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This easy to work with Paleo Pie Crust dough crimps beautifully and works well for summer or holiday pies. Enjoy grain-free flaky crust again!
Paleo Pie Crust with cassava flour
It was my mission to create the perfect Paleo pastry dough after discovering cassava flour. It’s white flour, after all. And our family hadn’t had real pie crust for about six years.
Soooo … June (summer fruits) and the upcoming holidays finally made me do it. When rhubarb came, it was a reminder that pie season in full force was just around the corner. I made cobblers and crumbles.
But what about topping the pie with pastry cut-outs and a great pie shell that could really hold a pretty crimp?
I learned to make pie crust from my aunt-in-law. Shortly after getting married it seemed an important kitchen skill to learn — because my husband loves pie. Lovely Auntie Jan taught me, and she taught one of her daughters-in-law at the same time. A good memory. I wasn’t instantly great at the technique. But almost everything I needed to know about making pie I learned that afternoon.
Those same principles apply to pie crust made with cassava flour. It’s like white flour in a lot of ways. Even the glutenous quality. Of course, cassava flour is not only gluten-free, it’s grain-free. But it’s stretchy, a bit, as if it had gluten. (As I’ve mentioned before, cassava flour also contains resistant starch, which is great for colon health and the gut ecosystem.)
Ingredients & ratios for Paleo Pie Crust
My aunt taught us that the ratio of flour to fat needs to be close to 2:1. This principle applies! It’s how I approached this recipe and succeeded on the first go.
The principle of fat to liquid we learned, gets tweaked a bit here. An egg (plus the usual ice water) makes cassava pastry get waaay flakier. (It’s optional, and I give an egg-free flaky AIP alternative below that’s great!)
I also recently updated this recipe after much “playing round” to improve the recipe more: I’ve added a small amount of arrowroot and tapioca flour to make the recipe even flakier, and the bite completely tender.
(This changed the overall flour to fat ratio, but I’m so happy with final result, and life is often a process!)
You’ll find below a super simple recipe, easy to make, and a dough that’s easy to handle.
WHICH FAT TO USE
I use unsalted Kerrygold butter in this recipe. It’s pasture-raised and a good, gentle butter that’s easy to digest for many.
You can also use animal fat to make this dough. I have made this dough with tallow + duck fat; and I’ve made it with leaf lard, with great results. (Find it on Etsy.) (If you use tallow all by itself, don’t chill it, as that creates a less pliable dough; tallow gets really hard.)
For non-dairy Paleo, Grain Brain Palm Shortening works well, but do not use Spectrum or other palm shortenings, because they melt too soon in the oven (lower melting point), and this creates a tough, chewy crust (no bueno).
This recipe makes the perfect quantity of dough for one bottom pie crust. You can double the recipe if you’d like a top crust or to cut out shapes for the top.
WHICH CASSAVA FLOUR TO USE
It’s important in all of my cassava recipes to use either Otto’s or Bob’s. Recipes made with other cassava flours do not turn out the same, because other brands harvest older cassava roots, which are starchier and behave more like tapioca flour in recipes.
I know it’s nice to save money on bulk cassava from large companies, but with baking, I only recommend these two companies.
Otto’s is in the process of being certified organic, so if you’ve ever doubted the sustainability of their product, I think they’re a very conscientious company with a truly healthy cassava flour. (You can find Otto’s here. It’s great to buy in bulk or put on autoship, to save.)
The AIP version of Paleo Pie Crust
To avoid confusion, I’ve printed the AIP version of this recipe separately — in the Recipe Notes below the recipe — (as well as within the recipe itself).
Two of the ingredients in Paleo Pie Crust, that I don’t include in the AIP version, are actually AIP-compliant (tapioca flour and arrowroot). BUT, they are there to interact with the egg in the Paleo version. SO, they’re NOT needed in the AIP version.
The AIP Pie Crust is very simple and very good. There are actually fewer ingredients in the AIP crust. I’ve made the recipe repeatedly to make sure it works perfectly, and I know you’ll be happy with it. 🙂
Paleo Pie Crust (with wonderful AIP version)
Equipment
- food processor or hand held pastry blender
- oven
Ingredients
- 1 cup cassava flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter or for dairy-free: leaf lard; or Grain Brain palm shortening works too; (for AIP: use only the leaf lard or palm oil option [Do NOT use Spectrum palm oil.])
