The best vegan lemon curd is creamy, tangy, sweet and tart and perfect as a topping on pretty much anything! It’s also really easy to make.
If you love lemony desserts then this is RIGHT up your street. It’s like lemon meringue in a jar, basically.
It’s super easy to make and you’re going to want to put it with everything.
It makes an amazing dessert topping or just eat it with some plain vegan coconut yogurt.
And if you love lemon then also make sure you check out our vegan lemon bars and vegan lemon cake.
How To Make Vegan Lemon Curd
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Add freshly squeezed lemon juice, white sugar, lemon extract, salt, coconut cream, cornstarch and turmeric to a saucepan.
- Heat, alternately stirring and whisking as it heats so that it smooths out.
- Heat until it thickens. Whisk even more vigorously when it thickens so that you make sure it’s nice and smooth.
- Remove from heat and pour into a heat safe container and let it cool before placing into the fridge to store. It will thicken more as it cools and more in the fridge.
Ingredient Notes
Lemon juice – must be freshly squeezed. This will give you the best tasting results in this recipe.
Lemon extract – adds to the wonderful lemon flavor, but if you struggle to get hold of it, then you can omit it, there will still be plenty of flavor.
Coconut cream – should be canned and unsweetened. Full fat, canned, unsweetened coconut milk will also work just fine. If you have a coconut allergy or just don’t like it, then you can use soy milk or almond milk but the result won’t be quite as rich and creamy.
Cornstarch – is crucial to create the thickening effect.
Turmeric – is just for color. So if you want to leave it out, you can, but of course you won’t get that gorgeous color!
How To Use Lemon Curd
- It’s divine as a topping! You can serve it on scones, as a topping for vegan ice cream, on vegan pancakes or vegan waffles.
- You can also use it as a filling for a vegan lemon cake or some vegan crepes or a topping for a vegan lemon pound cake.
- It’s also really great mixed into plain vegan yogurt.
Storing and Freezing
This vegan lemon curd lasts a week in the fridge.
It can also be frozen for up to 3 months and then thawed overnight in the fridge.
More Delicious Vegan Lemon Desserts
- Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Cookies
- Vegan Lemon Pound Cake
- Vegan Lemon Pie
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vegan Lemon Bars
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Lemon Curd
Ingredients
- ½ cup Lemon Juice (120ml) Freshly Squeezed
- 1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
- ½ teaspoon Lemon Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Canned Coconut Cream (240ml) Unsweetened
- 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- ⅛ teaspoon Turmeric
Instructions
- Add the freshly squeezed lemon juice, white sugar, lemon extract, salt, coconut cream, cornstarch and turmeric to a saucepan on medium heat and whisk together.
- Keep whisking and alternately stirring until it thickens. Whisk even more vigorously when it thickens so that you make sure it’s nice and smooth.
- Remove from the heat and pour into a heat safe container and let it cool before placing into the fridge to store.
- It will thicken more as it cools and even more in the fridge.
Notes
- Lemon extract. If you can’t get hold of lemon extract then you can omit it. You will lose a little of the lemon flavor but it will still be perfectly delicious.
- Coconut cream. This should be canned, unsweetened coconut cream. There is no need to separate the cream by chilling the can first, just stir it up and measure out a cup. Alternatively you can use canned, unsweetened, full fat coconut milk.
- Turmeric. This is just for color and can be omitted if you prefer. You won’t get the bright color but that’s also fine!
- Quantity. This recipe makes just a little shy of two cups (around 450ml).
- Storing: This vegan lemon curd lasts a week in the fridge.
- Freezing: It can also be frozen for up to 3 months and then thawed overnight in the fridge.
I’m in the whisking stage, wishing the recipe said how high the heat should be!
Medium heat! Hope it went well.
I have never had lemon curd due to the presence of eggs in it. This recipe is my first ever lemon curd and it came out so well. It thickened well and has such a refreshing taste. I halved the recipe and added a tad more than 1tbsp of cornstarch. Can I make lemon curd tarts with this?
So happy to hear it came out well! I haven’t made lemon curd tarts yet myself but you can use this lemon curd in any way that you would usually use lemon curd so I’m sure tarts would work great too!
