Creamy Vegan Panna Cotta (No agar agar or gelatine!)

This vegan panna cotta is not only creamy but velvety. It is a silky smooth cooked cream that just melts in your mouth. Making this vegan Italian dessert requires little effort, but delivers a stunning result. If you find panna cotta with agar-agar stiff and too firm, you will love this recipe.

If you like creamy custard-like desserts, here are some of our favorites. Check out our vegan tapioca pudding with strawberry sauce or our vegan custard tart or our vegan chocolate pudding using sweet potato puree or our overnight chia pudding or the creamiest vegan rice pudding.

What is panna cotta?

It is another Italian dare I say masterpiece dessert—the definition of simple and stunning. The name panna cotta actually means “cooked cream” in Italian. The main ingredients of this traditional Italian dessert are whole milk, heavy cream, and gelatine. It is quite a heavy dessert, so it is usually served with a refreshing fruit coulis or sauce. I have always loved panna cotta and it hasn’t changed since I make it dairy-free.

Ingredients

First, let’s see what panna cotta should taste like, so you know what to expect from this dessert. I found the perfect description on the MasterClass website. I tell you now that if you make THIS vegan panna cotta recipe, you will experience just that.

“Panna cotta is all about the mouthfeel: The smooth, velvety cream has enough tension to hold up to a spoon but melts in the mouth. The best panna cotta has an understated character, highlighting the inherent sweetness of the dairy and the warmth from a fresh vanilla bean. Panna cotta shouldn’t be cloying, or heavy. The creamy dessert naturally complements tart, fresh toppings as well as stronger, sweeter ones.”

At first, you would think it is hard to make it vegan as you have to change all main ingredients to something else since neither milk, heavy cream, or gelatine are vegan. But here is what you exactly need and why:

• Coconut milk (full-fat, canned) – There is really no other alternative with a “fatty” heavy creamy texture. I refrain from using any store-bought plant-based heavy creams as they have too many ingredients. Full-fat coconut milk is at least 100% coconut.
• Almond or cashew milk (unsweetened) – We recommend these two, as none of the other kinds of dairy-free milk gives me the perfect result. Other types of nut milk have a too strong nut flavor. Oat milk and soy milk are too characteristic. Coconut milk (light) and the full-fat coconut cream together will take panna cotta in a very coconutty direction, which is hard to compensate for even with vanilla flavor.
• Cornstarch – Yes. You don’t need agar-agar flakes. Its binding power is too much for this creamy delicate dessert. You don’t want to end up with a firm and stiff cream instead of panna cotta, do you?
• White sugar – I know. I usually use coconut sugar or maple syrup, which is somewhat on the healthier side, but if you want a white panna cotta you can’t really use a brown sweetener. Using caster sugar or white sugar is more about aesthetics than anything else.
• Vanilla – You absolutely need vanilla extract or paste or the seeds of the vanilla pod. Unless you prefer a true coconut panna cotta. In that case, you can skip it.

How to make vegan panna cotta

1. Measure up all ingredients. Shake your coconut milk can (stored at room temperature).
2. Take a small saucepan and warm up full-fat coconut milk and sugar on medium heat. Stir it until sugar dissolves.
3. Take a small bowl and mix dairy-free milk and cornstarch and add it to the saucepan. If you add it without pre-mixing it might get lumpy. Better be safe than sorry.
4. Simmer it over medium heat until cornstarch is activated and the cream has thickened. Whisk it regularly. It should be similar to a slow-flowing paste. It took me approx. 10 minutes. Check out our video to see the consistency better.
5. Add vanilla extract.
6. Pour the mixture into 8 serving bowls or ramekins (⅓ cup each).
7. Prepare the berry sauce (or your favorite topping), while the panna cotta is set in the fridge. I cool them first on the kitchen counter and only place them in the refrigerator when they are not hot to the touch anymore.
8. How to serve panna cotta? You can serve them in glasses topped with berry sauce. I also like using silicone muffin tins* so I can flip them out to a plate and top them with the berry sauce there.

