Is Betty Crocker Frosting Vegan? Everything You Need To Know

The Betty Crocker brand is well known for their pre-packaged cake mixes, brownie mixes, cookie mixes & ready made frostings. The majority of beginner bakers start out using these box mixes and frostings before they learn how to make them from scratch. But what about if you’re vegan- is Betty Crocker frosting vegan? Keep reading to find out!

If you’re new to vegan baking, you’re probably spent a lot of time trying to learn which ingredients are suitable and which are not. Many of the pre-made frostings, sprinkles, food colourings and cake decorations on the shelves contain animal products or e-numbers that are animal-derived.

There’s a lot to learn and sometimes it can feel a little bit overwhelming. I’ve written this post for my fellow lazy bakers who prefer their desserts quick and easy. So that the next time you’re at the supermarket, you’ll know which Betty Crocker icings you can pop in your trolley without having to study the ingredients list of each one. Whether you prefer chocolate frosting, cream cheese frosting or vanilla buttercream, you’ll learn everything you need to know in this post.

Please note that I’ve only written about the Betty Crocker icing pots in the UK. Frostings in the US may contain different ingredients despite being the same flavour.

Is Betty Crocker Frosting vegan?

Yes, Betty Crocker has many accidentally vegan frostings! This means that they were not intentionally made as a vegan product but they do not contain any animal-derived ingredients.

All of the Betty Crocker icings in the UK do come with a ‘may contain milk’ warning. This doesn’t mean they’re made with milk, it just means there is a risk of cross contamination due to milk-containing products being made in the same vicinity. If you have a milk allergy, you’ll obviously want to avoid these frostings. Instead, you can make your own frosting at home using any of these icing and frosting recipes.

Betty Crocker frosting ingredients

Let’s take a look at the ingredients in all of the flavours sold in the UK. These are the ingredients listed on the Betty Crocker UK website and are correct at the time of writing (Feb 2023).

Vanilla buttercream icing

Sugar, Palm Oil, Water, Invert Sugar Syrup, Emulsifiers: E471, E435, E481, Salt, Colours: E171, E160a, Preservative: E202, Stabiliser: E450, Acidity Regulators: E524, E330, Flavouring

Betty Crocker vanilla buttercream is vegan.

Cream cheese icing

Sugar, Palm Oil, Water, Invert Sugar Syrup, Emulsifiers: E471, E435, E481, Flavouring, Salt, Colours: E171, E160a, Preservative: E202, Stabiliser: E450, Acidity Regulators: E524, E330

Betty Crocker cream cheese frosting is vegan.

Velvety vanilla icing

Sugar, Palm Oil, Water, Invert Sugar Syrup, Emulsifiers: E471, E435, E481, Salt, Flavouring, Colours: E171, E160a, Preservative: E202, Stabiliser: E450, Acidity Regulators: E524, E330 

Betty Crocker vanilla icing is vegan.

Tempting chocolate icing

Sugar, Palm Oil, Water, Invert Sugar Syrup, Fat-Reduced Cocoa Powder, Emulsifiers: E471, E435, E481 Salt, Flavouring, Preservative: E202, Stabiliser: E450, Acidity Regulators: E330, E524 

Betty Crocker chocolate icing is vegan.

Chocolate & hazelnut icing

Sugar, palm fat, water, invert sugar syrup, fat-reduced cocoa powder, corn starch, emulsifier (E471, E435, E481), salt, preservative (E202), stabiliser (E450), acidity regulators (E330, E524), flavourings

Betty Crocker chocolate hazelnut icing is vegan.

Chocolate fudge icing

Sugar, Water, Palm Oil, Fat-Reduced Cocoa Powder, Invert Sugar Syrup, Emulsifiers: E471, E435, E481, Salt, Preservative: E202, Stabiliser: E450, Acidity Regulators: E330, E524

Betty Crocker chocolate fudge icing is vegan.

Lemon icing

Sugar, Palm Oil, Water, Invert Sugar Syrup, Emulsifiers: E471, E435, E481, Salt, Colours: E171, E160a, Natural Citrus Flavouring, Preservative: E202, Stabiliser: E450, Acidity Regulators: E524, E330

Betty Crocker lemon icing is vegan.

Salted caramel icing

Sugar, palm fat, water, invert sugar syrup, corn starch, salt, emulsifiers (E471, E435, E481), colour (E150c), preservative (E202), stabiliser (E450), flavouring, acidity regulator (E524)

Betty Crocker salted caramel icing is vegan.

Coffee icing

Sugar, Palm Oil, Water, Invert Sugar Syrup, Emulsifiers: E471, E435, E481, Salt, Preservative: E202, Colour: E150c, Flavouring, Stabiliser: E450, Acidity Regulators: E524, E330

Betty Crocker coffee icing is vegan.

What about the e-numbers?

As I mentioned earlier in the post, some e-numbers can be derived from animal sources but this is not the case with those in Betty Crocker frostings. Let’s take a look at that.

• E150c. This is also known as ammonia caramel, baker’s caramel or confectioner’s caramel and it’s vegan-friendly.
• E160a. Other names for this e-number are alpha-carotene, Gamma-carotene or Beta-carotene. It’s vegan-friendly.
• E171. This is titanium dioxide which is vegan.
• E202. Potassium Sorbate. Vegan-friendly.
• E330. This is also known as citric acid and is vegan.
• E435. The e-number is polyoxyethylene 20 sorbitan monostearate. It can be derived either from vegetable oils or animal fat. Since Betty Crocker icings are suitable for vegetarians, we can be sure that their E435 comes from plant sources.
• E450. Also known as diphosphates. Vegan.
• E471. Mono & diglycerides of fatty acids. Like E435, this can either come from vegetable oils or animal fat. Again, because the frostings are vegetarian, we can assume this ingredient comes a from a plant source.
• E481. Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate. The same applies to this one as E435 and E471.
• E524. This is sodium hydroxide and it is vegan-friendly.

Summary

So, is Betty Crocker frosting vegan? Yes. All of the Betty Crocker icing flavours sold in the UK are suitable for vegans and vegetarians. They do not contain milk or any e-numbers that are derived from animal sources. This product is best avoided if you have milk allergies because there is a risk of cross contamination, as marked on the packaging.