Comforting vegetable curry with a flaky pot pie crust is the perfect cold-weather cure.
A fragrant, well-spiced vegetable curry pot pie with the tastiest, flakiest crust.
I’ve been so in love with pot pies, and this vegetable curry pot pie is no exception. It’s filled with a well-spiced, thick and stewy curry made with Dil’s Premium Punjabi Masala. It’s loaded with vegetables including parsnips, carrots, celery, potatoes, and peas for a hearty and filling vegetarian dinner you’ll want on repeat.
I think you will love this vegetable curry pot pie recipe! It’s so perfect for a cold day when you just want something warming, comforting, but with big, bold flavors!
The crust follows the same recipe that I used for my Leftover Turkey Pot Pie and my Beef Pot Pie recipes, so many of the steps will be the same.
If you’re looking for a flaky pot pie filled to the brim with a wholesome and hearty vegetable curry, this recipe was made for you.
How to make vegetable curry pot pie
Like my turkey pot pie recipe, this dish has two components: the crust and the filling.
The Crust
You’ll need:
- All-purpose flour
- Cake flour
- Kosher salt
- Cold butter
- Cold shortening
- Cold water
Why use cake flour in a pie crust?
Cake flour is a delicate flour with less protein than all-purpose flour. The lower protein means it produces less gluten. A blend of cake flour and all-purpose flour helps create a flakier crust. If you don’t have cake flour, you can substitute it with all-purpose flour at a 1:1 ratio.
And if you just don’t feel like fussing with homemade crust, you can make this with store-bought pie crust instead!
How to make the pie crust
- Step 1: Combine the flours and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the cold, diced butter and chilled shortening. Use a pastry cutter to blend until a coarse, crumbly mixture forms.
- Step 2: Stir in the cold water and mix until a dough ball forms.
- Step 3: Dump the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap the dough and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. The dough will keep for up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
The Filling
While the pie dough chills, you’ll make the filling. Here’s what you need:
- Vegetables: To start the curry, you’ll need about 3 cups of diced vegetables. I used celery, carrots, parsnips, shallot, and freshly minced garlic.
- Potatoes: In addition to the vegetables, you’ll add diced Yukon gold potatoes to help make this even heartier.
- Seasonings: I use Dil’s Premium Punjabi Masala as well as Kashmiri chili powder for heat. If you’d like a milder curry, skip the Kashmiri chili powder.
- Butter, flour, and water: You’ll use butter and flour to create a thick curry sauce. I used water for the liquid, but you can use vegetable stock if you prefer.
- Peas and cilantro: I finish the pot pie curry filling with frozen peas and freshly minced cilantro.
How to make the vegetable curry pot pie filling
- Step 1: Sauté the carrots, celery, parsnips, and shallot until they soften.
- Step 2: Add the potatoes and cook for 7 to 8 minutes.
- Step 3: Add the garlic, Dil’s Punjabi Masala, and Kashmiri chili powder if using. Cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Step 4: Make a well in the middle of the vegetables and melt the butter in the well. Once bubbly and melted, add the flour. Toss to coat the vegetables with the flour.
- Step 5: Add the water or vegetable stock and whisk until completely smooth. Bring to a boil. Turmeric in curry powder can sometimes be a bit bitter, so if you’d like to offset that, add a teaspoon of sugar now. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for 30 to 45 minutes until thick and stewy.
- Step 5: Once the pot pie filling finishes simmering, add the frozen peas and fresh cilantro. Transfer to a wide bowl and cover loosely with cling wrap. Let stand for 1 to 2 hours to cool the filling.
Why must you cool the filling before adding it to the pot pie?
At this point, you must cool the filling before rolling out the pie crust. Why? Your pie crust is made with lots of butter and flour. When added to the oven, the butter must start at a cold temperature to maintain its structure as it bakes. If the butter is too warm, it will melt too quickly, resulting in a mushy crust instead of flaky and crusty.
Adding warm filling to the pie crust will immediately melt the butter, creating a mushy, soggy bottom. Do NOT skip the cool-down step of the filling. I recommend placing the filling in a wide dish instead of a deep bowl to cool down. This will allow the filling to cool off more rapidly and more evenly. If you add the hot filling to a deep bowl, all the heat will be concentrated in the middle and will take longer to decrease the temperature.
Ideally, your filling will be no warmer than 50ºF. You can use an instant-read thermometer to test the temperature before rolling out the pie crust. You can allow the pot pie filling to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour. For food safety reasons, do not allow the filling to stand at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
Alternatively, refrigerate the filling overnight and make the pot pie the next day.
Once your filling has cooled off, you can finish the pot pie.
How to assemble the vegetable curry pot pie
- Step 1: Before beginning, preheat the oven to 425ºF. Combine a beaten egg and milk in a small bowl and set it aside.
- Step 2: Cut the chilled dough in half. Return half of the dough to the refrigerator. Place the other half on a floured work surface and use your palm to flatten it into a disc. Roll the dough into a circle about 1 inch larger than your pie dish using a floured rolling pin.
- Step 3: Carefully peel the dough from the counter and lay it into a 9-inch pie dish.
- Step 4: Pour the cooled filling into the pie crust.
- Step 5: Roll out the remaining half of the pie dough into the same size as the previous half, about 1 inch larger than the pie dish. Carefully lay it on the pie dish. Cut off the excess and use your fingers to seal the top and bottom of the crust together. At this point, you can use your fingers or a fork to crimp the crust.
- Step 6: Cut small slits into the top of the crust to create vents for the steam to escape. Brush the top of the pie with the egg and milk mixture. You likely will not use all of the egg wash.
