Weekend mornings call for a stack of the Best Ever Vegan Waffles! They’re perfectly golden and crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. Plus, they’re easy to make with pantry staple ingredients!
If you’re a waffle enthusiast like me, you’ll want to try my Vegan Pumpkin Waffles and my Gluten Free Waffle Recipe as well!
These are seriously the Best Vegan Waffles Ever! They’re golden and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, as proper waffles should be. No one in my family can resist a stack (including me!).
As a bonus, these easy vegan waffles are a breeze to make in one large bowl using a handful of ingredients that may already be in your pantry. You can even turn to the substitution options in the recipe card if you’re missing one or two of the ingredients.
Make it a brunch to remember by pairing these fluffy waffles with my Simple Vegan Pancakes, a batch of The Best Tofu Scramble, and Vegan Strawberries and Cream Scones on the side!
Why this is literally the best vegan waffle recipe
- You won’t believe they’re vegan – You’ll be too distracted by the fluffy, buttermilk goodness! Trust me, one bite of a crispy on the outside and soft on the inside waffle and you won’t be able to stop.
- Pantry staple ingredients – These vegan waffles are easy to make with a handful of vegan baking staples, like flour, ground flaxseed, sugar, and oil.
- A 5-star recipe – This waffle recipe has over 200 5-star reviews from happy readers! Here’s what some of them are saying:
“These are literally the best waffles I have ever had – vegan or otherwise!! I changed nothing – it was perfect.” – Tory
“Amazing recipe!!! The waffles turned out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, as if they have eggs in them it’s insane!! 10/10 and can’t wait to make them again.” – Dee
“I love these waffles! They are exactly as described: the best ever.” – Nancy
How to make vegan waffles
Find the complete printable recipe with measurements below in the recipe card.
While you preheat the waffle iron, make the flax egg by whisking the ground flax and water together in a small bowl. Set aside to thicken.
Next, combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar in a large bowl to make the vegan buttermilk. Set aside to curdle.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together in a separate large bowl.
Add the flax eggs, vegan buttermilk, melted vegan butter/oil, and vanilla to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined, being careful not to over mix.
Don’t over mix the batter! Mix until everything has just combined for the lightest, fluffiest waffles. If there are lots of lumps, just let the batter rest for 10 minutes so they can dissolve.
Spray the preheated waffle iron with non-stick spray and pour some of the batter onto the iron. Cook until the waffle is golden brown.
Serve the waffles right away with fresh berries, coconut whip, vegan butter, maple syrup, and anything else you desire!
If you’re not ready to serve the cooked waffles right away, keep them in a warm oven (200ºF) until you’re ready to serve. This will keep them crispy and hot.
Topping ideas and add-ins
Now for the fun part… decorating your vegan waffles with ALL of the toppings! Other than a classic drizzle of maple syrup, you can top your waffles with:
- Vegan whipped cream
- Pats of vegan butter
- A dollop of lemon curd
- Fresh berries
- Sliced bananas
- Strawberry sauce
- A drizzle of vegan Nutella
- Slivered almonds
- A caramel drizzle
Or, if you’re a savory person, top the waffles with a few pieces of my Vegan Fried Chicken and some maple syrup for vegan chicken and waffles.
It’s also easy to customize your waffles with add-ins. I recommend using:
- Chocolate chips – Fold up to 1 cup of dairy-free chocolate chips into the batter at the end.
- Fresh fruit – Fold up to 1 cup of sliced bananas, strawberries, or blueberries into the batter.
- Nut butter – Whisk in a heaping spoonful of almond or peanut butter when you add the wet ingredients.
- Spices – Add a pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, or pumpkin spice to the dry ingredients to make the waffles extra cozy.
- Protein powder – Add 1 scoop of your favorite vegan protein powder to the dry ingredients and an extra splash of milk to the wet ingredients if you’re craving vegan protein waffles.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can make this recipe gluten-free by substituting all-purpose flour with an equal amount of spelt flour or a gluten-free flour blend. Or, make my Vegan Gluten Free Waffles recipe instead.
