Perfect Vegan Yorkshire Puddings - Tall, crispy, golden sides, soft and slightly gooey bottoms, and a deep hollow just waiting to be filled with tasty gravy! And there's a gluten-free option. Perfect for enjoying with roast vegan beef and all the trimmings!
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Wanna know something? This Vegan Yorkshire Pudding recipe officially breaks all recipe testing records. I have been working on this recipe, on and off for well over a year in a desperate attempt to make my Vegan Roast dinners great again and I finally cracked it!
Are Yorkshire Puddings Vegan?
Traditional Yorkshire Puddings are not vegan because they contain eggs and milk.
In a vegan Yorkshire pudding the milk part is easily replaceable with any plant-based milk (or water as is the case with my recipe) but just like with vegan quiche, the eggs are much harder to substitute. They have a unique job when it comes to Yorkshire Puddings, and unlike in other kinds of vegan baking, a couple of flax or chia eggs in their place will not act in anything like the same way.
Even the magical aquafaba (liquid from canned chickpeas) struggled a bit with this job. But I finally did it and these Yorkshire Puddings are, I am pleased to say, vegan!
I grew up eating Yorkshire Puddings every Sunday while growing up in England and was a Yorkie master before I turned vegan, so I know what I'm talking about. But, if I am completely honest, this recipe I am sharing with you today is delicious and very similar to a traditional Yorkshire Pudding, but it is not exactly the same. This is something I really struggled with and I nearly didn't share it for that reason. As with most of my recipes though, I share my recipe testing on my Instagram stories. People were quite litreally going crazy there wanting the recipe, but I still didn't feel confident about it.
The whole premise of my blog, A Virtual Vegan, is that I want the recipes I share here to be amazing with no compromises. With this recipe, there is a compromise because it is not the same as the non-vegan equivalent. That's why I wasn't completely sure that I should share it.
So, how did I decide I would?
I Googled "Vegan Yorkshire Pudding" recipes, and I printed out every single one there is on the internet and I made them all. All of them. Every. Single. One. Multiple times. My house was seriously like smoke central for 3 days.
And you know what I found? None of them were any good. They were all cakey, squat, and not well risen, and none of them had a proper hollowed-out bowl-shaped inside for holding gravy and they didn't have crispy outsides. Or not consistently anyway. Even the recipe from Sainsbury's that everyone seems to rave about. You can find it here if you want to check it out. And most importantly of all, none of them tasted that great.
That's when I realized that my Vegan Yorkshire Pudding recipe was actually pretty good. Much better than any of the others and it deserved to be let loose out in the wild. So here it is!
Ingredients
Perfect Vegan Yorkshire Puddings are not difficult to make, but you must follow the recipe exactly. There can be no substitutions at all. Believe me, I have tried every combination of ingredients and methods possible, and to get the best result you cannot change a thing.
Here is what you need:
- You will also need a muffin pan. You cannot use a shallow Yorkshire pudding pan for these. It must be a muffin pan and it must be metal and not any other material or they will not work. Don't use your very best muffin pan because the smoking hot oil tends to not be too kind to them and it's pretty impossible to clean them up perfectly after. I have an old pan that I use just for Yorkshire Puddings.
- A medium-sized mixing bowl
- A jug for pouring the batter into the pan quickly and easily
- And a balloon whisk
I also highly recommend that you weigh the flour when making this recipe. Cup measurements are not accurate enough to get the best results. If you do need to use cups then be sure. to use them correctly and spoon the flour into the cup then level off the top with a knife without compacting it or shaking it down. By doing it like this you will get roughly the correct amount.
If you scoop the flour up into the cup, you will end up with much more than is needed and it will affect the outcome of the recipe. Digital scales are available at most grocery stores or online stores like Amazon and you can pick them up cheaply. They are a great investment and so worth having!
How To Make This Yorkshire Pudding Recipe Gluten-Free
Yes! Finally a decent gluten-free Vegan Yorkshire Pudding! You can safely replace the all-purpose flour in this recipe with more chickpea flour. It works like a dream. In fact, they turn out even lighter. But they do have more of a chickpea flour flavour which isn't unpleasant but worth mentioning. I did try some other gluten-free flours but they didn't work nearly as well.
