Easy Vegan Whipped Cream with NO coconut! This might be the healthiest and fluffiest whipped topping on the planet. 5 minutes is all you need to make it!
This stuff is magical! I wanted to have a recipe for vegan whipped cream to go with my apple crisp, pumpkin pie and other recipes. I have made coconut whipped cream many times, so naturally I thought that’s the direction I would go.
If you’re not familiar, coconut whipped cream involves getting the perfect can of coconut milk or cream, refrigerating it overnight, scooping out the cream and whipping it.
It doesn’t sound hard, but let me tell you, finding a coconut milk that actually works and doesn’t result in a liquidy mess is so difficult! I tried a few of the highly recommended cans around the web and had no luck.
So, I almost gave up on any sort of vegan whipped cream recipe, when I decided to try aquafaba.
I know what you are probably thinking. Really? Bean water? No fat? HOW CAN THIS BE ANY GOOD!? I thought all those things, was super skeptical and so sure it wouldn’t work, but it did! Magic, I tell you, pure magic.
Unlike homemade coconut whipped cream, this stuff is actually really light and fluffy. It’s so much more consistent than coconut, delivering incredible results over and over again!
It’s perfectly sweet, but you can add more or less sugar according to your tastebuds. It’s also accidentally healthy compared to regular whipped cream or coconut based ones.
How to make Vegan Whipped Cream, step by step:
Drain the liquid from a can of chickpeas into a large bowl. Reserve the chickpeas for another use. Add 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar to the liquid, and begin to beat it with a hand mixer.
Pretty quickly, turn the speed to high and continue to beat until stiff peaks form, about 3-4 minutes. Yours could take a little longer, but generally with cream of tartar added it doesn’t take long!
Now add the powdered sugar (1/2-3/4 cup) and vanilla (1 teaspoon). Turn the mixer on again and beat until fluffy and smooth, about 1 minute.
That’s it! Even though you only start with 1/2 cup of liquid or so, you will end up with about 3 cups of whipped cream.
How to store vegan whipped cream
Aquafaba based whipped topping is best served immediately. In the refrigerator it will quickly lose it’s fluffy whip like quality, but it holds up quite well in the freezer.
Straight from the freezer it reminds me of frozen cool whip. Pretty delicious!
What can I use vegan whipped cream on?
- Vegan Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Vegan Hot Chocolate
- Vegan Apple Cake
- Vegan Apple Crisp
- Vegan French Toast
- Chocolate Mug Cake
- Best Vegan Brownies
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Vegan Whipped Cream (NO coconut!)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup aquafaba (liquid from 1 can of chickpeas)
- 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2-3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Drain the liquid from a can of chickpeas into a large bowl. Reserve the chickpeas for another use. You should have about 1/2 cup of liquid, but it doesn't have to be exact; a little more or a little less is fine.
- Add the cream of tartar; this helps with the whipping process. With a hand mixer, start mixing on medium speed. Once it gets a little foamy, increase the speed to high and beat for about 3-4 minutes, until stiff peaks form.
- Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and continue to beat about 1 more minute, until fluffy and smooth. That's it!
- Serve immediately for best results. Store leftover whipped cream in the freezer, it won't hold up as well in the refrigerator. It reminds me a lot of cool whip straight from the freezer!
Recipe Notes
- If you make chickpeas from scratch, you can save the liquid that they cooked in to make all things aquafaba, including this vegan whipped cream.
- If you don't have cream of tartar or don't want to use it, it is okay to leave it out. It will, however, take you longer to achieve stiff peaks, more like 10 minutes. It will not be as stable either.
- Buy organic powdered sugar to ensure vegan friendliness. I used 3/4 cup but you can use less or more to your own tastebuds.
- Even though you start with only 1/2 cup of liquid, you will get about 3 cups of whipped topping!
- Recipe inspired by and adapted from Dr. Oz.
Michelle
This was amazing! I would though like to know if you have a suggestion on how long it will keep in the freezer. I made it for Christmas and we still have some left in the freezer. It’s mid Jan. Thoughts?
Nora
It should still be okay to eat! I’m so glad you liked it!
Caroline
I ha e seen whipped toppings that are 50% soy milk and 50% oil. I was wondering, have you bet tried adding an oil to this, to replicate the fat content of cream? Or does this behave like egg whites, which don’t hold their peak once oil is added?
Nora
I haven’t tried it, but I don’t think it would work unfortunately. Like you said, when you add something to it, it loses it’s peak and stiffness.
Christina Hull
I just made this! I followed the directions exactly and it turned out exactly as you stated. It took 4 minutes to whip it after adding the cream of tartar and looked like whipped cream after adding the vanilla and powdered sugar. I did end up adding a little more sugar as it wasn’t quite sweet enough for me. It is very interesting! It’s extremely light, it almost reminds me more of meringue then it does whipped cream. To me it is definitely missing the tang of whipped cream obviously because it doesn’t have dairy. So it doesn’t taste like whipped cream to me but it is a sweet fluffy whipped topping for sure. I’m excited to try it with my coffee and on desserts!
Nora
Yes, it’s a lighter whipped topping that dairy whipped cream or even coconut whipped cream. Glad it worked and you enjoyed it!
emily
should this be chickpeas with no salt? or is the salt part of it?
Nora
I used aquafaba from canned chickpeas that did contain salt, but either way is fine.
Lisa
My family loved this recipe and could not tell that it wasn’t real cool whip!
Nora
That’s so great!
Kristin M Hoskyn
Hi Nora,
Can you substitute arrowroot for the cream of tartar?
