Vegan Eggnog (Creamy & Heartwarming)
This vegan eggnog recipe is just as rich and creamy as traditional eggnog. It’s fun and festive, and only takes a few minutes to make.
One of my favorite parts about the holidays is making cozy drinks. Hot chocolate, pumpkin spice lattes, peppermint tea … it’s all festive and cozy! And no drink is more traditional when Christmas rolls around than eggnog. I love eggnog, but the traditional recipe is full of cream and, as the name suggests, eggs! So I came up with this vegan eggnog recipe in hopes of filling my holiday mug with a dairy-free, egg-free drink that tastes just as good as the original.
Success! This recipe is every bit as rich, creamy, and flavorful as the standard eggnog that you buy in the store. A combination of almond milk and raw cashews take the place of cream and eggs, resulting in a wintry drink that’s comforting, flavorful, and a lot healthier than traditional eggnog. If you’ve been looking for a way to enjoy eggnog without consuming dairy and eggs, then this is the recipe for you.
Notes on Ingredients
Here are all the ingredients you need for vegan eggnog. Be sure to scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the page to see the exact amounts of each of the ingredients.
- Non-dairy milk – You can use your favourite but I recommend soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk or almond milk. Make sure that you use unsweetened non-dairy milk.
- Cashews – You want to use raw, unsalted cashews for this recipe. Soak them overnight, then rinse them before making the eggnog.
- Cinnamon
- Pumpkin spice
- Sea salt
- Brown sugar – or coconut sugar, cane sugar or any other granulated sugar.
- Vanilla extract – This is an optional ingredient but I highly recommend it, as it makes the drink taste very wintry. Just make sure that you buy pure vanilla extract.
What’s in Pumpkin Spice?
Pumpkin spice is a common spice blend that you can find in any grocery store or spice shop. Every spice company has their own recipe, but it usually contains five ingredients: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and ginger. If you don’t have pumpkin spice blend, you can make your own blend by using equal amounts of all five ingredients.
How to Make Vegan Eggnog
Here’s how to make this super easy, creamy vegan eggnog recipe.
- Add the ingredients to a blender. Put all of the ingredients into a blender.
- Blend. Turn the blender on and let the mixture blend for 3 minutes, until fully blended.
- Serve. Pour the vegan eggnog and you’re ready to go! You can drink it cold, or warm it up on the stove over a low heat.
Tips for Success
Here are a few tricks and tips for making the best possible vegan eggnog.
- Adjust the flavor. Some people like their eggnog to be super spicy, while others prefer just a mellow, background flavor. Adjust the amount of pumpkin spice based on how you like your eggnog. Or, if you like certain flavors in pumpkin spice more than others, add those in addition to the pumpkin spice blend.
- Add fun rims and garnishes. You can really play with this vegan eggnog when serving it. One fun way to take the drink to a new level is to add a flavored rim … I like cinnamon and sugar! Garnishes are also fun, such as ground cinnamon, whole cinnamon sticks, ground nutmeg, or whole star anise.
- Make sure it’s smooth. Blending the vegan eggnog for 3 minutes should ensure that it’s a smooth mixture, but depending on your blender it might still have small bits of cashew. To make sure that the drink is perfectly smooth, pour it through a sieve (or, for the smoothest possible drink, through a cheesecloth-lined sieve).
Serving Suggestions
I’ll be honest, my favorite way to serve vegan eggnog is with booze! It tastes so good if you add brandy, whiskey, or rum to this recipe. To keep it classic, I like to serve my vegan eggnog alongside some Christmas sweets. Here are a few of my favorite things to serve with it.
- Christmas chocolate bark
- Vegan pumpkin cookies
- Peppermint chocolate brownies
- Vegan pumpkin cheesecake swirl brownies
- Vegan gingerbread men
How to Store Vegan Eggnog
You can keep this vegan eggnog in an airtight container in your fridge for up to 5 days. Shake before serving, and then serve cold or heated up on the stove over low heat.
Can I Freeze This?
You can absolutely freeze vegan eggnog. However, it might separate a little bit when it thaws, so you might have to throw it back in the blender. Store the drink in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months.
More Winter Drinks to Make
Here are a few of my other favorite drinks to make during the winter.
- Vegan hot chocolate
- Winter cranberry gin fizz cocktail
- Spiced mulled wine
- Red wine apple cider fall sangria
- Warm spiced apple cider
Vegan Eggnog (Creamy & Heartwarming)
Ingredients
- 3 cups non-dairy milk, such as soy milk, oat milk, cashew milk, or almond milk
- 1/2 cup soaked cashews, soaked overnight, rinsed and drained
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 to 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice*
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 2/3 cup brown sugar, or cane sugar, coconut sugar, or any other granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
Instructions
- Blend all the ingredients in your blender for 3 minutes, until completely blended.
- Pour into glasses and enjoy! You can also enjoy this warm by heating is up slowly in a pot on the stove.
Notes
- If you want your eggnog to be perfectly smooth, be sure to blend it long enough so that all of your spices blend in! Otherwise, you could definitely strain it if you want!
- You can definitely add liquor to this if you want!
- The pumpkin spice mix is to make life easier for you! You can definitely swap it out for equal parts of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and allspice!
Disclaimer: Although jessicainthekitchen.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Jessicainthekitchen.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
Greetings, Jessica – it’s Jessica from DC! Ohhh, you must’ve been reading my mind! I just told my mate to get some of the store-bought vegan nogs they have out this time of year, because I wanted some…and now here you come with this recipe! I’ll be making it this weekend. Thank you!!!
Hi Jessica!! Oh haha that’s so cool – perfect timing!! I hope you get to make this and thoroughly enjoy it!! Merry Christmas when it comes!
Is it pathetic that I’m so excited about this? I’s just begun snowing and I’m planning candy-making today (vegan fudge, nut clusters, and truffles) and now I have my break-time beverage planned! Woo! Hahaha! Thank you!
Haha not pathetic at all!! I’m so happy you’re so excited! Love all the candy-making – wish I had some haha! I hope you enjoy this sooo much Georgia!
Adore your blog and this eggnog is the bomb!
Just made a batch for DS and I – delicious, divine and yummy.
Keep up the amazing work and Happy Christmas from Australia!
Hi Lisa,
Aww I am SO happy to hear that!!! Thanks so much for sharing with me and yes, I will! Happy Christmas to you too!
How do you get that crust on the glass? Is it cinnamon?
Hi Philippe,
I dipped it in almond milk, then in a mix of brown sugar and the spices from this!
Thanks for your prompt response – it’s delicious!
Oh my gosh! Thank you for this!! Family member was sipping her TJ eggnog at our Friday night zoom get together and I was saying I need a good vegan recipe… and today you deliver just that! Making asap!!
So happy to hear that Karen! Thanks so much for reading.
So delicious- thank you!
Just made this and it is so good. Will be making again at Xmas. Yummy 🤤
So happy to hear this Tracey!
Oh my. This eggnog is fantastic! I used an almond/cashew milk I recently found and it gives this the perfect creaminess and richness. I love it! Thanks for the recipe, Jessica. Happy Holidays!
This is so great! I made it on a whim before having family over. I didn’t have pumpkin spice on hand, so I appreciated the information on what to include instead. (Also: Because I made it on a whim I hadn’t soaked the cashews overnight. But a 1-hour soak plus using a Vitamix did the trick.) Excited to add this to the mix of “holiday” drinks.
Are there any other plant mills I can use instead ?
Hi,
Yes! I just updated the entire post to reflect that you can use soy milk, oat milk, cashew milk, almond milk…really any that you love! Enjoy!!