This vegan flan recipe is as close as it gets to your favorite Mexican dessert! It is no-bake, super easy to make, only 7 ingredients, and so creamy and delicious.
Vegan Flan Recipe
When going vegan I had no hopes of ever having flan again! Luckily I got into cooking and realized I can veganize almost everything. This vegan flan recipe is Mexican mom approved! It’s also super easy to make and only requires about 30 minutes of your time. Make sure to check out my tips and tricks to make your experience as easy as possible!
Origin of Flan
Flan is popular dessert in Mexico, but it did not originate there. The concept of flan dates back to Ancient Rome! They boiled milk, eggs, sugar and made a delicious dessert out of it. Eventually, the style of dessert spread to Spain, that was where the idea of cooking it in a caramelized sugar mold became popular.
Eventually flan made its way to Mexico. Mexico added it’s own touch, vanilla! Many modern Mexican recipes will include cinnamon and will top it with fruit like mangoes and papayas. They also started making the CHOCOFLAN! This version is half flan and half chocolate cake. I plane to veganize it next.
7 Ingredients for this Vegan Flan Recipe
Coconut cream/milk: Coconut cream is high in fat and solidifies in the refrigerator. You can also use full fat coconut milk. Make sure to stir or blend your coconut milk/cream to get rid of any clumps.
Oat milk: You don’t NEED to use oat milk but it is the creamiest and heaviest in fat. You can also choose soy or almond milk
Vanilla extract: I may seem like a lot of vanilla extract but TRUST me, it needs it.
Agar agar powder: The star of the show! You cannot skip this and will need to use it to achieve regular flan texture. Click here to order it online!
Cornstarch: This helps the agar agar in thickening the flan.
Maple syrup: It adds the perfect amount of sweetener. You may also use agave syrup or monk fruit.
Cane sugar: This is just for the caramel! Highly recommend not skipping this part. Do not use any other sugar, especially brown sugar. I learned the hard way 🙁
Toppings: Optional but I like to add crumbled chocolate granola from Bakery on Main. I blend it to get fine ground crumbles and sprinkle it on top, so delicious!
More Delicious Vegan Desserts:
Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars
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Vegan Flan
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This vegan flan recipe is as close as it gets to your favorite Mexican dessert! It is no-bake, super easy to make, only 7 ingredients, and so creamy and delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 can coconut cream
- 1 2/3 cup oat milk
- 4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon agar agar powder
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3/4 cup cane sugar
Toppings (optional):
- Cinnamon
Instructions
- Turn a pan on medium-low heat and add the cane sugar. Stir consistently for 8-10 minutes until it caramelizes and gets runny. Clumps will form initially! Keep going! However, be cautious to not burn it.
- Pour a heaping spoonful of caramel into each ramekin. Spread the caramel to coat the entire bottom layer of ramekin.
- Next, whisk corn starch into oat milk. Turn a large pan on medium-high heat and add oat milk (with cornstarch), coconut cream, vanilla extract, agar agar, maple syrup and whisk well.
- Bring to a boil and reduce to a medium-high simmer. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes to let the agar agar activate.
- Turn off, let cool for 20 minutes and then pour into each ramekin.
- Refrigerate for 5-6 hours or overnight. Once you’re ready to eat them, pour very hot water into a shallow bowl. Pour only enough to reach half of your ramekin. Place ramekin in hot water for 3-4 minutes to let the caramel melt a bit.
- Next, place plate on top of a ramekin, and flip upside down to let that flan out. Enjoy as is, or crumble some chocolate on top!
Notes
*make sure to place ramekin in hot water for 3-5 minutes (sometimes longer) to let the caramel melt when ready to pop out and serve.
* makes 6 of the 1/2 cup sized ramekins
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Stove
- Cuisine: Mexican
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 cup
It would be nice if you said how many this makes. I need to make a dozen.
OH I am so sorry – i thought I added that. It makes about 6 small ramekins (the 1/2 cup sized ones) so I would double this batch to make 12! Thank you for letting me know. editing ASAP.