This vegan Coconut Meringue Pie recipe is the creamiest pie ever! Because it’s made with coconut milk, it’s hard to add the qualifier “vegan” to this recipe, because it’s rich and creamy and delicious! This easy coconut cream pie with meringue topping is so rich and sweet, you’ll want to make it for all your favorite holiday dinners and special occasions!
We’re in the midst of Vegan Pie Week and it’s possibly the best week ever. Oh, wait. I guess there was the week Adee was born. That was pretty nice. And then there was the week I married Shawn. Yeah, that week was amazing too. But Vegan Pie Week? Well, let’s just say it ranks up there with one of the best.
And today we’re talking about Vegan Coconut Meringue Pie. As you probably can tell by now, I love all things coconut. For example, I’ve shared with you this Vegan Coconut Cake, these Raspberry Coconut Thumbprint Cookies and Chocolate Covered Coconut Bites. And that’s just a sampling of some of my favorite coconut recipes!
So, yes, I’m a fan of coconut. My mom always made coconut cake for my birthday when I was a little girl. And our dessert table always had a tasty coconut cream or the best coconut meringue pie on holidays. My sisters claim I’m spoiled.
Whatever. [insert annoyed eye roll] I’m not spoiled, I just know what I like. And coconut just happens to be high on my dessert list.
How about you? Do you know what you like?
And if recipes for coconut cream pie with meringue piled high on top is on the list of things you like, were you worried that you’d have to give it up as part of your vegan diet?
Me too.
That’s why I was so excited to come up with this recipe for coconut cream pie with meringue. An easy coconut meringue pie veganized? Yes, it’s totally do-able!
How to Make Coconut Meringue Pie
I love making vegan Coconut Meringue Pie recipes. First, it’s easy. Second, it’s delicious! So, you know what? Let’s get started.
Step One: Make the Vegan Pie Crust
I highly recommend using my Vegan Pie Crust recipe. It makes an amazingly flaky pie crust! So, prepare the pie dough as recommended.
Then, roll the pie dough into a circle about 1/8″ thick. You can either roll the dough on a very lightly floured surface OR you can place the chilled dough between two pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper. Then roll the dough between the two pieces of wrap.
Once the dough is rolled to the appropriate width for your pan, place the dough in your pie pan. Flute edges with your fingers. Place in the fridge and chill for about 15 minutes.
Line the edges of the pie crust with foil and prick the center of the crust with a fork about 5 times. Place the pie in a lower oven rack and bake for 20 minutes until the crust is mostly done. Carefully remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes until the crust is a nice golden color. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Reduce your oven to 350F.
Step Two: Prepare the Coconut Custard
In a saucepan over medium heat, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in the coconut milk. Continually stir while cooking until the mixture begins to bubble. Reduce heat to low and cook and stir a few more minutes until the mixture is really thick. Remove from heat. And set aside to cool slightly.
Once the coconut milk mixture has cooled a bit, add that and the silken tofu to a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Add the vanilla coconut, vegan butter, and nutritional yeast flakes (optional) and pulse again until all the ingredients are combined.
Step Three: Make the Vegan Meringue
Vegan meringue is something most of us in the vegan community thought was impossible for a long time, until it wasn’t. Now vegan meringue is as easy as a can of chickpeas. Seriously. The liquid from the can of chickpeas is referred to as aquafaba and it makes a very nice egg free meringue!
Follow my recipe on Vegan Meringue to make your own batch.
Step Four: Fill the Pie and Bake
Once the meringue is ready, it’s time to fill the pie. Being by pouring the coconut cream filling into the prepared pie crust and spread evenly across the pie.
Top with the vegan meringue, being sure to spread across the entire vegan coconut pie and creating a seal around the crust. Use the back of a spoon to create twirly dollops on the top of the meringue. Sprinkle with the ½ cup of regular shredded coconut.
Place the pie in the oven and bake for 15 -20 minutes, or until the meringue peaks are golden. Cool at least one hour on a wire rack. Place in the fridge and chill for 3 hours before serving.
Vegan Coconut Cream Pie
You can skip the meringue if you’d like and make a very simple (and tasty) dairy free coconut cream pie. In fact, it’s really easy to make a coconut cream pie vegan because you get to skip the baking step.
Follow the steps above, but instead of Step 3 and Step 4 above (the meringue + baking), prepare my favorite Coconut Whipped Topping. It’s super easy to make and requires no baking!
So, simply refrigerate the pie with the coconut cream filling and refrigerate the coconut whipped cream (it will keep up to several days in the fridge). Then, immediately before serving the pie, spread the top with the coconut whipped cream. I love to add some shredded coconut on top too.
You can even toast that shredded coconut to add vibrant color to your vegan coconut cream pie.
To make toasted coconut shreds, simply place 1 – 2 teaspoons of coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add one cup of shredded coconut and stirring frequently, cook for 3 – 5 minutes, until the coconut turns a nice golden hue. Remove from heat immediately and allow it to cool completely before sprinkling over the top of your coconut cream. It’s gorgeous!
