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!
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!
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Are Yorkshire puddings vegan?
Traditional Yorkshire Puddings are not vegan because they contain eggs and milk.
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 literally 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 cake-y, squat and not well risen, and none of them had a proper hollowed out bowl shaped inside for holding gravy and they didn't really 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 really 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!
Ingredient & equipment notes
Perfect Vegan Yorkshire Puddings are not difficult to make at all, 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 cheaper pan like the one above that I use just for Yorkshire Puddings and not much else.
- 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 really do need to use cups, 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 now for around $10 to $15. O they are easy to purchase from online stores like Amazon. They are a great investment and are so worth having!
What you need to make them 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, including oat flour instead, but they didn't work nearly as well.
How to make vegan Yorkshire puddings
Ok, so now you've got what you need, here's is how it's done:
STEP 1 - Preheat the oven (very important!)
STEP 2 - Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
STEP 3 - Mix the wet ingredients together in a jug.
STEP 4 - Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
STEP 5 - Mix together well.
STEP 6 - Pour the batter into the jug and leave to rest.
STEP 7 - Pour oil in each well of a muffin pan, coat the sides, and place in the hot oven until quite literally smoking. The trick to successful Yorkshire Puddings, vegan or not, is smoking hot oil!
STEP 8 - Work super quickly and pour the rested batter into the smoking oil and get the pan back in the oven as fast as humanly possibly. Now is not the time to get distracted.
STEP 9 - Watch through the oven door as they grow before your very eyes!
Please note that 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.
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 potato 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 really 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 persons 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!!
Hungry for more?
For more English style vegan recipes, check out these great options:
- Vegan English Pancakes
- Vegan Scrambled Eggs
- Vegan Digestive Biscuits
- Bubble & Squeak
- Homemade English Muffins
- Baked Strawberry Semolina Pudding
📖 Recipe
Perfect Vegan Yorkshire Puddings
Author:
Ingredients
- 75 g / ½ heaping cup all purpose flour ,(plain flour in the UK). SEE RECIPE NOTES FOR GLUTEN-FREE OPTION
- 75 g / scant ⅔ cup chickpea flour , also sometimes known as garbanzo or gram flour
- 2¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric , OPTIONAL - helps to give the puddings a nice yellow colour.
- scant ½ teaspoon dijon mustard , ¼ teaspoon of Kala Namak can be used instead if you prefer but 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
- oil for pan , mild olive oil, vegetable oil or sunflower oil. Melted refined coconut oil is also ok but do not use virgin or unrefined coconut oil.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218 °C) and have a shelf set about 3/4 way up with an old baking tray on it. It must be preheated with the oven and is there to catch any oil spillovers when you are cooking the puddings.
- 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 a 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 for 10 minutes.
- While the batter is resting, prepare your muffin pans. They must be metal pans and not ceramic and they must be muffin pans and not shallow Yorkshire pudding pans. If you use a pan with shallow wells they will not work. Add enough oil to give a depth of about 3mm, then swirl it around in the pan so it goes up the sides. For my muffin pans that is about 1¼ tablespoons for each well. Don't be tempted to use less as the batter won't get hot enough when you pour it in and that will mean that you won't get nice bowl shaped Yorkshire Puddings. Put the oiled muffin pans in the oven on the old baking tray that preheated in the oven, for 10 minutes. By then they should be absolutely smoking hot. That's what you want. If you don't see smoke rising from them if you open the door to peek, leave them a minute or two longer.
- 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 muffin pan from the oven, making sure to close the door 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 (that's what makes gives you the bowl shape puddings). Stop pouring once the oil is just about level with the rim of the well. 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 right back into the oven and shut the door quickly. You should get 6 to 8 Yorkshire Puddings from the batter. - Cook the puddings for at least 30 minutes, but maybe up to 35 or 40 minutes until really golden and crispy and until the insides have dried out to your liking. I like them a little gooey inside and 30 minutes will get them there. If you prefer them a little dryer, turn the oven down and let them cook a little longer. Do not open the oven door, not even for a quick peek until you are past 25 minutes of cooking.
- Remove the puddings from the oven and serve immediately.
NOTES
IMPORTANT - You must follow this recipe exactly. There can be no substitutions at all, except maybe mustard for kala namak which I suggest above. Everything else must remain the same. Believe me, I have tried every combination of ingredients and methods possible, and to get the best result you cannot change a thing.
ALSO IMPORTANT - As stated in my post, when making these Vegan Yorkshire Puddings, you need to use a metal muffin pan or a popover pan. Both have deep wells. A traditional shallow Yorkshire Pudding pan will not work and any pan that is not metal will not work.
LEFTOVERS - If you have leftover puddings, they can be refrigerated and reheated in a hot oven (425°F/218 °C) for 3 to 4 minutes until hot.
