Super simple 3-ingredient vegan coconut panna cotta.
Are you looking for a quick and easy Valentine’s Day treat? Do you want to make something fancy for your sweetheart or yourself but don’t want to spend more than 5 minutes in the kitchen? Are you so into coconut, that you could eat a whole can of it? I have something for you! This slightly sweet, creamy and very coconutty vegan panna cotta is a wonderful light and fresh dessert. Extremely quick and simple to make, but it’s sure to impress your loved one. So go, make coconut panna cottas, or go and make love! Or both. Happy Valentine’s Day!
I wouldn’t even call this a recipe, it is so ridiculously simple. This wobbly little panna cotta is absolutely no work to put together. Coconut milk, sweetener of your choice and a little bit of agar agar. That’s it. Decorate with whatever you like. Fresh or dried berries, pomegranate seeds or some chocolate make this dessert just perfect for Valentine’s Day. This is a very basic recipe which gives you a lot of options to experiment. Add fruit or chocolate pieces to the panna cotta, colour it pink with beet powder or raspberry purée, or even make a layered version for a super pretty result. Play around with spices, vanilla, orange and lemon zest, cardamom or ginger is delicious with coconut. You can even add a bit of alcohol to the mixture (yummy!). Make one large panna cotta and slice it as a cake or make a bunch of tiny coconut pralines. So much fun!
But if you don’t like coconut or you just feel like making something different or something chocolaty for Valentine’s Day, I have something for you too. Check out these quick recipes for example:
- No-Bake Sweet Potato Cake
- Raw Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls
- Berry Basil Popsicles
- The Ultimate Raw Chocolate Cake
- Flourless Chocolate Cake with Coconut
So tell me, what are your plans for February 14?
Are you even celebrating Valentine’s Day?
Do you like it? Do you hate it? Do you think it’s cheesy?
Coconut Panna Cotta
- Total Time: 5 mins
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
- 1 can of full fat coconut milk
- 2–3 tbsp coconut blossom syrup (or maple syrup)
- 1 tsp agar agar powder
- strawberries to decorate
Instructions
- Place agar agar, coconut syrup and coconut milk to a small pot and bring to the boil then turn it down to a simmer. Cook for about 2-3 minutes whisking it constantly.
- Pour the mixture into 2 small silicon forms and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hour. Turn the puddings out into a plate to serve. Decorate with strawberries or fruit of your choice. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 2 mins
- Cook Time: 3 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Vegan
Simply beautiful! You’ll have to be my Valentine to share this wish 😉
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These are so damned cute, and I love how simple the recipe is!
Thanks, Lucie 🙂
Love how easy this is. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Thanks, Lynn!
Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too! 🙂
Love this, Evi. Coconut panna cotta has always had a special place in my <3 Your photos are so beautiful though. Now I want some. With strawberries just like that 🙂
Thanks, Audrey 🙂
Evi, this is such a great idea for a very impressive-looking dessert. I can’t believe it’s that simple to make! 🙂 I also have to check out the very delicious-looking raw chocolate cake and berry basil popsicles! Beautiful pics Evi. <3
Thank you so much, Demeter 🙂
Gorgeous photos, as always! This looks great!
Thanks, Emma!!
Im on the lowfodmap diet and agar is not tolerated. Any idea with what i can substitute agar with?
Hi Susan,
Some use carrageen or pectin as a vegan gelatine substitute, but I haven’t tried such recipes with those yet, so I’m not sure how they’d work.
Let me know if you experiment with any of those, they might turn out good too 🙂
Have a lovely day!
my coconut milk separated during the cooling process, what did i do wrong?
Hi Danie,
So sorry to hear it didn’t work for you.
I have actually no idea why your milk has separated, it has never happened to me. Did you use full fat coconut milk?
I tried to search for your problem, and it seems some people experienced the same when they overcooked the coconut milk….or it could also happen with the agar agar, when you don’t cook it long enough. For me 2-3 minutes of simmering always works, both with the milk and with the agar agar, but maybe you could try to shorten or lengthen the cooking time.
