These vegan Cornish pasties are made with a mix of potatoes, rutabaga, onion and seitan chunks stuffed into flaky short-crust pastry pockets. They're pretty easy to make and absolutely heavenly to bite into!
I really do love recipe requests, especially when someone asks for me to veganize an old favorite dish of theirs that I'm not familiar with. Sometimes it takes me a while, but I try to come through when I can!
Such is the case with these vegan Cornish pasties. It was some years ago that I had someone ask for this recipe. I hesitated because (1) I thought this recipe would be a pain to create, and (2) after researching conventional Cornish pasty recipes, I didn't think they'd be that good. I was wrong on both counts!
These little hand pies are pretty simple to assemble, with the most work going into making the crust, which really wasn't that hard. This isn't one of those pastry recipes that requires hours of chilling. It's quick and easy, but still comes out of the oven flaky and delicious.
I also thought the pasties themselves would be bland and dry, given the relatively few ingredients and seasonings that go into them. In actuality they were flavorful and filled with steaming hot veggies, potatoes and seitan. I may have just found my new favorite comfort food!
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Flour. The recipe calls for all-purpose wheat flour. Other varieties like spelt or whole wheat pastry flour will probably work, but your pastry will be a bit grainy.
- Salt & pepper.
- Vegan butter. I used Earth Balance to create this recipe. Other brands to try include Miyoko's and Melt. They're all sold near the regular butter in most supermarkets.
- Vegetable shortening.
- Potato. I used a Russet potato, but red or yellow potatoes would also work just fine.
- Rutabaga. Also known as swede, this root veggie has a subtly sweet flavor.
- Onion.
- Seitan. Store-bought or homemade seitan will work.
- Non-dairy milk. Use a variety that's unsweetened and unflavored. Almost any variety will do, but you can check out my guide to dairy-free milks if you need help choosing!
Tip: Since most rutabagas are pretty large, you'll probably have some leftover. After being cut, it'll keep for at least a week in an airtight container in the fridge. It's absolutely delicious diced and roasted with some olive oil or boiled and mashed like potatoes.
How They're Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Start by making your pastry dough.
Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl, then add the shortening and cold butter. Use a pastry cutter (or alternatively a fork) to cut the shortening and butter into the dry mixture.
Begin stirring in cold water, one to two tablespoons at a time, stopping as soon as the dough will hold together. Roll the dough into a ball, cover the bowl and chill the dough while you chop your vegetables and seitan.
Once your fillings are ready, take the dough out of the fridge and cut it into fourths. Roll one portion into a ball, then roll it into an 8-inch circle with a rolling pin.
Arrange the fillings in the center of your dough circle: diced potato, rutabaga, onion, and seitan chunks. Sprinkle them with some salt and pepper and top them with a pat of vegan butter.
Moisten the outer edges of the dough circle, then fold it in half over the fillings. If any fillings pop out you can try to shove them back in, or remove them if you've overdone it. Pinch it closed and crimp the edges.
Repeat the process until you've used all of the fillings and dough, and created four hand pies. Place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, brush them with some non-dairy milk, and cut slits in the top for air to escape during baking.
Tip: To crimp the edges, you can go simple and use a fork, create a scallop using your fingers, or do it in proper fashion using the method shown in this video. As you can see, mine are somewhat...err...rustic, and not so proper. The important thing is getting a good seal!
Pop the baking sheet into the oven and bake your vegan Cornish pasties until the pastry is golden brown.
Let them cool for at least a few minutes before digging in. The fillings will still be quite hot!
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover vegan Cornish pasties will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4 days. They can be reheated in the microwave or in a 350°F oven for about ten minutes.
What to Serve with Vegan Cornish Pasties
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Cornish Pasties
Ingredients
For the Pastry
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup vegan butter, chilled
- ¼ cup vegetable shortening
- 8 tablespoons cold water, plus up to 2 additional tablespoons
Fillings
- 1 small Russet potato, peeled and diced (½-inch), about 1 cup of potato
- 1 cup diced rutabaga (½-inch)
- 1 small onion, roughly chopped (about ½ cup)
- 1 (8 ounce/227 gram) package seitan, cubed (½ inch)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter
- 2 tablespoons unflavored and unsweetened non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To make the pastry, first stir the salt and flour together in a large mixing bowl.
- Cut the vegan butter into a few slices and add it to the bowl, along with the shortening. Use a pastry cutter or fork to cut the butter and shortening into the dry ingredients. Continue until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Begin adding cold water to the bowl, one to two tablespoons at a time, stirring each addition in with a fork. Stop as soon as the dough will hold together (after 8 to 10 tablespoons).
- Shape the dough into a ball, cover the bowl and chill the dough while you prepare the fillings (chop the potato, rutabaga, onion and seitan).
- Once the fillings are ready, remove the dough from the fridge. Cut it into fourths.
- Roll one of the dough portions into a ball and place it on a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into an 8-inch circle.
- Arrange about a fourth of each the diced potato, rutabaga, onion and seitan in the center of the dough circle. Sprinkle the fillings lightly with salt and pepper, then top them with a pat of vegan butter.
- Moisten the edges of the dough circle and fold it in half, over the fillings. Pinch and crimp the edges to form a seal.
- Place the unbaked pasty on the prepared baking sheet and repeat the process until all of the dough and fillings have been used and you've make four pasties.
- Brush the tops of each pasty with non-dairy milk. Cut three or four slits in the top of each pasty.
- Bake the pasties for 45 to 50 minutes, until golden brown.
- Place the baking sheet on a cooling rack and let the pasties cool for a few minutes before serving.
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Hello!! I really want to make these! I grew up in Michigan and we would always take trips to the U.P. of Michigan and go to this little pasties restaurant. They were so delicious! But anyways, could I just use extra veggies or maybe crumbled and baked tofu in place of the seitan? I'm not a big fan of it. Thank you for any help you can provide!!
Hi Shannon! Absolutely - either of those options would work. If you decide to go with tofu, I'd recommend using using a baked, pre-seasoned variety, or seasoning and baking it yourself. Otherwise it might be bland. I think the tofu from my vegan chicken noodle soup recipe would work well: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/chickenless-tofu-noodle-soup/ Enjoy!!
Made for lunch today, lovely, (swapped out the rutabaga as I don't like it, and used celeriac instead as I had some to use up)
Thank you for this recipe ❤️
What is the difference between vegan butter and vegetable shortening? TIA
Vegan butter is basically dairy-free margarine (most margarines contain some animal products). It's a combination of vegetable fats, water, and seasonings used to make it taste and cook like butter. Shortening on the other hand is just vegetable fat.
I don't think I can find rutabagas around here, they look similar to turnips in the photos, I don't know the taste. Any ideas for substitutions? Parsnips maybe? Those aren't plentiful here either but I can find them.
They're mild and just a bit sweet. Most root veggies would work fine in their place. Parsnips are a great option, or you could even use carrots!