TO FREEZE - They freeze perfectly. Make them, put them on a wire rack to cool 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 and put them in containers or freezer bags. Then pop them on a baking tray straight for the freezer on 425°F/218 °C for about 10 minutes to heat through.
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
Keysha says
Hi
In the video it looks like you used a 1/2cup to a cup of aquafaba and not 6tbs. Should I use the whole can of liquid from chickpeas? Seems like the can is more than 6 tablespoons.
A Virtual Vegan says
You need to follow this recipe exactly which means using 6 tablespoons as stated in the recipe. Everything in the video was measured exactly.If you don't do this the recipe likely won't work. Hope that helps.
james Pando says
Hi looks awesome, try using Black salt .. this will dd an eggy flavour .. just cut back on the other salts .. I am going to experiment and will let you know the result ..namaste .. cheers
A Virtual Vegan says
I didn't add black salt because traditional Yorkshire Puddings don't have an eggy flavour. The mustard is best as it hides the chickpea flour flavour.
James Bryce Smith says
These worked pretty well. Crispy tops and sides but rather too gooey in the bottom. I am wondering if filling them less high with batter will reduce the gooey bottom....
Melanie McDonald says
If you fill them less high you won't get a good hole in the middle. You need the height for that. If you don't like them a little goo-ey, as per my instructions, once they are cooked (and definitely past the 25 min mark), turn the oven down a bit so they don't burn, then cook them until they are dried out to your liking. You just have to wait long enough for the moisture to cook out. Hope that helps!
n says
do you think this recipe would work for toad in the hole?
Melanie McDonald says
I do think it would work for toad in the hole. I was planning on trying it then got a new oven. Because the hot oil will splatter everywhere I've put off trying it!
Lucy says
I've made a toad in the hole with this recipe this evening and it's brilliant! Just takes a lot longer in the oven.
Thankyou so much for sharing!
Melanie McDonald says
Good to know it worked out. Thanks Lucy!
Kate Taylor says
Hi, great taste on these and the closest I have ever gotten to a good yp! Thanks for the recipe.
I am not getting the hole in the center though? Still staying like little cakes.
Do you have a video? Not sure where I am going wrong as I am following it all exactly.
Thanks.
Melanie McDonald says
Glad you are enjoying them!
There is a video in my post. If you aren't getting holes then it's probably one of two reasons, or a combination of both. Try adding more oil to the pan wells. The weight of the hot oil on the batter helps the holes to form. Also you might not be getting the oil hot enough. It needs to be literally smoking. You should visibly see smoke rising from it and smell it. And then you need to work fast to keep it that hot. Only take it out of the oven when you are absolutely ready to pour the batter in and be super quick. I find it easiest to have the batter in a jug so I can pour quickly. You need to keep the oil as hot as possible. When you pour the batter in, the oil should be so hot that the batter starts cooking immediately. You can see the reaction in my video when the batter gets poured in. And don't leave the oven door open while you do it as then the heat will escape from there. It's all about heat and speed. Make sure your oven is hot enough too. Some run cooler than others. If you still don't get holes after trying these tips, try increasing the oven temp a little the next time.
hope that helps!
Katy says
Yay! I tried these ahead of some vegan friends coming for Sunday lunch next week and the recipe worked really well, they were really tasty. I cooked them in an electric fan oven about 220 / 200 for 35 mins. The bottoms were a bit gooey (but still delicious) so I'll follow the comments above next time to turn the heat down a little and let them cook through a little longer. Thanks so much for your efforts to perfect this recipe!
Melanie McDonald says
I'm glad you were pleased with them Katy. I'm sure cooking them a little longer will work brilliantly to dry out those gooey bottoms! I hope they go down well at Sunday lunch.
Ruby Soho says
Thanks a million for all your efforts! That's some borderline obsessive commitment to the cause! Really looking forward to trying these tonight.
Decent vegan Yorkshire's have eluded me for years!
Thanks again. Truly impressed by your perseverance!
Lots of love from Yorkshire xxx
Melanie McDonald says
They aren't exactly the same but they come pretty close. You've made me nervous now as you're from Yorkshire! I really hope you enjoy them.
Justine says
I have tried so, so many vegan YP recipes, and they were all awful. I was very interested to read that you basically locked yourself in your kitchen for a week until you cracked it....way to go!! In honour of your dedication I gave your recipe a go...it’s a game changer! Yorkshire Puds are no longer dead to us...thank you!!
Melanie McDonald says
I am so pleased to hear you enjoyed them Justine and thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. It's much appreciated!
Mandy says
OK I have also given up on vegan yorkshire puddings. I'm going to give yours a try!
Melanie McDonald says
I hope you enjoy them!
Emma says
Hello! I was wondering if you thought this batter recipe could also be used for vegan toad-in-the-hole?
If so do you have any pointers for the process, oil and pan?
