Did you know you can make a decadent whipped cream by using a can of coconut milk? Not only is it simple to make, but it’s easily the best-tasting whipped cream I’ve tried.
I know whipped coconut cream isn’t new to many of you – people have been making coconut whipped cream for years and years. I first read about it a couple years ago on Vegan Joy’s website and have seen it popping up everywhere.
In today’s post, I’ll show you just how easy it is to make. I can promise you, your life will change when you taste this stuff!
1. Grab a can of full-fat can coconut milk (without guar gum listed as an ingredient) – Update: Native Forest now puts guar gum in the ingredients and this causes the cream and water to emulsify which is not what we want. The can must also be full-fat because you will be whipping the solid cream. Do not use light coconut milk because it won’t turn out. In summary – look for a full-fat can of coconut milk that does not have guar gum listed on the ingredient list. Cool?
Many of you have had trouble making whipped coconut cream with certain brands because some cans don’t always separate. A reader let me know that Thai Kitchen has changed their formula so that it doesn’t separate anymore. Apparently they are coming out with small cans of pure coconut cream instead. Be on the look out! I used Native Forest with decent result, although I have had some duds before.
2. Place can in the fridge overnight. This is another crucial step. You need to chill the coconut cream until it’s very firm. I once tried to make whipped coconut cream without chilling the can – big mistake! It was a watery mess. I like to keep at least a couple cans in the back of my fridge just in case I need a quick whipped cream for a recipe. Then you always have it on hand and don’t have to wait overnight to use it. A few extra cans of chilled coconut milk never hurt anyone.
Just before you make your whipped cream, place a mixing bowl in the freezer for 5 minutes or so. This helps keep everything cold and will be especially helpful for those of you in very warm climates. You can also put the beaters in the freezer too, but it’s not necessary.
3. Remove the chilled can from fridge and FLIP it upside down.
Why flip it upside down?
The liquid coconut milk (the part that doesn’t harden) will now be at the top of the can! Note: Not all cans work for this – check yours.
4. Open the can. See the liquid at the top? You won’t be whipping this part.
5. Pour the coconut liquid into another bowl. You should have just under 1 cup of liquid, but this yield will vary a bit by brand and even by can.
Don’t throw it away – I like to use it in smoothies along with mango, kale, banana, and chia for a fun tropical smoothie. You can also use it in baking and cooking.
As you can see below, you are left with only the hardened coconut cream! Come to mama!! This is exactly what we want to use to make our coconut whipped cream.
6. Scoop the coconut cream into your chilled bowl. (I don’t recommend using a shallow bowl like this one – I only used it for photo purposes so you could see it better!)
As you can see, you get a lot of hardened cream to work with!
7. Whip the cream. Grab a hand mixer (alternatively, you can do this in a stand mixer – just chill the bowl first) and whip the cream until fluffy. It’s really too much fun.
Coconut Whipped Cream
Yield
1 cup (250 mL)
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Total time
You can easily create a decadent, fluffy whipped cream by using a can of full-fat coconut milk. Not only is the technique simple, but it’s easily the best-tasting whipped cream I’ve tried. You can use this whipped cream just like regular dairy whipped cream. I like to use it in a bowl of fruit, on top of a fruit crisp, or stirred into Banana Soft Serve. The options are really endless! One important tip: you’ll want to chill the can of coconut milk for at least 24 hours before you begin to ensure the white coconut cream solidifies (be sure to read all my tips below on how to buy the right coconut milk for this recipe).
Ingredients
- 1 (14-ounce/398 mL) can full-fat coconut milk, chilled for 24 hours*
- 1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 mL) sweetener (maple syrup, powdered sugar, cane sugar, etc), to taste
- 1 vanilla bean, scraped or 1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) pure vanilla extract (optional)
Directions
- Chill the can of coconut milk in the fridge for at least 24 hours. I like to keep a few cans in the fridge at all times so I don’t have to wait.
- About 1 hour before making the coconut whip, chill a mixing bowl in the freezer.