How To Make Vegan Yorkshire Puddings
Ok, so now you've got what you need, here is how it's done (if you're more of a visual learner watch my recipe video):
STEP 1 - Preheat the oven. Very high consistent heat is key to good results.
STEP 2 - Make the batter. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl, then combine to make a thin batter. Let it rest.
STEP 3 - Oil the muffin pan and preheat it until it is quite litreally smoking. The trick to successful Yorkshire Puddings, vegan or not, is smoking hot oil!
STEP 4 - Work super quickly and pour the rested batter into the smoking oil and get the pan back in the oven as fast as humanly possible. Now is not the time to get distracted. You will see the batter start to fizzle and cook as soon as it hits the oil.
STEP 5 - Watch through the oven door as they grow before your very eyes!
Expert Tip - When making these Vegan Yorkshire Puddings, you need to use a muffin pan or a popover pan. Both have deep wells. A traditional shallow Yorkshire Pudding pan will not work well.
Making Ahead
Vegan Yorkshire Puddings freeze perfectly. Make as directed, cool on a wire rack then lay them out on a parchment paper or silicone mat-lined baking tray. Pop the whole thing in the freezer uncovered. As soon as they are hard remove them and put them in containers or freezer bags. Treat them gently so they don't crack or get squashed.
When you want them put them on a baking tray straight for the freezer at 425°F/218 °C for about 10 to 15 minutes to heat through.
Serving Suggestions
Yorkshire Puddings are traditionally served with roast beef and of course, I had to make a vegan beef recipe so this was possible. You can also serve them up with my Vegan Turkey Roast and you'll be onto a winner!
They are also great with my Vegan Meatloaf and Gravy, Crispy Roasted Potatoes and steamed veggies, or with my Vegan Instant Pot Portobello Pot Roast, but any meal that has copious amounts of gravy involved will do. They work incredibly well with vegan sausages, mashed potatoes, and gravy.
My grandparents always used to cook extra, so that leftover puddings could be eaten for dessert. They were reheated and served up with Lyle's Golden Syrup and clotted cream. Again, not very vegan, but if you were to omit the mustard or Kala Namak in my recipe, you could do something similar. Lyle's Golden Syrup is something that's popular in England and it's a really unique product. I've never seen anything like it here in Canada, except in the English aisles in some supermarkets where it is imported from England. It is vegan and it is a sweet-toothed person's dream.
So for a vegan Yorkshire Pudding dessert, serve up the hot puddings with either Golden Syrup (if you can get it) or maple syrup then top with whipped coconut cream in place of the clotted cream. Totally indulgent, not very good for you, but so amazingly delicious!!
More English Recipes
Recipe
Perfect Vegan Yorkshire Puddings
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
- 75 g (½ heaping cup) all purpose flour ,(plain flour in the UK). SEE RECIPE NOTES FOR GLUTEN-FREE
- 75 g (scant ⅔ cup) chickpea flour
- 2¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric , OPTIONAL - helps to give the puddings a slightly yellow colour.
- scant ½ teaspoon dijon mustard , or ¼ teaspoon of Kala Namak (I think mustard gives the best flavour)
- ¾ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 6 tablespoons (90 mls) aquafaba , (the liquid from a can of chickpeas)
- 360 mls (1½ cups) water
- lots of oil for pan , mild olive, canola, vegetable, or sunflower oil.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218 °C) and have a shelf set about ¾ way up with an old baking tray on it. The tray must be preheated with the oven.
- In a medium bowl, add the all purpose flour, chickpea flour, baking powder, and salt, and whisk them together. As I mention in my post, I highly recommend weighing the ingredients for optimum results.
- In another bowl or jug, combine the mustard, apple cider vinegar, aquafaba, and water and whisk them together.
- Pour the combined liquids into the dry ingredients and whisk together until smooth and bubbly. Pour into a jug to make pouring quick and easy, then leave to rest while you proceed with the next step.
