This Slow Cooker Vegetarian Pot Pie is easy to make and the whole family will love it. Comfort food is as close as your slow cooker or crock pot.
This is one of my favorite dinners to make. So good and so comforting. Be sure to check out all my great vegetarian recipes!
You’ll want this recipe in your recipe box along with my Crock Pot Minestrone, Crock Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup, and Broccoli Wild Rice Soup.
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Please let me know if you have any questions about this recipe. I read all the comments myself and I try to help as soon as I can. I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site, and I’ve tried to answer some of your questions already in the post. But if I’ve missed anything, please feel free to leave a comment and ask. The comments can be easily found using the orange circle on the lower left, then Join the discussion!
Reader requests
One of my most popular recipes is my Mom’s Vegetarian Pot Pie.I’ve been asked for a slow cooker / crock pot version of that comfort food favorite.
So, I set about working up a recipe. Using the same ingredients, but only made in the crock pot.
No cooking of anything on the stove, and then adding it to the crock pot.
I just wanted this recipe to be super easy, and if, say, your kitchen is being remodeled and you have no stove, you can still make this pot pie and have some yummy homemade food.
Dumpling toppers
Update January 2020: I have received some questions about the dumplings on top, so I went back and tested them again. They worked for me in all my original testing. But the follow up testing in 2020 the dumpling toppers did not work.
I used a larger crock pot in 2020, so maybe that’s why. I’m not sure yet.
For now, I’ve made the recipe several times and can’t figure out why it doesn’t work for some people.
If you want to try them, feel free. I’ll continue to test more to see if I can fix them.
I do apologize for any inconvenience! But I think the recipe is a great one, so I’ll continue to have it up on the blog! And thanks for your understanding!
What size slow cooker should I use?
I used my medium sized 4 quart round slow cooker. And it was very full! I think this will also work in a large 6 quart slow cooker, and the extra space on top would give more room for the biscuit crust.
Buttermilk Dumpling Biscuit Crust
I guess the buttermilk biscuit crust that I went with is actually more like dumplings.
Though I didn’t grow up with chicken and dumplings, so I’m not super familiar with the meal.
My husband tells me that his mom made dumplings when he was a kid. And, he has fond memories of those meals.
For me, this was the best way I could think of to make a crust that cooks in the crock pot. Remember, I wanted the whole thing to cook in the slow cooker for you.
Of course, you can go with the recipe as I’ve written it, and I do think this is delicious just the way it is! Or, you can leave the topping crust off and serve it as a soup.
You could also serve buttermilk biscuits on the side that you baked in the oven. I’m partial to this recipe for Skillet Buttermilk Biscuits. You could bake up separate fun puff pastry toppers like this recipe or even pie crust baked up separately, maybe cut them into cute shapes.
Or, serve the pot pie filling with store bought biscuits.
Dumpling Biscuit Crust Recipe
(again, I’m not sure that this will work in all crock pots. still testing, but included for those that it has worked for in the past)
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 ¼ teaspoons granulated sugar
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ cup buttermilk
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the buttermilk to the dry ingredients in the bowl, and mix until a loose sticky batter forms, and all ingredients are combined.
Drop the biscuit crust batter by large spoonfuls onto the top of the pot pie filling in the slow cooker. Leave the lid off and cook for 1 hour on high.
Can I add chicken to this to make it a chicken pot pie?
Of course! I’d suggest tossing in some already cooked shredded rotisserie chicken at the end of cooking. Just heat the chicken through.
Oh, or toss in some leftover thanksgiving turkey after the big meal is over!
What else can I add to give it more protein?
- White beans
- Lentils
- Tofu
- Edamame
If you don’t cook with wine, simply replace the 1/4 cup of wine with 1/4 cup of broth. The pot pie will still taste great.
When I was a kid my mom replaced the wine in any recipe with 7up. I think that would be too sweet for me at this point in life. You could also use apple juice as a substitute, which will also make the dish on the sweet side.
Serve this for the holidays
This vegetarian pot pie would be perfect for Thanksgiving dinner, you know, for the veggies in your group.
I know it can be hard for some folks to come up with a good main dish for their vegetarian family members. So, this takes all the work out of it.
I’ve made the pot pie vegan several times before by simply using a neutral flavored plant-based milk like unflavored and unsweetened soy milk or almond milk. And, use oil or plant based butter spread in place of the butter.
To make the biscuits vegan would require more testing on my part, so I don’t have a good suggestion for that part yet. Maybe just leave them off for now.
But, if you have a great vegan biscuit recipe, please let me know! I’d love to try it!
Kitchen equipment you may need
6 quart Crock Pot
4 quart crock pot
Mixing bowls
Wooden spoons for stirring
Cute little casserole dishes for serving
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Slow Cooker Vegetarian Pot Pie Recipe
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Pot Pie
Ingredients
Pot pie filling:
- 1 large onion
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 medium Yukon gold potatoes
- 6 medium carrots
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 3/4 cup frozen peas thawed
Dumpling Biscuit Crust:
- again, I’m not sure that this will work in all crock pots. still testing, but included for those that it has worked for in the past
- 1 & ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 & ¼ teaspoons granulated sugar
- 2 & ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoons salt
- ¾ cup buttermilk
Instructions
Make filling:
- Finely chop the onion. Add chopped onions, oil, salt, and pepper to the bowl of a large slow cooker, cover, and turn of high while you prepare the rest of the veggies.1 large onion, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Chop the potatoes into ½-inch dice. Make sure they are all fairly uniform in size so they cook at about the same rate.3 medium Yukon gold potatoes
- Peel and chop carrots into ¼-inch thick slices.6 medium carrots
- Add chopped potatoes, carrots, and broth to the slow cooker. Cover and turn to low. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.3 cups vegetable broth
- After filling has cooked for 6-8 hours, and veggies are tender.
