Vegan Royal Frosting Recipe (Naturally Colored)

This vegan royal frosting recipe is easy to make! Instead of using food coloring, we used plant-based powder to dye the frosting.

I’ve been busy testing cookie and frosting recipes in my kitchen all week. Looking for the best recipe to make for Christmas this year.

When it came to the frosting, I wanted to use plant-based ingredients (for my DF friends and family). I also wanted to test plant powders like matcha and beetroot to naturally color the frosting.

Vegan Frosting Recipe with Natural Colors & Sugar-Free Options

My kids requested a smooth frosting without a strong coconut flavor (they say everything tastes like coconut). I started out with coconut oil, but the texture wasn’t right and there were hints of coconut flavor in the frosting. Next, I tried palm shorting and the frosting turned out perfect, smooth and flavorless!

For a sweetener, I tested the frosting with organic powdered sugar, homemade powdered coconut sugar, and powdered monk fruit sweetener.

The organic powdered sugar and monk fruit worked the best but the coconut sugar wasn’t too bad. The color of the frosting ended up dark brown and the frosting was a little gritty.

I used Matcha powder and Beetroot powder to naturally color the frosting. The matcha worked great and gave the frosting a lovely green color. The beetroot also works well but the end color isn’t a true red. There are hints of pink, but in my option, it looks great and is much better than using red dye.

Vegan royal frosting ingredients + substitutions

Here’s everything you’ll need:

• 6 Cups Powdered Sugar or Powdered Sugar-Free Sweetener
• 6 Tablespoons Palm Shortening
• 6 Tablespoons Almond Milk, divided
• 1/2 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 2-3 Teaspoons of Matcha Powder (green) or Beetroot Powder (redish)

Substitutions

How to make this recipe keto-friendly/sugar-free: Instead of regular powdered sugar, use sugar-free powdered sugar, such as this one.

If you’re interested in making frosting with unrefined sugars like sucanat, rapadura or coconut sugar you can make unrefined powdered sugar by following this recipe. I personally didn’t care for it but if you prefer to use only unrefined sugar you can definitely give it a try!

Palm shortening alternatives: Coconut oil or vegan butter work too.

Color alternatives: If you’re a fan of matcha you’ll love the flavor of the green frosting. If not, powdered greens like spinach and spirulina work too!

How to make vegan royal frosting (step-by-step instructions)

• In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the powdered sugar and palm shortening together.

• Add in the almond milk, 1 tablespoon at a time until the frosting is smooth and creamy.

• Mix in the vanilla extract.

Adding Color:

• I divided the frosting into three bowls (1 cup each) and added beetroot powder in one bowl and matcha in the other, leaving one bowl plain.

• I used 2 teaspoons of matcha powder to color the frosting green. Add more or less to get your desired color.

• For the beetroot, I also used 2 teaspoons of powder to color the frosting red(ish). Add more or less to get the color you’d like.

Other Recipes:

• Love the taste of matcha? You gotta try my keto-friendly coconut matcha latte and match fat bombs!
• For cakes, tarts, and more, try this vegan coconut cream frosting recipe or my dairy-free cream cheese frosting!

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