- While the batter is resting, prepare your muffin pans. They must be metal muffin pans and not silicone or ceramic, and they must be muffin pans and not shallow Yorkshire pudding pans. If you use a pan with shallow wells this recipe will not work.
- Add enough oil to give a depth of about 3 to 4mm, then swirl it around in the pan so it goes up the sides. Don't be tempted to use less oil as the recipe won't work as well. Put the oiled muffin pan in the oven on the old baking tray that preheated in the oven until it's literally smoking hot. This should take about 10 minutes.
- You need to work very quickly now. Make sure your jug of batter is right next to you as you open the oven. Very quickly, but very carefully, remove the baking tray & muffin pan from the oven, making sure to close the door immediately to keep the heat in. In a long, thin stream, pour the batter into the hot oil in each well of the pan. You need to fill them nearly to the top. The oil will rise above the batter. Stop pouring once the oil is just about level with the rim. You need to do this really quickly because you need to keep the heat in the pan for the puddings to work well. As soon as the wells are all full, put the pan (on the baking tray) right back into the oven and shut the door quickly. Do not open the oven door, not even for a quick peek until you are at least past 25 minutes of cooking or they will collapse.
- Cook the puddings for at least 30 minutes, or up to 40 minutes for more dried-out, crispy puddings. I like them a little gooey inside and 30 minutes is about right. If you prefer them dryer again, turn the oven right down and let them cook a bit longer. Do not open the oven door, not even for a quick peek until you are at least past 25 minutes of cooking.
- Remove the puddings from the oven and serve immediately.
NOTES
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vmg says
Whoa, just wow! I made these with the gluten free flour alternative suggested and these were perfect? Crunchy on the outside and cakey-gooey at the bottom! Thank you for such an amazing recipe!
Is the 163 cal count for 1 pudding for 6 or 8 puddings?
Helen Matthews says
I followed this to the letter. I had high hopes when they rose in the oven. Sadly they were very oily when cooked and quite heavy.
Chris Millard says
Hi, I've followed this recipe to the letter. My puddings rise, but do not have the well in the centre - plus they are really oily and feel heavy.
When I put the batter into the hot oil, it bubbles immediately and the oil reaches the top of the muffin tray. I just can't think where I'm going wrong.
Any ideas please?
Charlie says
I've been making these for years and they taste are fab but I always find them really hard to turn out of the pan - they always get stuck and the bottom usually ends up staying in the pan. any ideas?
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you're enjoying the recipe! If they are rising and turning out well then it's not that your oil isn't hot enough (which is often the culprit for sticking). Do you have a good pool of oil in the bottom of the wells? If not try using a bit more. If you do that already then my guess is it's probably the pan. I have an old pan that I only use for Yorkshire puddings and I never wash it in soapy water or the dishwasher. It just gets wiped and rinsed really well in very hot water. It's blackened and ugly looking but it works kind of like a seasoned cast iron pan does. Maybe try that!
Doreen Shaw says
Hi Mel, Can you make the batter a few days before you use it? Thanks
Melanie McDonald says
I've never tried because I don't think they'd work as well. You can do it with regular eggy Yorkshire puddings because they don't use baking powder. These do and I think it would lose it's oommph. If you want to get ahead, make them, cool them on a wire rack and freeze them carefully so you don't squash them. Lay them out on a baking tray until hard then transfer to a container. Then you can pop them in the oven on a tray in a hot oven (or air fryer) straight from the freezer to reheat. They only take about 6 or 7 mins. Hope that helps!
Alyssa says
We really wanted Yorkshire pudding for our prime rib today, but we have a severe egg allergy in the family. These turned out great! Thanks so much for putting in all the work to get this recipe just right, and for sharing with us. My only glitch was my oil never got to smoking in my nonstick metal pan, even when I increased to 450 degrees, but I proceeded and it turned out fine (lots of smoke during cooking though!).
E says
Worst puds I’ve made, not sure what I did wrong as I followed the recipe to a t, checked on them at 25 mins because top was very brown but the bottom was soggy, put them back in then when I served the top tasted burnt 😢 I definitely had the right temperature and my oven is always good…
thought I’d put this comment here incase people are looking for a fool proof recipe as this one is certainly not 😔
Alex says
I'm having issues making this. A few questions,
when mixing the wets together I'm using an immersion blender is that too much mixing does the amount of mixing have an affect?
