This olive oil pie crust is the vegan pie crust you’ve been looking for. It is easy to make, easy to handle, and turns out outrageously flaky and delicious.
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This olive oil pastry is truly easy to make, yet it delivers all the flaky, rich deliciousness you want from a savory pie crust.
What ingredients do you need to make it?
This vegan crust only has three ingredients. Seriously.
- All-purpose flour
- Olive oil
- Salt
That’s it.
No butter, no problem!
Say you want to make a pie crust but you have no butter. Or you don’t eat butter. Or you can’t go to the store, so you’re limited to what you happen to have on hand. Enter this amazing 3-ingredient pie crust.
It calls for standard pantry ingredients and can be thrown together in less than three minutes.
You can even make it a couple of days ahead and keep it in the refrigerator. Or freeze it and keep it for up to 3 months.
Vegan, dairy-free, whatever you want to call it, this olive oil pie crust is the bomb.
How do you make olive oil pie crust?
This pie crust is crazy easy:
- Mix all-purpose flour and salt in a bowl.
- Add olive oil and warm water and mix.
- Form into a ball and chill.
- Roll it out and make your pie or tart.
How do you use this dairy-free pie crust?
There are a million ways you can use this butter-free pie crust. Try spicy empanadas, custard-rich mushroom tarts, or classic meat pies.
I like to use it to make this goat cheese, olive, and chard tart.
This dairy-free pie crust dough is a cinch to work with and delivers a perfect flaky shell . It can be baked in a 10-inch tart pan, or simply pressed out into an irregular oval shape for a more rustic version.
I can easily see this crust as a base for sun-ripened tomatoes and fresh basil in the summer, roasted butternut squash and gorgonzola in the fall, or leeks and peas with pancetta, pecorino, and fresh mint in the spring.
It’s also great with sweet pies. Try it with a Mini Blueberry Pie (or two!) or with a Vegan Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving.
Olive Oil Pie Crust
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup warm water
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together flour and salt. Add olive oil and water and mix quickly with a fork until it all comes together in a ball.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- On a lightly floured board or a parchment-covered baking sheet, roll or pat out the dough into a 1/4-inch-thick circle or oval.
- Press into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom or, for a more rustic look, place it flat on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Prick all over with the tines of a fork (if baking flat, leave a 1-inch border around the edge unpricked).
- Bake crust in preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, until lightly browned.
I had a hunch about using olive oil for pastry and you have confirmed it !
Thank you very much !
Ron Lea……Foul Bay, South Australia
I made this crust today and it turned out wonderful! I made a different pie though, using mozzarella, tomatoes, cream cheese and prosciutto. Delightful! Thanks for sharing!
Yay! This is exactly what I’m looking for…but I do have a question–would this be a good crust for hand pies or pasties? Would probably put them into small muffin tins bottom – filling – top, crimp and bake.
Or, fold into half moons.
I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. I would probably do half moons, just because it seems tidier than using the muffin tin, but I think either would work. Let me know how it goes!
Hi
Do you think this olive oil pastry would work for a good old fashioned corned beef and potato pie?
Oh, I just saw this! Yes, I think it would work well. I have used it for all sorts of savory pies and it is fantastic.
Does anyone think maybe this could work for a quiche?
Can i use whole wheat flour instead?
I have never tried it with whole-wheat flour, but I have used gluten-free flour with good results. If you try it, let us know how it turns out!
Can this be used for sweet fillings?
Yes, you can use this for sweet fillings, too!
Perfect recipe I use it all the time! I made today salmon quiche and it was perfect. Very easy to make.
Perfectly lovely pastry. Who’d have thought oil based pastry could be so flaky and healthy. Perfect for my husband who has to watch his cholesterol levels. Thank you so much
So glad you like it, Pat!
Just lucked up on this recipe for the olive oil pastry, I am sooooooooooo excited ,Thanks you so much
Hi – do you weigh your flour? I know that flour measured by cups can vary by weight–and that can make a huge difference. Or do you find it doesn’t matter that much? Thanks!
Hi Nan. By weight is definitely the most accurate way to measure dry ingredients, but I generally don’t weigh. The reason I don’t is that I create recipes for regular home cooks and I don’t think most (American) home cooks are in the habit of weighing dry ingredients and may not even have a good food scale. I want to ensure that my recipes can be replicated easily and successfully, so I try to stick to the equipment and methods most home cooks are likely to use. That said, the spoon-and-level method (spoon the flour into a measuring cup and then level the top with a flat tool such as a knife) will give you a more accurate measurement than scooping from the bag or canister.
Hi — Thanks for getting back to me so quickly! The dough is sitting in the fridge. It seems a little oily–is that normal for this recipe?
Hmm. I’m not sure, honestly. I haven’t made it in a while, but I don’t remember the dough being terribly oily. BUT refrigerating will firm it up quite a bit.
Fantastic recipe! For me, it had to sit in the fridge for at least an hour—since I was making empanadas with it. Lovely.
So glad to hear that, Nan!
After looking for a quick and healthy Pastry recipe, I came across your link and this evening I have just made the most delicious ‘Empanadas Chilenas’. Thank you so much for sharing. I shall certainly be making more pastry based dishes in future. So quick and easy!!
Can you use this to bake an apple pie without baking the crust first?
I don’t know! I’ve never made an apple pie with it but I generally prefer to par-bake my pie crusts before filling. It is pretty close to a regular butter crust, so if you do it with a regular butter crust I think you can do it with this one.
Just found your recipe and can’t wait to make it. I am craving Lemon meringue pie today even though it’s well into the fall season. 🙂 Thanks so much for the recipe. You are still blessing others!
My mom used to be able to throw together pies with whatever combination of flour and fat and filling ingredients she had on hand, without even using a recipe, and I always aspired to that level of confidence with my baking. I don’t know why I noticed this recipe (though I love your site and just ‘wandering’ through it, seeing where I find inspiration), but the double batch of leeks in my CSA this week had me coming back to find it. My very leeky leek pie turned out wonderful with this crust, and it made so much dough I had enough left over for a mini open faced apple pie! My notes: I made the dough a few days ago and left it in the fridge. As I often do with my flaky dough preparations, I inadvertently under mixed (or kneaded) it, so the oil separated from the flour quite a bit in the fridge (running out of the Saran Wrap into the shelf, even) and I thought it was ruined. It didn’t seem to make a difference, though, as it was flaky and delicious after baking. I prebaked both crusts, but should have either baked the apple crust more before filling, or pre-cooked the Apple filing, because the base got soggy and a little tough. This want a problem with the leek pie, though. I think the crust was a little thicker, and I cooked down the leeks quite a bit before mixing them with eggs, milk, cheese, and spices for the filling. I wish I could post a picture. The leek pie was mostly leeks with very little of the binding agents. Anyway, I love your recipes! Thank you for this oil based pie dough!
Does the Olive oil change the taste of the crust?
Not really. I would use a milder olive oil, but I have not noticed any olive oil flavor when I’ve made it.