This delicious vegan buttercream frosting is silky, smooth and velvety and perfect to spread on cakes or pipe onto cupcakes. Easy 4-ingredient recipe.
This vegan buttercream frosting is so creamy and silky you will fall completely in love with it!
It works wonderfully spread onto cakes or piped onto cupcakes. It would also be wonderful spread onto cookies. If you’re looking for a frosting for some vegan sugar cookies, this would work great!
It’s a simple 4-ingredient recipe that is totally versatile and comes out beautifully every time.
When testing this recipe I tried it out on our vegan vanilla cake and that is the cake that you see featured below. I doubled our vanilla cake recipe to make it a 9-inch beauty and this frosting was the perfect amount to spread onto a 9-inch cake.
As you can see from the photos below, I probably went a little heavy with the frosting in the middle of the cake, it’s a little thicker in the middle than it is on top, whoops!
But it’s definitely enough frosting for a 9-inch cake and if you want to use it for an 8-inch cake it will be great too. You’ll just have it on a little thicker, which is never a problem in my view.
The cupcakes featured in these photos are our vegan vanilla cupcakes and piped on as you see in these photos, this was the perfect amount of frosting to frost 12 cupcakes.
As you can see it’s a lot of frosting that I piped on though, if you piped on less, or if you spread it instead of piping it, you could frost a lot more cupcakes!
How to make vegan buttercream frosting
Add powdered sugar, vegan butter, vanilla extract and a little salt to a stand mixer.
Starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is thick and smooth with a silky spreadable texture.
If your mixer has a fairly small bowl (like mine) then hold a tea towel or paper towel over it (carefully, don’t let it get caught up in the mixer) when it starts so that powdered sugar doesn’t puff up out of the bowl.
Alternatively you can cream the butter first and then add in the powdered sugar bit by bit but that method doesn’t usually fit in with my impatient personality.
Tips for the best vegan buttercream
The most important thing to a good vegan buttercream is the texture. It needs to be really silky and spreadable but also firm enough to pipe. So you’re looking for a really thick, but silky, consistency.
So the vegan butter that you use becomes quite important for this.
The ideal texture for your vegan butter is one that is quite firm.
You can use something like Earth Balance buttery sticks if you have access to it, but a vegan butter that comes in a tub is also going to be great, it just needs to be one that is fairly firm.
You get some tubs of vegan butter that are really soft straight from the fridge, like they are just never firm. That will be less ideal here. If that’s all you have access to, then you might just need to add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup more powdered sugar to get this to the right consistency.
If all you can get is those bricks of margarine (that might be accidentally vegan) that are rock hard, then that will work, but you might need to add a few drops of soy milk or almond milk to it.
The difference in textures with vegan butters is all about water content, if it’s really soft, it likely has a higher water content, if it’s very firm, it has a lower water content. This is why it has an impact on your end result.
So if following the recipe as written results in something that is not thick enough, add more powdered sugar and don’t be shy.
If it results in something much too thick, add in some non-dairy milk a drop at a time.
Vegan Buttercream Q&A
Can I use coconut oil instead of vegan butter? Not in this recipe. It’s really important that the ‘butter’ part of the buttercream be a vegan butter.
What brand of vegan butter do you recommend? I have used a few, I have used and like Nuttelex (Australian brand) and Earth Balance (USA) but since we have a worldwide audience, I don’t generally find it that useful to recommend a particular brand. Use what is available and follow the tips above in getting the right texture irrespective of the brand you use.
How long does this keep? This will keep at room temperature for around 3 days. It will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks though. So if you need to make it in advance of a cake, you can do so. It does firm up in the fridge, so if it gets too firm, then bring it back to room temperature on the countertop before using.
Can I freeze this buttercream? Yes sure! When you’re ready to use it, let it thaw in the fridge overnight.
How many cupcakes will I be able to frost with this recipe? It depends! If you’re piping like I did in these pictures, then it will frost 12 cupcakes. If you’re just doing a spread of frosting on top, then it could be enough for triple that number! And if you’re piping the frosting but doing it much less generously (not going for the ice cream cone look) then maybe you could frost as many as 18-24 cupcakes.