- ½ cup ice water (for AIP: use 4 to 5 Tablespoons)
- 3 Tablespoons arrowroot powder (omit for AIP)
- 2 Tablespoons tapioca flour (omit for AIP)
- 1 egg (omit for AIP)
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar (for AIP: use 1-½ teaspoons)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt omit if using salted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cut butter (or preferred fat) into 1 Tablespoon sections. Place in freezer for 10 minutes.
- Put cassava flour, arrowroot and tapioca into food processor (or work bowl, if you're using handheld pastry blender). Add sea salt. Blend to mix. Remove cold butter from freezer and cut tablespoons in half, so they are in 1/2-tablespoon rectangles/sections. Add these to food processor and pulse to blend, until largest pieces are pea size (or a bit smaller if using a pastry blender by hand).
- Add egg, water and apple cider vinegar, and pour over flour in a donut-shaped gully. Pulse. Use Pulse button until mixture begins to come together: see photo — about 10 seconds.
- Dump out contents of food processor onto a large square of parchment paper. (Reserve half if you've doubled the recipe to cut out shapes for the top.) Form into a circle with your hands, pressing and patting it together. The circle will be about 7" in diameter. Place second large square of parchment paper onto dough and begin rolling out with rolling pin, from the center, until you have an 11"-12" circle. (Ideally the center is rolled thinly, as this creates a flakier texture.)
- Transfer pie crust to pie plate by peeling off one side of parchment, placing pie plate upside down on pastry, sliding your hand under pastry that still has parchment, then flipping the whole thing over using both hands. If any breaks off you'll be able to piece it back together. Carefully peel remaining parchment paper off of top.
- Allow crust to slide down into pie plate, fitting into concave shape. Fold over and flute/crimp top edges. If dough breaks during transfer, it easily pieces back together. Dust your fingers with cassava flour if edges are sticky. To bake the crust blind (without filling), prick all over with fork and bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes. (To prevent the sides from collapsing in a couple of places, you can line the crust with parchment and pie weights for the first 10 to 15 minutes of baking; then empty and continue for remainder of baking time.) Otherwise fill and bake according to chosen recipe. If you wish, brush crimped edges of pie with egg yolk, to create a really golden outcome.
Notes
AIP Pie Crust
This recipe may be doubled. Ingredients- 1 cup cassava flour
- ½ cup leaf lard or Grain Brain palm oil (Do not use Spectrum palm oil.)
- 4 to 5 Tablespoons water
- 1-½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Scoop preferred fat into 1 Tablespoon sections (approximately, doesn't need to be exact). Place in freezer for 10 minutes on parchment lined plate.
- Put cassava flour and sea salt into food processor (or work bowl, if you're using handheld pastry blender). Blend to mix. Remove cold fat from freezer and cut tablespoons in half, so they are in 1/2-tablespoon rectangles/sections. Add these to food processor and pulse to blend, until largest pieces are pea size (or a bit smaller if using a pastry blender by hand).
- Add water and apple cider vinegar, and pour over flour in a donut-shaped gully. Pulse.
- Proceed with Step 5 in the main recipe above.
Nutrition
Here’s a Marionberry Pie I made with this crust. I love how the crust holds its crimp so well, for pretty fluted edges.
Renee Kohley says
That sure is beautiful! We have a lot of summer fruit picking to go – I would love to try this!
Megan Stevens says
Great, enjoy! Such a magical time of year!
Emily @ Recipes to Nourish says
Your pie!!! The finished one looks amazing! I wish I had some. Their flour is just perfect, I love all of the recipes you’re making with it. I bet this crust is so delicious. You crimped that crust so beautifully!
Megan Stevens says
Thank you!! xx
KC @ G-Free Foodie says
Finally – a Paleo crust that isn’t almond-based!
Megan Stevens says
Yes!
Justin & Erica says
This looks amazing! And it doesn’t have almond flour either! Can’t wait to try!