Thank you :)
A Virtual Vegan says
I haven't tried it as Toad in the Hole because I have a brand new oven and don't want to get it splattered! But, I am sure it would work fine. Most vegan sausages tend to be precooked anyway, so I would use a metal pan, put plenty of oil in it and up the sides, then let it get smoking, smoking hot. Then I would put the vegan sausages in there and put it back in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes so any heat lost by adding them comes back. Then take it out and pour the batter in quickly. Then back in the oven quick. It probably won't take too much longer than the individual puddings. 30 - 40 mins maybe and if not crispy enough, tent with some foil and cook for a little longer.
If you were thinking of using something like Beyond sausages which aren't already cooked through, I'd cook them in a frying pan to start them off and get some colour for about 10 mins, then transfer them to the tin you are going to cook the TITH in in the oven. Let the oil get smoking hot, then pour in the batter and cook as I said above.
Good luck. I'm jealous. I so want to try this!
Kirsty Baggs says
I'm going t try this this weekend! As a Brit in the US, we have tried to perfect vegan roasts but until now have stayed away from the vegan Yorkshire debacle. After making your pancakes earlier this week, I am daring to give this a go as you know what you're talking about :)
A Virtual Vegan says
Ha ha, thank you for trusting me with your first vegan Yorkshire Pudding experience. They are not exactly the same, but after a whole year of trying absolutely everything, I think they are as close as we are going to get.
Rebekah says
Hi I made these but they seemed to sink in the oil (which had been in the oven and was piping hot) and were soggy and greasy. What did I do wrong?
Thanks
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm not sure what you mean by sink in the oil. When you add the batter it is normal for the oil to cover the batter completely. It's the hot oil that makes them puff up and then created the hole. The oil needs to be more than piping hot. It needs to be literally smoking. And if you don't work fast enough and get that batter poured into the oil super, super quickly, and back in the oven super quickly, the oil cools down and the puddings won't rise properly. Smoking oil and speed is the most important thing when making these. Hope that helps!
Wendy Wright says
Hi made these tonight they rose well I cooked them a bit longer as like them crispy. The outside was really crispy but the inside base was a bit soggy not looking quite cooked. Can you give any suggestions as to what I’ve done wrong. Your recipe has the most promise from any I’ve tried as other recipes have looked like biscuits. I’ll have another go so fingers crossed I’m excited as love Yorkshire’s
A Virtual Vegan says
They can be a little gooey in the inside. They aren't exactly the same as regular Yorkshire puddings as I explain in my post. You can turn the oven down towards the end (after 25 mins) and cook them longer until they have dried out if you would prefer them that way. Hope that helps!
Julie says
Over the moon to find this recipe. I've had a go with some success but would like a pointer or two please....
Firstly, the batter I made (promise I followed the ingredients to the letter, including weighing!) was very runny. I expected it would be a bit thicker from your description. It made way more than the 6-8 also, I got 12 (over 2 test batches) and threw a bit away.
My first go was not a success - I think that was my fault, method-wise. Flavour fine but the rest was not good!
Second go much better, I got the bowl shape, although my puds look very bubbly on top where yours in the picture look smooth, mine are kind of dimpled with tiny craters all over. I wonder if this is something to do with the thin batter consistency?
I left the puds in the oven for longer than the 30 mins, but the bottoms were still very gooey. Tops looked nice and were crispy, flavour is great but the bottom was more stogy than I like. I wonder if you would recommend less batter mixture or longer cooking time? I didn't want to burn the top!
My oven is gas and I had it set high, but not max, about 220. It is fan assisted but not as efficient as a fan assisted electric and I don't think the temperature is consistent across the oven.
Still the best vegan yorkie recipe I've found so I'm very happy and will be sharing it - I'd just like to find out where I went wrong! Any pointers welcome!
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Julie. In answer to your questions:
The batter is pretty thin. It thickens up a little bit while it rests but isn't as thick as a traditional yorkshire pudding batter. I found if it was any thicker it was too heavy to rise up and they just ended up like little fried doughy cakes.
Did you pour the batter in a thin stream into the smoking hot oil? That makes a difference as it cools the oil more slowly and helps cooks the batter as it hits. And speed is so important. You need to work as fast as humanly possible to minimize the oil cooling.
The puds are a little gooey inside. They aren't quite the same as traditional yorkshire puddings in that respect. Once they have been in the oven for the designated time, you can turn it down lower and cook them long enough to dry them out. They won't deflate.
Lastly, these were created and tested in an electric oven. No fan. Can you turn your fan off? Fan ovens tend to cook a bit quicker which wouldn't necessarily be a good thing with these, and the air movement in the oven might have contributed to the dimply tops maybe? That's a wild guess.
I actually have a gas convection (I believe that's the same as fan oven?) oven now, but it's so new that I don't want to cook yorkies in it and get it dirty. Once the novelty has worn off I will test them in it and amend the directions accordingly!
LYdia says
Have you whisked the Aquababa or has it gone in straight as it is out of the tin?
A Virtual Vegan says
As it is straight out of the tin!