Matcha Vegan Panna Cotta (Video) ヴィーガン抹茶パンナコッタ

Try my delicious and creamy Matcha Vegan Panna Cotta made with soy milk and kanten (agar) powder. This chilled green tea pudding is a beautiful dessert that‘s easy to pull off with just 5 ingredients!

Hello matcha lovers! I know how excited you are to see a matcha recipe and I’m happy that you clicked through to see this post. Panna cotta is Mr. JOC’s all-time favorite dessert. Okay, let me say he does have a lot of “all-time favorite” desserts, but in all seriousness, I know it will be your favorite, too.

To make a healthy and lighter version of the dessert, I decided to make Matcha Vegan Panna Cotta (ヴィーガン抹茶パンナコッタ). Don’t let the fancy name fools you though. It’s actually very easy to pull off, so make this dessert today!

Make Vegan-Friendly Matcha Panna Cotta

First of all, panna cotta is a chilled cream pudding made of cream, sugar, and gelatin. As you see, there is milk (and heavy cream) and gelatin made by prolonged boiling of skin, cartilage, and bones from animals.

To make panna cotta vegan-friendly, I used Kikkoman® Pearl Organic Soymilk (unsweetened) and Japanese kanten powder.

1. Kikkoman® Pearl Organic Soymilk

For this recipe, I’m partnering up with Kikkoman® by using their Pearl Organic Soymilk, which is vegan, cholesterol-free, preservative-free, lactose-free, and lower in fat and calories than regular milk. The soymilk comes in rich, creamy 6 flavors!

My kids like the “Chocolate” flavor, but I almost always buy the “Unsweetened” version so I can use it to make savory dishes like Vegetarian Ramen and Soy Milk Hot Pot.

2. Kanten Powder

Usually, panna cotta uses gelatin to get that silky, creamy, wobbly texture. To make this dessert vegan-friendly, we use Japanese kanten.

Kanten (寒天) is a white and semi-translucent gelatinous substance obtained from algae. It is a great alternative to animal or chemical-based gelatin. Once it’s chilled the texture is on the firmer side, so we use less kanten and more liquid to re-create that gelatin-like creamy, wobbly texture.

To learn more about Kanten, I have a pantry page dedicated to Kanten where you can read more about it.

Topping Choices for Matcha Vegan Panna Cotta

You can serve this dessert as it is because the green matcha color is so beautiful already. However, I’m sharing 3 versions so you can dress up the dessert a little.

1: With Elegant Gold Leaf

Have you used gold flake (gold leaf) for your food?

Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets by gold beating and is often used for gilding. This edible genuine gold leaf flakes by Barnabas Blattgold (150 mg, made in the USA) can be purchased at Amazon.

Besides placing it on top of Matcha Vegan Panna Cotta, you can use it to decorate cupcakes, cocktails, entrees, chocolate, sweets, candies, confectionery, desserts, pastries, wedding cakes and more! There are lots of flakes in it and if you enjoy hosting parties or making desserts often, I think it’s fun to keep it around in the kitchen.

2: Make It More Japanese-y

For an extra Japanese touch, top your Matcha Vegan Panna Cotta with Shiratama Dango, Anko (red bean paste) and chestnut (in syrup). It’s quick to put together once you prepare the toppings ahead of time.

• Shiratama Dango recipe
• Anko (red bean paste) recipe
• Buy a jar of chestnut in syrup from Japanese grocery stores or Amazon (Turkey or French brands).

3: Fresh fruits and Chocolate Shavings

No time to buy gold leaf flakes or make it fancy with Japanese ingredients? Adorn it with fresh fruits and chocolate. Over here, I topped the panna cotta with an assortment of strawberry slices and blackberries. If you like, I think some chocolate curls or shavings will be nice too.

I hope you enjoy this creamy and delicious Matcha Vegan Panna Cotta recipe. For more matcha treats, you want to check out these Must-Try Matcha Recipes at home.

Sign up for the free newsletter delivered to your inbox and stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates.

Matcha Vegan Panna Cotta

4.97 from 27 votes

Try my delicious and creamy Matcha Vegan Panna Cotta made with soy milk and kanten (agar) powder. This chilled green tea pudding is a beautiful dessert that‘s easy to pull off with just 5 ingredients!

