Vegetable pot pie made with an all-butter pie dough is a creamy, warming, and filling answer to any chilly evening. A staple meal in the fall and winter, these pot pies consist of a homemade vegetable stew encased in two layers of crispy, flaky, buttery pie crust.
Due to the popularity the chicken pot pie and the turkey pot pie, vegetable pot pies can be hard to find. When a vegetable pot pie is available, it’s often either dry or encased in a chewy flavorless dough. This can leave vegetarian pot pie lovers left out in the cold. This recipe captures all the yumminess of a chicken or turkey pot pie without the meat!
It’s a lot of work.
It is. Vegetable pot pies are time consuming when they are made completely from scratch. It’s worth it; even if you only do it once a year. You can cut some corners by purchasing a pie dough, but nothing beats a homemade all-butter pie crust. The good news is that you can make pie dough in advance and keep it in your refrigerator for a few days (or even in the freezer for up to 3 months) until you need it.
I recommend making the disk of dough in advance, but not rolling it out until your vegetable filling is already cool. This guarantees that your butter doesn’t melt during the assembly process and your crust will turn out flaky and light. If you want that picture perfect shiny golden brown crust, make a quick egg wash by lightly beating 1/8 tsp of salt into on egg and brushing it on your crust right before you put it in the oven.
The vegetable stew can also be made in advance. Mix the gravy and vegetables together and put in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Let thaw completely before assembling your pies. Technically, if you make both parts in advance, this meal really only takes about 15 minutes to assemble.
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Pyrex Basics 8″ Square Baking Dish
I like this little guy as my go-to baking dish. It’s small enough to fit in my itty-bitty microwave/convection oven. I bake everything in it. All my pies, cakes, brownies… I even used it to roast a (tiny) turkey! Because this is a glass baking dish, it can also be microwaved—that makes reheating leftovers easy. I store mine in a drawer with my extra kitchen towels. It weighs about 3 pounds.
Vegetable Pot Pie Leftovers
Leftover vegetable pot pie reheats okay. I cover mine with foil and bake for 10 minutes in a 425℉ oven. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes to make it crispy again. I highly recommend you serve all leftovers with a fresh batch of vegetarian gravy. Fresh gravy just brings the whole thing back to life.
I’ve never experimented with freezing a fully assembled, already baked pot pie, but I assume that it can be done. If you want to give it a try, check back here and let us all know how it worked out by adding to the comments section.
Ingredients
- 1 batch all-butter pie dough
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 medium potatoes diced
- 1 small turnip chopped (optional, omit 1 potato if using)
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 2 medium carrots diced
- 6 medium mushrooms diced
- 1 cup green beans (frozen, cut)
- 1 cup peas (frozen)
- 1/4 cup cut corn (frozen, optional)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp sage
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 4 tsp vegetable bouillon (or 1 quart vegetable broth, omit the water if using)
- 4 cups water
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 batch vegetarian gravy (optional)
Instructions
Prepare Your Vegetables
- Prepare the fresh vegetables. Mince the garlic. Chop the onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, turnip (optional), and potatoes. With the exception of the garlic, try to chop the vegetables a similar size. If you are using a turnip, omit one of the potatoes.
- Put all the fresh vegetables in a medium stock pot.
- Mix in 4 tsp of vegetable bouillon and 4 cups of water. (If you are using vegetable broth, just add the broth.) The liquid should just barely cover the vegetables.
- Add salt, black pepper, thyme, bay leaf, sage, and rosemary.
- Bring to a boil and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes and carrots are tender.
- Separate the broth by straining the vegetables over a large bowl.
- Fold the frozen green beans, peas, and corn (optional) into the cooked vegetables. Set aside.
Make Gravy
- Back in the medium pot, melt 1/4 cup of butter. Remove from heat.
- Add 1/3 cup all-purpose flour to the butter and stir well to create a thick paste without any lumps.
- Add 1/4 cup of the vegetable broth to the butter paste. Mix well until it becomes creamy. Continue stirring and slowly adding the vegetable broth until it is all mixed in. Return to the heat over a low temperature.
- Keep stirring over heat until the flour thickens and a gravy forms. Set aside to cool.
Prepare Your Dough
- Heat your oven to 425℉
- Prepare your pie dough. Roll out a sheet of dough large enough to cover the sides and bottom of your baking dish plus 1-inch on all sides. Lightly press into the bottom and sides of the pan. Patch any tears with excess dough.
- Roll out a second sheet that fits across the top of your baking dish plus 1-inch on all sides. Set aside.
Bake The Pie
- After your vegetables are cool, add them to the bottom of the dough covered pan. Spread evenly across the bottom, then pour the gravy on top of the vegetables.
- Gently place the top of the pie on top of the gravy leaving the excess hang off. Lightly pat the dough down against the filling to remove any air bubbles. Pinch the sides of the dough together against the side of the dish.
- Trim off the excess dough around the edges and cut a few small slits in the center to vent steam.
- If you want a shiny brown crust: lightly beat one egg with 1/8 tsp of salt and gently brush on top of the pie crust.
- Bake the pot pie for 45-60 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and crispy. The pie may drip while cooking. If the edges start to blacken before the middle is brown, gently wrap the edges in aluminum foil.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before serving.
- Serve with a side of vegetarian gravy.
Notes
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Making Vegetable Pot Pie in a Tiny Kitchen
There will be dishes galore and you will feel like you’ve been standing there forever. I promise.
Clean up will include a medium pot, large spoon, cutting board, large knife, strainer, a measuring cup, a baking dish, and dishes to eat on. The annoyance about the dishes is that it’s not the quantity, it’s the bulk. That’s why I reuse the same pot that I cooked the vegetables in when I make my gravy.
