Chocolate Meringue Pie
This vegan chocolate meringue pie features a creamy chocolate pudding base topped with lots of vegan meringue. It’s a perfect dessert for special occasions because it’s beautiful and delicious, but it works as a weeknight dessert, too.
If you love meringue pies, try this Vegan Coconut Meringue Pie or everyone’s favorite, Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie.
I love making pies for the holidays or any time of year. One of my favorites is my Vegan Pecan Pie recipe. People just go nuts for that one (pardon the pun! I love the reaction when I tell them it’s vegan.
And now I’m really throwing them for a loop by bringing this vegan chocolate meringue pie. It’s another recipe that people are shocked to learn it’s vegan.
What Makes This Recipe Shine?
- Adding an unsweetened chocolate bar to the pudding makes a rich and creamy chocolate base with the perfect texture
- Using a traditional flaky pie crust adds depth of flavor, contrasting the sweet filling with the crispy crust
- Silken tofu is added to the filling to create a texture that holds its shape, even after cutting into it
- Adding an aquafaba meringue is easy to do and creates a dramatic look to this pie
Ingredient Spotlight
What Chocolate is best?
Use dark unsweetened chocolate because it adds a rich, chocolate flavor, keeping the pie filling from being overly sweet. The extra fat from the cocoa butter contained in unsweetened dark chocolate creates a dense, fudgy texture. Higher-quality chocolate will yield the best results. For baking bars, I like using either Bakers or Guittard’s which are both dairy-free (be sure to check the labels as ingredients do change over time).
Key Ingredients
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, including substitution ideas:
- Vegan Pie Crust — My go-to favorite is my foolproof vegan pie crust, but you can also use an oatmeal pie crust or even a vegan graham cracker crust.
- Sugar — I use granulated sugar for this recipe.
- Cocoa powder — I recommend using natural, unsweetened cocoa powder instead of dutch-process.
- Cornstarch — This is a great thickener and is readily available. If you prefer an alternative, you can use arrowroot powder.
- Salt — You can use simple table salt or sea salt.
- Plant-based milk — I prefer vanilla plant-based milk, but plain will work here, too. It’s nice to use thick milk like soy milk or cashew milk, to make the pudding rich and creamy.
- Silken tofu — See my tofu buying guide for information on where to find silken tofu in the store. I buy this at my local grocery store, health food stores, or online.
- Aquafaba — For the vegan meringue we’ll need the liquid from one can of chickpeas. I know it sounds like an unusual ingredient, but it works! Learn more about making vegan meringue, including options for making it without chickpeas.
- Cream of Tartar — We’ll stabilize the vegan meringue with a bit of cream of tartar.
How to Make Chocolate Meringue Pie
- Prepare the pie crust as directed in the link above and roll it out to about 1/8″ thickness and place in a 9″ pie pan. Crimp the edges of the pie and use a fork to prick the bottom of the crust several times. Bake the crust for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- Make the chocolate pudding by whisking together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan.
- Turn on the heat to medium-high and add the plant-based milk. Bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally. Then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 to 20 minutes, until the mixture thickens, before removing from heat. (See note below about lumps)
- Whip to tofu by placing it in a food processor and pulsing until smooth. Add the chocolate mixture from the saucepan and pulse it all together until a smooth consistency is reached.
- Prepare the meringue by whipping aquafaba with cream of tartar until frothy, up to 2 minutes. Add fine sugar, one tablespoon at a time while mixing at medium-high speed. Continue mixing until soft peaks form. Add vanilla and optional xanthan gum and mix until stiff peaks form.
- Spoon the chocolate custard into your prepared pie crust. Top with meringue, creating a seal with the crust, and making wispy dollops of meringue across the top of the pie.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the meringue just begins to brown. Turn your heat to 375°F and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until the meringue has golden edges.
- Cool the pie by letting it sit at room temperature for about an hour. Then refrigerate the pie one to two hours before serving.
Marly’s Tips
Lumps are a common occurrence when making homemade puddings. Stirring frequently can help prevent lumps from forming when making pudding. However, this pudding will be added to a food processor or blender, meaning any lumps that occur while cooking will be broken down.
Marly’s Tips
Use these tips to make this chocolate meringue pie perfect every time:
- Chocolate pie with meringue is delicious, but you can substitute this Vegan Whipped Cream to make a vegan chocolate cream pie.
- You don’t have to make this chocolate pudding from scratch to keep it dairy-free. I’ve written about Accidentally Vegan Products a lot, and many Jello Pudding flavors are in that group, including chocolate pudding. So you can make your chocolate meringue pie with Jello pudding and still keep it dairy-free.