Print Pin

Video

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Chilling: 2 hours hrs

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

Servings: 6 small ramekins

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1¼ cups unsweetened soy milk (I used Kikkoman® Pearl Organic Soymilk – Unsweetened)
• ▢ 1 Tbsp matcha (green tea powder) (plus 1 Tbsp more to sprinkle on top when serving)
• ▢ 1⅔ cups water
• ▢ 1 tsp kanten (agar) powder (see Notes; read more about this vegan gelling agent in my kanten powder post)
• ▢ 7 Tbsp sugar (⅓ cup + 4 tsp)
• ▢ toppings of your choice (optional; I recommend matcha powder, edible gold leaf flakes, anko (sweet red bean paste), shiratama dango (mochi balls), kuri kanroni (chestnuts in syrup), and/or assorted berries)

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

 

• Before You Start…Please note that this recipe requires 2+ hours of chilling time.

  Gather all the ingredients.
  
• In a small saucepan, heat 1¼ cups unsweetened soy milk over medium heat until warm to the touch. Keep a close eye on the pot and DO NOT BOIL. Turn off the heat.
  
• Place 1 Tbsp matcha (green tea powder) in a bowl. Add a little bit of the heated soy milk. Using a whisk or chasen (bamboo whisk), mix the soy milk and matcha together. Tip 1: Matcha dissolves easier in warm liquid. Tip 2: Gradually add in the soy milk. DO NOT pour too much soy milk at once. Superfine matcha powder can easily become lumpy and harder to combine.
  
• Add more soy milk as needed, until the mixture becomes a smooth paste and there are no more lumps of matcha.
  
• Add the matcha paste back into the soy milk in the pot. Whisk it well to combine. 
  
• In a new pot, add 1⅔ cups water and 1 tsp kanten (agar) powder.
  
• Whisk together and bring it to a boil on medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and cook for 2 minutes until the powder is completely dissolved.
  
• Add 7 Tbsp sugar to the kanten mixture and whisk to combine.
  
• Then, add the matcha soy milk to the kanten mixture. Give it another whisk until well combined, and turn off the heat.
  
• Prepare glass ramekins or containers on a tray. Place a fine-mesh strainer over the ramekin and strain the matcha soy milk mixture. Divide the mixture evenly.
  
• Using a spoon, collect the small bubbles into one corner of the ramekins and scoop them up. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to set.
  

To Serve

• Sprinkle extra matcha on top using a fine-mesh strainer. Then, add the optional toppings of your choice. For these ramekins, I placed gold flakes on top (you can buy them on Amazon).
  
• For this ramekin, I sprinkled matcha and decorated with strawberries and blackberries.
  
• For the last ramekin, I placed anko (red bean paste), mochi balls (shiratama dango), and chestnuts in heavy syrup.
  

Notes

Kanten Powder: Kanten needs to be heated to dissolve properly. The powdered form of kanten is easiest to measure and use; bars and flakes should be dissolved in water first. It sets in about an hour at room temperature (Source).

If you are using kanten stick: You will need to rinse it carefully and break it into pieces to soak them in water for 30 minutes. This will help dissolve kanten faster. Squeeze the water out from the pieces and they are ready to use.

If you want to use gelatin or agar: 1 tsp kanten powder = 2 tsp powder gelatin or agar

In order to set 1 cup (250 ml) of liquid, you will need:

• Kanten powder = 1 tsp (2 g)
• Kanten stick = ½ stick (4 g)
• Kanten thread = 12 threads (4 g)

Nutrition

Calories: 91 kcal · Carbohydrates: 16 g · Protein: 4 g · Fat: 1 g · Saturated Fat: 1 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g · Sodium: 25 mg · Potassium: 70 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 15 g · Vitamin A: 443 IU · Vitamin C: 4 mg · Calcium: 78 mg · Iron: 1 mg

Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: green tea, matcha, soy milk, vegan

©JustOneCookbook.com Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any website or social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.

Did you make this recipe?If you made this recipe, snap a pic and hashtag it #justonecookbook! We love to see your creations on Instagram @justonecookbook!