When mixing the wet and dry together is it possible to overmix?
Does the aquafaba need to be cold or warm, I've noticed in other recipes I've done cold aquafaba works better.
I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but I'm finding that the outside is perfect and crispy but the inside is a bit too dense and gooey even after putting them in for extra time. The centre also does not sink. I'll keep experimenting to figure out what I'm doing wrong but hopefully you have some answers. Thanks I've read many good things about this recipe from multiple sources and from what I've tried so far they are delicious.
Melanie McDonald says
Happy to help, Alex.
You don't need to be using an immersion blender or any special equipment. Just a simple whisk is fine.
And yes, over-mixing is possible. In any recipe that uses flour if you mix too much you will activate the gluten in the flour and the only time you want to be doing that is when you're making bread. Over-mixing this batter will make the puddings heavier, they will rise less and they could end up tough because of the activated gluten.
Treat it like you would a pancake batter.
As for the aquafaba it doesn't matter if it's warm or cold. It makes no difference in this recipe at all. In something like meringue having it chilled helps, but in this recipe you aren't whisking the aquafaba on its own to aerate it. It goes in as it is, and as soon as you add it to the large amount of other ingredients the temperature is going to immediately change anyway.
My biggest tip for this recipe is use lots of oil and make sure the pan is literally smoking before you add the batter. If you don't add enough oil and it's not smoking hot the recipe won't work as it's supposed to.
Good luck!
Jacqueline says
I cook my own chickpeas. Will that cooking liquid have the same effect as aquafava from canned chickpeas?
Melanie McDonald says
Not as it is right after. You will need to remove the chickpeas, then reduce the liquid on the stove until it is thick like the aquafaba in a can. Then cool in the fridge after. Then you can use it in this recipe. Hope that helps.
Susanne says
I did these as the gluten free recommendation. They were rubbish and didn’t rise. They were mega greasy and just solid dough in the middle. Didn’t open the oven door and used muffin tins, etc. very disappointed as really miss Yorkshire pudding. Susanne
Laura says
I actually do have a substitution that works! I use about 1.5tsp psyllium husks mixed with 90ml water instead of aquafaba. It’s a great egg replacement! I always forget to save the chickpea water so this works better for me.
Muir says
Perfect. Taste amazing and are crisp and puddingy. Best recipe I’ve found. Given the oil, I had a large bowl lined with kitchen roll at the ready which soaked up excess fat and they were just delicious. Thanks!
Jo Warren says
Can't have apple cider vinegar.
What replacement can I use?
Melanie McDonald says
White wine vinegar would work instead.
Allie says
Have nothing to compare them to, but I love them–what a vehicle for gravy!
Catarina says
They did not work for me, sadly. But I will continue to try
Shane says
Absolutely perfect puddings! A great addition to our Christmas dinner. Thanks Mel!
Dualcyclone says
Wish I'd read the comments first. They started rising quite nicely initially in the first 10 minutes. After 15 minutes, the centres started rising too, not to worry, I thought to myself.
After 20 minutes, completely flat, resembling burned cheese, with a thick, congealed mass in the centre.
Absolute waste of time. Avoid
Claire Newman says
I’ve made two batches now and both have ended up far too soggy inside and too crispy and browned on the outside. Can I turn the oven down once they have begun to rise. The longer cooking time is not helping at such a high heat,
Elizabeth says
Do they not absorb oil as they cook? It says 163kcal each, but the 1 1/4 tablespoons of oil is already 148 kcal. Thank you!
Melanie McDonald says
Oil for greasing pans etc isn't included in nutritional information.
Alice Ringer says
Thank you for testing so many vegan recipes and coming up with one that succeeds! It's been several years since you posted this, but I hope you can answer my question - you said no substitutions, but how important is it to use chickpea flour, can I just use more All Purpose flour instead of chickpea flour if I don't have it?
Melanie McDonald says
Definitely not. The protein and fat in the chickpea flour is what makes this recipe work.