- In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter in the microwave, about 30 seconds. Stir the ½ cup of flour into the butter, and mix the 1 ½ cups milk, dried thyme, garlic powder, and wine into flour. Stir with a whisk until most of the lumps have dissolved. Don’t worry if you have some left, they will disappear into the pot pie.1 tablespoon unsalted butter, ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour, 1 ½ cups whole milk, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, ¼ cup dry white wine
- Stir the milk-flour mixture into the veggies in the slow cooker, fully mixing it in.
Make biscuit dumpling crust
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the buttermilk to the dry ingredients in the bowl, and mix until a loose sticky batter forms, and all ingredients are combined.1 & ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 2 & ¼ teaspoons granulated sugar, 2 & ¼ teaspoons baking powder, ¾ teaspoons salt, ¾ cup buttermilk
- Drop the biscuit crust batter by large spoonfuls onto the top of the pot pie filling in the slow cooker. Leave the lid off and cook for 1 hour on high.
Finish pot pie:
- Stir the thawed peas into the pot pie filling, (remove one of the biscuits from the top if necessary to get at the filling). Taste the filling for salt and pepper.3/4 cup frozen peas thawed
- Serve the pot pie while hot. Garnish with additional fresh thyme if desired.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
This is such a fun little recipe! It was easy to make and my family loved it!
I made it and really like it. I added dill to the dough and broth, and split peas to the broth. I also put whole garlic cloves in the broth while it cooked-and then removed them upon serving.
Hi! If I want to skip the biscuit topping and just serve this as a soup, should I skip steps 6 and 7 (where you add the butter, flour, milk, thyme, garlic powder and wine) as well? I will only have about 30 minutes between when I get home and want to serve dinner—not sure if that is enough time for those ingredients to cook in the slow cooker. Thank you!!
KW, it sounds like you would benefit from the stove top version: https://lifecurrentsblog.com/moms-vegetarian-pot-pie-soup/ It makes it nice and easy all on the stove.
My biscuits don’t seem like they are cooked through. How do I know if they are ready?
Tracy, if you want to check them, try cutting open a small one. You can always pop it back on top of the soup if it isn’t done.
Can I cook on high for 4 to 6 hours? I already have the veggies in the pot . I cant wait to taste this!
Mandy, Although I tested this several times it was always on low. The hours of 4-6 on high seem to be the correct conversion for low at 6-8 hours. I’m sure by now you have finished dinner. Please let me know if you tried cooking it on high.
I cooked on high for an hour and a half and got already tender vegetables.
This was an amazing recipe! I did end up adding raw chicken and letting that cook for 6 hours with the rest of the ingredients. The only things I would change would be the amount of thyme. It was a little too heavy for my taste. I would also add more of the dumplings. I didn’t double the dumplings the first time because I didn’t think that it would make such a small batch of them for my type of crockpot (I used the biggest one). I made them again, but it took forever for them to cook with the cover off.
Over all, this was amazing! I ended up adding a bag of mixed veggies instead of whats listed.
We dont drink whole milk in our home so buying a container of that would be wasteful for us. Is there another milk I could use instead or a non-dairy one? Would cashew milk be thick enough or could i use non-dairy cream or something like that?
Lauren, I’ve made the stove top version of this with all kinds of milk, depending on what I have in the house. I think a plant based would work in the slow cooker as well. Go for a neutral flavored milk (so skip the coconut milk). I like the non dairy cream idea – I think that would be delicious. If you try the cashew milk and it come out thin, you can add a little cornstarch to it to thicken it. Mix the cornstarch into equal part cold water first to thin it, then add it to the pot pie.
Is it necessary to use the wine or is there a substitute I could use?
Cassie, you can totally use a substitute. I usually sub broth in place of wine when I don’t want to wine. When I was a kid, my mom always used 7up. I don’t think that would work so well anymore for me. LOL
Hey there,
so I’m not marking the biscuit version just the other flour recipe.
when you say stir the milk-flour mix in with the veggies do you mean just on top or fully stir it?
thank you
Natalie, Mix the milk-flour mixture fully into the veggies in the soup. I’ll update the recipe card as well. Thanks!
Excellent recipe Debi.
Just made this today. So delicious. Went limited dairy and use oat milk instead of milk and it turned out great. The wife didn’t even notice. Your dumplings from the recipe worked great too. I would say the recipe is not an issue. Thanks for a great recipe and dinner.
This is one of my “go to” recipes! The prep is easy and simple and clean us is also easy.
I may have tweaked a few things but I LOVE this.
Added shrooms and corn. All other veggie pot pie recipes I’ve made have been really bland but this one is delicious.