Homemade Cool Whip Recipe without Gelatin (2024)

This works great in the Millionaire Pie recipe!

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

So many summer desserts call for Cool Whip that it's almost an essential ingredient to have in the freezer this time of year.

If it isn't available where you live or you prefer to stay away from it you'll be glad to know that homemade Cool Whip is easy to make and works as well in nearly every recipe.

This particular recipe does not call for gelatin so is fine for vegetarians.

Cool Whip Was a Basic Ingredient in the 1960s!

I grew up with a constant supply of Cool Whip in the freezer, especially in summer. It went in Jello salads, frozen pies, on top of strawberries, and hundreds of other recipe that my mother came up with. It often went into my mouth on a spoon, to be honest.

When I had my own kitchen I moved away from many of the ingredients of my mid-century childhood - things like cream of mushroom soup, margarine, and ... yep... this stuff.

The thing is whipped cream, while certainly rich and luscious, doesn't hold up well for any length of time. In fact, it's often deflated and watery by the next day.

Boo!

Why this Recipe IS Simply the Best

This homemade Cool Whip won't do that. It will hold up for several days and can be gently mixed into many different desserts. A big plus for me is that it doesn't contain gelatin and can be thrown together in seconds. Store it in the refrigerator tightly covered.

Heck, you can even store it in an old Cool Whip tub. I've been making this recipe since sometime in 1980 and it's my favorite for when I'm not using plain whipped cream.

What Are the Ingredients for Cool Whip?

If you were to read the ingredients on a tub of Cool Whip they'd look something like this -

Water, hydrogenated vegetable oil, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, skim milk, light cream and less than 2% sodium caseinate (a milk derivative), natural and artificial flavor, xanthan and guar gums, polysorbate 60, sorbitan monostearate and beta carotene (as a coloring).

When this easy dessert topping was first invented in the mid-1960s it didn't contain milk products and was truly dairy free.

Luckily homemade Cool Whip has ingredients that you can actually find in the store and even pronounce.

This is likely one of the easiest recipes on Restless Chipotle so no need for extensive instructions but there are some tips that will make it even easier AND some cool (whip - get it? cool whip?) variations.

• Cool Whip has a heavy vanilla flavor. Adjust the flavor of your homemade version by adding more or less vanilla.
• You can add a little almond flavoring.
• If you are using it in a tropical or coconut dessert use coconut flavoring.
• While you can keep this in the refrigerator for several days I wouldn't recommend freezing it. The texture will change just a bit.
• Use extra fine sugar to ensure a creamy texture. If you don't have extra fine sugar blend sugar up in the blender.

When you know how to make Cool Whip you'll have a fresh version any time you happen to need it!

More Copycat Recipes

There are a lot of things you buy that you actually can easily make at home - and they taste so much better! Here are some more of the copycat recipes found here on Restless Chipotle.

• Just like the food court at the mall! Bourbon Chicken
• Cut these in any shape you like. Copycat Zebra Cakes
• What would Thanksgiving be without the green bean casserole? Copycat French's Onions
• You can have your favorite scones anytime of the year! Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Scones
• Love the food at the State Fair? Try these Copycat Deep Fried Oreos... so good.
• A little spicy, a lot crunchy! Copycat Popeye's Chicken Strips
• So sweet and light! Copycat Twinkies Cupcakes
• Starbucks doesn't make these anymore but you can still enjoy them! Copycat Petite Vanilla Scones

This quick and easy Homemade Cool Whip recipe is a great substitute for Cool Whip in no-bake pies and desserts, as a whipped topping, or as a filling for cakes -although for cakes you might want to use a little more instant pudding mix and Confectioner's sugar instead of superfine sugar.

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!

If you love this recipe please give it a 5 star rating.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

First published May 22, 2018. Last updated June 30, 2021 to add ingredients list.

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