Oh boy guys. This recipe. THIS recipe. This is one of those recipes where I made it on a whim (I had some frozen peas in the freezer just begging to be used up!) and the recipe turned out miles and galaxies better than I had imagined. And after a few small bites during my recipe photoshoot, I simply could not WAIT until dinner time to have a proper feast-ful serving of this stuff.
And one day after, my review of this pie is: wow. yum. mmm. (Sorry that is not a very sophisticated review. ha.)
This vegan Creamy Cashew Veggie Pot Pie is silky smooth with a super rich, creamy, cashew base. Sweet petite peas, diced white sweet potato, chopped carrot and shiitake mushrooms dance and roll in this rich white, velvet-y sauce. The top layer coconut oil crust is buttery, flaky and kinda dreamy - yet SUPER easy to make.
If you have even been a "pot pie" lover you need to try this recipe! (And even if you are not a pot pie fan, this may convert you!)..
Creamy Base. The ultra creamy base is made using raw cashews. So when it bakes up the sauce actually firms up a bit like a very very very soft cashew cheese (my favorite thing to do with cashews!)
This cashew creamy sauce is really nothing new to me, but I have never used it in pot pie before. Usually I use cashew cream sauce in things like nachos, enchiladas and burritos.
But it worked like a dream!! I even took a risk and used white miso paste as my "salty" ingredient to give the cashew cream sauce an extra kick - worked great. (You could sub with just salt and maybe some cheezy nutritional yeast if needed.)
And even though this recipe looks super creamy, it does greatly thicken up when baking. The edges even get all nutty and toasty like a cashew cheese crust.
So enough about me, lets talk about THIS...
And this...
And THIS recipe...
Ultra Creamy Cashew Veggie Pot Pie
vegan, makes one pot pie
Veggie Filling:
*note that the amounts of the veggies are easy to modify and switch out as needed. You just want about enough veggies to fill up your pot pie serving dish
¾ cup petite peas, organic (frozen)
1 large carrot, diced
1 small potato, peeled/diced (I used a sweet white yam, but you could use a plain white Russett potato or even a sweet potato) - about 1 ¼ cups when chopped
½ cup chickpeas, drained/rinsed (canned)
½ cup shiitake mushrooms, diced
spices/oil for veggie saute:
½ teaspoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
a few dashes of black pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
a few pinches of cayenne (optional)
(Any other dry spices/seasonings you would like to add)
Cashew Base:
1 cup vegetable broth
2 cups soaked raw cashews
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
2 tablespoon white miso paste (adds saltiness and subtle flavor)
additional salt if needed (if you do not use miso paste, you should add some salt)
a few pinches of cayenne (optional)
Crust:
1 cup white flour, organic
¼ cup virgin coconut oil (use refined if you do not want any coconut flavor at all, unrefined will have some coconut flavor)
* I actually used unrefined and liked the subtle coconut
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4-6 tablespoon warm water
a squeeze of orange juice (brush top of pastry with it, or squeeze over top)
*note: if you use a casserole dish or something with a larger opening space than my dish, you will need more crust to cover, so you may need to double my recipe
My dish: measures 9½ inches in diameter; holds 3.88 quarts
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. (Yes! At the start because this goes so fast!)
2. Add you cashews (about 1 ½ cups before the are soaked) to a large bowl and cover with very hot water. The hottest setting on your tap. Add a pinch of salt and allow to sit while you do the veggie prep. (note: If you have time and plan ahead, soak the cashews for even longer - 4+ hours is great. This will help ease the blending process just a bit. This is advised if you are not using a high speed blender.)
3. Prep all your veggies. Set aside.
4. Add you potatoes to a deep skillet and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cover with lid. Reduce heat a bit and allow to cook until a tested potato is tender, but not mushy. Drain the water and set potatoes aside with other veggies.
5. Drain your cashews and add 2 cups of the soaked cashews to your blender. If you have any extra cashews you can thrown them in as well or toss them in whole with your veggie mix. Add the veggie broth, miso, sauce spices and acid. Blend from low to high until smooth and creamy. This may take a minute or so. Set aside. (Adjust salt and seasonings if desired.)
6. In that same skillet, add your oil and when the oil is hot add in the carrots, beans and mushrooms. Saute for a few minutes until cooked down. Then add in the peas and potatoes and saute until peas thaw a bit. Over medium heat.
7. Pour the base sauce over top the veggie saute and toss until all the veggies are well coated. Turn heat to high and saute for another 1-2 minutes so that the flavor of the nutty sauce develops a bit.
8. Pour the heated veggie filling into your pot pie serving/baking dish. Set aside.
9. Quickly mix up your dry ingredients for your crust. Then using your hands, mash in the coconut oil. Then one tablespoon at a time, add in the water. Mixing with every new spoonful. Keep adding until your dough in kneadable yet still moist. When this occurs, knead a bit then roll out on a floured surface. This does not to be perfect at all! I very quickly pressed and rolled out my dough (as you can tell by the crumbly state after baking). Add to top of your serving dish and slice a few vent lines in top. Lastly, squeeze a bit or orange juice over top - or brush pastry lightly with it. It gives a subtle orange tint that beats an "egg wash" any day!