You should be able to refrigerate the waffle batter overnight. Remember to take it out of the fridge 20 to 30 minutes before cooking the waffles to allow it to come to room temperature. If the batter thickens overnight, gently stir in a little water to help thin it out.
Wrap the leftover waffles individually or seal them in a container. Store them in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.
Yes, these waffles freeze beautifully! Transfer the cooled waffles to a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat them from frozen in a toaster until they’re warmed through and crispy.
Best Ever Vegan Waffles
Ingredients
Flax Eggs (see notes for alternative)
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
- 1/2 cup water
Vegan Buttermilk
- 3 1/2 cups soy milk
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
The Rest
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour* or a mix of whole wheat and white flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup melted vegan butter or coconut oil, or other oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Make the Flax Eggs: In a small bowl, combine the ground flax and water. Stir, and set aside to thicken.
- Make the Vegan Buttermilk: In a large measuring cup or bowl, measure 3 1/2 cups of soy milk. Add the apple cider vinegar, stir a little with a spoon and set aside to curdle.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.
- Add the flax eggs, vegan buttermilk, melted vegan butter/oil and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined with a large wooden spoon, being careful not to over mix. The batter should be fairly thick, if it's too runny add a few tablespoons more of flour. If it's too thick, add a little more water.
- Spray waffle iron with non-stick spray. Pour the recommended amount of batter onto hot waffle iron, and cook until the waffle is golden brown on both sides.
- Serve immediately, or keep in a warm oven (200 degrees F) until ready to serve. Top with fresh berries, coconut whip, vegan butter, maple syrup and anything else you desire!
Video
Notes
- I recently discovered that you can make these waffles without flax seeds. Omit the flax eggs and increase the oil to 3/4 cup. Works really well, but they are slightly less crispy.
- May use coconut, almond, cashew or any other kind of non-dairy milk that you wish in place of the soy milk.
- For gluten free waffles, simply substitute an all purpose gluten free flour.
- For oil free, you can use applesauce instead of oil, but they won’t be as crispy. Melted vegan butter, melted coconut oil or a neutral flavored oil all work.
- These waffles freeze beautifully. To reheat, simple pop them in the toaster until warmed through and crispy. I always have waffles in the freezer!
- These make 8-9 large Belgian waffles, but if you have a smaller square waffle maker, they make around 22 waffles.
Nutrition
*This recipe was first published October 2018 and has been updated with improved photos and writing.
These are literally the best waffles I have ever had – vegan or otherwise!! I changed nothing – it was perfect. Will be making these for many years to come. Thank you!
You bet, Tory! I’m so glad you love the waffles! We love these, and I often have them on stand by in the freezer! Thanks for your wonderful review and feedback! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Hi Nora, Just saw this recipe and all excited to try it out. One question, Do you really mean 2 tablespoons or baking powder or should it be 2 teaspoons? 2 tablespoons sounds like a lot!
Hi Monika. Two tablespoons is correct, yes. It works! Enjoy the waffles!
Hi. Is flaxmeal the same as flax seed for the purposes of this recipe? Thanks. Love your recipes. They are always reliable.
Hi Paulie. Flaxseed meal or ground flaxseed can be used for this recipe. Thank you for using my recipes! I am thrilled you are enjoying them! Happy cooking, and enjoy the waffles!
I just made these. My brunch guest could not believe they were vegan. I added some lemon juice to cut some of the “flour” taste of the batter and a few tablespoons of cornmeal. I also sifted the flour. I see no reason to ever go back to making waffles with animal products.
Hi Paulie. Thanks for sharing your stellar review and feedback! I’m really glad you loved the waffles, and that they will be your go to waffles from now on! Happy cooking!
I love how crisp the edges come out! Perfectly sweet and flavorful.
Anytime I am looking for a recipe and I see Nora Cooks has one, my search is over. This recipe is by far the best waffle recipe I have tried. The waffles turned out perfectly crisp but still fluffy with substance in the middle. The perfect level of sweetness as well. Your recipes never miss!!