- Step 7: Place the pie dish on a baking sheet and transfer to the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Rotate the pie once midway through cooking to help the top brown evenly.
How long do you need to cool the vegetable curry pot pie before cutting it?
Allow the pot pie to stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes. If you cut the pie while it’s steaming hot, the filling will ooze out of the pie.
For this pot pie, I love to slice it and finish it with freshly minced cilantro! It works so well with the rich and hearty filling.
How long will vegetable pot pie keep in the refrigerator?
Homemade pot pie will last 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator as long as it’s kept in an air-tight container.
To reheat it, you can bake the pot pie in an oven-safe baking dish at 350ºF until heated. The exact time will depend on how much you’re reheating and whether you’re reheating individual slices or an entire pie. Start with 15 to 20 minutes and incrementally add time until the pie is heated.
You can also air-fry individual slices of leftover pot pie by placing them on parchment paper. Reheat at 350ºF. Refrigerated pot pie may take 5 to 10 minutes to reheat, while frozen pot pie may take 10 to 15 minutes to reheat fully.
Can you freeze homemade pot pie?
Yes! Freezing pot pie is easy. Wrap in a few layers of plastic wrap or foil. You can wrap individual slices or an entire pie, depending on your preference. I like to place the wrapped pie in a freezer bag. Homemade pot pie will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer. You can reheat it following the instructions above.
Vegetable Curry Pot Pie
Ingredients
Pie crust:
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cake flour
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cups unsalted butter (1½ sticks, chilled and small-diced)
- ¼ cup shortening (chilled)
- ½ cup cold water
Vegetable curry pot pie filling:
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ¾ pound parsnips (peeled and diced, see Note 1)
- 2 carrots (peeled and diced, see Note 1)
- 2 ribs celery (trimmed and diced, see Note 1)
- 1 shallot (peeled and minced, see Note 1)
- 4 cloves garlic (peeled and minced, see Note 1)
- 1 pound Yukon gold potatoes (peeled and diced)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt (plus more to taste)
- 1½ tablespoons Dil’s Punjabi Masala
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder (optional)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
- 3 cups water or vegetable stock
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves (minced, plus more for serving)
- Kosher salt and black pepper (to taste)
Egg wash:
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
Instructions
Make the pie crust:
- Combine the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and kosher salt in a large bowl and use a fork to mix them.
- Add the cold, diced butter and the chilled shortening to the bowl of flour. Use a pastry cutter to blend the fat into the flour until a crumbly, coarse mixture forms.
- Mix the cold water into the flour until a dough ball forms. Don’t worry if there are a few loose crumbles. Use your hands to pull everything together into a dough ball.
- Dump the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and use your hands to gather any loose crumbs into the dough ball.
- Wrap the plastic wrap tightly around the ball of dough. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
Start the pot pie filling:
- While the dough chills, make the pot pie filling.
- Heat 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil in a wide pot over medium-high heat.
- Add the diced parsnips, carrots, celery, and shallot. Cook for 5 minutes, turning regularly, until the vegetables soften. Add a very scant amount of salt.
- Add the diced potatoes and season with 2 teaspoons of kosher salt. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes, turning occasionally.
- Add the garlic, 1 1⁄2 tablespoons of Dil’s Punjabi Masala, and 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder. Toss to coat and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
Toast the flour:
- Make a well in the middle of the vegetables and add the butter to the well. Once bubbly, add ⅓ cup all-purpose flour and stir to coat. Cook for 2 minutes until the flour becomes nutty and aromatic.
Add the liquid:
- Pour in the water or vegetable stock. Whisk until completely smooth.. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Add 1 teaspoon sugar if desired to offset the bitterness of the turmeric. Be careful not to add too much salt; the stew will become saltier as it cooks.
Simmer the pie filling:
- Bring the pot pie filling to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for 30 to 45 minutes or until the potatoes and parsnips are fork-tender and the filling is thick. Add a splash of water if the stew reduces too quickly. Taste and adjust the seasonings.
Finish the pot pie filling:
- Add the frozen peas and minced cilantro to the pot pie filling and stir to incorporate. Turn off the heat.
Cool the pot pie filling:
- Transfer the pot pie filling to a wide dish. Cover loosely with cling wrap and let stand for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. I recommend transferring it to a wider dish instead of a deep bowl for a more rapid cool-down. See Note 2.
Roll out the pie crust:
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Mix the beaten egg and the milk in a bowl and set aside.
- Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator. Cut the ball in half and return half of the dough to the refrigerator. Place the other half on a lightly floured surface and press it into a disc. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough into a circle about 1 inch larger than your pie dish.
- Carefully lift the dough from the counter and place it into a 9-inch pie dish. See Note 3.
- Add another sprinkle of flour to your work surface. Roll out the other half of the dough into a circle about 1 inch larger than the pie dish.
Make the pot pie:
- Pour the cooled pot pie filling into the prepared pie dish. Carefully lift the top crust from your surface and place it on top. Trim off any excess and discard it or use it for decoration. Use your fingers to seal the pie crust edges. Crimp the crust with your fingers or a fork if you like. Use a sharp knife to create a few small slits in the top of the crust to allow the steam to escape.
- Brush the crust with the egg and milk mixture. You likely won’t use all of it.
Bake the pot pie:
- Place the pie dish on a large baking sheet. Transfer to the oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and flaky. Rotate the pie once midway through baking for even browning.
- Remove from the oven and let it stand for 20 to 30 minutes.
To serve:
- Cut the pie and transfer to plates. Serve with minced cilantro on top and enjoy!
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious!! My husband ate almost half of it already 😅