Hope I could help a bit, let me know how if it worked 🙂
This is actually a traditional south East Asian dessert maybe with slightly different ratios but the same ingredients. My mother’s always separated and it was supposed to do that.. the fat in the coconut creme goes to the top I think and the water to the bottom.. and using fresh coconut cream would also guarantee this as it always separates… Maybe it tells us that the coconut cream isn’t too mix s with stuff to keep it together.. if it separates. Fun to see it here with a different twist!
I didn’t know that, thank you so much for this info! I’ll definitely check out the original version 🙂
I made this recipe a few times, and it never separates for me, maybe it has really something to do with the fat content of the coconut milk. Super interesting 😉
Made this yesterday, was very delicious!
I’m so happy you liked it, Kam 🙂
I made this and found there was far too much agar agar included. It set in the fridge in less than 1 hour which raised alarm bells. When tasting it had a very firm almost rubbery feeling and there was a distinct aftertaste which I think was also from the agar. I will try again with different quantities as it is great to have a recipe with so few ingredients
Hi Ali,
Thanks for the feedback!
I have made this recipe several times and noticed that the amount of agar agar I have to use strongly depends on the consistency of the coconut milk. Sometimes I had to add more than what the recipe says and sometimes way less.
I’ll include this note in the recipe, thanks a lot for reminding me 🙂
I can’t find agar agar powder in my neck of the woods. What is a decent substitute? I have tapioca…
Hi Mimi!
Unfortunately I don’t know about any substitute for the agar agar here. You can use tapioca, but it won’t set as a panna cotta, it’s going to be more like a pudding.
Hello. This receipe looks amazing and I’ll try it, but: can you pleased specify what amount of coconut milk you took? In my store canned coconut milk ist available in different sizes? Thank you very much for sharing your talent!
Hi Jane,
Sorry, I always assume people have the same cans as I do all over the world…stupid me! 😀
I use a 400 ml can for this recipe.
Let me know if you try the recipe and how you liked it!
Apologies for my honest feedback but this came out looking like panna cotta, but tasting nothing like PC. The texture is firm and like grainy jelly which is contrary to the way I remember panna cotta (smooth, cool and melt in your mouth).
Hi Sarah,
I’m so sorry to hear they turned out bad. 🙁
What do you mean with grainy? I’ve made these several times, but never had that, it’s always very smooth for me.
The panna cotta was great second time I made it! (Since the first time the agar didn’t dissolve but we didn’t notice and just went with it) Though, after adding the syrup, I do recommend removing the bubbles to make sure the thing is smooth (my mom is Asian and grew up making these, so her advice is 100% legit)
Love the recipe!
I’m so happy you liked the recipe, Jennifer! Hahaha, the agar situation happened with me a few times too, now I always double check it’s actually dissolved 😀
Just tried the recipe. It turned out to be more like a jelly/jello than a panna cotta. Made it exactly according to the recipe. 1 tsp of agar agar has made so stiff. Flavour is good, so l will try again with a 1/2 teaspoon of agar agar and see what happens then.
Hey Edie,
Using a bit less agar agar is a good idea if your panna cottas were too thick. For me this amount worked always great, but agar agar is tricky to use, the results can be very mixed 😀
Thanks. Your not kidding about it being tricky! I have made it five times now…. each time it was still too firm or by the fourth time it didn’t set! So frustrated with the agar agar. I have some vegan friends coming for dinner and l really wanted it to be a nice finisher to the night. Might have to go with it being too firm….oh and l also tried making it in my thermomix as well. So I can say with good conscience I gave it my best shot. Thanks for the advice though. A
Oh no, poor you!
Agar agar is really a mystery sometimes, I also had mixed results with different brands with sooooooo many recipes…
I hope you still had a lovely dinner at the end 🙂