The best easy paleo pie crust for your favorite dessert pies or savory pies and quiches! The dough comes together in minutes in a blender and is gluten free, grain free, dairy free, family approved, and very versatile.
Three years of blogging snuck up on me just like that! Seriously, if I’d remembered my third blog-iversary prior to Wednesday of last week, I would’ve planned something with frosting and a candle. But, oopses, no cake in sight today!
Instead of a piece of cake though, I have something that just might be more appealing to you, and certainly versatile. It’s THE best, (or at least my favorite) Paleo pie crust.
Did you know that for the longest time, making a pie crust intimidated me? Must be the traumatic pre-paleo memories of bathing myself in flour while failing to properly roll out the dough (it was always sticky, I don’t get it) followed by a crust that never browned quite evenly and just downright frustrated the heck out of me.
Maybe it was simply inexperience, or maybe it was the heavens calling upon me to go paleo – not sure. Either way, I want you to know that this PALEO pie crust is WAY easier to make, in my opinion, than the gluten-filled pie crusts of my cooking past.
You can see in the photos above, that the “easy” part of this whole thing might be me letting my food processor do all the heavy lifting, so to speak. I recommend you do the same! However! If you don’t happen to have a food processor, or prefer to combine the dough by hand using a pastry blender, it will work just as well.
The dough is made up of a (many times tested) ratio of almond flour, coconut flour, and tapioca flour. I measured the coconut flour in Tbsps to ensure you get just the right amount (darned sensitive coconut flour!) I then used palm oil shortening for the fat, though refined coconut oil would be an option if you can’t locate palm oil shortening.
BUT! The palm shortening version REALLY has my heart – and makes this crust taste sort of like a Ritz cracker, which is a good thing. If you do wind up going with coconut oil, you must use the refined kind to avoid a heavy coconut flavor in the final product.
After testing several times, I achieved the “perfect” flavor with fine grain sea salt and just a bit of maple sugar or coconut sugar. Even for savory pies, I recommend adding 1/2-1 tsp of either of those sugars to cut any bitterness and enhance the flavor.
See how pretty and smooth that dough looks? It feels that way too! Not sticky at all, which made me happy. If yours feels a bit sticky, you can chill it wrapped in plastic for 10 minutes or so before rolling and pressing into the pie dish. Using parchment paper for the rolling/pressing helps quite a bit, too. Whatever you do, don’t add any extra flour!
Depending on the recipe you’re making, you’ll either bake the crust after filling the pie (for recipes using an unbaked pie shell), halfway, or fully. If you need to make a double crust pie, you can easily double all the ingredients and then form the dough into two equal balls.
I have not tried freezing the dough, but you can definitely keep it wrapped in the refrigerator for a couple of days before using it. It will harden quite a bit when chilled, so you’ll need to let it sit out at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling it out.
One other recipe note! This dough is very smooth, however, it breaks easily once rolled out, so simply pressing it into the pie dish might work better for you.
On the positive side, it can be repaired as easily as it breaks, so no worries about overworking it the way you have to for a gluten containing crust. Once baked, the crust is very stable, flaky and flavorful and goes perfectly with any pie!
Mainly due to my many many fails at a paleo lemon meringue pie (ugh, don’t ask!) I’ve made this crust over and over and each time it’s consistent in texture and flavor. Since giving up on the lemon meringue, I’m now working on a coconut cream pie (needs some tweaking) and have a delicious broccoli quiche coming soon! Are you ready to swoon over pie? Let’s bake!
Best Easy Paleo Pie Crust {Grain Free, Dairy Free}
Best Easy Paleo Pie Crust {Grain Free, Dairy Free}
Ingredients
- 1 cup blanched almond flour
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour
- 2/3 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup palm oil shortening*** or grass-fed butter, or a combination of both
- 1 tsp for sweet pies or 1/2 tsp (for savory) maple sugar OR coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1 large egg
Instructions
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In the bowl of a food processor, pulse all ingredients EXCEPT egg to create thick crumbs*, then pulse/process in the egg until a dough forms** Gather the dough into a ball prior to rolling or pressing into your pie dish.
