That Girl Cooks Healthy

  • Home
  • About Me
    • FAQ/Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
    • Work With Me
  • Recipe Index
  • Useful Articles
  • 7 Day Detox Juicing Meal Plan
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • About Me
    • FAQ/Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
    • Work With Me
  • Recipe Index
  • Useful Articles
  • 7 Day Detox Juicing Meal Plan
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About Me
    • FAQ/Disclaimer
    • Privacy Policy
    • Work With Me
  • Recipe Index
  • Useful Articles
  • 7 Day Detox Juicing Meal Plan
×
BLANK » Recipe Index » Caribbean Dishes

Jamaican Bread Pudding Recipe (Vegan and Gluten Free)

September 9, 2023 by Charla 12 Comments

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Learn how to make a vegan rendition of the infamous Jamaican bread pudding. A really simple yet delicious recipe made with bread, mixed fruit, spices and sweet coconut milk. Served with an optional rum sauce.

Bread pudding in an oven proof dish with rum sauce.

Hands down, Jamaican bread pudding is highly underrated, you won't really see it being served in many restaurants or food shacks.

The best way to get some is through an event or more commonly by going to someones house.

My immediate family don't really request bread pudding very often. They would easily choose sweet potato pudding or cornmeal pudding instead.

More often, I make bread pudding when we have guests and now that more of my guests are living alternative lifestyles i.e vegan, I adapt the pudding to cater to their needs.

Bread pudding is incredibly easy and not to mention fun to make. Depending on what your preferred texture is, you can get your children to help with squashing the bread when it's mixed together with the liquid.

If you have some leftover or more specifically stale bread, then don't throw it away, instead make use of it by making this bread pudding.

Your family and friends will love it and thank you for introducing them to it, they will be blown away with how foolproof my vegan rendition is.

No one will notice the omission of eggs, I promise you that!

Ingredients that are needed to make the bread pudding.

Recipe preparation

Just like many recipes, many Jamaican people have their own personal twist on bread pudding.

With some adding a little bit of this and that and so fourth. No one truly makes it the same and you may even notice that the appearance may differ.

Some look more like a pie, while others take on a more breaded, rustic topping.

My version is vegan, I use vegan, gluten bread that is store bought because I haven't managed to make a loaf recipe (yet).

I slice the bread into small squares and leave the crust on, some people like to trim off the edges but I don't mind them being part of the recipe and have had no complaints.

The bread is added to a large enough bowl to accommodate the chopped up bread.

In a separate bowl or a jug, whisk together the rest of the ingredients after blitzing it in the your blender.

You will notice that instead of using eggs to bind the pudding together I used ground flaxseed, when incorporated into the liquid it become slightly gelatinous and bind everything together.

The coconut milk gives it more flavour, you don't have to use coconut milk but I prefer to.

The next thing you need to do is pour the entire liquid contents over the bowl with the bread.

Here comes the fun part, if you have children you can get them involved in breaking down the bread.

Close up of the bread pudding

The key here is to ensure the bread is fully saturated, I used a potato masher but you can grab some gloves and squash the bread using your hands.

I only breakdown about half to ¾ of the bread because I like to reserve some of the crusty pieces of the bread, for the topping.

Then I pour the sinto a 9x9 square oven proof baking dish I use my hands to arrange the bits of bread that wasn't broken down so that it forms part of the topping.

My bread pudding usually takes roughly over an hour to thoroughly bake, but as with most baked goods, baking time may vary, so keep that in mind.