Megan Stevens says
Hurray! Enjoy! Thank you!
thefoodhunter says
You are using my favorite butter!! 🙂
Megan Stevens says
🙂 I love it, too! Unsalted and then I add sea salt.
Heather Hawn says
I don’t have a food processor or handheld pastry blender. Would a standard blender work? You mentioned a donuts shaped gully which may not be possible with a blender. I also have a regular handheld mixer.
Megan says
Hi Heather, the best thing to do without the 2 first tools is actually to use 2 knives, and “cut” the fat into the flour, criss-crossing the knives as you cut. I used this method alone for the first year or more of being married, as we were so poor, and it actually works great. I’m going to find a link for you, so you can see what I mean … Okay, follow this method, but ignore her recipe, and also, don’t dump it onto the counter; keep it in the mixing bowl: https://youtu.be/aHdRHSDV8Tw I hope that helps!
linda spiker says
Cassava flour to the rescue again! And kerry gold butter…insert three heart eyed emojis here 🙂
Megan Stevens says
Love it! 😉
Beth Martin says
I know nothing about pie crusts, so I loved the mini lesson in this post! I also want to make one now! All the fruits are finally showing up at Seattle farmers markets. Yay!
Megan Stevens says
I’m so glad; Yay!
Robin Pack says
This looks wonderful! Do you not advise a top crust? My son loves apple pie and I’ve always made it with a top crust.
Megan Stevens says
Yes, I do! Wonderful. I haven’t done that yet with it; but it should be great. I have done shapes on top only.
Simone says
What is the smallest size food processor this would work in?
Megan Stevens says
Hi Simone, I don’t know because I haven’t tried out smaller ones. I think 10-cup capacity would be safe. If you have a smaller one, you can do the recipe in two parts and then combine the dough.
Heidi Schleuning says
Could you omit the sugar and use this for a savory pie?
Megan Stevens says
Yes, absolutely!! In fact, I just did that last night and posted the pic on IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/BJ3kXQyjFr5/?taken-by=meganstevenseatbeautiful I made a galette. 🙂
Miss Food Fairy says
This is just what I’m looking for Megan. I’m looking at doing a savoury version for a quiche. Pinned for later reference.
Megan Stevens says
Wonderful, enjoy!
Melissa says
How does this pie crust perform if made ahead and refrigerated for a day or two — say, for Thanksgiving prep? 😉
Megan Stevens says
Yes, that will work, provided two things: one, it should be wrapped well so it doesn’t dry out and two, it should be brought to room temperature or almost room temperature, not be cold, before rolling it out. Otherwise it will be too hard.
Louise Merry Larson says
Has anyone actually tried this? What were your results?
Robin Henry-Pearl says
I made this crust for a chicken pot pie. Although I didn’t use a full top crust, I did put crust on the top. I cut out 2 inch circles and placed them on top of the filling. My son and husband both said the crust was one of the best gluten, egg free crusts I’ve made. I used straight up ghee and xanthan gum, sifted the flour, and made sure the mixture stayed cold. After I pulsed the flour and ghee together in my processor I placed it back in the fridge before I added the ice cold water. I mixed the flour/ghee mixture with the water by hand in a bowl, then placed it back in the fridge for 15 minutes or so before I rolled it out. After placing the chicken pot pie filling in I put it back in the fridge while I prepared the top crust.
*I made my own ghee, which I placed it in an ice cube tray to put in the freezer. I then took out the amount I needed for the crust, and let it thaw until I could cut them in half. My tray cube hold about 2 tablespoons. I will for sure make this crust again!
Megan says
Hi Robin, thank you so much for taking the time to come back and comment!! That makes me so glad! I’m just happy thinking about you all sitting around eating that meal and yummy crust!! Sounds like us! 😉 Yes, I do think the xanthan gum makes the egg-free version at its best (and ghee/butter). Thanks for all your details! 🙂 🙂
Char says
Hi, I made this yesterday for a chocolate pie. I baked the empty pie crust for 35 minutes, filled it with the hot chocolate filling, topped it with meringue, and then baked the whole thing for 15 minutes (to make sure the meringue was cooked). I then put it in the fridge until the pie cooled & the chocolate set (it had gelatin in it). The crust was very tasty, but it was very hard to cut through, even after it reached room temp. Do you have any suggestions as to how to prevent this or what I may have done wrong? I followed the recipe with the butter (I did not use xantham gum). I really, really like this crust otherwise, and am so happy to find one without almond or coconut flour (my kids don’t like their textures).
