The modern-day flan came into existence with an amalgamation of savory custard dishes of the Romans and caramel introduced by the Spanish. Soon various regional variations were invented as Flan gained popularity; these included recipes like Flan De Queso, which features cream cheese, Flan Puerto Rican, which involves a spongy bottom layer, and many other recipes with a variety of flavors comprising spices, coconut milk, liqueurs, and citrus flavor. Today we have come up with the 15 best Flan recipes that you can conveniently make in your kitchen by using the best flan pans.
Primarily, the ingredients of this creamy custard dessert are eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla, and caramel sauce. Unlike Crème Brulee, the caramel layer on top and bottom of Flan is loose, containing softly cooked sweet-tasting custard inside. However, slight alterations in the amounts of ingredients used can give different results. Let’s explore the best flan recipes according to the experts without any further ado.
1. Pumpkin Flan

Flan de Calabaza, also famously known as the Pumpkin Flan, is a popular Latin dessert for the fall season. If you are Cuban, you know the start of fall is basically the start of flan season. This year, you can have the exquisite Pumpkin Flan on your table at every party or get together by following our simple yet delicious recipe.
Ingredients:
Unlike traditional custard recipes, you will not need eggs to make Flan de Calabaza. The ingredients that you will need for this recipe are brown sugar, condensed milk, cold milk, pumpkin spice and flesh, cornstarch, and vanilla extract. Condensed milk has most of the water cooked off whereas the evaporated milk does not contain any sugar.
Instructions:
- Cut the pumpkin flesh into pieces and place it in a saucepan.
- Add cinnamon stick and sugar. Cook for around 45 minutes over medium heat.
- Remove the cinnamon stick and drain the material of the saucepan. Place the drained pumpkin into a blender.
- Add 14 oz condensed milk and a pinch of salt. Also, add 50 grams of caster sugar and blend the mixture.
- In a separate dish, mix cold milk with cornstarch
- Pour in a saucepan the mixture of a dish with the mixture from the blender and heat.
- Whisk until you get a thick result. Your Pumpkin custard is ready.
- Pour caramel into the base of your flan pan. Make sure all sides are properly coated.
- Pour the Pumpkin custard you had prepared into the flan pan
- Leave it to cool by placing it in the refrigerator until it is set. Flan de Calabaza is ready to be served.
Watch This Video: How to Make Pumpkin Flan
Related: 25 Boozy cupcake recipe ideas for a party.
2. Coconut Flan

This Latin American Flan Recipe is a simple yet elegant looking luscious dessert that is super easy to make. You can make this treat for any occasion as it involves only a few ingredients that are readily available. Not only that but it only takes you 5 minutes to prepare! Might as well try it today.
Ingredients:
You will require the basic material such as sugar, condensed and evaporated milk, eggs and vanilla extract. The only special ingredients you will need to purchase are coconut milk and shredded coconut flakes.
Instructions:
- While you are working on the mixture, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Make the caramel by heating sugar at medium heat and regularly stirring.
- Evenly coat the sides and bottom of the flan pan with caramel
- Add eggs, evaporated milk, condensed milk, coconut milk and vanilla extract in a blender.
- Pour the blended mixture into a flan pan and place this pan inside a large baking dish half-filled with hot boiling water.
- Bake the flan in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Insert a knife into the pan and if it comes out spotless, your Coconut flan is ready.
- Place the flan in the refrigerator for around 6 hours. To serve, place the bottom of the pan inside hot water and carefully use a knife to separate the sides of the flan from the edges of the pan.
- Invert the pan onto the serving dish and top off your flan with coconut flakes.
Watch This Video: How to Make Coconut flan
Related: Best birthday cupcake recipes you’ll love.
3. Spanish Flan

Flan is originally a Spanish dessert and its recipe is universally loved by all. You can either add flavours to this recipe or make it the traditional Spanish way. In this section, we will discuss the original Spanish way of making this luscious dessert.
Ingredients:
Since this is a pretty basic flan recipe, all you will need are 3 eggs, a cup of white sugar, condensed milk, evaporated milk, and a tablespoon of vanilla extract. It will take an hour and a half to make this recipe.
Instructions:
- Melt sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Evenly coat the flan pan with this hot syrup.
- Mix eggs, condensed milk, vanilla extract, and evaporated milk in a large bowl until you get a smooth mixture.
- Pour the egg mixture into the flan pan and cover the dish with aluminium foil.
- Bake the flan for an hour in the oven you have preheated at 350 degrees F.
- Cool the flan in refrigerated, invert the pan, and serve.
Related: 21 Father’s Day Cake Recipes
4. Caramel Flan