The steps

Steps 1-4 Mixing the wet ingredients in a blender
  • Preheat the oven to 180C/356F.
  • Place the chopped bread in a large bowl and set aside.
  • Place the coconut milk, raw cane sugar, ground flaxseed, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice in a blender and blitz until smooth.
  • Transfer into a large jug or a bowl then mix together with the mixed fruit and rum essence.
  • Pour the liquid into the bowl with the bread.
Steps 5-8 mashing the bread with the liquid
  • Use either your hands (with gloves on) or a potato masher to breakdown the majority of the bread until it is fully saturated (I like to leave some pieces of bread whole and use it for the topping).
  • Pour the mixture into a square 9x9 oven proof baking dish and arrange the pudding so that chopped pieces of bread are on top.
  • Bake for roughly 60-70 minutes (mine took just under an hour to bake) or until the bread pudding is golden brown. If the pudding hasn't cooked after the given time, loosely cover with foil and check it is ready in 15 minute intervals.
Steps 9-12 making the rum sauce
  • Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool down before slicing/serving.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the optional sauce.
  • Add the coconut milk, dairy free butter and sugar in a medium sized saucepan and bring to the boil while stirring.
  • Once boiled, reduce the heat and simmer (while stirring) for 20 minutes until the sauce has darkened and thickened
  • Stir in the rum essence once the sauce is ready.

Notes and tips

  • Use whatever gluten free/vegan bread that you want.
  • Be sure to use ALL parts of the bread, let nothing go to waste!
  • I use rum essence but you can use actual Jamaican dark rum instead if you want to.
  • Any leftovers should be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
  • For best results, make sure to use a square oven proof dish i.e 8x8 or 9x9.
  • To re-heat, cover the oven proof dish with foil and heat in the oven for a few minutes.
  • You can use another type of plant based milk like Almond Milk, if you want to.
  • You can chop the bread up into giant chunks or small pieces.
  • When breaking down the bread, if you want your bread pudding to be smoother then you need to breakdown all of the bread.
Pouring the sauce onto the bread pudding.

More Jamaican desserts to try

  • Jamaican Rum Cake
  • Sorrel Cake
  • Jamaican Sweet Potato Pudding
  • Sorrel Cookies
  • Jamaican fruit Cake
  • Jamaican Cornmeal Pudding
  • Jamaican Carrot Cake
  • Coconut Drops
  • Peanut Drops
  • Grater Cake

**Please comment below and star rate if you have tried my recipes. Support my website by leaving a donation through Buying Me a Coffee. A site to show your appreciation of my hardwork over the years.  Let's be friends and engage on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram I also like to pin on Pinterest, where you can find more amazing recipes.**

Bread pudding in an oven proof dish

Jamaican Bread Pudding Recipe (Vegan and Gluten Free)

Learn how to make a vegan rendition of the infamous Jamaican bread pudding. A really simple yet delicious recipe made with bread, mixed fruit, spices and sweet coconut milk. Served with an optional rum sauce.
5 from 7 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Baked goods
Cuisine: Jamaican
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 728kcal
Author: Charla

Ingredients

  • 1 lb vegan gluten free bread (450g) chopped
  • 3 cups coconut milk (678g)
  • ¾ cup raw cane sugar (150g)
  • ¼ cup ground flaxseed (40g)
  • ¼ teaspoon pink salt (1.5g)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla (4g)
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg (2g)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon (2g)
  • 1 teaspoon mixed spice (2g)
  • 1 tablespoon rum essence (13g)
  • 1 cup dried mixed fruit (40g)

For the optional rum sauce

  • 14 oz full fat coconut milk (400ml)
  • ¼ cup raw cane sugar (50g)
  • ¼ cup vegan butter (28g)
  • 1 tablespoon rum essence (13g)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180C/356F.
  • Place the chopped bread in a large bowl and set aside.
  • Place the coconut milk, raw cane sugar, ground flaxseed, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice in a blender and blitz until smooth.
  • Transfer into a large jug or a bowl then mix together with the mixed fruit and rum essence.
  • Pour the liquid into the bowl with the bread.
  • Use either your hands (with gloves on) or a potato masher to breakdown the majority of the bread until it is fully saturated (I like to leave some pieces of bread whole and use it for the topping).
  • Pour the mixture into a square 9x9 oven proof baking dish and arrange the pudding so that chopped pieces of bread are on top.
  • Bake for roughly 60-70 minutes (mine took just under an hour to bake) or until the bread pudding is golden brown. If the pudding hasn't cooked after the given time, loosely cover with foil and check it is ready in 15 minute intervals.
  • Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool down before slicing/serving.
  • Meanwhile, prepare the optional sauce.
  • Add the coconut milk, dairy free butter and sugar in a medium sized saucepan and bring to the boil while stirring.
  • Once boiled, reduce the heat and simmer (while stirring) for 20 minutes until the sauce has darkened and thickened.
  • Stir in the rum essence once the sauce is ready.