Megan says
Hi Char, Thanks for sharing everything you did! I’ve updated the recipe with my changes. The Paleo Pie Crust is now better, and that issue is gone. I think you’ll find it’s perfect. I’ve made and remade it, and the texture is now tender when cut into as well as flaky and light. 🙂
ashley says
Did I miss what should be used when omitting ingredients for AIP? And I thought arrowroot powder and tapioca flour were AIP?? I usually use applesauce in place of eggs. Can I still do that with this?
Megan says
Hi Ashley, although arrowroot and tapioca are AIP-compliant, those ingredients are not needed in the AIP version of the pie crust. Those ingredients are used in the Paleo crust that contains eggs. The AIP version simply omits certain ingredients and is GREAT. If you look at the recipe notes below the recipe, I’ve printed the AIP recipe separately to simplify following the AIP version. Definitely NO applesauce in this recipe. 😉 Just follow the recipe exactly. I’ve worked this recipe through so many times to make sure it works perfectly. And make sure to use Otto’s or Bob’s cassava flour, very important. Thank you for the questions! 🙂
Jane says
Hi! I was wondering if this recipe could be used to make hand-pies / pastry pockets? If it’s strong enough to keep the filling in during baking and lifting/ eating?
Megan says
Hi Jane, yes! We’ve used it like that for years. As with any pastry, there will be some breakage and a certain degree of delicacy, but you can piece back together bits that separate. For the most part, it works well.
Jane says
Thanks, I tried this yesterday, making hand pies using lard in the crust and with a filling made from apples. The lard made the pastry really tender and they definitely held together well as pies, though I was careful to keep the dough cold and handle it as little as possible, using parchment dusted with cassava flour. Thanks again for the recipe!
Megan says
Terrific! Thanks so much for coming back to comment; that’s so helpful for me and other readers. So happy you enjoyed the pie crust! 🙂
Stacy says
Can you please tell me why Spectrum palm oil is not a good choice. I have this in my cupboard. Thanks!
Megan says
Hi Stacey, sure — it does not have a high enough melting point. It is basically lightly gelled vegetable oil. We need a true, ancestral, solid fat to make pastry dough. The higher melting point means the fat waits to melt, creating air pockets, which is what makes a flaky crust.
Ash says
Hi, this was my question as well. What is the difference between the way Spectrum and Grain Brain are made? How would we find another brand similar to Grain Brain—what terms would you look for on the label? Does it have anything to do with a “shortening” product versus “palm oil”? It appears that Grain Brain is no longer available for purchase anywhere that I could find, including the Grain Brain website. They may have stopped making it.
I realize this recipe is a few years old so I appreciate your responsiveness! I tried to master a cassava pie crust years ago and gave up as the fluted edge and the sides would slouch/melt every time. (I was using Spectrum shortening.)
Megan says
Hi Ash, the best choice would be to use leaf lard. I wonder if Grain Brain will come back, as they were the largest manufacturer of sustainable palm oil in the world. Perhaps the pandemic has affected them…? In the meantime, I also found this company: https://amzn.to/3lDpvWn, but there’s no way of knowing how this product will perform in pie crust without trying it out, which I haven’t. Please let us know if you try it. It is recommended for baking cookies … so maybe pie crust?
Abby says
I’ve had great success with Tropical Traditions Palm Shortening. Has a high melting point and is harvested in an eco-friendly manner. https://healthytraditions.com/products/1-gallon-glyphosate-tested-palm-shortening-112-oz
Megan says
Great, Abby, thanks, that’s really helpful to know you’ve used it to make this pie crust recipe!
Ted says
The pie looks great but I was curious what you used as a thickener for you fruit pie?
