Vegan Meat and Potato Pie

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: British

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 1 15

Total Time: 1 45

Servings: to 8 slices

Calories: 655kcal

Author: Jacq

This Vegan Meat and Potato Pie recipe is an easy delicious meat-free pie that features tender soya chunks, potatoes, carrots and onion cooked in a rich home-made gravy. This recipe uses a shop-bought puff pastry crust for convenience but shortcrust pastry will also work fine. Our family loves the Linda McCartney's Meat-Free Country Pies and the Greggs Vegan Steak Bakes, so I wanted to create our own family recipe for something similar.

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US Customary - Metric

Equipment

bowl or measuring jug [for soaking soya chunks]
Pie dish [or a Pyrex oven dish, I used a rectangular Pyrex dish 12 inch length x 7-8 inch width x 2 inch deep, or use a circular dish with similar sizing, enough for 6 portions]
non-stick large saucepan
Rolling pin
Pastry brush [or similar can just use fingertips!]
cooking spatula

Ingredients

Pie crust:

500 grams puff pastry [use a shop bought vegan-friendly pastry]
1 tablespoon plant-based milk

Pie filling:

125 grams dried soy chunks (TVP)
1 teaspoon marmite (optional) [also known as yeast extrac, can be replaced with miso paste}
1 tablespoon olive oil [or your usual oil or replace with ½ cup vegetable stock]
150 grams onions [1 large, diced]
160 grams carrots [chopped into chunky bitesize [1-2cm] chunks]
4 cloves garlic [fine diced or minced or 1 tablespoon of garlic paste]
530 grams potatoes (chopped into one inch [2-3cm] chunks)
2 tablespoons plain flour [or gluten-free plain flour, plus extra for dusting during rolling pastry]
1 tablespoon tomato puree
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar [or balsamic vinegar]
1 tablespoon dried mixed herbs [can make this up with individual dried herbs such as rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano, sage, etc, I used 2 teaspoons mixed herbs and 1 teaspoon thyme]
700 millilitres vegetable stock [use a beef flavour vegan stock if available]

At the end of cooking the filling:

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Instructions

Rehydrate the soya chunks:

Add the soya chunks to a bowl and cover with about 2½ [650ml] cups of boiling hot vegetable stock. Stir through 1 teaspoon of marmite if available. Leave to soak for at least 30 minutes.
125 grams dried soy chunks (TVP), 1 teaspoon marmite (optional)
Once the soya chunks have soaked, drain the vegetable stock off but keep this to make up the required amount of stock for the recipe.

Prepare pie filling:

Heat the oil or ½ cup of vegetable stock in a large non-stick pot that is suitable for a stew.
1 tablespoon olive oil
Add the onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots.
530 grams potatoes, 160 grams carrots, 150 grams onions, 4 cloves garlic
Cook for 8 minutes over a medium heat, stirring every now and then.
Stir the flour through the vegetables until it looks like it has disappeared.
Next add the tomato puree, dried herbs and the rehydrated and drained soya chunks.
2 tablespoons plain flour, 1 tablespoon tomato puree, 1 tablespoon dried mixed herbs
Pour in the hot vegetable stock, along with the soy sauce and red wine vinegar. Give it all a good stir and turn the heat to high.
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 700 millilitres vegetable stock, 2 tablespoons soy sauce
Bring to the boil, lower the heat to medium, and simmer for 25-30 minutes until the vegetables are soft and the sauce has reduced and become thick and rich.
Give the stew a stir every now and then.
Stir through the extra tablespoon of red wine vinegar.
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Taste the seasoning and add salt and black pepper to taste, although salt is not usually required.
Pour the pie filling into the pie dish.
[Tip: this stage can be prepped the day before and the filling stored in the refrigerator]

Prepare the pastry top:

Preheat the oven to 180°C Fan / 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6.
Grease the pie dish rim with some vegan margarine.
Slice a piece off the pastry block and roll out thin, long pieces of pastry [use the palms of your hands to roll and form the pastry rim]. Prepare enough of the long thin pieces of pastry so that it can go right around the pie/baking dish rim.
[* see the 'how to prepare' section above the recipe card for step-by-step photos*]
500 grams puff pastry
Press the long pastry snake like pieces on to the greased pie rim. Brush the pastry rim with some of the soya milk.
1 tablespoon plant-based milk
Roll out the rest of the puff pastry into a size that will completely cover your pie dish.
Lift the pastry up and press the sides on to the pastry rim. Using a cutlery fork press the edge and rim together. Brush the pie all over with soya milk.
With a knife create two small slits in the middle of the pastry to allow steam to escape during baking.
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the pastry has risen, is nicely golden, and the filling is steaming and bubbling.
*[do check your shop-bought pastry for guidance on oven temps and cooking times as these may vary from what is written here]*

Serving suggestion:

Serve with vegan gravy and vegetables.

Notes

Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
Serve the pie with a variety of vegetables and a good amount of vegan gravy for a delicious extra special meal.
Soy curls can replace the soya chunks or dried pea and fava protein chunks or similar can also be used.
Alternatively, use about 300-350 grams of fresh or frozen meat-free 'beef' style pieces. If fresh or frozen chunks are used these will not need to be rehydrated.
Or use the same amount of cooked and chopped vegan sausages or burgers, stir the cooked pieces through the stew filling after its finished cooking.
The soya chunks can also be replaced with whole button mushrooms, or sliced mushrooms. Add these along with the vegetables.
A can or two of drained white beans such as butterbeans or cannellini can replace the soya chunks.
Marmite is optional but tasty addition as it flavours the soya chunks nicely. In the UK other brands of marmite style paste are usually called 'yeast extract'.
The puff pastry used was Morrisons [UK supermarket] own brand puff pastry block which is labelled vegetarian but does not contain animal ingredients. It does have calcium carbonate in the ingredient list but this is usually sourced from rocks when used as a food ingredient, as its the cheapest source.
The puff pastry can be replaced with a cooked vegetable mash, such as mashed carrot, parsnips, swede [rutabaga], cauliflower, celeriac, etc.
Or replace the pastry with thin sliced root veggies, blanched or lightly cooked until just fork tender and used to cover the pie filling in a hot-pot style. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper, and brush all over with melted margarine, and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast flakes or grated vegan cheese. Bake in a hot oven until the vegetables are soft and a nicely golden and crisp.
For a gluten-free pie use a gluten-free pastry either puff or short-crust, or go with a vegetable topping, also use a gluten-free plain flour for the filling, a gluten-free vegetable stock and gluten-free soya sauce such as Tamari.
In Scotland, it is traditional to have a New Years Eve steak pie for New Years Day dinner. Our pie recipe is the perfect way to welcome in the New Year.

Nutrition