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Serve after about 20 minutes of cooling. Store in fridge and reheat as needed. Eat within 3 days. This dish probably freezes quite well, but I have not tested freezing yet.
Nutrition estimate based on 6 servings per recipe (per serving below)
Lighten it up! If you want to increase the number of servings and decrease some of the calories per serving you are free to do this: simply add more veggies! Use a larger serving pan and add dough in strips across top. More veggies lighten things up a bit, but the creamy sauce is still there!
Jen Cooper says
In love with this recipe! It’s the best non dairy pot pie I have tried. I put spinach in mine as the veggie.
Sara says
SO GOOD. Took forever to cream in my 10 year old food processor but it got there eventually!! I didn't have some ingredients, or had alternatives on hand so I ended up altering the recipe to suffice my pantry. It turned out delicious and I'd love to try the original sometime!! I doubled the entire recipe for my family's Easter potluck lunch. My changes included added soy sauce in place of miso(it adds such a great flavor mixed with the apple cider vinegar, so even if it sounds odd, consider it over regular salt!), boiled the potatoes with thyme, added TONS of my Rosemary/garlic spice blend in place of garlic powder, included onions and extra mushrooms for more veggies, used dried chickpeas(hydrated overnight), canned sweet peas, and a store bought crust. I also included a bottom crust for the pie! I did not blind bake it. I add a flower/star lines for steam on top crust and brushed with Tropicana orange juice. Lovely color!!!! I ended up leaving the pie in the turned-off-but-still-hot oven for another hour before eating, causing it to dry out a bit. From my culinary chef cousins that was the only shortcoming. This recipe would otherwise be great and as shows, very versatile with spices and vegetables. The main piece is that DELICIOUS and PHENOMENAL cashew sauce. It is such a great idea!! I have never heard of such a sauce for a pot pie and it was absolutely comforting. My open minded family members helped themselves to it and some even took leftovers 🙂 the others that didn't try it because "they don't like vegan food" were missing out. Overall, if you are viewing this recipe- MAKE IT. From one college student that flounders in the kitchen and has a tight budget, this pot pie was delicious, easy, and has enough left overs to last a while making the price of cashews fair. Reheating is easy, add a splash of vegetable broth and the creaminess returns. I will make again, thank you so much for sharing 🙂 I hope my experiences help someone else!
Kathy Patalsky says
So glad you loved it Sara! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe experience! Xoxo
Cassandre Masson says
Hey everyone ! Does someone know if this recipe freeze well ?
Lindsay says
YUM! I added tofu that was lightly pan fried with salt, pepper, and garlic then tossed it in some nutritional yeast, because why not! It was a nice add in!! Being the first time I have ever attempted a homemade crust it didn't really turn out or look like the pictures above but it didn't make it taste any less amazing!!! Will be making this again, that's for sure!
Kaitlin says
Yum! Made this for dad and Gma today and we all liked it. Added extra veggies and subbed soy sauce for miso (about 3 tsp). Thanks for sharing!
racine12204 says
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a hit! So delicious. Since it was Thanksgiving, I added Beyond Meat faux chicken, which was good but definitely not necessary. Thanks for this and all your awesome recipes!
Julie Wood says
My kitchen smells so amazing right now, thank you so much!
Aimee says
I've made this two times now.. in two weeks 🙂 it's by far my favorite dish to make!! Plus my super picky 4 yr. old even eats it, and he claims to "hate vegetables". I double the amount of vegetables than this recipe calls for and I use celery, corn, carrots, chickpeas, green beans, potatoes and a garlic clove ( i also sauté them all in a little veggie broth, makes them so yummy) It makes enough for my family of 3 to enjoy for dinner + seconds and a nice little lunch the next day. It reheats in the microwave extremely well too... so yeah, LOVE this dish. Seriously can't thank you enough 😀
Sophia says
Do you bake it with the dough un-baked??
Heather Carter says
Made this last night and it was a hit with my 9 year old and non-vegan hubby. Next time I will try making with coconut flour instead of white. Also, a tip if you want less items to clean I just cooked the potpie in my skillet instead of transferring to another dish. And to heat up the frozen peas I threw them in with the potatoes when they were done cooking. That heated them up nicely. Great recipe and will make again!
Nicole says
I've made this twice already! After the first time my boyfriend begged me to make it again - his favorite pot pie thus far!! Thank you!!
JennieTheVeggie says
I made this a little over a week ago after dreaming about it for a month. It turned out AMAZING. I couldn't wait to eat my leftovers every day, even eating it for breakfast some days! It was a lot of work for me so I added premade vegan biscuits to the top to skip a step. It turned out so creamy, thick, filling, protein packed, and just so yummy. This was my favorite recipe I have tried so far since making the vegetarian and then vegan plunge in the last year. Thank you!
