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’s also wonderful spread onto cookies. If you’re looking for a frosting for some vegan sugar cookies, this works 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 generously pipe frosting onto 12 cupcakes.
If you piped a bit less generously, or if you spread it instead of piping it, you could frost a lot more cupcakes.
Want the chocolate version of this buttercream? Check out our vegan chocolate buttercream frosting.
How To Make Vegan Buttercream Frosting
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- 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.
- Spread onto cake or pipe onto cupcakes.
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.
Recipe Tips
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 ¼ to ½ 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 extra 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 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.
Storing and Freezing
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.
It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to use it, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and whip it up in the stand mixer again before using.
More Vegan Frosting Recipes
- Vegan Lemon Buttercream Frosting
- Vegan Vanilla Frosting
- Vegan Chocolate Frosting
- Vegan Chocolate Ganache
- Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
- Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups Powdered Sugar (420g)
- 1 cup Vegan Butter (225g)
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon 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 ¼ to ½ cup more powdered sugar.
- Spread onto cakes or pipe onto cupcakes.
- Store leftovers in the fridge.
Notes
- Cakes: This recipe makes enough to frost an 8 or 9-inch two layer cake.
- Cupcakes: This recipe makes enough for 12 cupcakes when piped generously (as pictured).
- Storing: This will keep at room temperature for around 3 days. It will keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. So if you need to make it in advance of a cake, you can do so and store it in the fridge. 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.
- Freezing: It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to use it, let it thaw in the fridge overnight and whip it up in the stand mixer again before using.
I have Earth Balance Original Traditional Spread on hand and wonder whether it might sub sufficiently well in the buttercream frosting recipe to cover a cake? Thanks!
Hi Vicky, yes that should work just fine in this recipe.
My daughter decided to make a cake today but I am out of plant based stick butter. My youngest is gluten and dairy free. We have a new plant based butter I decided to try called Melt but it is in a tub. It’s pretty firm. Will this recipe work with something other than sticks of vegan butter?
Tub style vegan butter is usually fine as long as it’s more on the firm side, not the extremely soft tub style butter.
Wow! This buttercream is so good! And extremely easy to make with simple ingredients. Love it.
Thanks Selena!
Hello, I am wondering if I can omit the salt in this recipe and use salted butter instead?
Sure! Even if you’re using unsalted butter, the salt is optional.
Hi! Every time i’ve tried making vegan buttercream the icing separates on me. I suspect the culprit to be the butter i’m using, but any other vegan butter tastes far too salty. any ideas on what else it could be or what I could do to troubleshoot? thanks so much!!
Hi Amelia, that usually is from the brand of vegan butter. You could try refrigerating and then beating it again.
Hi! I want to make this frosting for the vegan cake I’m making for my sister’s birthday. Would adding dye to this frosting mess it up? I want it to be a brightly colored cake.
You can definitely add food coloring to this! Just add it a few drops at a time to get the color you’re looking for.
Every vegan butter i have come across (u.s.) is extremely salted. Are there any that you know of that are not?
Hi Brittni, no I don’t, you can always leave off the extra salt if you find it doesn’t need it.
Not every one does, but I just came across unsalted sticks at Whole Foods by Earth Balance! Its packaged in a light blue box.
Can I add other flavors to it? Like a strawberry/raspberry flavoring? Would I substitute the vanilla for the new flavor or use both of them?
Hi Brooke, I would probably reduce the vanilla by half and then just add in the flavor extract that you want to add.
Hi if I needed to ice a 10 inch double layer cake what adjustments would I need to make to the amount of Ingredients? Thanks
Hi Kate, I would increase it by half. If you want it to be really thick, you could even double the recipe.
Hi I haven’t made it yet but I wanted to know what I could use for less sugar. Which I know is silly since frosting is all sugar. Is there anyway that I could use flour with cinnamon or something?
Thank you! Annie
Hi Annie, I don’t think there is a way. I have heard of people adding cornstarch to frostings but it’s not something I’ve ever tried.
Hola alison soy de argentina y aca no venden ningun tipo de mantequilla vegana, saldra igual si la manteca la hago yo? graciass
Hi Guada, yes you can use a homemade vegan butter in this. 🙂
Just what I was looking for! I did end up beating the buttercream for about 15-20 mins as I dislike the taste of powdered sugar. Ended up with much more buttercream than needed but I’m sure I’ll use it up. Looked and tasted amazing in my Victoria sponge! Thanks again! Love your recipes
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Emma!
This buttercream is just divine!! I added some orange essence instead of vanilla and it was amazing ????!!
Awesome! Thanks Frida!
Hi there, I’m wondering if this frosting is yellow by nature (due to the vegan butter) or if you used food coloring for the cupcakes in the photos?
It’s an off-white/beige color (not yellow) which is usual for a buttercream, vegan or not. 🙂 Definitely no food color used.
can I use a hand mixer?
Yes, though it will take longer and require some arm power.
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 ellie,
i just made this using 1/2 Stork Original Baking Block (left out of fridge for an hour before making) and 1/2 Flora Buttery Spread (taken straight from the fridge) and it turned out amazing! give it a try next time!
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
Would the vegan frosting hold under fondant?
Thanks
Carolyn
It should do, but a lot can depend on the brand of vegan butter you use. A more sturdy/thick frosting will result from a firmer vegan butter, so just beware of the very soft spreadable vegan butters as that may result in a frosting that is a little too soft.
I loved the consistency and taste! I used the miyokos brand and boy it really hit this recipe out of the park! Thank you 🙂
Thanks Amy!