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If the dough is overly sticky (I haven't had it happen), you can wrap it in plastic wrap and flatten into a disc, then chill until it firms up. You can also chill the dough this way until ready to use - simply remove from the fridge to soften it up prior to using.
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To get the dough into your pie dish, you can either:
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Roll out the dough into a circle between two sheets of parchment. Place your pie dish upside-down over the dough, then using the bottom parchment paper, flip the dough into the dish. Finish by pressing it into the bottom and sides of the pie dish to fit - this dough will break easily since it lacks gluten, however it also repairs incredibly easily and can withstand a lot of manipulation without affecting the final product!
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If you don't wish to roll out the dough, you can simply press it into 9 inch pie dish using your hands or a piece of parchment paper as shown in the photo above.
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Once pressed into the pie dish, gently pierce the dough with a fork all over so it doesn't puff up while baking.
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For a partially baked crust, bake at 375 degrees F for about 6-8 minutes, or until barely set.
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For a fully baked crust, bake at 375 degrees F for 15 mins or until very lightly browned. You can use a foil tent to avoid the edges browning too much.
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Use for quiches, or any one-crust pie, sweet or savory! For double crusted pies, the recipe can be doubled and the dough formed into two balls of equal size. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*If you don't have a food processor, you can use a pastry blender to blend the flours with the shortening until a thick crumb forms as shown in photo
**If not using a food processor, whisk the egg prior to adding, then stir in with a wooden spoon until a workable dough forms
***If you can have dairy, solid, cold grass-fed butter will work well. If dairy isn't an option and you don't have palm shortening, you can also use refined coconut oil, solid, at room temp or colder, BUT the crust will break/crumble more
Nutrition
Products I Recommend to Make My Pie Crust:
Want more Paleo baking recipes? Try one of these!
Paleo Key Lime Pie with Coconut Pecan Crust
Paleo Lemon Bars with Coconut Whipped Cream
Tell Me!
Two things:
Favorite sweet pie? Um, can I list 10?!
Favorite savory pie? Any quiche. Seriously, any quiche at all!
Note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means that if you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Paleo Running Momma!
Mel _OutRunCf says
April 1, 2017 at 10:49 amCongrats on three years! Love your blog! I miss your posts about life and exercising though. Do you still run? Do yoga?
Michele says
April 1, 2017 at 11:18 amThank you! Yes I still do both, just much more casually lately 🙂 I started to feel forced to write about it after a while, though I’m sure it will sneak back here and there now that Spring is on the way finally.
Mel_OutRunCF says
April 1, 2017 at 12:03 pmI understand! I guess I am curious because your blog taught me so many things about running and eating paleo. I never thought it was possible to eat this way and perform… and I just ran my fastest half-marathon ever last month, a week after completing my first whole 30. So let’s say that I am now convinced. Since you’ve been eating this way and running for a while, I am always very interested in reading more about your journey. But of course, only it is your blog and totally your decision 😉
Cheryl says
April 1, 2017 at 4:08 pmFrom day 1 to day 30 (when he ran the marathon), my husband shaved an entire minute off his marathon pace! Isn’t that crazy?!
Mel_OutRunCF says
April 1, 2017 at 6:14 pmAmazing, indeed! My PB on the half was from 10 years ago and I never thought I could run that time again. And not only did I shave 2 minutes from that time, I also ran this time on a morning when it was -25F outside! Can’t wait to see what I can do on a spring day 😉
Cheryl says
April 1, 2017 at 5:23 pmI can’t wait to use this in a pot pie or quiche! Mmmmm
Emily says
April 3, 2017 at 1:59 amIt looks SO buttery and thick and just perfect; I would LOVE to eat pie with you. It honestly doesn’t look any different from a regular one; and it’s gluten free!
Michele says
April 3, 2017 at 11:17 amYes! I actually liked it better than many traditional pie crusts I’ve made, score!
Joanna Pelc says
April 3, 2017 at 4:03 amJust wondering if you can replace the almond flour with a non-nut flour. Would love to make some pies for my kid’s school lunches but the school has a no-nuts policy.