Oh my! I’ve just made this recipe to have with our pancakes tonight (it’s pancake Tuesday!) I’ve never left a comment on any other recipe before but I just had to say, this lemon curd is to die for! I was a bit worried about the coconut milk but you really can’t taste it. It’s so lemony and tangy, just perfect. As it cools down it’s becoming more yellow and lush looking, just like your pictures. Thank you so much for this recipe, I can’t wait to have it with our pancakes later today. Yum!
So happy to hear that Ana! Thanks so much for the awesome review!
It didn’t thicken!! I just made the vegan lemon bars and they came out great. Don’t know what happened with the lemon curd?
Could it have needed a bit longer on the stove? It also does thicken more as it cools.
Hi, thanks so much for posting. I’m new to trying vegan cookery, beyond the fact that lot of things I make are ‘”accidentally” vegan, so these new tricks are great to learn. This is a lot nicer than the usual lemon curd, quicker and easier too. Can it be baked with In the way standard curd can?
Hi Deena, thank you! Yes it can be baked with as well. All the best! 🙂
Hello,
Beautiful photos! Is the coconut flavor from the coconut cream detectable in the finished product?
Thanks,
Sarah
Hi Sarah! Thank you! I don’t find it detectable at all in the final result the most powerful flavor is the lemon. 🙂
Hi, I have a question. When I made this delicious lemon curd it thickened too much in the fridge. It had the perfect texture when I finished whisking everything and waited for it thicken. When I left it in the fridge overnight, it became gelatinous. Is there anything I can do to prevent it from thickening too much? Thank you!
Hi Teresa! It might have been on the heat a touch too long, that’s all I can think of, because ours thickens in the fridge but doesn’t become gelatinous, the photos were taken after it had got cold in the fridge, so I’m thinking maybe it was on the heat just a little too long, so it had a good consistency while hot but too thick when cold. If you make it again, then as soon as it thickens, take it off the heat and see how you go with that.
Okay, sounds great! Thank you so much!
If this happens don’t waste it add to a tub of silken tofu and blend together makes a wonderful desert.
Hi! How did you get this curd to look like it does in the photo (which looks like a traditional pale yellow lemon curd). I followed the directions and made it twice and while it is thick and delicious, it doesn’t have that creamy yellow look. Mine is more like a thick yellow jewel-tone, like a tangy lemon meringue pie filling. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Hi Joy, it’s the coconut cream that creates this lovely color. I would try a different brand of coconut cream if your color isn’t coming out the same.
Hi again, I realized it just hadn’t cooled enough. Once it sat in the refrigerator for awhile, it became just the perfect texture and color. I also used a hand emulsion blender to emulsify the canned coconut milk and cream layer before adding the other ingredients, and that worked great! Thank you so much for this delicious recipe. I made it with the lemon cake with lemon buttercream frosting (also amazing!) and it was a huge hit!
Oh that makes perfect sense, it does get creamier in color once it cools. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I zested the lemon which enhanced the flavor and made it more “fresh and tangy” instead of using lemon extract. Yummm. Thank you for the recipe!
yes I did the same makes it a great colour too.
This was delicious. It kinda squished out the sides of my layer cake, but I still enjoyed it. I’ll be making it again soon!
So glad it was good! Thanks for sharing Ang!
That’s happened to me tons of time -_- you might try putting a barrier of frosting around the outer perimeter of the cake layer before filling it in with the curd, if you didn’t already try that. I mean, like, draw a circle with frosting around the outer edge (with a piping bag) and then fill it in with the curd. I always make sure now that that barrier is a bit higher than my curd too- like a little swimming pool. Hope that makes sense and helps for the future, if you hadn’t already thought of it!
Really easy to make, and delicious! Thank you!
Yay! Thanks Elana. 🙂
This is amazingly delicious! I could eat this all day!
Me too! Haha, thanks for the great review Grace! 🙂
Does the lemon hide the coconut taste? One family member dislikes coconut, so I’m wondering if the coconut flavor is noticeable.
Hi Claire, the lemon flavor is very strong so I don’t think you’d notice the coconut at all, but you can also switch for a different non-dairy milk if you like.
Hi Alison, Can I use this recipe as is for a pie filling or would I need to alter it? Thanks.
Hi Lisa, it depends. This lemon curd doesn’t set firmly, it’s more like a custard. So I don’t know if that works for what you have in mind.
Can you substitute arrow root for the cornstarch? Love the idea of vegan lemon curd!
Hi Joy, I’m not sure, I haven’t tried it with arrowroot. If you try it, let us know how it works out! 🙂