- After chilling the can, open the can and scoop the solid white coconut cream into the bowl. Discard the coconut water or save it for another use (such as coconut water ice cubes).
- Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the cream until fluffy and smooth. Add in sweetener to taste and vanilla.
- Return whipped cream to fridge until ready to use. It will firm when chilled and soften at room temperature. This will keep in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 1 week or you can freeze it in an airtight freezer-safe bag for up to 1 month. After chilling in the fridge, allow it to sit at room temperature until it softens slightly and then you can re-whip it as needed.
Tip:
- * Some brands of canned coconut milk will be better than others for making whipped cream, and even some cans within the same brand can vary quite a bit. For whatever reason, the cream and water in some brands or cans do not separate. A few of the most consistent brands for making coconut whipped cream are: Thai Kitchen full-fat coconut milk, Trader Joe’s Coconut Cream (just the cream—no water in the can!), and Native Forest. I always keep at least a few cans of full-fat coconut milk in my fridge at all times just in case I get a “dud”—then I know I have more on hand. If you happen to get a dud don’t be discouraged. Try out one of the brands above, and be sure to chill it for at least 24 hours. Odds are you will find your perfect brand after some trial and error!!
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
There may be a strong urge to shove your face in the bowl.
8. Add in a touch of sweetener and vanilla extract and whip it again.
You can use regular cane sugar, confectioner’s sugar, or even a touch of maple syrup. I find 2-3 teaspoons usually does the trick for my taste buds. I also like to add about 1/4-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract or a vanilla bean. The vanilla really takes it over the edge – I don’t suggest skipping it!
The first time I made this I could not get over how amaaaaazing it tastes. Eric even said he wouldn’t be able to tell that it wasn’t made from dairy. Two big thumbs up from us!
How to use:
You can use this whipped cream just like regular dairy whipped cream. I like to use it in desserts & frostings, it’s amazing over a simple bowl of fruit or pancakes, and sometimes I add a dollop on my vegan overnight oats for an extra creamy bowl. You can even spoon a bit on top of a pie or fruit crisp or stir some into a bowl of banana soft serve. The options are really endless! Have fun making different kinds of flavours and fooling your friends and family.
If making a whipped frosting, I suggest storing the decorated cake/cupcakes in the fridge until ready to serve.
Storing:
Have leftovers? You can easily store it in the fridge for at least 1.5 weeks (probably longer) in a sealed container. It will firm up a bit more in the fridge. Simply scoop it into a bowl and re-whip it when you need it.
I hope you enjoy this as much as I do! For those of you who’ve been making it for a while now, what’s your favourite way to prepare/enjoy it?
Going to try this cream. Does the Thai kitchen coconut milk whip up?
I made this tonight and LOVE it! I’ve been living with a severe lactose intolerance my entire life and have never been able to have whipped cream. I’m in heaven! So glad I stumbled onto your site.
I just tried this and it was a life changing event. I will forever have cans of coconut milk in the fridge. Soooo good, thanks for sharing.
Can I use a can of coconut cream instead of coconut milk?
I was making a five layer coconut mango mini cake for Easter this year and the icing recipe called for light corn syrup. I immediately decided to look for a new healthier frosting recipe and came across your blog. Let me tell you this is going to be my new go to recipe for a whipped frosting! I did use the new Native Forest with the guar gum. I left the cans in the fridge for 2 days and the water did separate out. I ended up using 2 cans plus vanilla extract and sugar to yield enough to cover the cake. I put the mixing bowl and the beaters into the fridge for a few hours as well. The light and fluffy frosting is amazing! My mom who hates any type of frosting loves this one. Thanks so much for posting this.
I have hard time finding coconut milk without guar gum. Any suggestions? Did the brand thai work for anyone?
Angela, I’ve looked everywhere for coconut milk without guar gum, I can’t find any anywhere! Any suggestions???
Hope, I was looking around too without any success… Would love to hear if someone actually found a “clean” brand somewhere or something that did work. Thank you Angela!