What size cake is this vegan buttercream for? It frosts a 9-inch two layer cake beautifully, as shown in these photos, or an 8-inch two layer cake very generously.
I hope you’ll love this vegan buttercream frosting recipe! It is:
- Silky
- Smooth
- Velvety
- Super easy
- 4-Ingredients
Enjoy on cakes or cupcakes or cookies!
Use this vegan buttercream frosting in the following recipes:
- Vegan Vanilla Cake – follow the directions for a 9-inch cake.
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake – if you want to make this into a tuxedo cake, use this buttercream instead of the chocolate frosting.
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
- Vegan White Cake
- Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes
So let us know what you think of this vegan buttercream frosting in the comments and please leave a rating too, thank you!
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Vegan Buttercream Frosting
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 5 mins
- Yield: 12 cupcakes
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
This delicious vegan buttercream frosting is silky, smooth and velvety and perfect to spread on cakes or pipe onto cupcakes. Easy 4-ingredient recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 and 1/2 cups (420g) Powdered Sugar
- 1 cup (225g) Vegan Butter*
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Add the powdered sugar, vegan butter, salt and vanilla extract to the bowl of a stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until thick and smooth.
- If your consistency is too thick, add a little non-dairy milk a drop at a time, and if it’s too thin, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more powdered sugar.
- Spread onto cakes or pipe onto cupcakes.
- Store leftovers in the fridge.
Notes
*See our blog post for more troubleshooting tips for this recipe.
*This recipe makes enough for 12 cupcakes when piped generously (as pictured) or to frost an 8 or 9-inch two layer cake.
- Category: Dessert, Gluten-Free
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serve (of 12)
- Calories: 242
- Sugar: 34.2g
- Sodium: 113mg
- Fat: 11.2g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5g
- Carbohydrates: 34.9g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 0g
Keywords: vegan buttercream frosting
Hello,
Every time i make this icing, it looks greasy, split, curdled. I have tried adding the icing sugar slowly, softening the butter first, is it temperature?
Hi Ellie, it sounds like the brand of vegan butter may just be a bit of a miss for this purpose. I would try a different vegan butter or non-dairy margarine.
Hi. What vegan butter do you use?
I bought Earth Balance vegan butter but it is too salty and I don’t like it for frosting.
Hi Diana, I’ve used a number of different brands, including Earth Balance which I generally think is great for frostings. You can just leave off the added salt if you find it salty enough already. 🙂
Hi, in the photos, was it nuttelex you used?
We have often used Nuttelex in frostings and it would work well here! 🙂
Hi Alison, can you use food colouring with this frosting (for kids’ birthday cakes) or will it mess with the consistency? Thanks!
Hi Emma, you definitely can! It won’t mess with the consistency because you need so little added food coloring to get the color you want, just a few drops usually, so this will work great for that! 🙂
Using smart balance tub butter. What’s the secret to getting rid of chunks of butter?
Let the mixer run until it’s smooth. 🙂
Im in Australia but don’t know what you mean by Vegan butter. Whats in it instead of dairy? Can it be oil based?
Hi there, yes it’s usually oil based, Nuttelex is an Australian brand that I have used a lot and it works great. 🙂
Hi Alison, there are few type of nuttelex here, I just used the buttery one but when I mixed with gel food colouring (Wilton brand) the colour didnt blend well. It seemed like marble I mixed with hand a lot of times but still can’t and till became runny & now it’s in the fridge 🤪 do you think just use the normal nuttelex one? Thanks in advance
Hi Siska, that’s strange! To be honest I think that might have more to do with the gel coloring than the Nuttelex so I’m not sure a different type of Nuttelex would help. I’ve used all of them and they tend to work great with liquid food coloring, I haven’t tried the gels.
Hi, just curious, does this frosting crust? Thank you!
Yes it does. 🙂
Awesome! Thanks so much for the reply!
