This vegan whipped topping is light and fluffy, and perfectly sweet with a hint of vanilla. It is wonderful on almost any dessert, and makes a lovely treat when served with fresh fruit! It is thickened, or stabilized, with agar powder, so it can be used as a frosting or piped decoratively. You will need to chill 2 cans of regular (not light) coconut milk in the fridge for at least several hours in advance. You will also need to get some agar powder, unless you are fine with a soft-textured topping and do not intend to pipe it. The whipped topping is easy to make and you only need five ingredients:
Those cans are upside down in the photo for a reason! The cream rises to the top when you chill the coconut milk, and opening them from the bottom makes it really easy to pour off the water. So, open both cans of coconut milk from the bottom, and pour off the coconut water:
Scrape out the coconut cream from both cans into a large mixing bowl:
Add the vanilla to the coconut cream, and beat on high speed for one minute:
Scrape down the bowl, then cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge.
Add the agar powder to the vegan sugar, and whisk together well. (If you do not have agar, and you don’t need the whipped topping to be very firm, you can leave it out and the topping will still taste great. Follow the recipe as written otherwise, including simmering the aquafaba.)
Pour the aquafaba into a small saucepan. (Aquafaba is the liquid you drain off a can of chickpeas, and it whips up like egg whites when beaten.)
Add the sugar/agar mixture to the aquafaba while whisking briskly:
Whisk the mixture to dissolve the sugar while heating on medium-high heat:
Whisking constantly, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 3 minutes:
With your mixer on, pour the hot liquid into a large mixing bowl. (You must use a clean bowl and beaters for this step! Do not reuse the ones from the coconut cream unless they were thoroughly washed and dried.)
Continue beating on high speed until you have a glossy meringue that forms stiff peaks. This can take up to 10 minutes, so be patient:
Get the coconut cream mixture out of the fridge, and add 1/3 of the aquafaba meringue to the bowl. Gently fold the meringue into the cream. (If you aren’t sure how to fold, watch this video on folding technique.)
Add the remaining aquafaba meringue and fold it in very gently:
That’s it! You have amazing vegan whipped topping! Scrape down the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and chill for at least two hours if you will be using it for frosting or piping with it. You can use it right away if you are using it as a dip, but it will be even better if you chill it for an hour first.
Once the whipped topping has chilled, add it to a pastry bag if you will be piping it:
Pipe as desired:
Or, just serve simply with fresh fruit. This is my favorite!
How to Make Vegan Whipped Topping
Light and fluffy, this vegan whipped topping is perfect with fresh fruit or any dessert!
Ingredients
- 2 cans Coconut Milk (regular, not light)
- 2.5 g (1/2 tsp) Vanilla Extract
- 180 g (3/4 c) Aquafaba
- 100 g (1/2 c) Vegan Sugar
- 3 g (1 tsp) Agar Powder
Instructions
-
Chill two cans of regular coconut milk in the fridge for several hours to overnight.
-
Open both cans of coconut milk from the bottom, and pour off the coconut water. Scrape out the coconut cream from both cans into a large mixing bowl.
-
Add the vanilla to the coconut cream, and beat on high speed for one minute. Scrape down the bowl, then cover it with plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge.
-
Add the agar powder to the vegan sugar, and whisk together well. (If you do not have agar, and you don’t need the whipped topping to be very firm, you can leave it out and the topping will still taste great. Follow the recipe as written otherwise, including simmering the aquafaba.)
-
Pour the aquafaba into a small saucepan. Add the sugar/agar mixture to the aquafaba while whisking briskly. Whisk the mixture to dissolve the sugar while heating on medium-high heat. Whisking constantly, bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 3 minutes.
-
With your mixer on, pour the hot liquid into a large mixing bowl. (You must use a clean bowl and beaters for this step! Do not reuse the ones from the coconut cream unless they were thoroughly washed and dried.) Continue beating on high speed until you have a glossy meringue that forms stiff peaks. This can take up to 10 minutes, so be patient.
-
Get the coconut cream mixture out of the fridge, and add 1/3 of the aquafaba meringue to the bowl. Gently fold the meringue into the cream. (If you aren’t sure how to fold, watch this video on folding technique.)
-
Add the remaining aquafaba meringue and fold it in very gently. That’s it! You have amazing vegan whipped topping! Scrape down the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and chill for at least two hours if you will be using it for frosting or piping with it. You can use it right away if you are using it as a dip, but it will be even better if you chill it for an hour first.
-
Once the whipped topping has chilled, add it to a pastry bag if you will be piping it. Squeeze the topping down to the bottom of the bag, and pipe as desired. Or, just serve simply with fresh fruit.

Recipe Notes
- Aquafaba is the liquid you drain off of a can of beans. I have only used the aquafaba from chickpeas for this recipe, and one can of chickpeas has just about 180 g of aquafaba. You still need to weigh or measure it, but one can should be enough.
This looks like a great recipe! Do you know if it can stand freezing, or will it get icy?
Great question! The whipped topping can be frozen, and it defrosts very nicely! I have not tried freezing, defrosting, and then piping, so I don’t know how well that works. I have piped the topping out onto parchment and frozen the swirls to use later on hot cocoa, and that worked great! Also, especially if you use the agar, the topping will last in the fridge for several days if kept tightly covered.
I have a question that I always have when I see whipped coconut recipes. Can I just use cans of 100% coconut cream, why is it that every one seems to go through this process with the coconut milk when cans of Coconut Cream are available. I have always wondered this. Thank You.
Hi! Thanks for commenting! I have not used plain coconut cream in this recipe, but I think it would work if it is as thick and if you use the same amount. (I get about 500 g of coconut cream total from two cans of coconut milk.) Please let me know how it works if you try it!
Can I “rewhip” it after it’s been in the fridge for a few hours. I couldn’t get the coconut cream to be super smooth – little lumps- even though I whipped. Added to the aquafaba anyway. Hope it will smooth out latter
You definitely do not want to whip it once you have folded in the aquafaba merengue! It will go flat if you do! The little lumps of fat in the coconut cream are annoying, but your whipped topping will still be great! Some cans of coconut milk just have bits that can’t be smoothed out no matter how long you whip it. If it really affects your presentation, then use this batch to pipe little swirls for cocoa and make another for your dessert. The topping freezes beautifully and I love having swirls ready to add to mugs of steaming hot cocoa! (Pipe swirls on a waxed paper lined baking sheet, then peel them off once frozen and store in a ziplock bag in the freezer.)
Hello!! Just wondering…what If I dint use any sugar?? Will be fluffy and stable?? Thanks
Hi Eli, I’ve never made it without the sugar so I can’t say for sure. I think it would work, but you would have to be sure that the agar is fully dissolved in a small amount of the aquafaba before adding the rest of the liquid.
Hello, this looks very delicious! ^-^
I was wondering if the whipped cream leaves a coconut flavor in the topping?
Thank you very much
Hi Brooklyn! There is some coconut flavor in the whipped topping. (It’s not very strong, but definitely there.)