Vegan Onion Tart with Shortcrust Pastry

If you love cooking our recipes and already have our cookbook Deutsche Küche vegan ("Vegan German Cuisine") at home, you might already know this recipe. But since it's such a classic and gets us through fall every single year, we wanted it on the blog, too: shortcrust pastry meets a thick, creamy onion layer with plenty of caraway and vegan bacon.

How We Make This Onion Tart Vegan

Traditionally, a mixture of egg and sour cream holds the onion filling together while it bakes and gives it that creamy, almost custard-like texture. In our version, silken tofu takes over that job: blended smooth, it creates the same velvety binding, no egg needed. Combined with vegan crème fraîche, the filling also gets a pleasant tang that pairs perfectly with caraway and vegan bacon. For the bacon, you can either use a store-bought plant-based bacon alternative or simply dice up some smoked tofu. Both taste fantastic.

What Other Variations of Onion Tart Are There?

Besides the Palatinate-style version with shortcrust pastry, there are a few other ways to approach an onion tart. The Swabian onion tart, for example, uses a thin yeast dough that's more reminiscent of a flammkuchen base. Our Vegan Sheetpan Onion Tart has a bit more volume — we also used a yeast dough for that one, but a noticeably thicker one, perfect for covering a whole sheet pan. And then there's the Alsatian version, which, with its thin, crispy base, is more reminiscent of a tart, like our Vegan Onion Quiche with Green Asparagus.

How to Get the Shortcrust Pastry Just Right

The secret to a really short, non-chewy dough: keep everything cold. The vegan butter goes in straight from the fridge, the water should be ice-cold, and you only knead until the dough just barely comes together — otherwise too much gluten develops. After kneading, it needs a bit more time in the fridge. That makes it easier to work with and keeps it from shrinking while it bakes.

Our Tip: Serve It with a Glass of Federweißer

If you want to enjoy the onion tart the truly traditional Palatinate way, there's really only one thing missing from the table: a glass of Federweißer. This young, still-fermenting wine tastes pleasantly sweet and fizzy, and its flavor changes throughout the season — the later you drink it, the further along the fermentation is, and the stronger the wine flavor and alcohol content become. By the way: since Federweißer is still actively producing carbon dioxide, the bottle should never be sealed tightly and is best stored cool and upright, or too much pressure can build up. It's worth double-checking the label though, since Federweißer is often vegan, but not always.