Haven’t tried this icing yet, but did make your vanilla cake recipe and it was a hit!!!
Everyone loved it and said it tasted just like a regular cake and wouldn’t have known it was vegan. My son and his girfriend are vegan and I was looking for a great recipe. I tried the box vegan hacks and also neat egg which weren’t that good.
Thanks for your website!
Awesome Sue! So happy you enjoyed the cake! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hello! Does it matters if the vegan butter is salted? I have never seen unsalted vegan butter sticks anywhere :(.
Hi Nelly, salted is fine! 🙂
do you have a lemon vegan buttercream recipe? or can i add lemon juice or zest to this one?
Hi Mike, we do have a delicious vegan buttercream that we used on our vegan lemon cake. 🙂
I used super soft sticks of vegan butter and the frosting came together very well. I left it on the counter while the cakes cooled and set. I think it is broken now because it is streaky and doesn’t stay creamy. Can I fix it?
Hi there, I’m not sure! I haven’t had this happen before, but I would try putting it in the fridge for a bit and then beating it again in the mixer and see if that fixes it. It probably will also do better in the fridge since it’s maybe not doing so well at room temp.
WHEW—chilling the broken frosting for an hour and whipping it again worked! It’s aerated and emulsified and creamy. Thank you!
So happy to hear! 🙂
Hi Alison, if you are using Earth Balance sticks, do you let them come to room temperature first or do you use them straight from the fridge?
Hi Lisa, yes if it’s very hard butter, like the sticks, then letting them soften first will make it easier. 🙂
Awesome, thank you. Love your recipes, each one’s a winner! I really appreciate all of the tips about ingredients, procedures, etc.
Thanks so much Lisa! xo
What modification would you recommend if I wanted to make it less sweet? Just put less powdered sugar? Or would that change the consistency significantly?
It would change the consistency. I think if you don’t really like sweet frostings, then something like a vegan whipped cream topping or a vegan cream cheese frosting is the best bet. 🙂
Hi Alison,
Do you know why my frosting is a bit grainy texture wise? Also I’ve heard other vegan bakers add in vegetable shortening for better texture for piping … I would love your thoughts on that too. Thank you
Hi! The only time I’ve heard of this happening is when someone made their own powdered sugar by grinding down other sugar. I have not encountered this when using store-bought powdered (icing) sugar. Not sure if this is relevant to you. Otherwise, maybe sift it first and make sure it’s really mixed well. It definitely should never be grainy. I have not used shortening, it’s not something available where I’m based, so it’s just not something I have experience with. I love the texture I get from just the vegan butter/powdered sugar combination though and it pipes really well so I also haven’t really seen the need to experiment with it more.
Hi about this time a well known brands of icing sugar was using a bad batch of icing sugar that left a grainy consistency. This may have been your problem. It’s now been rectified.
Oh! That’s super interesting, thanks for sharing Angela!
I wanted to make your strawberry cup cakes with a strawberry buttercream icing. Should I use this recipe for the icing or the icing recipe that’s on the strawberry cupcake post. I was wondering if they are the same or this is an improved version.
Thanks
Hi Tina, they are a little different, so it’s really whichever frosting appeals to you more. The strawberry frosting is of course strawberry flavored, so it just depends if that’s what you’re keen on. All the best! 🙂
Amazing!!!!!!!!! very easy to make.
★★★★★
Where did you get the vegan butter at, what store?
Hi Patricia, I don’t usually recommend particular brands or stores because we have a worldwide audience, so it would be different for everybody.
Hi Alison. I hate you….I am desperate with your recipes !!! What temptations and desires. Everything looks so good, and the ones I tested are diabolically excellent! It’s always a pleasure to receive your recipes even if I do not know where to turn! Thank you for this pleasure of the eyes, this pleasure taste and culinary. Thank you for all these small pleasures.
★★★★★
Hahaha, ‘diabolically excellent’ – I love it! Thanks Hortense, so happy you enjoy the recipes! 🙂