Notes

  • Use whatever gluten free/vegan bread that you want.
  • Be sure to use ALL parts of the bread, let nothing go to waste!
  • I use rum essence but you can use actual Jamaican dark rum instead if you want to.
  • Any leftovers should be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
  • For best results, make sure to use a square oven proof dish i.e 8x8 or 9x9.
  • To re-heat, cover the oven proof dish with foil and heat in the oven for a few minutes.
  • You can use another type of plant based milk like Almond Milk, if you want to.
  • You can chop the bread up into giant chunks or small pieces.
  • When breaking down the bread, if you want your bread pudding to be smoother then you need to breakdown all of the bread.

Nutrition

Calories: 728kcal | Carbohydrates: 86g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 36g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 497mg | Potassium: 513mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 567IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 169mg | Iron: 7mg
Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Mention @ThatGirlCooksHealthy or tag #ThatGirlCooksHealthy!

More Caribbean Dishes

  • Jamaican Boiled Dumplings (Gluten Free)
  • Caribbean peanut punch
    Caribbean Peanut Punch
  • A single bowl of conch salad
    Bahamian Conch Salad Recipe
  • A bowl of different chopped fruit
    Tropical Fruit Salad

About Charla

I'm Charla. Caribbean foodie & Certified Health Coach. Welcome to the heaven of gluten and dairy free recipes as well as modernised healthier alternatives to some of your favourite Caribbean recipes.

Comments

  1. Dina and Bruce says

    October 01, 2023 at 4:46 pm

    5 stars
    Loved this. I used golden raisins in this. So good.

    Reply
    • Charla says

      October 01, 2023 at 4:50 pm

      No problem! Thanks for the feedback.

      Reply
  2. Suja md says

    October 01, 2023 at 3:27 pm

    5 stars
    Outstanding recipe thanks so much! tasted so much good!

    Reply
    • Charla says

      October 01, 2023 at 4:08 pm

      Thanks Suja

      Reply
  3. Tara says

    October 01, 2023 at 2:32 pm

    5 stars
    This Jamaican Bread Pudding looks so good Charla! I absolutely love all those flavors and especially the tips to help make it perfect.

    Reply
    • Charla says

      October 01, 2023 at 2:33 pm

      Thank you so much Tara

      Reply
  4. Lynne says

    October 01, 2023 at 2:13 pm

    5 stars
    I loved the taste of coconut milk in this recipe! So delicious!

    Reply
    • Charla says

      October 01, 2023 at 2:23 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  5. Jacqueline says

    October 01, 2023 at 12:44 pm

    5 stars
    That's just calling out for a jug of warm vegan custard. Mmmmm!

    Reply
    • Charla says

      October 01, 2023 at 1:23 pm

      Haha most definitely!!

      Reply
  6. Christina says

    September 10, 2023 at 8:14 pm

    5 stars
    Highly allergic to cane sugar– could I use coconut sugar or maple sugar instead?

    Reply
    • Charla says

      September 10, 2023 at 8:18 pm

      Hi Christina, yes, you can use coconut sugar or maple syrup for this recipe.

      Reply
5 from 7 votes (1 rating without comment)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




a picture of Charla

Hey, I'm Charla!

I'm an avid Caribbean foodie. Welcome to the haven of gluten and dairy free recipes as well as modernised healthier alternatives to some of your favourite Caribbean recipes.

About me

Popular

  • 2 tacos garnished on a plate
    Gluten Free Vegan Tacos
  • Tuna Steaks Recipe
  • pudding in a white bowl
    Avocado Lime Pudding
  • Chicken dinner in a bowl
    Cajun Chicken Bowls
  • A stack of roti
    Keto Roti Recipe with Almond Flour
  • A blue bowl of mixed salad with chicken
    Mango Chicken Salad

As Featured In

Footer

↑ back to top

Featured In

About

  • Privacy Policy

Contact

  • Contact
  • FAQ

Copyright © 2025 That Girl Cooks Healthy

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.