How to Make Coconut Whipped Cream (2024)

Coconut whipped cream is a delicious dairy-free and vegan alternative to heavy cream. It’s light, fluffy, and can be whipped up in 5 minutes. Just mix together coconut milk, your sweetener of choice, and vanilla extract. Watch how easy it is to make on the step-by-step video below!

Are you ready for one of the tastiest whipped toppings? Coconut whipped cream is the perfect garnish for all your dessert recipes, whether it’s chocolate chia pudding, chocolate mug cake or molten chocolate cake. It’s also great to dollop on on my cashew date shake. And you can dip strawberries right into it!

Whether you’re dairy-free or not, you’re going to love this fluffy cream. I’ve been making it for years (side note: it was the first ever video on my YouTube channel!) and I’ve learned there are some nuances to it. So make sure to read through all my tips and watch the video below.

What Is Coconut Whipped Cream?

Coconut whipped cream is a dairy-free version of whipped cream. It’s made from the hard coconut cream that separates from the water in a can of full-fat coconut milk. When it’s blended with a hand mixer, it fluffs up to form soft peaks, just like regular whipped cream. Yet it’s also vegan and paleo friendly (depending on which sweetener you use).

How To Make Coconut Whipped Cream

With just 3 ingredients and a hand mixer, making coconut whipped cream couldn’t be any easier. Here’s how to do it, with a few additional notes.

1. Chill the coconut milk: Place your can of coconut milk in the refrigerator for 1-2 days before making this whipped cream. You want the cream to harden and separate from the coconut water.
2. Chill your mixing bowl: Heat is the arch nemesis of coconut whipped cream. This isn’t always a requirement (if it’s winter and your home is cool). But if it’s a hot day, it always helps to chill your mixing bowl for 30 minutes.
3. Scoop out the coconut cream: Open your can of coconut milk and scoop out the hardened coconut cream with a spoon into your bowl. Pour the coconut water into a separate storage container and use that in a future smoothie recipe.
4. Blend with a hand mixer: Using a hand mixer, fluff up the coconut cream for one minute. Add your sweetener of choice and vanilla extract and mix for an additional minute.
5. Use or chill: Use the coconut whipped cream right away or store in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to one week.

Tips for the Best Coconut Whipped Cream

Here’s a few tips to help you make perfect coconut whipped cream:

• You MUST buy canned full-fat coconut milk. This won’t work with light or low-fat options. It also won’t work with cartons of coconut milk you buy in the refrigerator section of the market.
• Chilling your can in the fridge for 1-2 days is the minimum. Longer is always better, just to make sure the milk separates and cream hardens.
• Some brands are more successful than others when it comes to texture. Brands I consistently have success with include Native Forest (both the classic and simple versions), 365 and Arroy-D.
• Don’t add your sweetener until you’ve figured out the consistency your cream. If your cream is really soft, adding a liquid sweetener might thin it down even more (it won’t thicken with beating). In this case, you might want to use powdered sugar. But if your texture is thick and waxy, honey or maple syrup can help to make it smoother.
• If your coconut cream is too thick and stiff (after adding your sweetener), you can always thin it down with a little of the reserved coconut water. This will help to make it smooth and creamy. Just add a little bit at a time while blending.
• To ensure your coconut cream is foolproof, make it the day ahead! You can refrigerate it in a sealed container, then just stir before serving.

Watch Me Make This Coconut Whipped Cream Recipe

If you follow all of the steps and tips above, you should be good to go with this recipe. But it always helps to watch a quick video tutorial. Give this video a watch!

More Sweet Sauces For Desserts

• Vegan Caramel Sauce (drizzle on top of my vegan cheesecake)
• Cashew Cream (use as a coffee creamer too!)
• Homemade Nutella (that’s dairy-free, vegan, and paleo)

And for a showstopper dessert recipe, check out the coconut whipped cream used in my Brownie Trifle!

Recipe originally posted July 2016, but updated to include new photos and information.