This Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting is smooth, creamy, and slightly tangy, with a texture that's perfect for spreading on cakes or piping onto cupcakes. Just like my vegan vanilla frosting, it's made with just four simple ingredients in only 10 minutes.
Quick Look: Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
- Method: Simple, 10-minute creaming method using a stand mixer or hand mixer.
- Why Make THIS Version? Stable, pipeable frosting that is smooth and creamy.
- No Need To: Use dairy for this recipe! This cream cheese frosting is completely vegan.
- Secret to Success: Fold the vegan cream cheese into the creamed butter for stability.
- Key Ingredients: Vegan cream cheese, vegan butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract.
- It Will Frost: An 8-inch 2-layer cake, 24 cupcakes, or a 6-inch 3-layer cake.
- Pairs Well With: Vegan Carrot Cake, Vegan Pumpkin Cupcakes, and so much more!
- Freezer-Friendly: Yes. Freeze the finished frosting for up to a month.
As a culinary-school-trained baker who loves making cakes and cupcakes, I make and use different types of frosting all the time! Vegan cream cheese frosting is one of my favorites because it's a little less sweet than other frostings, like my vegan chocolate frosting or lemon frosting, while still being smooth, creamy, and pipeable.
And my recipe has a few details that make a big difference in the frosting's final texture. I use a firm vegan cream cheese that holds its shape, which I fold into the vegan butter by hand rather than whipping them together. This helps keep the frosting from becoming too loose. Add a little time in the refrigerator to firm up before decorating, and this vegan cream cheese frosting holds any shape you pipe with it!
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Why You'll Love This Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
- This recipe only requires 4 ingredients and just 10 minutes of active time!
- This Cream Cheese Frosting is vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free, so anyone can enjoy it!
- It's smooth, creamy, and perfectly pipeable.
- It pairs well with any cake or cupcake, like my Red Velvet Cupcakes.
- And most importantly, it's absolutely delicious!
Ingredient Notes
Dairy-Free Cream Cheese: The only vegan cream cheese I recommend for this recipe is Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese! It is very firm and yields a vegan cream cheese frosting that is sturdy enough to hold its shape when piped. Some other vegan cream cheeses I have tested, like Kite Hill, are too soft for this recipe. If you love cream cheese frosting, you have to make my Vegan Sweet Potato Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting!
Vegan Butter: Use a vegan butter that comes in stick or block form for frosting recipes like this one or my Blueberry Frosting. They are firmer and sturdier than tubbed vegan butter, which is meant for spreading and is too soft for this recipe.
Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar adds sweetness and structure. Powdered sugar tends to have small clumps in it, so it is important to sift them out for a smooth frosting. If you are looking for an even less sweet frosting, make my Vegan Whipped Cream.
How to Make Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Step 1. First, in a bowl using a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the vegan butter until it lightens in color slightly and is completely smooth and fluffy.
Step 2. Next, fold the vegan cream cheese into the vegan butter by hand using a rubber spatula until it's just combined.
Step 3. Next, add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth, then add the vanilla and mix to combine. Only mix until the mixture is smooth, here.
More mixing will make the frosting looser.
Step 4. Then, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the frosting to chill for at least an hour before piping onto cupcakes or frosting a cake.
After an hour, it should look noticeably thicker. Now the frosting is ready to use! It should hold its shape perfectly when piped or spread onto a cake or cupcakes.
Uses
- Frost a Vegan Red Velvet Cake with it.
- Pipe it onto Vegan Funfetti Cupcakes.
- Use this frosting to fill Vegan Chocolate Whoopie Pies.
- And so much more! This stuff is delicious on everything.
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting FAQs
Scoop the frosting into an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
It depends! Cream cheese frosting has a slight tang and is less sweet. And it also needs to be refrigerated. Buttercream frosting is sweeter but can sit out at room temperature for much longer than cream cheese frosting can.
Yes. Cream cheese becomes looser the longer it's whipped. So, for the thickest cream cheese frosting, mix only until everything comes together.
If the frosting breaks, place it in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, allow it to sit at room temperature for an hour, then mix it back up until it is light and fluffy.
Yes! Any cakes or cupcakes frosted with cream cheese frosting should be refrigerated.
Megan's Expert Tips
Make sure the vegan butter and cream cheese are at room temperature before starting this recipe. You will not be able to fold the vegan cream cheese in if it is not at room temperature.
Be sure to fold the dairy-free cream cheese in by hand. Cream cheese becomes looser the more it's mixed. So, for a thick and pipeable Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting, fold the cream cheese in by hand and only mix the frosting until it's smooth and creamy.
Don't skip the chill time if you want to pipe the frosting or stack a cake with it! It will firm the frosting up to the perfect silky but sturdy texture.
Looking for More Vegan Frostings?
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- 1 Large Mixing Bowl
- 1 Sifter
- 1 Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
- 1 Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoon Vegan Butter, room temperature
- 8 Ounces Tofutti Vegan Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 4 Cups Powdered Sugar, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the vegan butter until its completely smooth, scraping the bowl down a couple of times during the creaming process.8 Tbsp Vegan Butter, room temperature
- Add the Tofutti cream cheese, and use a rubber spatula to fold it in by hand. See note.8 Ounces Tofutti Vegan Cream Cheese, room temperature
- Add the powdered sugar and mix on low with the mixer until combined. Then, add the vanilla and mix until combined and creamy.4 Cups Powdered Sugar, sifted, ¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before piping onto cupcakes or frosting a cake!
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