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.
Maxine Nycz
Can I used an alternative to coconut milk? I’m not huge on coconut flavour.
Dora S.
Yes I would use soy milk or oatmilk
Gina
Only 1 tsp chickpea flour??
Dora S.
Yes, it's only to give it an eggy flavor
Sophia Emanuel
My caramel turned out rock hard. I had to boil my ramekin in a saucepan for nearly 10 minutes to get it out. There’s no way it would’ve softened in a hot water bath. Luckily I knew there would be an issue and didn’t bother making the custard. I followed the caramel directions completely. Any ideas what might’ve gone wrong? Thanks!
Dora S.
Hi Sophia, the caramel is supposed to become rock hard in the ramekin. Once you add the custard to it and refrigerate it really does melt in the water bath.
Marie
Hello,
Are there any substitutions for chickpea flour?
Dora S.
You can omit it. All it does is give the flan an eggy flavor.
Girasol
This recipe is great!! The texture was perfect! Really enjoyed dipping the custard part in the liquefied caramel. Yummy! Used almond instead of oatmilk and followed the recipe exactly and came out just as pictured on the blog. So excited to try more of your recipes!
Abby
Hi, is there a way to sub the sugar for a different type? perhaps stevia or monk fruit. Thank you
Dora S.
I haven't tried it yet, but I believe you can for the custard. For the caramel you will have to use sugar. You could make a caramel with coconut sugar.
Leslie
Amazing texture! It is very mildly flavored, not too rich or too sweet... Next time I think that I will try using only coconut milk, adding more sugar, and topping with coconut shreds to call it coconut flan and get a more sweet and rich flavor. Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe for us to play with!
Dora S.
So glad you liked it!!
Ilsse
Hi!
I just made it and used cornstarch my mixture came out pretty thick, is that ok or should I add more oat milk?
Gracias !
Dora S.
Just seeing this. How did it turn out?
vis
Dora, do you have suggestions on how to make flan cake (flan cake on top and cake on bottom)?
Dora S.
I just published a recipe for it on the site
Carole
I love how you break down what things are for with how and why to use them. I will give this a try. Now that I know about agar agar, I think I wanna try to make my own gummie fruit snacks ????
destiny
Can I use this flan recipe for a vegan chocoflan recipe? Do you think it will yield good results? What should I alter?
Dora S.
I'm still working on perfecting the chocoflan!!
Rankin Peters
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it. Did you make another batch of caramel for your topping? Do you let it cool a little before pouring over the flan? Thanks!
Dora S.
You pour the caramel in the ramekin then set the flan. To unmold the flan you need to add a little but of heat to the bottom of the ramekin and this will melt the caramel. When you invert the ramekin the caramel will pour itself on top of the flan.
Karen
I can't believe it!! Vegan Flan
Dora S.
I know!! It took a while to get it right but I'm happy with the results
Jas
Dora, have any suggestions on how to make a vegan flan cake (flan in top with cake on bottom)?
Dora S.
I have a recipe on my site for chocoflan https://dorastable.com/vegan-chocoflan/
cheg
These look absolutely delicious!
ana
Is it there a substitute for the chickpea flour? Maybe almond or coconut flour?
Dora S.
The chickpea flour give it an eggy taste, you can omit it and it will still taste good