Best Vegan Waffles (7 Easy Ingredients!)

This Vegan Waffle recipe is the only one you’ll ever need! It’s easy to make in your home kitchen with just 7 simple ingredients and your favorite waffle iron. They’re crispy on the outside and light and airy on the inside, and they’re the best vegan breakfast when you’re craving something rich and indulgent! 

When it comes to the perfect weekend breakfast, waffles are hard to beat. They’re right up there with a hot stack of Vegan Banana Pancakes, Classic Vegan French Toast or Pumpkin French Toast, Vegan Crepes, and Vegan Strata. 

While we have a few other dairy-free waffles on the blog (e.g., Vegan Rye Waffles, Buckwheat Waffles, and Pink Pitaya Waffles), we wanted to create a classic vegan waffle recipe that tastes identical to traditional waffles you’ll find at any brunch restaurant or waffle house. They’re light, fluffy, airy, crispy, and all-around perfect, sweet waffles. Finish with a healthy drizzle of pure maple syrup, and dig in for an at-home brunch to remember! 

Ingredients You’ll Need 

• Flour: We developed this recipe using all-purpose flour to make these waffles as fluffy and classic as possible. We have not tested a gluten-free version, but if you’d like to experiment, a quality gluten-free flour blend may work in its place. Alternatively, replace 50% of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour if you’d like a more nutritious waffle recipe. 
• Sugar: A bit of granulated cane sugar lightly sweetens the waffle batter and helps create a golden-brown crust outside the waffles. 
• Baking powder: Helps the waffle batter rise and expand, creating a tender and airy texture. 
• Soy milk: The best plant-based milk to use when making vegan buttermilk because of its high protein content and thick, creamy consistency. If soy milk is not an option, you can substitute another dairy-free milk, such as almond milk, oat milk, or coconut milk.
• Apple cider vinegar: This is used to curdle the non-dairy milk. Our favorite is apple cider vinegar, but you can also use white vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice. 
• Vegan butter or oil: Compared to a traditional vegan pancake batter, waffle batter requires more fat to make the waffles crispy and golden brown outside. Vegan butter is excellent for an enhanced flavor, but if needed, opt for cooking oil, such as melted coconut oil, or vegetable oils like canola oil or avocado oil. 
• Vanilla extract: Optional, but a splash of vanilla extract adds subtle warmth, sweetness, and depth of flavor. 

Equipment Needed

How to Make Vegan Waffles

1. Make the buttermilk. Add the soy milk and vinegar to a measuring cup or small bowl and whisk together until combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle and create a vegan buttermilk substitute. 
2. Combine the dry ingredients. Into a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together until combined. 
3. Add wet ingredients. To the bowl with the dry ingredients, add vegan buttermilk, melted vegan butter, and vanilla extract. 
4. Preheat the waffle maker. Turn on your waffle iron and spray with nonstick cooking spray or brush with melted vegan butter to prevent sticking. Let preheat, as needed. 
5. Cook as directed. Use a measuring cup or ladle to spread the batter across the middle of the waffle iron. The exact amount of batter you’ll need will vary depending on your waffle iron. As a general rule of thumb, scoop enough batter onto the hot iron to cover about 2/3 of the surface. This will leave room for the batter to be pressed to the sides without overflowing. Cook according to your waffle iron’s manufacturer’s instructions. 
6. Enjoy! Serve these vegan waffles immediately while hot and crispy on the edges, or keep warm until ready to serve. Enjoy! 

How to Keep Waffles Warm 

If you are preparing these fluffy waffles to serve a crowd for brunch, they can be kept warm in an oven preheated to 200°F until ready to serve. To keep them as crisp as possible, we recommend placing them in a single layer directly on the wire oven rack in as opposed to a baking sheet. This will allow for full air circulation and prevent the waffles from building condensation on the bottom side. 

Storage and Freezing Instructions

Homemade vegan waffles can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months. 

To freeze without the waffles sticking together, allow the waffles to cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Once cold, transfer the waffles to a large baking sheet and place the baking sheet in the freezer to flash freeze, about 2-3 hours. When the waffles are frozen solid, transfer them to an airtight freezer safe bag and seal tightly, removing as much excess air as possible. 

Leftover waffles will reheat best in a toaster, toaster oven, air fryer, or on a baking sheet in a convectional oven preheat to 300 F for 5-10 minutes, or until warm.