This looks delicious! I followed all your steps to a T, unfortunately I did not get enough for a 10″ round cake. Your photos show about double what my one can yielded. I used Goya brand, no guar gum but there must be some other ingredient present that prevented it from whipping up fluffy and with lots of volume. :(
Is it possible to over whip it? It became watery
Strange question – but could you not put the can in the fridge upside-down then flip it???????- the top of the can is usually easier to open than the bottom because of the shape???
yes you certainly can!
omgosh, i finally understood how you wrote it and how i misread it–please delete my comment–i don’t see how i can do it.
thank you,
w/hugs,
irni
I’m starting an ice cream pop up and have a request for vegan ice cream :) do you have any idea how much whipped cream a can usually yields?
Thanks!
I would guess 3/4-1 cup of whipped cream :)
Hi. Is your whipped cream grainy? I used the same brand canned coconut milk as pictures above. The taste is GREAT! I don’t mind the texture but was wondering if it is supposed to be velvety smooth or not. I even love the taste before adding a T of Organic Powdered Sugar and 1/8 t of vanilla.
yup it’s usually a bit grainy depending on the can. :) Kinda annoying but like you said, still tastes great!
Love this! Such a perfect dairy alternative!
youtube.com/addalittlefood
Sadly I had to become very ill to really learn food in a way I never have before…. and yes over doing anything is bad…. I have super bad oxalate issue…. I was eating nuts and spinach and green tea thinking I was eating a healthy diet…. as I grew sicker and sicker and I continued to search for answers. I’m healing now since cutting out a lot of greens, nuts and green tea out. These were all huge factors in my health deteriorating. There’s more to it like leaky gut issues…. infections etc. The bottom line is learning your own body keeping a journal as annoying as it is…. can help detect how different foods cause you to react. It can get confusing cause if you have yeast issues or parasites which most of us do…. things like coconut can cause die off symptoms…. being antifungal can make you sick as a result of killing off Candida and other pathogens. So getting a stool test is helpful also. My point is…. I thought I was eating a super healthy diet…. I didn’t touch butter in years. I’ve been gluten free… never smoked drank… I worked out and ate the foods believed to be healthy…. and I’m the sickest person I know. I actually got major relief from a lot of symptoms since cutting out high oxalate food’s. We’re also encouraged to take high doses if vitamin C for the immune system…. and vitamin is high oxalate and so many other things you wouldn’t believe that you think are doing your body good… and well that’s why balance is key from what I learned. Also protein aides in detoxing… keeping your body properly detoxing is also vital to health…. so meats also have their place. Butter and cream btw as well as coconut are all super low to no oxalate. So my discovery on my journey to wellness… learning your body, genetic history and to remember what is good for one person is poison for another. If you are consuming high quantities of certain greens and green tea you are likely to put yourself at risk for kidney stones and other complications. If I could do things over I wouldn’t be afraid if butter…. that us definitely not what landed me to be homebound…. I never ate the stuff…. I also failed to have balance. Trust your gut litterally! Blessings to you all ;-)
Nice recipe! It does work with Xylitol or Dates, too. And it comes great without sugar or the like for soups, especially with a bit chili and fresh lemon peel on the top of a pumpkin soup.
I just moved to a new town with a Trader Joes (!!!) and was walking through and saw a can of coconut cream. I remember seeing a recipe on your site using it (and your recipes are always winners!) so I picked it up and googled OSG+coconut cream and found this! Can is going in the fridge for coconut cream on baked oatmeal tomorrow morning! I’ll likely freeze 1/2 of the can since it’s just for me, but I am looking forward to it. Thanks for all your time and effort on these recipes, Angela!
It looks delicious !
So I cannot find coconut milk without guar gum anywhere. I even went to Amazon. :(
Can can coconut cream be used for this instead of coconut milk?
