The most amazing and easy Vegan Red Velvet Cake! Moist, fluffy layers of red cake with a hint of chocolate. Sweet, tangy vegan cream cheese frosting. Simply incredible!
Why I love this red velvet cake
Red Velvet Cake is not just a chocolate or vanilla cake with a red hue. It has a hint of chocolate flavor that is very mild, and is typically made with buttermilk and a little bit of vinegar as well for the perfect blend of acidity and sweetness. It has a flavor like no other cake, and it is absolutely divine!
This particular recipe has been tested and perfected over the years to be perfectly fluffy, flavorful and unbelievably vegan. And it’s incredibly easy to make!
Want more cakes that no one would guess are made without eggs or dairy? Check out my Vegan Hummingbird Cake, Vegan Chocolate Cake or Vegan Carrot Cake.
How to make vegan red velvet cake
Complete instructions are in the recipe card below.
Whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Now add all the wet ingredients and stir until just combined, being careful not to over mix the batter.
Divide the cakes evenly between two round 8-inch cake pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then carefully transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.
While the cakes are baking, make a double batch of Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting. If you don’t want to mess with vegan cream cheese or can’t find it, you can use this cream cheese-like frosting from my Pumpkin Cake recipe, or just go with Vegan Buttercream instead.
Is red food coloring vegan?
A lot of red food coloring is NOT vegan. This one is, so if you can find that you should be safe. But if you want a more natural red food coloring, try this beet powder. It won’t be as bright as my cakes are, but it should work quite well! You could add more, or less depending on how colorful you want the cakes to be.
How to store red velvet cake
This is one cake you’ll want to store in the refrigerator, as the cream cheese frosting will soften after a while. If you live somewhere cold, you can probably keep it at room temperature for a day or two. Cover if possible to prevent drying out.
The cake can also be frozen.
Variations
- 9×13 inch cake – Pour into a 9×13 inch pan and bake for 40-50 minutes.
- Sheet cake – Pout into an 11-17 inch pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Cupcakes – Go make my Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes, which are nearly identical to this recipe.
- Gluten free? You can try using a quality gluten free flour, like Better Batter. I haven’t made this cake gluten free yet.
Want even more incredible cake recipes?
- Vegan Strawberry Cake
- Vegan Coconut Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- The Best Vegan Cheesecake
Vegan Red Velvet Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3 cups cake flour
- 2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk
- 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2-4 teaspoons vegan red gel food coloring or more if using liquid or beet powder
Frosting
- Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting double if you want a lot for piping
Instructions
- Prepare – Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray two round 8-inch cake pans with nonstick spray. Place a circle of parchment paper on the bottom of each pan, for easy removal of the cakes.
- Make the cake batter – In a large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together. Now add all the wet ingredients and stir until just combined, but do not over mix. Add a little more food dye until the batter is quite red – it will fade in the oven, so you need more than you think for a rich, red cake.
- Bake the cakes – Divide the batter evenly between the two pans and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Cool – Let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then transfer carefully to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Crumbles – If your cakes have domes, use a large serrated knife to slice a thin layer off the top. Crumble and use for decorating the top of the cake, if desired.
- Frost and serve – Prepare the frosting. Once the cake has cooled completely (this is essential, or your cake will slip and break!), spread a layer of frosting on the first cake layer. Place the second layer on top, and frost the top and sides, piping additional frosting on as desired. Sprinkle crumbles on top for decoration. Serve immediately, or keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator until serving.
Notes
- You may use another milk if needed, such as oat, almond or coconut.
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You may use all purpose flour if needed, but cake flour will result in a much lighter, fluffier cake.
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Gluten free – Replace all purpose flour with a quality gluten free flour. It might be rather gummy gluten free, but this will depend on the brand of flour you use. I like Better Batter.
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Storing the cake – This cake should be stored in the refrigerator (for up to 3-4 days). Though before serving, let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes. You can also freeze the cake.
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Red food dyes vary a lot in terms of color and how much you need. With gel, you will need much less to achieve a deep red. If you don’t want to use food dye, you can use about 3 tablespoons beetroot powder, but the cake still won’t be as red.
Nutrition
*I’ve updated the recipe Feb. 2024 after several rounds of testing. The new recipe is much better tasting and easier to make!
