This vegan lemon tart starts with a buttery press-in crust and is filled with a luscious dairy-free lemon cream. Serve it as-is or dress it up with fresh fruit. It’s a simple yet elegant dessert, and every bite tastes like a mouthful of sunshine!
If you ask me, this vegan lemon tart is the ultimate spring dessert. It’s a little different from most lemon tarts, which are typically made with lemon curd baked into a crust. And if that’s what you’re looking for, feel free to spoon some of my vegan lemon curd into this crust! But follow the recipe as written and you’ll end up with something richer and more decadent. It’s like my vegan lemon bars and my vegan cheesecake had the most magical love child.
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This tart looks pretty fancy when you garnish it with fresh fruit, but it’s actually one of the simplest vegan desserts you can make. Like my vegan fig tart, vegan fruit tart, and vegan bakewell tart, it features a simple press-in crust — no cutting in fats or chilling your equipment required. Just mix and press! The filling is a no-bake, cashew-based cream that comes together with nothing more than soaking and blending.
The flavor is pure heaven. Every bite is rich and creamy, with a zippy lemon tang that’s guaranteed to brighten your day.
Ingredients You'll Need
Below you'll find a list of ingredients in this recipe, with notes and substitutions. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see the full recipe, including the amount of each ingredient.
- Flour. The crust is made with all-purpose wheat flour, also known as white flour. Other types of flour may or may not work — I haven't tested any.
- Sugar. Use organic sugar, since conventional sugar is often processed using animal bone char.
- Salt.
- Vegan butter. Most grocery stores carry this in the refrigerator case, near the regular butter.
- Vanilla extract.
- Cashews. Raw cashews are blended to make the base for this tart. They have a neutral flavor and blend up rich and creamy, but only if they're raw — don't use roasted cashews.
- Lemon juice. Make sure you're using fresh lemon juice. After all, lemon is the star flavor of this dessert — no bottled stuff.
- Coconut oil. This is an essential ingredient that allows the filling to set, so no substitutions. Refined coconut oil is your best option, but unrefined will work if you don't mind a little coconut flavor.
- Lemon zest. You need to zest a fresh lemon anyway, so no excuses on the juice thing.
- Yellow food color. This is optional. If you don't use it, your filling will be more white. For a natural option, try a pinch of turmeric.
How It's 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!
Step 1: Prepare. Preheat your oven to 350°F and gather a 9 ½-inch tart pan.
Step 2: Combine dry ingredients. Whisk flour, sugar, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. These are your dry ingredients for the crust.
Step 3: Mix the dough. Stir melted vegan butter and vanilla extract into the dry ingredient mixture. You'll end up with a soft, sticky dough.
Step 4: Shape the crust. Press your dough into a tart pan. Make sure to cover the bottom and press it all the way up the sides — it will shrink a bit as it bakes.
Step 5: Bake the crust. Pop your tart pan into the oven and bake the crust until it feels set and is golden brown.
Step 6: Cool. Place your crust onto a cooling rack and let it cool while you prepare the filling.
Step 7: Make the filling. Load your blender or food processor with soaked raw cashews, sugar, lemon juice, melted coconut oil, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt. Blend everything until the mixture is completely smooth.
Step 8: Fill the crust. Pour your filling into the crust. Make sure to smooth it out with a spatula.
Tip: Blending your filling can take a few minutes. Be patient, and make sure you get it totally smooth.
Step 9: Chill. Stick the tart into the fridge and chill it until your filling feels nice and set. This will take at least 4 hours. I like to leave mine in overnight.
Step 10: Serve. Your vegan lemon tart is ready! You can garnish it with some fresh fruit if you like. Then slice it up and serve!
Variations
- Swap the citrus. Even though this is a lemon tart, the recipe should work just fine using lime or orange juice and zest. Cut down on the sugar slightly if using orange.
- Lemon coconut tart. Stir some shredded coconut into the filling.
- Berry lemon tart. Press fresh berries into the filling before chilling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Possibly! You could try substituting gluten-free all-purpose flour for wheat flour, but I haven't tried this, so I can't guarantee results. Your other option is to use a crust that meets your dietary needs, such as this vegan gluten-free pie crust.
Unfortunately, no. Coconut oil solidifies when chilled, so it is what causes our filling to set.
Granulated sugar works best, but you could experiment with liquid sweeteners like maple syrup if you prefer. The color of the tart may be affected, and you might get a hint of maple flavor — but depending on your personal taste, that could be a good thing.
Your tart will keep in the fridge in an airtight container, such as a pie keeper, for about 4 days, or in the freezer for about 2 months.
More Vegan Lemon Desserts
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Lemon Cream Tart
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup organic granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons vegan butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Filling
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water 4 to 8 hours, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup organic granulated sugar
- â…“ cup lemon juice
- â…“ cup melted refined coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- Pinch salt
- Yellow food color (optional, use as needed — 3 to 4 drops should do it)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- To make the crust, first whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt.
- Add the melted butter and vanilla, then stir just until the ingredients are mixed and a sticky dough has formed.
- Press the dough into the bottom and all the way up the sides of a 9 ½-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.
- Bake the crust until it has browned lightly, about 20 minutes.
- Place the tart pan on a cooling rack and let the crust cool.
- While the crust cools, place all of the filling ingredients into a high-powered blender or food processor fitted with an S-blade. Blend until completely smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl or pitcher as needed.
- Pour the filling into the crust, smoothing out the top with a spatula.
- Place the tart into the fridge and chill until fully set, at least 4 hours.
- Optionally, garnish with fresh fruit. Slice and serve.
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I followed your recipe for the filling (used a simple oil-flour-salt recipe for the crust), but didn't have raw cashews, only roasted ones, so it hasn't really a neutral taste (but I like cashews, so I didn't mind). Still, a big success with a strong lemony taste just as I like it! And with tumeric I got a very flashy yellow color, it looked beautiful : ) I am going to make it again, this time with raw cashews to compare, curious which one will be my favourite!
This was an easy and very tasty tart. I will definitely make it again.
This is delicious and not hard to make. It was an Easter dinner hit and I’m making it again this weekend. The crust is delicious, too and reminds me of shortbread.