If you’re looking for a vegan Thanksgiving pie recipe that’s festive and decadent, you need to try my easy slow cooker butternut squash pie with miso.
It also frees up space in your oven for more holiday cooking for your family celebrations.
My vegan butternut squash pie is a holiday break from the traditional pumpkin pie and cooks in your slow cooker. It’s rich, decadent, and has a touch of salt and depth from the added miso.
The pie bakes in your slow cooker, freeing up space in your oven for more holiday treats.
Is pumpkin pie made from butternut squash?
The canned pumpkin puree we buy doesn’t contain the orange jack-o-lantern pumpkins that we think of.
There are dozens of winter squash varieties and many of those are also considered pumpkins.
There very possibly some butternut squash purée in that can!
Some of the varieties a can might contain are butternut, Hubbard, Boston Marrow, and Golden Delicious.
All of these have fewer strings, richer taste, and even more sweetness than plain old pumpkin.
You may have eaten a butternut squash dessert without even knowing it.
Is buttercup squash the same as butternut squash?
It’s very similar but buttercup is actually a little sweeter. You can switch out the two in any recipe sweet or savory. The inside of the buttercup is bright orange.
You can find lots of varieties of winter squash, including butternut and butternut squashes, at the farmers’ market, but they are showing up more in regular grocery stores and Trader Joe’s.
Can I make this in the oven?
You sure can! Just oil a pie pan and press in or roll out the dough and place the unbaked pie shell in there. Pour the delicious butternut squash pie filling into the crust.
Then put the pie pan on a rimmed baking sheet to make it easier to get in and out of the oven. Bake at 350 degrees until the middle is set.
What is miso?
Miso is a fermented soy product and if you can’t have soy there is a version made out of chickpeas.
Ingredients needed to make this vegan butternut squash pie
To make the crust you’ll either need a gluten-free pie mix and the ingredients it calls for, or whole wheat pastry flour, miso, cold water, and some vegan butter or coconut oil.
If you don’t have any miso you can use 1/2 teaspoon salt in its place.
Keep reading this post to see some oil-free ideas!
For the filling you’ll need a 15 ounce can of butternut squash puree, but you can use pumpkin or make this into a sweet potato pie.
Any version will be awesome on your Thanksgiving table. If you are using homemade purée, be sure to strain well and use about 1 1/2 cups.
Then we add in some silken tofu, brown sugar or coconut sugar, miso, molasses, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
You will also need a food processor and a slow cooker. I like using an oval one, but this will work in a round crockpot too.
How to Make (step-by-step):
Mix the flour mixture and the remaining ingredients for the crust in your food processor, and pulse until it begins to form a ball.
Line your slow cooker with parchment to make the pie easier to remove once it’s done.
Press the crust in and make it as even as you can and create a 1⁄4-inch lip/crust edge all around.
Rinse the food processor bowl if you want or just scrape it mostly clean.
Add the filling ingredients, and process until silky smooth.
Pour into the crust.
Place a clean dishtowel between the lid and the crock.
Cook on high for 1 1⁄2 to 2 1⁄2 hours until the middle firms up. It will still jiggle slightly, but if you notice a lot of steam coming off the middle you can cook with the lid off to help it firm up the last 30 minutes of cooking.
The top won’t get golden brown in the crockpot, but you can finish cooking it in the oven right in the crock.
After it’s done use the parchment paper as handles and move the pie to a wire rack.
What size slow cooker should I use?
In the video, I use the Hamilton Beach 3 in 1 which is no longer made. You can use a 4 or 6-quart slow cooker.
Unlike other slow cooker recipes, the size isn’t as important since we aren’t filling any of the sizes very full.
Just keep an eye out on the crust and jiggle to see if the filling is set.
You may have leftover pie crust and filling depending on the size and shape you use.
Just bake up any extras in a muffin tin as mini pies and set the oven temperature to 350 until the filling is set and the crust begins to brown, about 15 – 20 minutes.
You can make the crust and butternut squash filling ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
Just make sure to wrap up the crust tight in plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out and leave it out for about 20 – 30 minutes to soften to room temperature before pressing in the crust.
You can use about 3/4 the amount of coconut oil. I think it would be about the same amount for olive or avocado oil.
This recipe is a decadent treat and does include vegan butter in the crust as written. There are a few choices that you can make to health it up though.
– Bake as a pudding with no crust at all.
You can do this in the slow cooker or in your oven. I think it’s best in individual ramekins. If you do that, add water around the ramekins while cooking in either the crockpot or oven.
– Use an oil-free pie crust recipe.
You can try Virtual Vegan’s oil-free pie crust.
You can substitute coconut sugar, vegan sugar, or date sugar for brown sugar.
If you want to you can use a liquid sweetener like date syrup or maple syrup, but you will need to add less silken tofu. Do this by adding 1/4 of the container at a time.
The only gluten in this recipe is the crust. In the video I’ve linked to in the recipe, I use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free crust mix.
You can sub your favorite gluten-free baking blend, like Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1, or a whole grain mix like this one.
More dessert recipes including fall pies!
You need more than sweet potato casserole for your Thanksgiving dinner, and below I have some desserts that may be a new family favorite. But there are some classic pumpkin pies made vegan for you to choose from too.
- Gluten-free Vegan Pumpkin Pie with a Teff Flour Pecan Crust
- The Best Vegan Thanksgiving Pies – mega round up from my favorite bloggers
- Holiday Gingerbread Pear Crumble
- Vegan Teff Gingerbread
- Vegan Banana Bread with Pecans and a Touch of Bourbon
- Vegan Pumpkin Pie Dip
- Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread Minis
- Vegan Balsamic Berry Panna Cotta
Easy Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Pie with Miso: a Vegan Thanksgiving Pie
Equipment
- food processor
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients
- 2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour , or use gluten-free pie crust mix
- ½ teaspoon miso
- ½ cup cold water
- ½ cup vegan butter Stick Preferable – can use coconut oil
Filling Ingredients
- 1 15 oz. can butternut squash purée or pumpkin or sweet potato puree
- 1 12.3 oz box silken tofu
- ¾ cup brown sugar , or sub coconut or date sugar
- 2 tsp yellow miso
- 1 tsp molasses
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Mix the crust ingredients in your food processor, and pulse until it begins to form a ball.
- Line your slow cooker with parchment to make the pie easier to remove once it’s done.
- Press the crust in and make it as even as you can and create a 1⁄4-inch lip/crust edge all around.
- Rinse the food processor. Add the filling ingredients.
- Process until silky smooth.
- Pour into the crust.
- Place a clean dish towel between the lid and the crock and prop up one side of the lid by putting a wooden spoon underneath it.
- Cook on high for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours until the middle firms up. It will still jiggle slightly, but if you notice a lot of steam coming off the middle you can cook with the lid off to help it firm up the last 30 minutes of cooking.
SB says
I definitely want to put this on my Thanksgiving menu this year!