I am very interested to try this recipe, cause I do a lot of raw ‘unbaking’ (if you know what I mean). However I avoid as much as possible cans or tins or anything processed for that matter of fact. I’ve made coconut milk from scratch many times, using a whole coconut and it’s absolutely delishhhhh!!! When you do that, the fat rises on top and depending on the size of the coconut, you can get a good amount of that fat. Could I use that instead of the coconut fat from cans? I would appreciate your answer. Thanks.
Hi Mina,
That’s a very interesting idea, but I really don’t know as I haven’t tried it before. Let me know if you decide to try it out.
Hi! I am trying to find coconut milk with no guar gum and am having no luck. Any suggestions? Can you make your own using shredded coconut?
Hi – I tried using two cans of Natural Value coconut milk. I put the cans in the refrigerator overnight, and took just the hard stuff on top, but the second I turned on the mixer, it was all liquid. Everything was cold, just a total liquid mess. SOOO sad! I need a kosher can of coconut milk that whips up to stiff whipped cream. Sigh.
Hi There – I am so excited to try this recipe for Thanksgiving. I was going to make it with the Chocolate Pie recipe you posted. I was wondering if for both recipes, if i buy coconut cream, would I have to put in the fridge over night as it would be already hardened and separated? Also, I had a really hard time finding a brand that does not contain guar gum. I have looked at a bunch of groceries stores and all of them seem to have that ingredient.
Anyways, very excited to make this!
Hey Angela, is there any way to make whipped cream out of coconut? I mean, I can’t find canned coconut millk.
Is it possible to over whip coconut whipped cream? If so… what does the tipping point look like?
I tried this at my boyfriends and the brand he had (full fat) did not separate. We thought it had gone bad. So I tried it at home with the Thai Kitchen brand and it worked beautifully!!!
Best whipped cream EVER!!!
Awesome recipe, but to all the people who are commenting like they are better than everyone else and healthier because they are vegan, you are being really obnoxious. I can appreciate the fact that some people choose to be vegan for moral reasons but saying that veganism is the optimal way for all humans to eat is total bullshit. I tried to be a vegan for several months because I was told that it would take my cholesterol down and make me healthy. Guess what, it made me very sick. I was bloated and I just kept getting fatter and my cholesterol was sky high and I was prediabetic on a vegan diet, and yes I was doing it right, eating the right fats, not eating any sugar of any kind, not even maple syrup or honey. So, I changed over to a paleo diet and basically all I eat is meat, veggies, fruit, eggs, fish, and fat, no nuts because I’m severely allergic. Eating this way, my cholesterol has gone down to a normal range and I am healthier than I have ever been. If you want to be a vegan go for it. I respect that people have a choice and I am very grateful for vegan recipes that are useful to me such as coconut whipped cream, but don’t tell us all that we should all be vegan and that meat will kill us because there are so many other factors to take into account when talking about heart disease (certain bacteria introduced into the bloodstream through cavities in teeth cause heart disease) and cancer (toxins and endocrine disruptors). I don’t need to make excuses for not being a vegan but being a vegan was killing me and it did not work for me and it never will. I love animals and I appreciate the cow that my delicious steak I ate for dinner came from. I try only to buy meat and eggs and dairy from sources that treat their animals well. I don’t agree with animal testing and I try to buy cruelty free makeup and body care products. I do what I can but I will never be a vegan.
Can this be made with a combination of coconut fat and water instead of finding the canned milk?
Hi, This looks delicious. I am wondering, though, if coconut butter would work just as well. It seems that the only difference is that coconut milk has water added to the coconut, whereas coconut butter (I use Nutiva Coconut Manna – https://store.nutiva.com/coconut-manna/ – for other things). What do you think?
Linda
I dont think coconut butter would whip because it has a different, denser texture. Hope this helps!