Hi Lorna. Your encouraging words mean so much! Thank you for taking time to share your glowing review! I’m thrilled you love the waffles! Thank you for using my recipes! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Heyy I had an issue I used coconut flour and it was very dry I ended up having to add 2 more cups of coconut milk.. is that just a coconut flour thing ? Or did I do something wrong ?
Yes, unfortunately coconut flour does not work remotely the same as regular flour. It’s very dry and sucks up all the moisture.
Hi Nora,
What is one serving? Is it one waffle? I’m looking at my calorie intake.
Thank you!
If you have a large waffle maker and you get 8 large waffles, then one waffle is the serving size. Hope that helps!
I just made these waffles! Even though I used the correct measurements, but the flax seed did not dissolve into the batter… we’ll see how they turn out. Did anyone else have this problem?
The flaxseeds don’t dissolve, they are just part of the batter. You are supposed to use ground though; I wouldn’t want whole flaxseeds throughout my waffles. Hope you enjoy them!
Mine are whole ground, so I guess that’s where I was confused. They actually tasted REALLY good. My kids loved them! I don’t know if it was the flaxseed but they loved them! We froze them and had waffles for a week. 🙂
Making them again this morning, but omitting the flax seed.
I’m so glad the kids loved the waffles! I love having waffles in the freezer! Happy cooking!
The ground flax still shows as tiny flecks when they’re made but it doesn’t affect the taste at all. They’re delicious. Nora writes in the Notes section that you can leave out the flax egg altogether and up the oil by 1/4 cup if you don’t want to use the ground flax.
Home Run! Once again Nora you have come through with a delicious vegan recipe that my picky family can enjoy! I appreciate how you include all the possible substitutions and possible changes in outcome with their use because sometimes I just don’t have all the ingredients. I have tried a few vegan waffles recipes with only fair results. I trust that your recipes are very well tested and now I turn to you first! I used almond milk, and a mixture of coconut oil and melted vegan butter in mine and did NOT spray my waffle iron with oil and had no trouble with sticking. Thanks again!
You are welcome, Donna! It’s great to know now that you find my recipes trustworthy and easy to follow! I am thrilled you loved the waffles! Thanks for taking time to share your glowing review and feedback! Happy cooking!
So delicious! Perfect for a snowy Saturday morning and plenty left for tomorrow.
Totally perfect for a snowy Saturday! Sounds so cozy! I’m thrilled you loved the waffles! Wishing you happy cooking!
These are so yummy!
Seems pretty fool proof to me, I use the mix in my vertical waffle maker and it works perfectly!
This recipe is a big batch, so I just froze portions in zip locks, then before I cook them I just submerge the ziplock in hot water until it’s defrosted and that works really well.
Thank you!
You bet, Emma! I’m so glad you love the waffles. Having frozen waffles on hand is so convenient! I just love it! Thanks for your stellar review and feedback! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Wow. Perfect. 😍 First time making waffles and vegan waffles and it’s just amazing!
Hi Lilla. I’m thrilled you loved the waffles! We have these often at our place! Thanks for your fantastic review! Happy cooking!
Hi Nora, what waffle iron do you have? Those look so perfect 🤩
Hi Grant. I love this waffle maker: Presto Ceramic Belgian Waffle maker
Excellent recipe, as always. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. A hit with everyone in the family, including my 2 year-old son (who enjoyed measuring out and mixing the dry ingredients with me). Have lots leftover to freeze, so we’ll be having waffle Sundays for a while. Yum! Thanks!
This made a nice big batch of waffles. Great to have extras for busy mornings! I followed the recipe with the exception of using maple extract vs vanilla extract (we had just run out). Smelled & tasted delicious!
Thanks for a great recipe!
You bet! Thanks for your wonderful review!
These were delicious! I froze the extras and reheated they in the oven for the next use. They tasted great each time.