Michele says
April 3, 2017 at 11:16 amI’m not sure, to be honest. My gut instinct would be to use a coconut flour/tapioca combo but coconut flour is tough to estimate amounts since it’s dense and rather sensitive. If I had to throw out a guess, I’d say 2/3 cups total of coconut flour along with the 1/3 tapioca. My concern is whether you can still get away with one egg with these amounts, since coconut flour often requires more eggs than almond flour to perform properly. If you do try it out with these measurements, let me know how it goes!
Krista says
May 27, 2017 at 5:08 pmTiger nut flour is usually a good 1:1 replacement for nut flours, and contains no nuts (or tigers!) 😉 You can find it on Amazon.
milliesmom says
April 3, 2017 at 12:15 pmI am sensitive to gluten and tapioca flour – can you provide a sub for the latter? sweet rice flour, maybe? Loving cooking w/ the almond flour, tho & thank you for specific measurements on coconut flour – It will drive you to tears!!
Michele says
April 3, 2017 at 1:38 pmSometimes arrowroot starch can sub for tapioca, though I haven’t tried it here, I do think it’s worth a shot!
Kristin says
June 19, 2017 at 2:06 amThis is the pastry recipe I have been searching for!! Thank you so much for this, it turned out beautifully.
Dena says
October 5, 2017 at 12:58 amLooks like a great recipe! I’ve always had trouble before with typical gluten free crusts breaking. Is there any reason why palm oil shortening is better to use than lard? I’m just not sure if I’ll be able to find that shortening here in the store
Michele says
October 5, 2017 at 9:37 amI think lard would be good, the only fat I tried that didn’t work out well was coconut oil, I’ve tried all butter too, and a combo of butter and shortening and that was fine too. If you try it with lard let me know!
Esta says
April 2, 2018 at 4:09 pmSo I made this with all shortening, then with half shortening/half butter, and then with all butter. The former two worked great, the all-butter one turned into a paste lol. Great recipe!
Adrian says
December 30, 2017 at 4:30 amHi Dena,
Did you try this recipe using lard? I’m keen to hear if it worked out ok?
I haven’t found anywhere that sells grass fed butter or palm oil shortening but can get hold of lard.
Thanks Adrian
Beth says
November 22, 2017 at 12:33 pmJust made two crusts for Thanskgiving! This recipe is so easy and the pie crust is smooth and smells delicious. I will be rolling it out tomorrow, so the crusts are in the fridge now. I used butter as my shortening since I do eat dairy. I can’t wait to bake these! Thank you for your awesome recipes!
Michele says
November 22, 2017 at 12:49 pmI hope the pies work out! Happy Thanksgiving 🙂
Danielle S. says
May 12, 2018 at 9:35 pmHi! I love your blog because it gets my hubby eats all the paleo/whole30 dishes and he doesn’t even know it! 🙂
I’m making Mother’s Day brunch and thought I’d try this for the quiche. I don’t have palm shortening. Would grass fed ghee work in it’s place?
Thanks!
Michele says
May 14, 2018 at 12:13 pmYes that would work fine, sorry for the late reply, hope it worked out!
Ashlee says
May 20, 2018 at 10:14 pmDo you think cassava flour would be a good substitute for the tapioca flour?
rebecca says
April 12, 2019 at 10:43 ami dont think so, cassava is not starchy to make it bind. the tapioca acts as the ‘gluten’ to bind this together and give it some stretch. try arrowroot instead.
Michelle says
June 10, 2018 at 3:49 pmDoes the grass fed butter need to be chilled/hard or can it be room temp/soft?
Karen Patel says
June 20, 2018 at 3:04 pmTried this pastry and it turned out perfect. Big hit with the family too 🤗. Is now my ‘go to’ recipe for any type of pie pastry. Thank you for your hard work perfecting the recipe and well done on the success of your blog.
Michele says
June 20, 2018 at 9:36 pmThrilled to hear that!
Mary says
February 7, 2019 at 7:33 pmAre you aware of just how bad palm oil is?! it’s destroying rain forests… orangutans are near extinction due to habitat destruction for palm oil. Please be aware of what u promote.
rebecca says
April 12, 2019 at 10:42 amthe palm oil she promotes, which is also what i use, is from sustainable forests in Venezuela, so no orangutans or other primates are harmed.
