it would freeze well. I know that the texture can get particular with just the right balance of coconut milk. Maybe I’ll try that this year!