Would you be able to adjust bake times for a 9×13 instead of doing a layer cake? For transport purposes… Thanks!Â
Yes, you can make it in a 9×13 inch pan. It would need to bake for probably 45 minutes to an hour, check the middle with a toothpick to make sure there is no wet batter left.
How is the red velvet cake so red is it because of light coloured cocoa . Please share tips for so red coloured cake
Can we make it in cooker without oven with same recipe
It’s a small amount of cocoa powder, and I don’t use the dark cocoa, just natural light cocoa powder. If you use more red food coloring, it will be brighter. But it can vary in color, depending on what kind of red dye or natural color you use. I don’t understand your last question, it has to be cooked in the oven as far as I know!
hi what could I use instead of the vinegar? lemon juice maybe?
You could yes, though white vinegar is usually what’s in red velvet cake. Not a deal breaker though!
does the beet powder give off a weird taste?
No, you shouldn’t taste it at all.
What size pan are you using for this recipe?
Thank you.
2 8 inch pans, 9 inch works as well.
Hi there,
Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe. I tried this cake last night and followed everything exactly, but mine turned out very crumbly (like hard to assemble) and not at all moist like the one in your picture. Any idea what could have caused it?
I’m sorry to hear that! It’s pretty hard to tell you what went wrong without being there with you or having more information. Did you make any substitutions? Did you measure everything correctly? Dry, crumbly cakes are usually from too much flour (or too little wet ingredients), so I’m guessing your measurements were a bit off for some reason.
Can I use almond milk in place of soy?Â
Yes, that should work.
Can I make this in a Bundt pan?Â
It should work, but it will probably take more like 50-60 minutes.
This recipe is hands down one of thee best recipes you have on your page. I’ve made this cake a dozen times and it always a hit… Thanks, I forget to give the much needed stars.
You’re so welcome! I’m glad it’s so consistently good!
This recipe is hands down one of thee best recipes you have on your page. I’ve made this cake a dozen times and it always a hit… Thanks!
I’ve never liked red velvet cake but I made this today for my boyfriend’s birthday because it’s one of his favorite cakes. I was so surprised when I tasted a piece of the dome I cut off, it was sooooo good ! This is by far THE BEST red velvet cake I’ve ever tasted ! And what makes it even better is that it’s vegan. I love it ! And the instructions were super easy to follow, coming from an inexperienced baker lol. Thank you so much for such an amazing recipe Nora ! I’ll definitely be checking out your other recipes. Thanks again !
You’re so welcome!
Hi,
I was wondering if there was a sub for the canola oil as I’m unable to find this without paying a ridiculous price !!
Also wondered if you had a conversion from using cups into grams or oz as I don’t measure with cups but I don’t want to mess it up
Thank you
Sure! Any neutral flavored oil works here, such as melted coconut oil, vegetable oil or even olive oil in a pinch. Hope that helps! There is a conversion if you look right below the ingredient list, click on the “metric” tab.
Hi! I follow you because my 2 year old son has an egg allergy, not because we are vegan. Would this (or any of your recipes) work with using non vegan ingredients like real butter, cream cheese, and buttermilk?? Same amount and everything? Thank you! I have a few of your recipes on my list to make, they all look delicious! Planning to make this for Valentine’s Day.
Hi! They probably would, but it’s hard for me to say for sure because I’ve never tested it since I don’t use dairy products. I would think it would just be a 1:1 sub. Hope you enjoy the recipes!
This is so good I almost have no words. I followed the recipe exactly, including popping it in the fridge after icing the first layer, and had no problem with the icing being runny (used tofutti, also its January so it’s cold here in nyc). I used Valrhona cacao powder which made it extremely dark with just a hint of red (used vegan dye) but it was so delicious no one remotely cared. Thanks Nora! I’ll definitely be making this again.
Thanks for the comment! I’m so glad it came out great for you!
Hi my nephew has a wheat allergy. How would this work with gluten free flour? Would I need to decrease or increase any of the other ingredients to keep the cake moist? Thank you
You should be able to substitute a gluten free flour mix for the regular flour, though I haven’t tested it so I can’t say for sure. You don’t need to change anything else. Hope it works out well!
Hey. I want to try this cake this weekend at my family get together. I was wondering what, in the ingredients, replaces the eggs. Thanks.