Nora
I haven’t tried it, it might work though. It does work without cream of tartar, but it will take longer to whip up and not be quite as stable.
Julia
Hi Ana, the canned chickpeas you used – were they in brine, or no added salt?
I tried this recipe, and the aquafaba whipped up perfectly. It looked great, but unfortunately tasted awful as it was still quite salty (though I added none) and didn’t taste at all creamy. I didn’t want to put more sugar in to disguise the flavour as then it would have been too sweet.
Any suggestions re. what type of canned chickpeas to use would be appreciated.
Nicolette
Hi Nora,
First try for me and I would like to share my experience.
I made it easy for my first time and used precooked chickpeas.
I started stirring for 5 minutes and added slowly coconutflower sugar (that looks brown btw).
After 15 minutes it was still very liquid like. After 30 minutes it still wasn’t good. I wondered perhaps the use of sugar wasn’t good but I didn’t want to use bakingpowder.
So…I stirred some more and after 45 minutes Yes!!!!! It looked very good, I could almost hold my bowl upside down.
So, please be patient and don’t give up after 15 or 20 minutes 🙂
Any idea why it takes so long?
Nicolette
Nora
Hi there! Did you simply stir it by hand or use an electric mixer? It sounds like you just stirred it by hand, in which case I imagine it would take a very, very long time! With a hand mixer (or stand mixer) it whips up very quickly, especially with the cream of tartar. I have never tried it with coconut sugar, only powdered sugar which works great. I’m glad eventually it turned out for you, but I would make sure to use an electric mixer, cream of tartar and powdered sugar for best results next time. Thank you!
Evelyn
Hi there! What do you think, could it be used in cakes? For example: loosen up vegan mascarpone or simply by itself, as normal whipped frosting in cakes? How about putting the cake back to the fridge until guests arrive? Will it be ruined after several hours?
Would be soo good to find recipe without coconut… coconut taste doesn’t pair with everything.
Thank you 🙂
Nora
Hi! I haven’t attempted a vegan mascarpone with this yet, so I’m not sure! I don’t know how well it would hold up in a layered cake, but it could probably be used as a frosting for the top of a cake. I do think it may be ruined after several hours though unfortunately, and is best served right away after making.
Lynda
I just tried to make this. I beat my aquafaba until stiff peaks formed, but when I added the sugar and vanilla and beat it for another minute, it turned to a runny liquid consistency. I don’t know what I did wrong!
Nora
Oh no! Did you add cream of tartar? That helps a lot! You may have a brand of chickpeas that just don’t make for good whipped cream I suppose, but I’ve never had that happen.
Lynda
I did use the cream of tartar. I used aquafaba from chickpeas that I had cooked. I tried it twice with the same result so made a quick run to the store and found almond milk reddy whip
Nora
Sorry about that Lynda! It probably was from your homemade chickpeas. Usually it does work but sometimes I find it doesn’t work quite as well as from canned chickpeas, I’m not sure why. Glad you found another option! Reddy whip is good in a pinch!
Kimmie
Do you think you could stir through frozen berries and freeze it as an ice cream alternative? Thank you for the recipe, I have pinned it. 🙂
Nora
Yes! It’s actually really good straight from the freezer, rather ice cream like! Thank you.
Shari
Could I just use stevia? (Either powdered or liquid)
Nora
Sure, that’s fine as long as you like the taste of stevia. Liquid or powdered will work.
Kathy
Wait, I was told powdered sugar wasn’t vegan. I’m confused now.
Nora
So, with sugar (granulated, brown or powdered), if you want to make sure it’s vegan you have to buy organic. That is the safest way to ensure vegan friendliness. I buy organic sugars at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and now even my local average grocery stores tend to carry “Wholesome” brand sugars in the natural aisle. Hope that helps!
Shanna Howard
Wow that is so cool! I don’t know how you came up with this lol but I can’t wait to try it!
Nicola
Does temperature matter?
I know coconut fat (like the dairy milkfat we’re skipping) is better when chilled before it’s whipped. But should aquafaba be chilled, or whipped at room temperature? Sometimes I save the liquid in the ‘fridge, and I don’t know if I should take it out & start whipping immediately or let it warm up a little first (Though I am reasonably sure it need not be heated.)
Nora
Nope, it doesn’t matter if it’s cold or room temperature. Which makes it a lot easier than coconut whip cream. Thanks!
Ana Tampanna
Nora, this looks great, but it’s SUGAR! I don’t want sugar. Our diets are full of it!
Do you have an option for a whipped topping without sugar?
Also, do you have a vegan sour cream substitute?
Thanks
Nora
Hi Ana! I don’t personally have a problem using sugar for sweet recipes, as you could probably guess from my dessert recipes. You could use a lot less or use just a tablespoon or two of maple syrup/agave, but it obviously won’t taste very sweet. If that’s what you like, though, great! I have a great vegan sour cream recipe that you might like: Vegan Sour Cream. Thank you!
Toni
How about using stevia, even half a dozen drops of the liquid? That might work if you don’t detest stevia’s slightly unusual taste. I used to hate it but use it all the time now, and I bet it wd work. Just be sure nog to use too much, it’s very strong! I like Trader Joe’s organic stevia.
Nicola G
Ana—
Even before, when I still used dairy cream, I noticed that sometimes whipped cream was “sweet” enough with just a capful of vanilla extract. (Also, I do still use artificial sweeteners at times, so, for me, 1 or 2 yellow packets could work with the vanilla as well. [This could change now that I’ve just made stevia extract for the first time.])
Andrea
I would just use confectioners Swerve. Measures out the same as sugar.