This recipe creates a cholesterol-free, healthy coconut cream pie!
Expert Tips:
Use these expert tips to make this coconut cream pie with meringue recipe perfect every time:
- The pie crust calls for vegan butter. I used Earth Balance.
- I buy regular flaked coconut and put it in the food processor and pulse for several seconds to break it into finer strands
- This recipe uses silken tofu. You can find that in the produce aisle of many grocery stores. Here’s more on Using and Buying Tofu.
- The coconut custard calls for coconut milk, be sure to use full fat canned coconut milk.
- To make a gluten free coconut cream pie, simply use gluten free flour to make the pie crust. I love using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour!
- I call for cornstarch in this recipe. I know some people don’t like using cornstarch. You can substitute arrowroot starch if you prefer. I love this guide for substituting cornstarch.
Storing Coconut Cream Meringue Pie
To store this coconut cream pie meringue recipe, allow it to cool completely then transfer to the fridge. If you’re it’s going to be awhile before serving, insert toothpicks into the meringue and then lightly wrap with plastic wrap. The toothpicks will prevent the plastic wrap from sticking to the meringue.
Alternatively, I have a pie pan with an extra high top/cover and it works great for storing meringue pies. See the link on this page!
And here’s a bonus with this old fashioned coconut meringue pie. It’s actually fun to make too.
Look at that pillowy white meringue!
And that creamy coconut custard? I think I could eat that by itself.
Well, in fact, I have. I ended up with more custard than my pie could hold so I poured that remaining custard in a ramekin and added a little bit of the vegan meringue on top as well. I baked that along side the pie and it worked just fine.
In fact, that’s a nice gluten-free option as well. The crust is optional!
I’m so pleased to see the resurgence of coconut over the last few years. It used to be that coconut was considered kind of questionable thing to eat. It seems like people thought its high fat content made it a not-so-preferred choice to eat.
We all know better now. If you’re going to have fat, plant-based is the way to go!
If you love meringue pies, be sure and make this Chocolate Meringue Pie too! It’s amazingly vegan as well!
We hope you love this Vegan Coconut Meringue Pie. We certainly loved making it for you. If you make it too, please take a photo and use #veganpieweek and/or #namelymarly and share it with us on Instagram and Twitter. We love seeing your photos!
I hope you love this recipe as we do! Have you tried it? Be sure and leave a comment and a rating of this recipe below and then take a quick photo and share it with me using #namelymarly on Instagram. I love seeing your creations!
Vegan Coconut Meringue Pie
Ingredients
- Foolproof Vegan Pie Crust
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup silken tofu or one small package
- 1 can full fat coconut milk 15 oz
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup finely flaked shredded coconut*
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes optional, for color
- Vegan Meringue
- ½ cup regular flaked sweetened coconut
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 425. Get out a 9″ pie pan.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll your pie dough into a circle about 1/8″ thick. Place this in your pie pan. Flute edges with your fingers. Place in the fridge and chill for about 15 minutes.
- Line the edges of the pie crust with foil and prick the center of the crust with a fork about 5 times. Place the pie in a lower oven rack and bake for 20 minutes until the crust is mostly done. Carefully remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes until the crust is a nice golden color. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Reduce your oven to 350F.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in the coconut milk. Continually stir while cooking until the mixture begins to bubble. Reduce heat to low and cook and stir a few more minutes until the mixture is really thick. Remove from heat. And set aside to cool slightly.
- Once the coconut milk mixture has cooled a bit, add that and the silken tofu to a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Add the vanilla coconut, vegan butter, and nutritional yeast flakes (optional) and pulse again until all the ingredients are combined.
- Follow the instructions on the link above to make your vegan meringue.
- Pour the coconut cream filling into the prepared pie crust and spread evenly across the pie. Top with the Vegan Meringue, being sure to spread across the entire pie and creating a seal around the crust. Use the back of a spoon to create twirly dollops on the top of the meringue. Sprinkle with the ½ cup of regular shredded coconut.
- Place the pie in the oven and bake for 15 -20 minutes, or until the meringue peaks are golden. Cool at least one hour on a wire rack. Place in the fridge and chill for 3 hours before serving.
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.
Enjoy!
So THIS is the meringue you and Cara were talking about on the podcast. OMG it looks to die for!! Will definitely be making this.
Hahaha! Yes it is, Krystal! It really is pretty awesome stuff! xoxoxo
This pie worked out great. I skipped the meringue, added a can of crushed pineapple (drained) to the filling, and covered the top in coconut. Tropical delight – thanks for the recipe!
OMG. Pineapple in a coconut pie? Love this! I may have to try this adaptation myself! 🙂
This looks great! Can I make it ahead of time, like a day in advance?
I’ve made this vegan coconut pie at least a day ahead of time and have had great luck with it!