Healthy Vegan Lemon Curd
This Healthy Vegan Lemon Curd is creamy, sweet, tart, and delicious. You’d never know it’s sugar free, low carb, gluten free, and dairy free too!
Lemon Curd has been on my Recipe Wishlist for years now! I don’t know why it took me so long to make it…
Oh, wait, maybe it had something to do with all that butter, sugar, and egg yolks. BUT I finally made a batch, and while I was at it, I made healthier. I am SO glad I did!
My parents love lemon-flavored desserts so I knew they’d love this Lemon Curd. Years and years ago, they were fast food-eaters, soda-drinkers, and “everything unhealthy consumers.” They’ve adopted a healthier lifestyle since then, but are still suffering some of the effects from their old bad habits. They’re trying their best to improve their cholesterol levels and LDL:HDL ratio, and they try to avoid excess added sugar as much as possible. Of course, I didn’t want to make them a typical lemon curd filled with 1 heaping cup of sugar, 8 egg yolks, and 1½ sticks of butter. Um, no thank you.
I am neutral to lemony desserts, it’s not really my favorite thing in the world (that’s what chocolate is for), but I’ll definitely eat this Vegan Lemon Curd. It’s just too good to pass up! After taste testing it along with some yogurt, I became a woman obsessed. After my parents taste tested it, they became just as obsessed as I was.
Let’s just say we finished the entire batch in a short two days. I think I’ll have to make a batch just for myself and not share. Shhh.
Just look at the creaminess. Make it for yourself and you’ll be so glad you did.
Healthy Vegan Lemon Curd
Ingredients
- one 13.5oz can Full Fat Coconut Milk
- ½ cup Lemon Juice (freshly squeezed)
- 1 tbs Lemon Zest
- 105g (¾ cup) Powdered Erythritol
- 40g (¼ cup, packed) Organic Corn Starch
- ½ tsp Ground Turmeric
- ⅛ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Natural Butter Flavor
Instructions
- In a double boiler placed over medium heat, whisk together the coconut milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the erythritol, corn starch, turmeric, and salt. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until completely smooth. Whisk occasionally for ~5 minutes. When the mixture begins to warm up, whisk a bit more often. When you hear the water bubble in the bottom portion of the double boiler, whisk the mixture constantly until thickened.
- Place a fine mesh sieve over a heat-proof bowl and strain the lemon curd. Whisk in the butter flavor. Let the curd cool on the counter for ~1 hour. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, give the curd a whisk to make sure it's even, then spoon into serving jars. Serve and enjoy!
If you compared this Vegan Lemon Curd to typical storebought lemon curd for the same serving size of 2 tablespoons, my healthified version will save you 50 calories and a whopping 18g of sugar! Not to mention, the cholesterol, sugar rush, and jitters.
I’m gonna go grab a spoonful of this magical substance, BRB.
This Healthy Vegan Lemon Curd tastes DIVINE. It’s tangy, refreshing, and will awaken your senses.
Zip some excitement into your mouth and make a batch at home! Word to the wise, it’s perfect spooned on top of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.
Enjoy 🙂
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– Jess
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Indulge − no strings attached!
This looks great! I’ve a particular cake (infinitely customizable: a typical cake with fruit + jam or curd swirled on top–blueberries and lemon curd is a lovely combo) that my parents adore but I feel atrocious making it for them on the regular, so this will help ease my concerns 🙂
Quick question: either I’m completely incapable of reading or you’ve forgotten to indicate at which stage in the process the shortening gets added in. Thanks for any clarification!
Rosalie- I’m glad this healthy lemon curd recipe can help you and your parents feel better about what they are eating!
Sorry for the confusion, I updated the instructions. The shortening is added to the pot once you remove it from the heat. Thanks for letting me know about that 🙂
By saying shortening, are you referring to the fat which is is actually not fat but listed as butter flavor? I don’t see anything else in the process you mentioned that could qualify. I really wanted to make this right now but I’m clueless.