These are so delicious, thank you for sharing! I did want to see if you are able to store the wet ingredients or if they are only to use immediately?
Thank you! I’ve never tried to store the batter for a while, so I’m not sure. I think the batter would thicken too much though.
I have recently become vegan and have been so impressed by your recipes. Vegan or not, every one I have made has been delicious. Thank you so much for all your hard work developing and sharing them.
I have two questions:
1) Do you know how to incorporate plant-based protein powders in your recipes like waffles, pancakes, and breads? Would I reduce the amount of flour by the amount of protein powder used?
2) Have you tried using any of the low carb flours such as coconut or almond?
Thanks again.
Thank you so much Valerie! I haven’t really tried with waffles, but I bet you could replace a bit of the flour with protein powder, maybe 1/4-1/2 cup or so? I’d have to play around. I haven’t tried low carb flours for this recipe, no. Could be a fun experiment though!
Hi Nora! Can I sub almond milk for soy milk? Will it have the same effect?
Yes! You can actually use any milk you like, I use a variety: oat milk, almond, soy, cashew… Whatever I have on hand. Soy is actually my personal favorite these days for adding some protein to the waffles. 🙂
I’ve been trying to figure out waffles for a LONG time. We have allergies and sensitivities ( wheat allergy, dairy, soy and egg) so we are definitely not vegan by choice, but we aren’t the “typical vegans” either. 🙈 Anyway, I was skeptical when reading it at first but felt good about trying this one. O my goodness!! HUGE hit at our house! Only things I did different was GF flour, and because olive oil is so expensive right now, I did a 1/4 cup canola and 1/4 cup olive. I also used almond milk. I also used the suggestion from MKGF by using an ice cream scoop to measure out batter. THANK YOU SO MUCH, Nora! I have been doing pancakes for years even though we preferred waffles because we never figured it out. We did run into the issue of pockets of flour still, but we will take that any day to have waffles that I never thought we’d be able to have again.Thank you!! Better than Eggo! No consequences! 😄🙌
I’m so glad you finally found your waffle recipe! 🙂 My family loves these waffles as well, and I’m happy to hear GF flour worked well. Thank you!
I made this this morning and omg delicious. For readers who are curious, I used Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer 1:1 with the flax and water suggested (so, for one recipe, 1/4c replacer and 1/2c water) and it worked perfectly!
I made this the other day using the gluten free option using King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free flour blend. I made a 1/2 recipe and it made 7 waffles in my 6” waffle maker. They turned out really good with a nice crispy texture.
Hi Karen. Thanks for sharing your cooking experience and great review! I’m so glad the waffles turned out great for you!
Second time making this in a week! We love it! Thank you for a great recipe! We pair it with our homemade seitan fried chicken for an awesome dinner 🥰
You are welcome, Carrie! I love your meal idea, and am thrilled you are loving the waffle recipe! I appreciate your wonderful review and feedback! Happy cooking!
Amazing recipe!!! The waffles turned out crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, as if they have eggs in them it’s insane!! 10/10 and can’t wait to make them again.
If I want to pair these waffles with savory toppings, do you think I can omit the vanilla and slightly reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe or would that affect the texture?
Thanks Dee, I’m so glad you enjoyed the waffles! Yes, you can omit the vanilla and reduce the sugar for savory waffles.
I substituted 2/3 of white flour with wwflour, sugar with monkfruit sugar, and the oil with applesauce. They were delicious. no-crispy but soft and fluffy, not gooey. Topped with strawberries and maple syrup. Kid tested and kid approved.
Hi Nanette. I’m glad the waffles turned out delicious for you. How awesome the kids loved them! Thanks for your wonderful review!
Thanks for the recipe. First vegan waffles I’ve made. Rare family get-together in which I cooked something for non-vegan family members after dinner out. Taste was just right for adding Wicked ice cream and maple syrup. Worked in a MyMini snow person shaped auto-cooker. Couldn’t get super crispy, however was very safe in order not to burn. Happy holidays!