Megan says
Hi Ted, my favorite thickener is tapioca flour or even the tiny/instant tapioca pearls. Even non-Paleo folks use them as they’re perfect, especially for blackberry pie.
Jackie says
I just made this crust exactly as written for a gluten free, dairy free pumpkin pie. Wanted to try this because I was so tired of the almond flour type crusts. THIS CRUST IS AMAZING!! Texture is perfect it actually tastes and has the flakey bite a regular pie crust has! Thank you for doing all the research and trials for this crust. Will be my go to crust recipe!!!
Megan says
YAY, Jackie, thanks so much for reviewing the recipe!! and sharing your results with other readers. I’m so happy you love the crust, and you’re welcome for creating it, my pleasure. 🙂
Brianna says
I want to make a pumpkin pie with this too! Did you make the Paleo or the AIP version, and did you blind bake the crust before hand?
Brianna says
Hello,
I would like to make a pumpkin pie with this. I have a recipe that I want to use for the filling, and the recipe calls for around 55 minutes of baking for the filling to cook. First of all, will this crust hold up to about 55 minutes of baking at 375 degrees? If so, can I use this crust without par-baking it first (to help keep it from overcooking), or would you recommend at least slightly par-baking it?
Thanks!
Megan says
Hi Brianna, I’d par-bake it for 10 minutes, and then go ahead with the recipe. The crust is slow to darken so may hold up fine to that long baking time. If needed, cover the crimped edges with tin foil or a pie crust shield toward the end. 🙂 Enjoy!
Brianna says
Great, thank you so much! I’m excited to see how my crust turns out!
Megan says
You’re welcome, happy to help. I’d love to hear back after you bake any details about how it turned out for you! 🙂
Denece Frisbie says
Hi Megan, I’m so grateful to have found you at this point in my life ? I’m 57 and trying very hard to keep my health in “My” control. I have a few ailments going on, gut issues and arthritis. All I can think to do is remove all refined sugar, chemicals, gums and basically anything I can’t pronounce out of my diet! Not sure what diet category that puts me in…
Anyway, I absolutely LOVE your clean eating recipes and I’m very excited to try this pastry crust recipe!
I’ve ordered my “Otto’s Casava flour” from Amazon, should be getting tomorrow. I’ll be pre-making my pumpkin pies and freezing them until Wednesday. I’m experimenting both completely baking then freezing, and non baked then thawing to room temperature then baking.
Have you tried any of these procedures?
Megan says
Hi Denece, it’s so nice to meet you, and thanks for sharing a bit about you! Re freezing pumpkin pie, I do think fully making and baking it first is the best option. How-to sources on this topic tend to say to use a disposable aluminum pie pan to bake in. The idea is using a thinner pan allows the pie to freeze more quickly and helps prevent ice crystals from forming. To freeze, fully cool, then wrap really well to keep out air. To defrost, after removing the pie from the freezer, strip the wrap you’ve used, and let it thaw in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. (Thawing at room temperature will yield a soggy crust.) I hope that helps! Also re your arthritis, you might consider also removing all nightshades (and possibly some whole grains, as needed). If you eat potatoes, those are a big culprit for some people. Good for you and best wishes with your health journey. So happy you’re here! 🙂
Denece says
Thank you so much for your swift response ? and great information about the freezing method. My flour showed up today, will be trying this recipe and freezing method tomorrow ? also, thank you about the “night shade” info.
God bless
Megan says
God bless, Denece, happy to help, and best wishes. Hope you love the pie!
Julie K says
Do you think coconut butter/manna would work in place of the fat?
Megan says
Hi Julie, sadly, no.
Elle says
I don’t have tapioca flour what can I use instead?
Megan says
Hi Elle, substitutions are hard, but you might be able to sub in more arrowroot for the tapioca, as they’re often interchangeable.
Morgan Cornwall says
I don’t know what I did wrong, I followed the directions to a T and used the crust for a pumpkin pie. I used half kerrygold and half leaf lard for the fat, used Bob’s Red Mill cassava flour. It turned out completely inedible. The crust was so hard that I couldn’t cut through it at all. I ended up having to scoop out the filling and eat it like pumpkin custard, I’ll try it again since it appears that other folks had better luck, but I double checked everything on the recipe and did it exactly as directed.
