Vegan Flan
Flan, silky creamy delicious vegan flan. This custard-like creation is one of the most recognized desserts in all of Latin America and my absolute favorite!!
Making this involved using an ingredient I had never used before. It’s become pretty common in the vegan community for making vegan flan, mousses, cheese, and gummies. The secret ingredient for this flan is a powder called agar agar.
What is Agar agar??
It is a semi-transparent powder derived from red/purple algae. It is the equivalent of vegan gelatin. As you know (or may not know) gelatin is made by prolonged boiling of skin, bones, and cartilage of animals. So since we don’t want to use that this, is where agar agar comes in to play.
How to use Agar agar?
You can buy agar agar right here. Be sure to buy the powdered version not the flakes for this recipe. You can use it just as you would powdered gelatin; you must place it in a liquid and heat it up to dissolve it. However, you can’t use agar agar in the same quantities as you would gelatin. Agar agar’s gelling properties are stronger than gelatin’s.
Making Vegan Flan at Home
For this vegan flan recipe, I decided to go with a mixture of coconut milk and oat milk. Coconut milk provides the fat needed to make this creamy and rich. I added oat milk so it wouldn’t taste too much like coconut.
I used small ceramic ramekins (3.5 oz.), but you can use whatever container you have at hand since these are not going in the oven, like these aluminum ramekins. However, your container must be able to sustain heat since we will be pouring scorching hot caramel into them.
I like my flan thick and creamy ( as many of you expressed on my Instagram DMs), but there is another version of flan that is almost like a French crème caramel, very jiggly and delicate. If you want to make that version of flan, simply reduce the amount of agar-agar to 1 tsp.
Vegan Flan
Ingredients
Caramel:
- ¾ cup Granulated sugar
Flan base:
- 1 can Full fat coconut milk
- 1 cup Oat milk
- 1 tsp. Chickpea flour
- ⅓ cup Sugar
- 1 tsp. Vanilla
- 1 ¼ tsp Agar agar powder (see note)
Instructions
- Get ramekins ready to go.
- Pour sugar into a medium sauce pot and set to medium-low heat. Let the sugar dissolve, gently swirling the pot but not stirring, until mixture turns a deep golden color, 8 to 9 minutes.
- Immediately remove pot from heat and pour caramel into ramekins. Gently lift and tilt ramekins to coat the inside with caramel. Set aside.
- Combine coconut milk and agar agar in a medium sauce pot.
- In the blender combine the oatmilk, sugar, chickpea flour, and vanilla. Process until smooth. Pour this mixture into the pot with the coconut milk.
- Bring mixture to a simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat. Let cool slightly, then pour into ramekins.
- Place ramekins in the fridge for 4 hours to let the flan set.
- To serve, place bottom of ramekin in a container with hot water for 1 -2 minutes, in order to release the flan.
- Use a small knife or offset spatula to carefully loosen the edges of the flan. Turn flan over onto a plate, shake gently to release flan and remove ramekin.
Video
Notes
- If you don’t have access to agar-agar you can use 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp. of cornstarch instead. Dissolve the cornstarch in the oat milk, and then proceed to add it to the blender with the sugar, vanilla, and chickpea flour. Then add to the coconut milk mixture on the stove and simmer for 5 min.
- If you would like this flan to be yellow in color you can add a couple drops of yellow food coloring.
- If you want to make a very jiggly and delicate version of this flan (like crème caramel) simply reduce the amount of agar-agar to 1 tsp.
Hi, is unsweetened or sweetened coconut milk needed?
unsweetened
NOT Mexican. Flan is a dessert eaten in all of Latin America but came from Spain! Obviously Vegan may not have.
I tried your tres leches yet again and now I have left over evaporated milk; could I use some of the in place of the oat milk?
Does chickpea flour have to be used or can you use a different kind of flour?
You can just omit it. It’s to give the flan an eggy flavor
I saw another recipe that i
used cornstarch I havent tried bothe but are you able to tell me the difference ? Thanks
Yes, when you use agar agar the custard is much smoother, more similar to a real custard. When you make it with cornstarch it has the consistency of a very thick pudding.
Could I possibly replace the chickpea flour with nutritional yeast? Since I know it’s for an eggy flavor.
Maybe black salt? I feel like even a little would be too much. I’m not sure.
Hello, instead of ramekins can I use a round bigger mold?
Yes, you should be able to
Hi,
I put all the ingredients in a 9inch pan then placed it in the fridge but the flan didn’t set. Should I put the pan in the oven to bake instead
Did you use cornstarch or agar agar?? Did you use agar powder or flakes?
Hi Dora. I used flakes and it didn’t set. Any tips ?
Hi, I didn’t test it with flakes I used powder so I couldn’t tell you the amount you would need to use, but I do know you need a larger quantity.