Cryssy Rose Mango says
Hi there..I just wanted to thank you for an amazingly delish Potpie..................it was so freakin good! My boyfriend said it was the best thing he ever ate from a home kitchen:) Thanks!
Olivia Allman says
Just letting you know : these freezes awesome. It's not as "creamy" but it's delicious none the less
Kathy Patalsky says
Well they are really the main ingredient for this specific recipe, are you allergic to them or nuts in general? Not sure there is a good way to sub them out for this recipe. If you want a vegan pot pie without nuts there is one in my recipe index
Torsten Lippoldt says
Is there any way to substitute the cashews?
Kathy Patalsky says
it is easier than you may guess to whip this up!! (And SO worth it!) 🙂
Danea Horn says
Oh, how I wish someone would come and make this for me tonight. Looks super delicious!!
Melissa Schultz says
This was delicious! Thanks for all the awesome recipes!! Everything I have tried so far has been excellent(my fav. is the bbq chickpea wrap)
Kathy Patalsky says
I will interpret scrummy to mean yummy them! 🙂 glad you liked it!
disqus_kIeqy3nB2a says
made this tonight, i used kale mushrooms and celery for the inside veg and chickpea flour as the crust, it turned out sooo scrummy! on a bed of naturally sweet sweetcorn and peas because i havent had them for years since i was little, thanku for this great recipe
Kathy Patalsky says
Woo hoo!!! Thanks 🙂
Kathy Patalsky says
Yay glad you love it too !! 🙂
Tarrah says
I made this dish last night and love it! I am always looking for filling dishes because i have such a fast metabolism... this one filled me up perfectly!
My non-vegan boyfriend loved it too.... he also likes the calorie count and suggestions on making it less calories 🙂
2 thumbs up!!
RockMyVeganSocks says
Oh holy crap... I want to go make this *right* now.
I'm going to try and make it gluten-free - hopefully it turns out. Looks amazeballs!
Kitchen Rebellion says
This looks like creamy, belly-rubbing goodness; it's going right to the top of my list of comfort recipes to try this winter!
Christina says
This looks unbelievable. I love that you used miso in the base for the sauce!
Amber says
Found this recipe friday and I swore I would make it for our sunday night dinner. Ours turn out awesome. I am typing with a full belly from this pie. My meat
eating, picky, completly skeptical, husband loved it
and was already saying "the next time you make this..."
I added onions to the mix of veggie and cut up green beans instead of peas. The only "complaint" from hubbie not me 😉 was the sauce wasnt creamy enough. Do you think adding more veg broth would help this?
Kristen says
I made this tonight, and I am in LOVE. It's taking all my willpower to not go for seconds. 🙂 I swapped celery for the potato to lighten the carb load, and sprouted whole wheat flour for white to lower the glycemic index. (I'm diabetic.). It was delicious!!! Thank you for sharing. I'm wondering if you think this would freeze well? I think I'll freeze one serving to test it out.
Nadilein says
Wow! I had faith from the pictures that this dish would be good but I never thought this good! My husband and I just devoured it!
I made two so that I can bring one to a friend tomorrow but I only baked the one for dinner tonight. Should I bake the second and then just have her warm it? Or should I put it in the fridge and then have her bake it tomorrow?
Kathy Patalsky says
Yes any flour will work! Slight liquid modifications might be needed.
Lois says
Is there anything I could substitue for the white flour? I am trying to be as gluten free and low carb as possible.
Kathy Patalsky says
I like it for the documented health reasons but you should ask your nutritionist or doctor if it is a healthy choice for YOU. Alzheimer's runs in my family so I know it has been studied to hello with brain health. But again, ask your doctor.
And you can easily use vegan butter or just basic oil for your crust if needed. Omit salt if using vegan butter (which is salted) give this recipe a try, it is soooo good!!!
Kathy Patalsky says
Yes! Very versatile. Veg chicken, tofu, tempeh or another bean. Or a grain like Fargo or barley or lentils! Feel free to get creative here! 🙂
Elaine says
This looks delicious, but I don't like chick peas. Can I substitute fake chicken or something else?
Ann says
I can't give you the reason coconut oil is considered so healthy, but I can suggest that you buy one for less money from an Asian shop, if there is one in your area.
Kathy Patalsky says
Glad to hear!
Sent from my iPad
Laura Portz says
Made this last night.... delicious!!!
JennieTheVeggie says
I have yet to make a pot pie since going veg last May and I think it's about time I do. I literally started salivating lookin at those pictures! Your lack of a "sophisticated" review made it all the better haha.
Also, I have never used coconut oil. I always see the price comparison and kind of stray away from it since I am definitely a vegan on a budget, but could you explain why coconut oil is better than other oils in your opinion?
Kathy Patalsky says
Yup! One dish meal too!
Kathy Patalsky says
Yay let me know what you think!!
Just Go Vegan says
Kathy, this looks amazing.... As a "pot pie" lover, I'd say this one is a must make 🙂
Dr. Reginia says
Looks delicious. Definitely comfort food