Paula Gustafson says
August 2, 2018 at 8:07 pmThis is a really good pie crust!
Janelle says
September 16, 2018 at 2:25 pmLoved this pie crust. It worked perfectly the first time I made it. It was also my first time making any pie crust. I did use grass feed butter. I really want to try to make some kind of snaking cracker/crust with this recipe. I’m a dipper and really miss my crackers and bread.
Michele says
September 16, 2018 at 8:47 pmI agree about the crackers! I actually think the crust tastes a lot like a ritz 🙂 Glad you liked it!
Sharon says
September 21, 2018 at 2:08 pmJust wondering if this crust freezes well with or without contents.
Deb says
October 7, 2018 at 5:45 pmCan’t do coconut flour. If I was to increase others any idea by how much?
Cynthia Hayward says
October 14, 2018 at 9:35 pmFantastic and flaky – this is the pie crust I’ve been searching for. Thanks!
Michele says
October 16, 2018 at 6:58 amGreat to hear, enjoy!
Katie says
October 18, 2018 at 1:56 pmI have an allergy to coconut – what I can substitute, and in what quantity, for the coconut flour?
Pamela says
October 24, 2018 at 10:16 amWhen you say maple sugar can you use maple syrup?
Looking to use this for Paleo veg pot pie recipe I want to try
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Karen says
November 18, 2018 at 10:03 pmThis recipe exceeded my expectations! I am gluten free and have never found a gf pie crust recipe I was thrilled with. My daughter is grain free so I tried this one it is now our favorite. Went together easily and the dough was so nice to work with—no crumbling—and very easy to patch where needed. Everyone gave it rave reviews for taste and texture too. I was requested to make it for Thanksgiving. Thank you so much!
Dianne says
November 22, 2018 at 9:31 amIt was sticky so when spreading in pie plate I used extra tapioca flour on hands and top of pastry, great results, Thanks!
Silvia Boobar says
November 22, 2018 at 2:17 pmI made this pie last night and it turned out great. Best gf pie crust ever!!!! Highly recommend it. Now I am looking for a recipe without almond flour for my son who can’t have almonds.
Kristina B. says
November 23, 2018 at 7:43 pmThis is the best Paleo pie crust I’ve tasted! Blends deliciously with whatever pie you make … not too strong or crumbly.
Jennifer C says
January 5, 2019 at 5:19 pmMade this crust for a savory quiche and it was simply amazing!!! I used butter instead of shortening. Definitely could not tell that it was gluten-free. The crust held up well without crumbling, and I think it tasted better than many of the regular pie crusts I’ve had over the years!
Erica says
March 15, 2019 at 5:32 amPoor. Followed this recipe and the dough was hard to roll out and press into the baking molds. Crumbles and falls apart. The same after baking the dough crust.
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Jennifer Kaplanski says
April 24, 2019 at 5:01 pmHello…has anyone tried this recipe using a removable base and sides tart pan? Thank you.
Michele says
April 29, 2019 at 4:01 pmHi! That works well, I’ve made savory tarts using a pan like that with this crust.
Candace says
May 1, 2019 at 12:09 pmI really like your white pie dish. Do you know what brand it is? Thank you!
marta says
May 13, 2019 at 9:26 pmYum – great recipe for sweet or savoury – thanks 🙂
Tracy says
May 18, 2019 at 2:34 pmI’m in Colorado at an altitude of 6,000ish ft. Do you think any adjustments would be needed for high altitude?
Nancy A Paine says
June 10, 2019 at 11:30 amI used this pie crust recipe, and it is delicious, and works very well. I used cold butter, cut up, for my fat. I thought it needed a bit more sugar, plus I added vanilla, and it baked up tasty, browned nicely, and held it’s shape. I froze it after pressing it into the glass pie dish. I made a fruit pie, and it also held the filling well. but I would have baked it a bit longer than recipe stated, as the center dough was bit underdone. Delicious, brown, held shape, easy to make in food processor! Loved it!
Whitney says
June 11, 2019 at 11:49 pmI see there is dairy in here..I am allergic to all dairy. I am not interested in using palm oil. Could I use coconut oil or something else? Thank you Michelle