This easy vegan chocolate pie has a silky chocolate filling, flaky vegan pie crust, and lashings of torched marshmallow meringue.
It can be made ahead of time, perfect for a special occasion like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or a dinner party.
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Tip: If you prefer no bake desserts, try this vegan French silk pie instead. It has a no-bake Oreo crust and is topped with whipped coconut cream!
🧾 Ingredients Needed
You only need a few simple ingredients and a pre-made pie crust dough to make this velvety chocolate pudding pie:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- 70% Dark Chocolate: This is dark enough to give a rich chocolate flavor without being overly bitter. I don't recommend using dark chocolate chips as the quality doesn't match that of a good chocolate bar.
- Non-Dairy Milk: Depending on your preference or dietary requirements, you can use soy milk, almond milk, or oat milk here.
- Aquafaba: This is the viscous liquid from a can of chickpeas. It mimics the properties of egg whites and forms the base of the eggless meringue.
- Cornstarch: Known as cornflour if you're in Ireland or the UK. This is what thickens the chocolate custard filling since we're not using eggs. You can also use ground arrowroot.
- Vegan Butter: This adds richness to the vegan chocolate pie filling. Make sure you use block-style buttery sticks as opposed to the spreadable kind from a tub.
🥣 How To Make Vegan Chocolate Pie
Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the end of this page for full measurements and written instructions:
I recommend making the pie crust, and the chocolate pie filling, and reducing the aquafaba for the meringue a day ahead. Then make the meringue the day of serving. Here's how it's done:
Step 1: Blind bake the crust (following this pie crust recipe) and let it cool to room temperature - leave it inside the pie pan.
Step 2: Cook the soy milk, sugar, and cornstarch until thickened. Whisk in the vanilla extract and salt.
Step 3: Whisk in finely chopped dark chocolate until smooth. Then whisk in the cubed butter - the texture will become silky smooth.
Step 4: Let the filling cool for around 5-10 minutes, then pour it into the pie dish. Let the pie chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
Step 5: Prepare a batch of meringue topping and spoon it over the top of the pie.
Step 6: Torch the topping before serving using a blow torch before serving.
🍫 Variations
Whether you have dietary requirements or want to put your own spin on this chocolate pie, here are some ideas:
- Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie: Feel free to skip the meringue, and top with non-dairy whipped cream and some chocolate curls/chocolate shavings instead.
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Pie: Swap out the plain flour for all-purpose gluten-free flour. Readers have had success using both Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur measure-for-measure.
- Mini Chocolate Pies: Divide the recipe into mini tart tins and create smaller hand pies. The baking time will be less for smaller pies, so check them after the first 15 minutes of blind baking, then bake as needed until golden brown.
- Graham Cracker Crust: You can use vegan-friendly graham crackers (regular ones contain honey) or cookies for a quick and easy crust. Just blitz them in the food processor with some vegan butter, like in my banana cream pie.
- Nut Butter Pie: You can add 1-2 tablespoons of your favorite almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter, or hazelnut butter to the filling for a hint of nutty flavor.
- Flavorings: Add half a teaspoon of peppermint extract or a tablespoon of freshly grated orange zest to the filling.
💭 Recipe Tips
Reduce the aquafaba ahead of time. If you want to save time on the day of serving, prep this a day or two ahead.
Blind-bake the crust. This is a crucial step when working with unbaked pie fillings. Fully baking the crust before adding the chocolate filling will avoid a soggy or uneven crust.
Wipe your knife as you slice. To get the cleanest cuts, use a sharp knife and wipe with some paper towels in between each slice.
💬 FAQs
At room temperature, you can keep it out for a few hours or the day of serving it. Otherwise, store it in an airtight container in the fridge. For best results, add the meringue topping just before serving but it will hold up on any leftover pie in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.
It sounds like the custard wasn't cooked until thick or, your ingredients weren't measured correctly.
The chocolate and custard work in tandem together to set the filling once chilled, so make sure you let it chill for the required time to allow it to firm up.
Yes! You can freeze it in a sealed container (without the meringue) for up to a month. To defrost, place it on a plate in the fridge overnight. Then prepare the topping on the day of serving.
🥧 More Vegan Pies
📖 Recipe
Description
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 batch vegan pie crust, *makes extra dough - see note 1
- 480 ml (2 cups) soy milk, or oat milk/almond milk
- 70 g (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
- 40 g (4 tbsp) cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, or vanilla bean paste
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 300 g (10.58 oz) vegan 70% dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 45 g (3 tbsp) vegan butter (block-style), *see note 2
- 1 batch vegan Italian meringue
Instructions
- Preparation (up to 2 days in advance): Prepare the pie crust dough and chill until ready to use. Reduce the aquafaba for the meringue topping and refrigerate until ready to use
- Preparation (Day of or day ahead of serving): Lightly grease a 9-inch pie tin with oil or vegan butter, dust it with flour, and then knock off any excess flour so it is lightly coated. You can also add a round of parchment to the base.Preheat your oven to 190°C (374°F).
- Pie Crust: Using a rolling pin, roll out the chilled dough to ⅛-inch in thickness so that it is an inch or so larger than the circumference of the tart tin. Use the rolling pin to carefully lift the pastry over the tin and use your fingers to gently ease the pastry into the side of the tin.Use a knife or pastry scissors to cut around the edges, then gently press the edges down with a fork. Pierce several holes into the base of the pastry using a fork.
- Take a sheet of parchment paper and cut it into a circle slightly larger than the pie tin. Scrunch up the parchment, and place it on top of the dough. Fill the base with pie weights (you can also use dried beans, rice, or lentils). Par-bake it for 20 minutes.
- Carefully remove the baking beads and parchment and continue to bake the crust for another 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely to room temperature, but do not remove the crust from the tin.
- Chocolate Filling: Add the soy milk, sugar, and cornstarch to a saucepan and whisk well to remove any lumps.
- Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and cook on low-medium heat for about 5 minutes whilst whisking until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Alternate between using a whisk and rubber spatula to make sure the custard does not stick to the pan. The mixture will become thick once the cornstarch is cooked (see images in the post for reference), remove it from the heat, and don't be tempted to overcook it.
- Whisk in the vanilla and salt. Add the finely chopped chocolate to the saucepan and whisk until melted through and smooth. The mixture will appear split at first but become silky smooth once incorporated. Whisk in the cubed butter.
- Let the filling cool for around 5-10 minutes, and whisk it every couple of minutes or so to prevent skin from forming on the surface. Pour the filling into the cooled pastry shell and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until set (preferably overnight).
- Topping: Prepare the meringue topping and spoon it over the set pie. Torch the topping before serving using a blow torch.
- Storage: Place in an airtight container in the fridge. For best results, the meringue topping will hold in the fridge for up to 2-3 days. As another option, you can prepare the filled pie a few days in advance and top with the meringue on the day of serving.
Notes
- Pie Crust - The pie will use about ¾ of the pie crust recipe, you can make a full batch and freeze the remaining crust for other recipes or adjust the quantity to make less.
- Vegan Butter - Use vegan block-style butter, not spreadable margarine from a tub.
Nutrition
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