Storage Tips
To store this pie, allow it to come to room temperature after baking and then refrigerate. If the pie will be in the fridge sometime before serving, insert toothpicks into the meringue, and lightly drape plastic wrap over the toothpicks and around the bottom of the pie. The toothpicks prevent the plastic wrap from sticking to the meringue.
Vegan Creamy Pie Recipes
I hope you love this vegan chocolate meringue pie as much as we do!
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Vegan Chocolate Meringue Pie
Ingredients
Chocolate Custard
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ¼ cup cornstarch (or arrowroot powder)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cup vanilla flavored plant-based milk
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate squares
- 1 cup silken tofu (or one small package)
Vegan Meringue
- ¾ cup aquafaba (from a can of salted chickpeas — see notes)
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C.
- Prepare the pie crust as directed in the link above and roll it out to about 1/8" thickness and place in a 9" pie pan. Crimp the edges of the pie and use a fork to prick the bottom of the crust several times. Bake the crust for 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
For the Chocolate Custard
- In a saucepan combine the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and salt. Stir with a whisk to combine.
- Turn on the heat to medium-high and add the plant-based milk. Stir occasionally to make sure the custard doesn't burn. Bring this to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and simmer for a minute or two until you have a thick mixture in the pan. Remove from heat and add the unsweetened chocolate.
- Place the tofu in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Add the chocolate mixture from the saucepan and pulse it all together until a smooth consistency is reached.
For the Vegan Meringue
- Pour the liquid from one can of chickpeas into a mixing bowl, along with the cream of tartar. Mix for a minute or two until it becomes frothy.
- As you're mixing, add the powdered sugar a little at a time. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue to mix at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Then add the vanilla and mix to incorporate it.
For the Chocolate Meringue Pie
- Spoon the chocolate custard into the prepared pie crust. Top with meringue, spreading it to the pie crust, creating a seal with the crust. Create wispy dollops of meringue across the top of the pie (these wispy parts will brown more quickly and create a beautiful, artistic look to the meringue).
- Place the pie in the preheated oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the meringue just begins to brown. Turn the heat up to 375°F/190°C and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until the meringue has golden edges.
- Remove the pie from the oven and cool for about an hour. Refrigerate for one to two hours before serving.
Recommended Equipment
(The products above contain sponsored links to products we use and recommend)
Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2015 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
What can I use instead of tofu for the chocolate?i would like to try this recipe vegan chocolate meringue pie
Hi Janice! I have a vegan chocolate pudding recipe that you could use for the filling. Or try this dark chocolate pie filling. Either one will as a tofu-free filling for your chocolate pie.
Really nice pie, I made a larger pie in an 8″ cake tin and a teeny pie. The meringue recipe makes *a lot* so next time I’d try and half it as the large pie stayed weird and foamy but the smaller pie, which I didn’t overload and did a thin layer, cooked great, it was a marshmallow texture. Me and my husband have finished the lot over the weekend so I’ll defo make this recipe again in the future.
If I’m topping with vegan cool whip instead of meringue, do I need to bake it at all after following the directions up until topping with meringue?
Hi Laura. Yes, you’re right. If you’re using vegan cool whip (love that stuff!), then you could simply bake the crust and then pour the chocolate pudding into the baked crust and refrigerate. Then when you’re ready to serve, add the whipped topping. FYI, I have not always had good look with spreading it across something like a pie. I would probably serve a dollop on each slice. That said, do it however you prefer. I hope it’s lovely!!! ❤️
I just made this for my grandson who has all kinds of food allergies and it is cooling now. This is my first time to cook with tofu. As I was making all the steps, each one was DELICIOUS (because I have to “test!”). And it is BEAUTIFUL! I have made the Chickpea meringue before and it really good. I had extra meringue so I piped little star cookies onto parchment paper and I am cooking them now. Thank so you much for this awesome recipe.
Hi Charlene! So great to hear you (and your grandson) enjoyed the pie! I was working on some chickpea meringue recently and so I feel you — it’s SO good! Also, star meringue cookies? YAS! 🙂
This looks spectacular! I didn’t know that there was such a thing like Vegan Meringue but I will try it now!
I have to try it! Maybe this weekend I’ll cook it.
Cooking on the weekend is my FAVORITE!!! xoxo
Looks great except for one little detail. Would you please add the chocolate to the ingredient list? What kind and how much? Thanks!
Thanks, Shelly! The cocoa powder has been added to the list of ingredients!
I think you are missing the chocolate in the ingredients list/instructions!
Totally 100% with you, pie on the brain, like crazy! This looks amazing, I can’t believe it’s vegan! I’m not vegan, but I completely want to make this! 😀