Top tips to make it perfectly

• How to avoid lumps? – If you are using any thickeners (starches or agar-agar powder or anything similar) we recommend dissolving them separately in any small amount of liquid that is at room temperature. If you add a thickener to hot liquid, you will get lumps. Alternatively, since an eggless panna cotta doesn’t really need cooking you can add all ingredients in one go and heat it up like that.
• Add vanilla extract after it has thickened – If you want to capture the vanilla aroma, we recommend adding it at the last minute. If you add it in the first step and it is heated even for like 5-10 minutes, vanilla extract loses all its aroma. So if you end up with a more coconutty panna cotta, you probably added vanilla extract too early.
• What if it is not thick enough? – Cornstarch needs high heat to be activated. If you don’t heat it high enough or long enough, you may end up with custard texture instead of panna cotta texture. You will definitely not be able to turn it out of silicone molds.
• Cool it down before placing it in the fridge – Cool them first on the kitchen counter and only place them in the refrigerator when they are not hot to the touch anymore. If you place them hot in the fridge, the condensation might appear at the top.

How to make quick berry sauce?

It is really quick even if you made it with fresh or frozen fruit. The sauce is lovely with a mix of berries some of them sweet and some of them sour. You don’t even need to add lemon juice since they will bring out each other’s flavors even without it. You can skip cinnamon, but we recommend it wholeheartedly. It makes this berry sauce quite unique.

1. Take a saucepan and add 2 cups of mixed berries (blackberries, raspberries, red currant, black current).
2. Add ½ cup water and ½ cup coconut sugar. Bring it to boil.
3. When the berries are soft, use an immersion blender to blend them into a sauce. (If the berries were frozen, they will soften even quicker.)
4. Finally, add cinnamon and cornstarch and bring them to a boil to activate the starch. It will thicken to a slow-flowing sauce that is perfect to top your panna cotta. It took me approx. 10 minutes.

Top 3 panna cotta toppings

• Berry Sauce – The number ONE panna cotta flavor is, without doubt, a berry sauce. Whatever berry you have: blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and a combination of these. Follow the directions in this recipe to make a Mixed Berries Sauce, or check out our quick strawberry sauce recipe.
• Salted Caramel – I don’t know about you, but I love salted caramel desserts. You make a quick vegan caramel by melting ½ cup (35g) coconut sugar and one 14-oz (400g) full-fat coconut milk in a saucepan. Make sure you have sea salt flakes (fleur de sel) not regular salt to make this delicious sauce. Add ½ tsp and check for taste.
• Fresh Mango Puree – Peel, slice, and blend ripe(!) mangos into a creamy mousse. No need to add any other ingredient. It will make your vegan panna cotta absolutely refreshing.

FAQs and substitutions

What kind of dairy-free milk can you use?

We recommend unsweetened almond milk or cashew milk. If you use other kinds of nut milk, the nutty flavor may come across as too much. The same is true for oat milk and soy milk, as they are too characteristic. Coconut milk (light) and the full-fat coconut cream together will take panna cotta in a very coconutty direction. If you like a hint of coconut, that is perfect then. If you’re not, try choosing another alternative.

What can you use instead of cornstarch?

You may think of using agar-agar powder as you see it in several vegan panna cotta recipes. We love using it to make sliceable cheese (like our Pistachio Nut Cheese) or jelly (like our Cranberry Jelly), but for a creamy delicate dessert like this, its binding power is too much. You don’t want to end up with something stiff and firm instead of melt-in-the-mouth creamy panna cotta, do you?

Tapioca starch makes it a little gummy too. Panna cotta is often referred to as custard-like so there is really no surprise here that cornstarch works the best. Here is more info on gluten-free flours and starches or research about substitutes here.

Can you use other fruits for the sauce?

Absolutely, whatever berry you have: blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and a combination of these. You can absolutely use frozen fruit as well. No need to thaw them, just add them to the pan. Here is our quick strawberry puree recipe that we love with this panna cotta recipe as well as tips, FAQs, and instructions.

Can you use other sweeteners?

Sure you can, although I only tested this recipe with white sugar. I usually use coconut sugar, cane sugar, or maple syrup, but I really wanted a white panna cotta. Any brown sweetener would alter that color too much. I am not familiar with the measurements for other low-carb sweeteners like stevia or erythritol. If you do, please let us know in the comments.

This Panna Cotta recipe is vegan, so dairy-free, egg-free, and gelatine-free. It is also suitable for vegetarian, soy-free, and gluten-free diets. It is not WFPB-friendly (whole foods, plant-based) as white sugar is not compliant. You can change to date sugar or maple syrup but that will turn your panna cotta more brown than white.

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UPDATED: This recipe was originally published in February 2021. It has been updated with step photos, top tips, and more details in May 2022.