The recipe above is the new and improved recipe. The previous recipe using shortening, which I removed for this version 🙂
I LOVE lemon curd! I am, however, allergic to almonds. What would be a reasonable substitute? I use coconut flour, but it has a much stronger flavor than the almond flour, and I know it’s not an equal swap. Any suggestions?
Judy- You can use any “milk” you like… like coconut milk, soy milk, rice milk, oat milk, etc. Almond flour is not used in the recipe.
I wouldn’t recommend adding coconut flour to the recipe because it will absorb too much liquid and might make the curd gritty.
Can I still use butter for this? I trust a cow more than a chemist.
J-
You can definitely use butter instead of the shortening, but please try to use organic butter to avoid unnecessary/added hormones, colorings and flavorings 🙂
Also, the non-hydrogenated shortening I linked to in the recipe is not a chemical or manmade ingredient. It is nothing like “I can’t believe it’s not butter” or margarine, it is organic and made from palm fruit oil, not the genetically modified canola or soybean oil.
Anyways, I hope you like the recipe!
-Jess
This looks amazing!
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Oh, how pretty! And I bet it tastes great, too 🙂
Hold the phone! OMG. I made lemon curd about a month ago – with real eggs – and have to say I couldn’t eat it. I knew there was a tonne of eggs in there. And while I am not a strict vegan, I could not bring myself to eat that much butter, eggs and sugar.
This is really awesome. I have to try this!
What a wonderful recipe! I will have to try it with Lakanto, also a sugar free zero glycemic sweetener.
I have been wanting to make a lemon curd and yours looks great! Have you used it for a filling between layers in a cake?? I am wondering how it would hold up.
Mmm sounds good! I haven’t tried filling a cake with it, but if you do I’m sure it would hold up just fine, as long as it is served the day it is made 🙂
this is an odd sort of question but what is the mixture like sans shortening? have a few issues with butter/margarine/shortening- would I be able to leave it out/decrease it in this recipe and still be left with a substance similar to lemon curd? thanks 🙂
I haven’t tried this recipe without the shortening but I believe it makes it more creamy and holds it together better. You can probably reduce the amount a couple tablespoons no problem. If you omit it completely, just try to serve the curd as quickly as possible because it might separate in the fridge… if it does though you can probably just whisk it back together. I hope this recipe works out for you!
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Where do you find those cute spoons with the hole on the end? They are adorable! And I love lemon curd. Its been my favorite on toast since childhood. 🙂
Jennifer-
I got the spoons from Crate & Barrel! They don’t sell the colored ones anymore, they only sell white now… however I’m sure you can find colored ones at other stores or online 🙂
Glad to see you making a vegan lemon curd. I’ve found other recipes – they keep in jars too for a while, not sure why yours doesn’t? But it does look like a great recipe! And all such recipes prove ther is no need to use eggs – they are so cruel. Billions of wee fluffy male chicks gassed or crushed every year around the world (30 million in the UK alone) -whether organic or not -because they can’t lay eggs and are too scrawny to breed for meat. I’ve seen the footage, it’s awful and most people haven’t a clue about the real cost of eggs. So I hope you will keep on devising lovely cruelty-free vegan recipes! Best wishes, Jane. PS I think you would love Ms Cupcake’s all vegan baking book – awesome recipes!
I make a vegan chocolate sauce sweetened only with stevia and it is terrific! I am on my way to the kitchen to make both the lemon curd and chocolate sauce.
betsy shipley
Do you think this could be made with Greek yogurt instead of shortening? I LOVE lemon curd, and want to add some protein to this, and Greek yogurt and unsweetened applesauce are my go tos for replacing shortening or butter (health issues). Regardless, this recipe looks amazing and I’m sure it tastes even better 🙂
Audrey-
That is definitely an AWESOME idea but I’m not sure if it would work out very well. I sure hope the yogurt wouldn’t separate or curdle or clump up because now I want to give that a try! Great idea 🙂
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I think this post just made all my wildest dreams come true.
You may have already answered this but what exactly is natural butter flavor? Is that a proper substitute for vegan dishes?
Butter flavor provides a buttery flavor just like how vanilla extract provides a vanilla flavor. The butter flavor I linked to in the recipe is vegan (I contacted the company a few years ago and they said it was dairy free and vegan), but there are butter flavors out there that DO contain dairy, so always read the label!
