This homemade vegan carrot cake recipe is soft, moist and irresistibly delicious, with thick vegan cream cheese frosting covering each bite!

The best vegan carrot cake

• If you are looking for a show stopping vegan Easter dessert guaranteed to impress both vegans and omnivores, this is absolutely the recipe you should try.
• Dairy free, egg free, and so easy to make from scratch using basic ingredients, the sweet and flavorful cake comes out perfectly every single time.
• I’ve now served this recipe to many friends and family members, always with stellar reviews from guests. Whether you are vegan or not, it may just become your go to homemade carrot cake recipe for years to come!

Also try the popular Healthy Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Step by step recipe video

Plant based carrot cake for special occasions

You will want to make the recipe not just for Spring and Easter, but for birthday parties, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas too.

Do not be surprised if this frosted vegan cake starts showing up in your dreams.

The classic taste will remind you of a traditional carrot cake you might find at an upscale restaurant or bakery.

And yet it is secretly healthy at the same time, with no dairy and no eggs required.

The vegan carrot cake recipe is also packed with a full cup of shredded carrot, making it ultra moist and soft, without all the extra fat.

If desired, you can add raisins, pineapple, or crushed walnuts to the batter.

Readers also love these Vegan Blueberry Muffins

How to make vegan carrot cake

1. Start by preheating the oven to 350° Fahrenheit (176° Celsius). Grease and line an eight inch round or square pan with parchment paper.
2. If you are doubling the recipe for a double layer carrot cake, prepare two pans instead of one. A doubled recipe will also fit into one 9×13 inch rectangular pan.
3. To make carrot cake without a boxed cake mix, whisk together the shredded carrot, applesauce, optional oil, vinegar, and pure vanilla extract in a large bowl. Let the mixture sit for at least 10 minutes. Or cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. Stir the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, sugar, and salt into the liquid to form a cake batter. Pour this batter into the prepared pan, and smooth down with a spatula or spoon.
5. Bake the carrot dessert on the oven’s center rack for thirty minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out mostly clean.

Looking for a handheld option? Make Carrot Cake Bars

Katie’s cake baking tips

Gather ingredients before beginning. There’s nothing worse than starting a recipe, only to discover you are out of a required ingredient. Prevent this issue by reading through all ingredients and instructions as the very first step.

Do not overmix the batter. To avoid a tough, dense result or a cake that collapses in the middle, stir cake batter until just evenly mixed. This keeps the gluten from overdeveloping and creating a rubbery cake instead of a light, tender crumb.

Let the cake cool before covering. I recommend allowing the cake to rest on the counter and cool. This step lets steam escape so you do not end up with a soggy texture. Once cooled, loosely cover the carrot cake and let it sit overnight on the counter. If you can wait, the recipe tastes sweeter and has a lighter texture the next day.

Store leftovers properly for freshness. After a day, refrigerate any leftover cake for three to four days. Or slice and freeze in an airtight container for up to three months. Fully thaw frozen carrot cake before serving.

Ingredients for the vegan cake

This simple recipe calls for just a few basic ingredients.

You will need shredded carrot, applesauce or pineapple, optional oil, white vinegar or apple cider vinegar, flour, pure vanilla extract, cinnamon, baking soda, sugar, and a pinch of salt.

Carrots – Start with fresh peeled carrots, and discard the stems. Feel free to use white, purple, yellow, or orange carrots, or a combination.

Flour – Spelt flour, oat flour, white all purpose flour, and some brands of gluten free flour yield the best results.

I have not experimented with substituting pastry or whole wheat flour, almond flour, or coconut flour. However, the box below includes a keto option if you prefer a low carb and flourless carrot cake.

Applesauce – This ingredient adds moisture and natural sweetness, allowing you cut back on the oil and sugar without sacrificing taste.

If you are out of applesauce or love the combination of pineapple and carrot cake, swap the applesauce for crushed pineapple. Mashed banana is another great substitution if you wish to try a fun flavor variation.

Sugar – Go with regular white sugar or unrefined coconut sugar. Or for an added sugar free vegan carrot cake, use an equal amount of granulated xylitol or erythritol.

Cinnamon – The vegan dessert is perfectly spiced with one and a half teaspoons of ground cinnamon.

Want to turn it into a carrot spice cake? Add a pinch of nutmeg, cloves, and powdered ginger for a carrot spice cake.

Carrot cake frosting options

Let’s be real. One of the best parts of carrot cake is the frosting!

My favorite way to serve the dairy free carrot cake is with the homemade vegan cream cheese frosting recipe directly under the photo below.

The plant based dessert is also great topped with homemade or store bought vegan vanilla frosting, Coconut Butter, or Coconut Whipped Cream.

To save time, you do have the option to take a shortcut and use packaged frosting instead of the frosting recipe below.

Surprisingly, both Duncan Hines Creamy Home Style Cream Cheese Frosting and Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Cream Cheese Flavored Frosting are accidentally vegan.

I am not saying these packaged icings are healthy frosting options, but if you are in a hurry, they work in a pinch.

Or go a different route entirely and top each slice with Vegan Lemon Curd.

Vegan cream cheese frosting

• 8 ounces plant based cream cheese (such as Tofutti brand or Trader Joe’s vegan) or homemade Vegan Cream Cheese
• 4 ounces plant based butter (such as Melt Organic or Earth Balance)
• 2 cups powdered sugar or sugar free alternative
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• optional nondairy milk if needed

Beat room temperature cream cheese with the butter in a stand mixer, food processor, with hand beaters, or by hand. Slowly add in the powdered sugar and vanilla extract, whipping until smooth.

Add the milk a teaspoon at a time if you desire a thinner icing.

For reference, this recipe yields about two cups of frosting, and I used half a cup of frosting on each of the layers of the egg free carrot cake in the pictures.

Leftover frosting? Make these Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

Vegan Easter Recipes

Vegan Lemon Bread

Strawberry Pie

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs

Vegan Cheesecake or Keto Cheesecake

Vegan Chocolate Cake

(Or this almond flour Keto Cake)

Coconut Balls

Vegan Coffee Cake

Vegan Sugar Cookies

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars