The ultimate Filipino summertime treat, halo-halo (ha-loh - ha-loh) is a delicious way to cool down. This vegan halo-halo layered with a bunch of things, such as sweet beans, jelly, fruits, shaved ice and drizzled with milk. Let’s not forget the best parts, the toppings, ube ice cream, and Leche flan!
What is halo-halo?
Halo (ha-loh) means to mix, so in English it means mix-mix. Yes, a mix-mix dessert, and there’s a good reason for why it’s named that way. This dessert is a concoction of various and colorful medley of sweet treats, put all together into one cold delicacy! There are countless variations of halo-halo, but the basis of it is shaved ice, evaporated milk, ice cream, and loaded with different mix-ins.
These mix-ins range from sweet red beans, white beans, sweetened coconut shreds, jelly, and fruit. But, this doesn’t mean you need to have all of these in your dessert! The fun part of halo-halo is that it's totally customizable. I’ve seen some with sweet corn, corn flakes, rice puffs, jackfruit, cooked sweet yams, etc.
Halo-halo is my favorite summertime childhood treat. I spent a lot of my summers in the Philippines, and knowing how hot it is over there, my grandma would always buy halo-halo almost every afternoon. The best halo-halo is the ones you could buy from the street stands. They put so much effort and love into their food, you know it's always gonna be good.
How to make vegan halo-halo?
Simply layer the different ingredients in a tall glass and top it off with shaved ice.
However, if you're like me and don't own a shave ice machine, I created another version of shave ice. I based this shaved ice off of milk bingsu, Korean shaved ice, which is practically a type of halo-halo! But basically, you mix some non-dairy milk, coconut condensed milk, and sugar in a bag. Freeze overnight, and smash the frozen milk until you get a soft texture!
Don’t forget the best part!
Ube ice cream and leche flan of course! Luckily for you, I already have recipes that exist for both of these. You can check out the recipes here:
I highly recommend making these the day before you plan to make halo-halo.
If you’d tried this recipe out let me know in the comments! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @flouredframe and don’t forget to tag me when you create my recipes! Happy summer!
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Halo-Halo (Filipino Shaved Ice Dessert)
Equipment
- Large measuring cup
- Whisk
- Freezer safe bag
- Tall glass
- Ice cream scoop
Ingredients
Milk Shaved Ice (Skip if you own a shaved ice machine)
- 1 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon coconut condensed milk
Mix-ins (see notes)
- Sweet red bean ( )
- Sweet white beans
- Coconut gel (Nata de coco https://amzn.to/3yCB8DG)
- Macapuno strings
- vegan pandan jelly (you can use my recipe)
- Non-dairy milk (I used soy)
- Coconut condensed milk
- vegan Leche flan (you can use my recipe)
- vegan ube ice cream (you can use my recipe)
Other optional mix-ins
- bananas, jackfruit, sweet corn, cornflakes, rice puff cereal, sago or tapioca pearls, ube jam (ube halaya), etc.
Instructions
The day before:
- Make the Leche flan, vegan ube ice cream, and pandan jelly. Links to the recipes above.
- Next, make your milk shaved ice. In a small bowl, add the non-dairy milk, sugar, and coconut condensed milk. Mix to combine.
- Then pour in a reusable zip bag, and set it in the freezer for a few hours or until frozen.
The next day:
- An hour before serving, remove the ube ice cream from the freezer to soften.
When you are ready to serve:
- Layer the sweet red beans, sweet white beans, coconut gel, macapuno strings, and pandan jelly in a tall glass.
- Next, remove the frozen milk from the freezer and crush it up in the bag. I like to use the end of a wooden spoon to do this, or if you're strong enough if you crush it with your hands!
- Crush the frozen milk until you get a soft texture that resembles shaved ice, and add it into your glass until it reaches the rim. If you have a shave ice machine, you can skip this step.
- Pour some non-dairy milk over top and some coconut condensed milk.
- Add a scoop of ube ice cream and a slice of Leche flan. Serve immediately!
Notes
- The mix-ins do not have exact measurements as it's up to your own preference. Add as much or as little as you want! This dessert is customizable
- Also, all these mix-in ingredients can also be found at your local Filipino store or any Asian supermarket that sells Filipino products, such as 99 Ranch or H-Mart.
Freija says
I really want to try this! I just had a drink with nata de coco for the first time and I loved it so I was googleing some info and then learned about Halo-Halo.