Earlier this week we rounded up some vegetarian and vegan comfort food recipes from the Kitchn archive. Here's a brand new recipe for a warm and savory vegan tofu and vegetable pot pie with a super buttery, flaky crust. Its appeal isn't limited to vegans, either. My partner, a bacon and barbecue loving omnivore, confessed that he liked this pot pie even better than the meat versions he's had!
To give this pot pie a deep, savory flavor, I adapted my favorite umami-packed vegetarian gravy recipe from AllRecipes.com. It contains nutritional yeast, which has a nutty, somewhat cheesy flavor. The crust is adapted from Savvy Vegetarian and uses Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks for a surprisingly buttery flavor and texture. I highly recommend it but feel free to substitute any other favorite pie crust recipe or even ready-made puff pastry.
The recipe may look long and complicated but don't worry, it's really quite easy! The key is to chill the crust ingredients and to chop and prep the filling ingredients before you start cooking. Dicing the vegetables into similar sizes will also ensure even cooking. Frying the tofu gives it a firmer texture and richer flavor but you may omit this step if you wish.

Serves 2
Crust
1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 stick or 1/2 cup frozen Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
Ice water
Filling
8 ounces super or extra firm tofu
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Russet potato, diced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/4 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1 teaspoon finely chopped sage
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
Salt and pepper
Special Equipment
2 (12-ounce) ramekins or other oven-safe dishes
For the Crust (Part 1)
The secret to this crust is chilling the ingredients and tools. Place the flour in a mixing bowl and chill in the freezer while you are preparing the filling. Also place a pastry blender or fork in the freezer.
For the Filling
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Cut tofu into 1/3-inch dice and press between clean kitchen towels or paper towels to rid of excess water.
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook tofu until golden on all, or most, sides. Remove tofu from skillet and set aside.
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the same skillet. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic and sauté until onion is translucent.
Add potato to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until tender but not mushy.
Add flour, nutritional yeast, and soy sauce to the skillet and stir into the vegetables.
Add vegetable broth and stir until combined, scraping all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add tofu, peas, sage, and thyme and stir until combined.
Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.
For the Crust (Part 2)
Take the supplies out of the freezer.
Cut the Earth Balance into smaller cubes or slices and add to the flour. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut the mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Then, using your hands, quickly rub the mixture together so that the Earth Balance is absorbed into the flour.
Gradually drizzle ice water into the bowl, mixing with the pastry blender or fork until the dough just comes together.
Quickly shape the dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Place on a floured surface a roll out to 1/8 inch thick.
Place the ramekins upside-down over the dough and use a paring knife to cut out circles about 1/2 inch larger on all sides.
Assemble and Bake
Divide the tofu and vegetable mixture between the ramekins.
Place a dough round over each ramekin and tuck the sides under to form a thicker crust around the edge. Press to seal around the edges of the dishes and crimp with a fork. Cut a slit in the middle.
Bake in the oven until golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes.
Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.
Crust recipe adapted from Savvy Vegetarian's No Fail Vegan Pie Crust.
Gravy recipe adapted from Becky's Vegetarian Gravy on AllRecipes.com.
Related: Not Chicken! 3 Variations on Traditional Pot Pie
(Images: Emily Ho)
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Comments (19)
Any chance you recall where you found the individual pot pie/quiche dishes? Mine are all either too small or too large, these look just right for a single portion.
My recipe is quite similar, but I throw in some fennel and use a mushroom stock. A subtle but important tip: try to vary the size/shape of your diced veggies. A pie filled different veggies, all the exact same size, just doesn't 'feel' as good as one with varied textures.
Yay! Many thanks for the new recipe :)
i'm all about the pot pie this winter! My fav spots in LA to get one are Good Girl Cafe in Highland Park and The Village Bakery in Atwater. I'm def going to try this recipe at home!
@embryoconcepts Those particular ramekins were from Crate & Barrel but it doesn't look like they have them any more. Here are some similar ones at Sur La Table.
Great recipe. I love that it's sized for two people.
I love pot pies! Anything baked and served individually is a great treat, because you know it was made just for you!
Ross, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods and Marshalls are GREAT places to find ramekins. I recently saw a 4-pk of LeCreuset 6oz ramekins at HomeGoods for around $12.
I would consider using baked tofu in this recipe, which is pretty readily available in supermarkets, as regular tofu will tend to get too soft after baking in liquid. Seitan strips would be another good alternative, since they have a "chicken-y" texture.
@Cat [at] The Verdant Life, baked tofu is a great idea. Using super firm tofu and frying it first, as I've suggested here, also prevents it from getting soft.
I had everything for these on hand, so I had to make them the day the recipe was posted. The filling was delicious. The nooch and soy made for a great sauce. The tofu stayed firm. I doubled everything to make four pies since the recipe is pretty time intensive. I used the original double crust recipe linked to, not the one posted here since I couldn't justify that much butter for two pot pies. Maybe a bad move. The crust was bland (I knew I should have added salt) and kind of hard. I'll definitely make these again with a different crust.
This is the recipe I needed today. The weather made it the perfect meal. Thanks!
i made this pot pie today, and it is AMAZING. I tripled the batch, and it was great! thanks for the recipe!
Learning to make pot pie has long been an aspiration of mine and I just made this as my first meal in a new year I intend to dedicate to learning how to cook new things! That might sound silly but I am feeling full with a warm belly and proud of myself right now! Thank you, Emily, it was delicious!
I made these for Christmas and they were to die for!
i had good success w/ this recipe! The crust was very good (I was doubtful of the Earth Balance but the crust was yummy!) and the filing was tasty. I used my mini le-creuset pots and they worked perfectly.
This was SO good! Here were my tweaks... I didn't have veggie broth on hand, so I used a bouillon cube from Edward & Sons "Not-Chick'n". Then for the crust, I followed exact instructions, but used 2 tbsp of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour with the 1 cup flour. As well as, put vodka and ice in a cocktail mixer and drizzled that for the ice water. I also just made one big pot pie, my BF and I chowed down!
Aaaaaaammaaazing! I added rosemary to my crust, corn in the mix, and a sprinkle of brown sugar...deeellliissh
Does anybody have any thoughts on how this would cook at a lower temperature? I want to make it in conjunction with a roast that's cooking at 350F. Obviously I'd have to leave it in longer, but would the crust still turn out well (i.e., flaky not gummy)?
does anyone have any idea if this amount of filling would work for a 9" pie plate (regular or deep dish)?
This is a wonderful recipe! However, I did make a few changes that I'd like to share. I used this recipe for a 9" pie. The dough was enough for a flaky crust on top. I used whole wheat pastry flour, and it still came out delicious. I also added .5 tsp salt to the dough. The seasoning for the filling was perfect, however, I added about 1.5 tsp of corn starch and a cup of almond breeze to give it a creamy consistency. I also added diced mushrooms to the recipe, and used "Not Chick-n" buillon cubes dissolved into 1.25 cups of hot water instead of vegetable broth.
I bet soy curls would work as a great substitute for the tofu!