Hope this helps 🙂
Don’t see the shortening everyone is talking about, only butter flavoring. Am I missing something?
The recipe above is the new and improved recipe. The previous recipe using shortening, which I removed for this version 🙂
Hi Jessica,
This recipe looks great. Do you think it would work with coconut sugar instead of erythritol? Can’t wait to try this!! 🙂
Coconut sugar should work here, just note that the color of the curd will be brown and not yellow. The flavor will also change a bit but I think it’ll still taste good! 🙂
I made it with coconut sugar and the taste is amazing but the color is not very appetizing, poo brown.
Lol coconut sugar will do that! Erythritol is white, like sugar, so this curd turns yellow from the turmeric. Once you add coconut sugar (like dark brown sugar), it’s gonna turn brown 😉
Mine didn’t thicken. It’s very liquidy still. Is there a way to fix this?
Not sure what happened there… did you make any ingredient substitutions?
The butter flavoring in this recipe contains Propylene Glycol as a main ingredient and this compound is suspect of causing MULTIPLE negative effects, one of which makes it not recommended for infants and pregnant women. This curd looks wonderful and thank you for the vegan option but maybe an alternative to the Propylene Glycol would also be helpful.
I just searched Amazon myself and found this one! http://amzn.to/2vHmEFv
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This looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it! Do you think this could stand in the oven? I want to try a lemon meringue pie with it?
That’s such a genius idea!!! No, I haven’t tried baking this curd in the oven, but I think it’ll hold up nicely since it’s so thick. If you try it, I hope it works! 🙂
-Jess
Thank you! I’m going to try this today!
Hi Jessica
How long does the lemon curd last in the refrigerator?
I’m pretty sure it lasts a couple weeks, but it’s never made it that long in my house 😉
Hope you like the recipe!!
Hi,
I can’t find butter any butter flavour in my local shop, will any butter substitute do? I usually use one made from coconut or avocado.
Thanks 🙂
The butter flavor is just there to make it taste like authentic lemon curd, you don’t necessarily “need” it. But, if you use a vegan buttery spread or Spectrum Organics’ butter flavored NON-hydrogenated shortening, a few tablespoons of those will work great. Just stir it in after it’s done cooking. Hope you like the recipe! 🙂
Someone asked you about the spoons….what about the jar you have this curd in? I love it! Any idea where to find some? P.S. Just found your website this morning (and already made the gummy bears)….love it. Thanks!
It’s actually a repurposed honey jar! It’s the jar from this post: https://dessertswithbenefits.com/healthy-chocolatey-peanut-covered-honeycomb-treats/
The brand is Don Victor (I buy it from it from Walmart)
Thank you!
Why is Turmeric used? Does it add the color or does it do something to enhance the flavor?
It’s just for color 🙂
Regular lemon curd contains egg yolks which is why it’s yellow. This vegan version doesn’t have anything yellow besides the turmeric (lemon juice alone will leave it just slightly tinted yellow, but mostly white/clear)
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Does this have any detectable coconut flavour?
I didn’t think so at all, but everyone’s tastes are different 🙂
Looks UH-mazing!!! I need to try these ASAP… Pinned!
How long does it last in the fridge and have you jarred it for longer storage?
I think it’ll last a couple weeks (in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge), but it’s never made it that long in my house 😉
Hope you like the recipe!
look like a ingredient is missing in this recipe just where you wrote;
105g (¾ cup) ( OF WHAT )) 😛
I’m not sure why the ingredient isn’t showing up for you, it is for me? Anyways, its 105g (¾ cup) of Powdered Erythritol 🙂
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I think this post just made all my wildest dreams come true now.
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I’ve made this once and plan on making again (and again). I also used in a GF blueberry/lemon curd coffee cake. It was unbelievable. My husband said it was the best he’s ever had. The curd did get a little crystalized in some places; I’m assuming that’s from the sugar substitute? Not sure If that happens to your curd after it sits a day? I also stirred it up before each use. Thanks, great recipe!