Looking for a delicious vegan dinner that’s easy to make and uses cheap ingredients? If so, this vegan chickpea pot pie is for you!
This is one of my favorite dinners to make in the colder months (or all year round). Chickpeas and veggies in a creamy sauce topped with biscuits—don’t mind if I do! It reheats well too, so it works great to pack for lunch. You can even make this to bring to Thanksgiving or any holiday gathering.
Unlike many other pot pie recipes out there, this vegan chickpea pot pie uses just one pot to mix everything up, and one pan for baking. No need to mix up the sauce in one pot, then saute the veggies in another, saving you time and reducing clean up.
This vegan chickpea pot pie is totally customizable to whatever veggies and protein you have on hand. I typically use a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and a can of chickpeas because it doesn’t involve any prep or chopping, but you can throw in whatever you prefer!
This meal is simple, budget-friendly, dairy-free, egg-free, and totally vegan. Keep reading to find out how to create this dish!
Vegan Chickpea Pot Pie
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this vegan chickpea pot pie:
Biscuits: These go on top of the filling as the crust.
Olive oil or plant butter: I use olive oil to saute the onions in the beginning and to oil the baking pan, but it can be omitted to make oil-free.
Frozen mixed vegetables: In this recipe I used a bag of frozen green beans, corn, carrots, and peas.
Chickpeas or garbanzo beans: This adds protein to the dish. In this recipe, I also advise reserving a little bit of the liquid from the chickpea can. This liquid is called aquafaba and can be used as an egg substitute. Here we can use it as a wash to spread onto the tops of the biscuits, helping them become golden brown.
Plant milk: Adding in plant milk helps make the sauce creamy.
Vegetable broth: Traditional non-vegan pot pies typically use chicken broth, so we’re using veggie broth instead.
Onion: I typically use a white or yellow onion.
Flour: To make this recipe I used all-purpose flour.
Nutritional yeast: This adds additional flavor to the sauce and gives it a hint of cheesiness.
Substitutions:
Biscuits: If you’d prefer to make homemade biscuits and have the time, that’s great! I prefer using store bought as it’s so much quicker. You can also use puff pastry (did you know that many puff pastry brands are vegan?) or a pie crust. To make this dish gluten-free, use gluten-free biscuits or crust.
Olive oil or plant butter: I usually cook my veggies in extra virgin olive oil, but you can opt for any plant butter or oil that you prefer. I often cook with coconut oil, canola oil, and avocado oil. You can also completely omit the oil in this recipe to make it oil-free. If you do this, I recommend cooking the onion in a little vegetable oil or water in the beginning to reduce sticking.
Frozen mixed vegetables: You can use whatever veggies you prefer for this dish! I like the simplicity and low cost of frozen veggies, but you can customize this pot pie to your liking and what you have on hand.
Chickpeas: I like using canned chickpeas because it doesn’t involve any prep; you can just drain/rinse the chickpeas and throw them in! You can also use tofu, tempeh, white beans, lentils—it’s up to you!
Plant milk: I usually use almond milk, but any unflavored, unsweetened plant milk will do.
Vegetable broth: If you don’t have any veggie broth on hand and don’t want to buy any extra ingredients, you can substitute water. If you do this, I recommend adding extra salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast to enhance the flavor.
Onion: I normally use one small white or yellow onion for this dish, but you can also use a red onion or shallot.
Flour: You can use any type of flour for this recipe—all purpose, whole wheat, gluten free—it’s up to you. You can also use tapioca or arrowroot starch instead of flour. These starches are used as thickening agents and will help create a thicker sauce. Because flour is cheap and much more easy to find, I use that instead.
Nutritional Yeast: This will give the sauce a subtle cheesy taste, but this ingredient can be omitted.
Now, here’s how to make this vegan chickpea pot pie:
After you’ve preheated your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit and lightly oiled your casserole dish, add 1 tbsp of olive oil or butter to a large pot. Throw in your diced onion and cook for about one minute.
Next, add the plant milk, veggie broth, flour, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper to the pot. Turn the heat up to medium-high and use a whisk to stir up the sauce and remove any lumps from the flour. Keep whisking, and after about five minutes the sauce should come to a boil. One it’s boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer for two minutes. By now, most of the lumps from the flour should be gone and the sauce will have thickened slightly.
Add in the frozen veggies (or whatever veggies you’re using) and turn the heat back up to medium-high. Bring the sauce back to a boil, stirring occasionally. If the sauce is too thick or sticks to the pot at all, add in a little bit of water.
Once the sauce and veggies are boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer once again and add in the rinsed and drained chickpeas. Let it simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally. At this point you might want to taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings as needed. The mixture should have the consistency of a thick stew.
Remove the veggie/chickpea mixture from the heat and add it to the casserole dish. Spread it into an even layer. Arrange the biscuits on top of the mixture.
Bake for 20 minutes. Halfway through baking, remove the casserole dish from the oven and spread a little bit of aquafaba (the liquid from canned chickpeas) onto the tops of the biscuits. This will help them get golden-brown and a little crispy on the outside.
After 20 minutes, remove the casserole dish from the oven and enjoy!
Vegan Chickpea Pot Pie
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil or plant butter
- 1 small yellow or white onion
- 1 1/2 cups unflavored, unsweetened plant milk
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground pepper
- 1 1/2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 15.5 oz can drained and rinsed chickpeas reserve 2 tsp of the aquafaba liquid from the can to spread onto the tops of the biscuits)
- 1 package store-bought vegan biscuits
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400° fahrenheit and lightly oil a casserole dish.
- Add 1 tbsp of olive oil or plant butter to a large pot. Add in the onion and saute for 1 minute on medium heat.
- Add the plant milk, veggie broth, flour, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper to the pot. Turn to medium-high heat and use a whisk to remove any lumps from the flour. Whisk continuously until the sauce comes to a boil. This will take about five minutes and the sauce will thicken slightly.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer for two minutes.
- Add in the frozen vegetables. Turn to medium-high heat and bring back to a boil, stirring occasionally. If the sauce is too thick or is sticking to the pot, add 1-2 tbsp of water.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer and add in the chickpeas. Simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in any additional salt and pepper as needed. The mixture will have a stew-like consistency.
- Add the veggie mixture to the oiled casserole dish and spread into an even layer.
- Place the biscuits on top of the mixture.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Halfway through baking, remove the pot pie from the oven to spread the aquafaba (canned chickpea liquid) onto the tops of the biscuits. This will help them become golden brown.
- Remove the casserole dish from the oven after 20 minutes, or once the biscuits are golden-brown and the filling is bubbling.
Notes
This post showed you how to make vegan chickpea pot pie. I hope you enjoy!
Lyn says
This looks wonderful and easy to boot! Love the tip of brushing the biscuits with aquafaba to enhance browning! Looks so easy to adapt too, depending on what’s on hand. Can’t wait to try 🙂