Amazing, I mean who knew? This will be a staple in my home and I will be sharing (not my cream but the recipe!) with all of my clients. Anything that makes you want it over the traditional whipped cream is something serious! :)
I just want to say “Thank you”! My husband and I have only been vegan since the first of November. We are both doing great and we are past the cravings. Our oldest son has been doing this for 5 months and has lost 58 lbs! He is our inspiration. However he hasn’t been concerned about holiday cooking. Your book just arrived yesterday and I’m thrilled to discover your blog! Thank you for saving Thanksgiving for our family. I’m so excited I can still make whipping cream for my darling husband. :) I still have so much for learn.
awesome, thanks!
Can I use it as a substitute for an ‘egg white whipped cream’ in a “Macaroon” recipe? :)
I am so excited to find this recipe. I tried whipping coconut milk a couple years ago and it was wicked hard to get it creamy but it still tasted yummy, even though it was a bit thin. My sis-in-law and my boyfriend’s son both can’t digest dairy so this year I made everything dairy free and this is going to accompany this dairy free chocolate pie that smells heavenly just out of the oven!
http://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/mayan-dark-chocolate-pie
Thanks for sharing your tips, I am going to use a can of TJ’s coconut cream instead of the milk.
I just made this with an immersion blender and it came out perfect!
FYI Goya coconut milk (no guar gum) did not separate when left in the fridge overnight. :(
Hi! I know it’s not the same thing, but would cream of coconut work for this?
Can we used boxed coconut milk?
I’m looking to try this for my daughter. She is 3 and has fructose malabsorption but seems to be able to tolerate coconut. I found Native Forest Organic Premium Coconut Cream which says it’s just the cream but it does list guar gum as an ingredient – do you think this would work? Everything I have seen has guar gum! Thank you so much for this recipe – this way she can match everyone without feeling left out – so appreciate the time you’ve put in to offering this recipe to the rest of us! Thank you!!
Thanks for sharing this easy recipe! I’m making croquembouche and wanted to fill them with coconut whipped cream (might add some chocolate to it!) :)
Just discovered milk alert lead me here. I love the recipe, tips and product advise. Hate the vegan vs meat crap. Does everything have to be a forum to vent personal views? You do you; I’ll do me. This includes diet.
This is also awesome with date paste!!! It gives it just the right amount of sweet vanilla caramel flavor.
Help! Just took my can out of the freezer to finally try this, and everything is frozen solid! Was there a defrosting step that I missed?
Thanks,
Nicole
Hi Nicole,
I’m sorry for the confusion. The can should be put in the fridge and not the freezer. Hope it works out for you next time!
Well, duh! I have no idea where I got freezer from?!? Thanks.
What a great idea. Has anyone tried this with fresh coconut? I live in Florida and am fortunate enough to have more fresh coconuts falling in my lawn than I can keep up with. So I make my own coconut milk etc. using my vitamix. I guess I would just make a thicker coconut milk than usual?
Tried this tonight and ended up with a mess. I followed the instructions but when I opened my can there was a hard disk of, what I’m thinking is, coconut oil. I thought it was suppose to be there so I tried to break it up with my beaters. I ended up with chunks from quarter-size down to sand. It tasted good but I never got anything resembling whipped cream and it was very grainy. Suggestions?
I tried making this twice; both times I ended up with just small chunks! Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this?
Thank you! I’ve done the most amazing whipped cream using coconut cream instead of milk and following all your steps. The cream had guar gum in the ingredients, but because I couldn’t find any without, I gave it a go and it was wonderfull. My daughter’s 4th brithday ‘Frozen’ cake was amazing. Still looking for the guar gum free coconut milk/cream.
I tried this recipe using ka-me coconut milk which has guar gum and refrigerated the can for two days. When I opened it the cream had still separated and worked perfectly for the recipe.
Interesting about the guar gum. I bought 2 different cans today, one organic (coconut milk and guar gum were the only ingredients), and one not (coconut milk, guar gum, cellulose and a couple other ingredients). The organic one separated beautifully and whipped up nice, whereas the non-organic one didn’t separate. Strange, as both had guar gum.
When you say “a vanilla bean,” do you mean one vanilla seed or do you mean all the seeds in one vanilla pod?
Hi Susan,
I mean just the seeds. Hope you enjoy!