Megan says
Hi Morgan, it sounds like you baked the crust for too long. Interestingly, cassava flour crusts don’t brown very much, so the brown-ness doesn’t help indicate when the pie is ready; thus it’s easy to keep it in the oven too long. I would bake it for a shorter period of time, till your filling is “just set” but still a little jiggly in the center, so it firms up in the fridge from chilling. I hope this helps.
Natalie says
I was making a double recipe and everything was fine until I added the cold water. Now it is a soft mess! I used solid pork fat instead of butter, but I followed the recipe to the letter.
Megan says
Hi Natalie, it sounds like you should chill your dough well now, and then see how the texture is. Form into 2 disks on wax or parchment paper; also cover with same paper. Chill well. Then see. If needed, use extra cassava when you roll them out. I can’t speak for sure about your process or experience, but it sounds like this is the next step to take to see what you have, and it may be fine.
Megan says
Also, when you say solid pork fat, do you mean leaf lard? If it’s not leaf lard, that is your issue. Leaf lard is perfect for pastry dough, but regular pork fat is different.
Sarah says
Is there a way to do a version with the arrowroot and tapioca, but no egg? AIP does allow those two ingredients, but we cannot have egg.
Megan says
HI Sarah, the AIP version is in the Notes section. 🙂
Sarah says
Why to NOT use Spectrum palm oil?
Megan says
Its melting point is too low; this means that it melts too fast and does not leave the flattened fat pockets that create a flaky pie crust. The crust will not turn out with Spectrum.
Helen Blain says
Is cassava flour allowed in VAD? I’d like to make the zucchini galette! Thanks.
Megan says
Hi Helen, if it agrees with you, it is. It didn’t used to be on the allowed list of ingredients, but it got added. I do better personally with whole cooked cassava roots than the flour, because the flour has more resistant starch. But some people do fine with it. Another flour-based crust might be better for some people.
Dan says
I have been working on getting this pie crust right all summer. I finally got it, today! I can’t describe how happy getting to eat a pie crust that tastes like a flakey pie crust makes me! I used to love making pies pre-illness, but since I can’t have grains anymore, I gave up on pies a long time ago.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and your recipes in general. I’ve been on AIP for years now, and I had resigned myself to eating bland, boring food. I *love* your website so much. It’s made such a difference!
Here are a couple tips that might help anyone else working on this recipe:
1. Leaf lard — they don’t sell it at any of the grocery stores near me, so I made a special trip to the farmer’s market to buy a couple jars of it.
2. Do not use a pastry blender. It is much harder to blend this crust than traditional flour and using the pastry blender ended up overworking the crust. The food processor made a much better crust.
3. After initially forming the pie into a wheel shape, chill the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes before rolling out. I live in a warm climate, and without chilling, the dough really sticks, even on the parchment paper.
4. When rolling the crust between the parchment paper, use a heavy rolling pin.
Megan says
Thank you for these tips, Dan! Thank you for your awesome review. I’m SO happy this recipe is making you happy. I totally get that. We really need a few foods that bring us great pleasure when we’re restricted. I’m so glad my recipes are helpful, so many YAYS! Blessings, and thank you again for sharing your kind and helpful words! 🙂
Karen says
I am really excited to find this recipe! I love chicken pot pie, but my crust recipe uses almond flour and I recently had to give up nuts. I also had to give up cow dairy, but I can have goat dairy. Do you know if it would work to make this with goat butter?
Megan says
Hi Karen, I haven’t worked with goat butter to know the subtleties of it. Theoretically, yes, but there might be some nuances to making sure the crust is chilled properly before baking. If it behaves similarly to cow dairy, then it should be fine. 🙂
Stacy TItus says
Hello! I am so sorry – I am confused – is the Grain Brain Palm Oil Shortening different from Grain Brain Palm Oil? I can only seem to find the shortening. Is there a separate Palm Oil? If not Grain Brain, is there an organic sustainable healthy brand of palm oil you do recommend? Thank you so much!
Megan says
Hi Stacy, same thing, same product; sorry for the confusion! 🙂