This Vegan French Silk pie is the perfect dairy-free dessert for your next holiday gathering or celebration. It calls for just a few simple ingredients, and tastes like the real thing!
How to Make French Silk Pie Vegan
Instead of using dairy or eggs, this vegan French Silk Pie is made with full-fat coconut milk. It gives the pie a creamy texture, without an overwhelming coconut flavor.
When you open a can of coconut milk, it might look solid on the top, with liquid on the bottom. You’ll be using the whole can for this recipe, so it doesn’t matter if it has separated in this case.
Paired with unsweetened baking chocolate and coconut sugar, this dairy-free recipe has the perfect balance of sweet, chocolate flavor, without using any refined sugar.
How to Thicken It
Since this recipe doesn’t use eggs, it gets thickening help from a vegan gelatin called agar agar. I buy it as flakes at the store, so make sure you buy the flakes, too. (It’s also sold in powdered form, but measurements for that will be significantly different.)
If you can’t find agar agar flakes, the closest substitute would be powdered gelatin, but keep in mind that’s not vegan or vegetarian. (My guess is that 1/2 teaspoon would be a similar swap for the 1 teaspoon of agar flakes.)
An alternate option might be to use 1/4 cup of arrowroot or tapioca starch instead of the agar, but I haven’t had the chance to test this myself yet. I’ll report back if I do, and I hope you will, too!
If you don’t need this recipe to refined sugar free, try my Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake, which is thickened using chocolate chips.
Vegan Pie Crust Options
It’s important to start with a baked pie crust for this recipe, since the filling only needs to be chilled to set. You can use my Oat Flour Pie Crust or my Almond Flour Pie crust, both of which are vegan.
(This one is photographed with my Almond Flour Pie Crust.)
Dairy-Free Whipped Cream Topping
For a classic French Silk Pie, you’ll want to use a full batch of coconut whipped cream for the topping. (That’s what is pictured here. If you want more whipped cream, you’ll need to make a double batch.)
If you’d rather buy a whipped topping to save yourself some effort, there are tons of vegan whipped cream options at the store, too!
I hope you’ll enjoy this vegan French Silk Pie soon. I can’t wait to hear what you think of it!
Vegan French Silk Pie (Dairy-Free & Soy-Free!)
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch baked pie crust (see post for recipes)
- 1 (13.5 oz.) can full-fat coconut milk (400 ml)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons agar agar flakes (see notes)
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar (112 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (3 grams)
- 1 1/2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate , roughly chopped (43 grams)
- 1 batch coconut whipped cream
- Dark chocolate shavings , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Bake the pie crust, if you haven't already. You'll want it to be relatively cool when you pour in the pie filling.
- In a small saucepan, combine the coconut milk, 1 teaspoon of agar flakes (use 2 teaspoons if you want it to have a firmer texture), coconut sugar, and vanilla. Bring it to a boil, and whisk well to help the agar flakes dissolve. Let the mixture boil for 1 minute, stirring often.
- Turn off the heat, and stir the baking chocolate into the liquid. Stir until it's melted and smooth. Pour the chocolate into the baked pie crust, then place it in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours.
- When the filling feels firm to a light touch, you can top it with coconut whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Slice and serve chilled. Leftover pie can be stored lightly covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was updated on November 5, 2020 with a better crust & photo tutorials. The pie has been a fan favorite for 7 years, so I didn’t change the filling, other than to note that 1 teaspoon or 2 teaspoons of agar flakes will “work” for this recipe. I prefer it with just 1 teaspoon for a softer chocolate layer.
More Vegan Desserts
Looking for another vegan dessert idea? Try these crowd-pleasing recipes below.
- Vegan Pecan Pie
- The Best Vegan Pumpkin Pie
- Baked Apples (easier than pie!)
- Gluten-Free & Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Pots de Creme
- Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
- Almond Butter Blondies
If you try this Vegan French Silk Pie recipe, please leave a comment below letting me know how you like it! And if you make any modifications, I’d love to hear about those, too. We can all benefit from your experience.
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite pie flavor?
This was great! I accidentally left it out overnight after my boyfriend downed 2 slices! Is it safe to consume since it is vegan? I heard you can leave coconut milk out for a day without it going bad. It still smells good.
I tried to make this, and while the taste was to die for the texture was more of like a melted ice cream consistency. Would trying it again with coconut cream instead of full fat coconut milk make a difference?
Yes, you can use just coconut cream if you prefer. You can also increase the agar agar to make it more firm. Glad you enjoyed the flavor!
I was searching for a no bake French Silk pie I’ve made in the past. Was it replaced with this one? Thank you!
This recipe got new photos last year, but I don’t think the recipe changed at all, because it’s already perfect. Hope you find what you’re looking for!
I’m looking for the original recipe with the original pie crust. It was almond flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, salt that was just refrigerated. I just don’t remember the measurements. The video is still on ig.
finally saw the note that the original no bake crust was removed, thankfully I did not lose my mind.
Hi Kat! Sorry for the confusion. The original no-bake crust measurements are:
1 1/2 cups almond flour
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
3 tablespoons maple syrup
pinch of sea salt
Mix that all together and press it into a pie pan lined with parchment paper. 🙂
This is one of the first recipes I tried from Meagan. I wanted an alternative pie choice at Thanksgiving. It did not disappoint. So delicious! My mom helped me make it and loved it, too! And she’s a very traditional eater. 🙂
So simple to make and SO GOOD!! Thank you so much…this is gonna be a holiday staple in our house!
Thanks for this recipe! I made it for a friendsgiving this weekend. Here are some notes from my trial. I was not able to find agar agar at my store so I did try it with arrowroot. It seemed to take a full two days for the chocolate center to fully firm up so I would recommend making it more than a day in advance since it did not firm up fully overnight. The day of I was opening the fridge up a bunch so I don’t think that helped with firming it up fully.
I have never baked an unfilled pie crust before so I was not familiar with doing this. It would be great to have a go to reference, connected to this recipe that would help with an inexperienced piemaker like myself. My try led to a cracked crust and then I salvaged it by making a graham crust, but this took more time of course.
The tip on making sure you don’t shake the can of coconut milk is definitely a good one. I noticed this too late and when I opened the can it only had part of the cream firm on top. I got about 1/2 cup of cream from two cans as a result.
I would also say that I would put slightly less sugar next time in the chocolate filling since it seemed extra rich.
All in all I think this is a good recipe if you know how to do it right. I thought this would be an easier recipe than it really was so as a result I am giving it 3.5 – 4 stars since it is not quite as user friendly as my other go to recipes by Detoxinista.
By far the best pie I’ve ever made. Served this on Thanksgiving and it was the first empty pie plate. Trust me, there was plenty of competition! Everyone loved this pie!
So delicious!
I never thought I would be able to eat french silk pie again. It was a childhood favorite filled with dairy and gluten – thank you SO much for this recipe. It’s exceptional! Like, SO so good. I’ll make this every holiday forever 🙂 My non-vegan, gluten consuming family members were surprised at the deliciousness of this pie. Most importantly, I just love it so much.
This is my favorite French silk pie recipe! We have made this for the last 5+ years!
This is my go-to holiday pie! I grew up having french silk pie over the holidays and when I became vegan came to terms that it was a distant memory. No more! Not only do I love this, but it’s a smash with my dairy-eating family. Obsessed with this recipe. Thank you!