The applesauce! Hope you love it!
Hi Nora,
Is there a refined sugar free sub I can use instead of granulated sugar? Will swerve work? Will virgin coconut oil work instead or canola oil?
Thanks.
Cheryl
I haven’t tried it with anything else so I don’t know how it would turn out, sorry. If you usually like how things turn out with Swerve, it would probably work. It’s harder for the frosting though, you need a powdered sugar consistency. Coconut oil will work okay in place of canola, the cake may be more dense but it should be okay. Thanks!
I made this as cupcakes (24) for a Halloween party last night. They were a huge hit!
Hi there, I’ve tried this cake and looks great. Thanks for sharing. Also consistency wise I’m happy. However I do feel it’s not very sweet and it’s lacking something.. I also got this comment from 2 ‘testers’. I assume adding more sugar to the recipe will give me a different outcome. Do you have any advise for me? How to give the cake a bit more taste? I used soy vanilla yoghurt instead of the apple sauce, apple sauce did not give me the preferred flavor so I tried the second time with yoghurt.
Thanks in advance
Red velvet cake is very unique taste wise, with a flavor that you almost can’t put your finger on. It’s not supposed to be incredibly chocolatey. It’s sort of subtle. I feel like there is plenty of sugar in the cake, but you could add another 1/2 cup without affected the cake itself other than making it sweeter.
I made this cake for Christmas and it was delicious. How can I make it a 3 layer cake? What can I add to make it just a little more moist?
I’m glad you enjoyed it! You could make a 3 layer cake using 6 inch cake pans, with the recipe as written. To make a triple layer 8 or 9 inch cake, you’d need to 1.5 times the recipe. For moistness, make sure you don’t over bake the cake, as that will dry it out. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and no longer. Also measure the flour accurately so you don’t accidentally add too much. Hope that helps!
Hi there! I recently made your lemon cake recipe and it was WONDERFUL, so I had to try this one. I just made it and its cooling as i write this (looks and smells amazing btw). In the recipe it says to keep in the fridge until ready to serve. Is that so the frosting stays fresh, or does the cake itself need to be refrigerated? I make and sell cakes under my states cottage food laws, so I’d be frosting it with a buttercream that doesn’t need refrigerated.
Thanks!
I’m so glad you are enjoying the cake recipes, thank you! The reason for keeping it in the fridge is because vegan cream cheese frosting will melt when it’s warm, even sometimes at just room temperature. And with a layer cake, it can make the top layer slip right off (I’ve had this happen). So yes, frost it with a buttercream and then there is no need to refrigerate. Thank you!
Hi there – I just made this recipe and it came our very brown – not bright red like yours, even though I put plenty of red colouring in. I don’t understand how it would come out red with 4 tbsp of cocoa powder??? Thanks for any advice.
I hope you enjoyed the cake! My cake definitely turned out very red. I used a red gel like food coloring, perhaps it added a lot more red than yours. I also used natural cocoa powder, which is not as dark as some cocoa powders, so maybe that made a difference as well. I have made with with less red coloring and it’s turned out with more of a brownish color with slightly red undertones, but either way is fine. I hope it tasted good!
Hi! I was wondering if there was anything that I could substitute for the applesauce?
Hi! You could probably sub non-dairy yogurt instead. Or maybe more oil, though I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure! Lightly whipped aquafaba would probably work as well. Thank you!
How much aquafaba should I put in to replace the applesauce?
I would try 1/2 cup of whipped aquafaba.
Thanks Nora. I hope to try to make this gluten free also., along with the dairy free and egg free that I have to have.
Im planning on making cupcakes with this recipe. Is the bake time and temperature the same?
Thank you! I just added a note about how to make cupcakes from the recipe. Bake at the same temperature (350 F) but for only 20-25 minutes. I fill the cupcake liners about half full.
Do you think applesauce would work for the butter and the oil
I don’t think so, no. You could I suppose sub applesauce but the cake will be completely different, dry and gummy. Unfortunately that’s what usually happens when you replace oil/butter/fat in baked goods. I do have this recipe for Oil Free Vegan Chocolate Cake you might enjoy instead!
Fantastic!! So excited to have a vegan option for red velvet cake!! Once again, you’ve helped me live the best vegan life. :). Thank you!