If you prefer desserts that are rich in caramel and cream, you will love this flan recipe. The Caramel Flan recipe works for all sorts of occasions. Just make sure that you don’t burn the caramel syrup or overcook it.
Ingredients:
The special ingredient needed in this recipe is 1 pack of soft cream cheese. Other than that, you need 5 eggs, cans of condensed and evaporated milk and vanilla extract. This recipe will take a total of an hour and a half.
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Make caramel syrup by melting sugar in water for about 15 minutes. Add extra water if crystals start to form. Without any delay pour the syrup into a flan pan, evenly coating it.
- Add the cream cheese to a bowl and beat it until it forms a smooth texture.
- Add the 5 eggs to the cheese, one egg at a time.
- Pour vanilla extract, the can of condensed milk, and evaporated milk. Mix well and add the mixture into the caramel-coated flan pan.
- Place the flan pan into a large baking dish that has been half filled with hot boiling water.
- Bake the large baking dish and the flan pan inside the preheated oven for about one hour.
- Refrigerate the flan overnight. To serve, carefully invert the flan and even spoon caramel sauce over the entire flan.
5. Puerto Rican Flan

As we mentioned earlier, originally when Flan started gaining popularity different regions of the world added slightly different touches to the recipe of flan and gave it a new name. Similar is the case with this recipe. Mostly in Puerto Rico, this creamy dessert is simply known as egg custard.
Ingredients:
The recipe for Puerto Rican Flan is as simple as it gets. All you will need are eggs, salt, vanilla extract, milk, and granulated sugar. That’s it. It will take around an hour maximum to make Puerto Rican Flan.
Instructions:
- Spend approximately 20 minutes carefully melting the sugar over medium-low heat. This is a crucial step in this recipe as you do not want any crystals to form so be patient.
- Shake the pan from time to time until the syrup turns brown. Pour it into a flan pan and evenly coat the sides and the base.
- Add condensed and evaporated milk along with the vanilla extract and half a cup of granulated sugar into a blender and blend until a smooth thick mixture is formed. Pour it into the same flan pan.
- Place the flan pan inside a water bath and bake for an hour and a half. In the end, your flan should look jiggly at the centre.
- Remove the pan from the oven, and flip It so the sauce drizzles over the top of the flan. Allow the flan to cool completely and your Puerto Rican Flan is ready to be served!

6. Cuban Flan

Another regional variety includes the Cuban flan recipe that has been in numerous families for generations. The recipe has been preserved by Cubans and passed down from family to family for years. If you have been on a quest to connect to your roots by finding a Cuban Flan recipe that is authentic, you have come to the right place.
Ingredients:
As we have mentioned above, the ingredients used in most of the flan will remain the same, rather the quantity used will differ. For making Cuban Flan, you will need 5 large eggs, half a teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, a quarter teaspoon of salt, and 14 ounces of sweet, condensed milk, 12 ounces of evaporated milk and ¾ cup of whole milk. Unlike the majority of the Cuban desserts that are cooked in pressure cookers, you can make Cuban Flan in a pre-heated oven.
Instructions:
- Make caramel sauce by melting 1 and a half cups of white sugar and 3 tablespoons of water.
- Cook until yellow liquid forms. Turn off the stove quickly after that to avoid overcooking. Before the sauce hardens, add it swiftly to the flan pan and swirl it all over
- Add all of the ingredients including milk, eggs, and vanilla extract. Use a hand mixer to blend the mixture well.
- Before pouring the mixture into the flan pan with caramel, make sure you remove any bits of egg that were not blended properly. This can ruin the texture of your Cuban Flan.
- Place the flan pan inside a water bath and then bake it in the oven for about 1 hour.
- Stop baking, place aluminium foil over flan pan and again bake for 40 minutes. The texture would no longer be watery and it will not be a hard crust solid either.
- Let the flan cool off for about 2 hours on the counter and then refrigerate the flan overnight or a minimum of 3 hours.
Related: Best cinnamon rolls recipe ideas.
7. Chocoflan

The top-rated modern-day flan recipe would be Chocoflan. It is the true fusion of the best flan recipes around the globe. This creamy, chocolaty, sweet caramel dessert never fails to captivate its audience.
Ingredients:
You will need butter, cocoa powder, buttermilk, quarter cup caramel sauce, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, vanilla extract, and milk. It will take a total of 2 and half hours.
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
- Use a Bundt pan and coat it with butter. Apply a coating of caramel sauce over the coating of butter and put the pan in a water bath or a large baking dish.
- In a separate bowl, mix butter and sugar with a hand mixer. Once the mixture becomes fluffy, add egg, flour, Cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. After thoroughly mixing the flour mixture, add buttermilk and blend well. This is your cake batter
- For the flan, mix evaporate and condensed milk with eggs, vanilla extract, and cream cheese.
- Add the cake batter into the caramel-coated Bundt pan and slowly pour the flan mixture as well.
- Lay aluminium foil on the pan and fill half of the large baking dish with hot water to ensure even heat distribution.
- Bake for 1 hour and let it cool for 1 hour.
- Invert the pan onto the serving dish and the treat is ready to go.
8. Mexicano Flan

Another flan recipe that has been handed down from generation to generation is the Mexican Flan. The original Mexican Flan is a purely vanilla dessert but you can add flavours to it as well. For instance, we added a touch of orange to this creamy caramel treat.
Ingredients:
The special candidates are freshly squeezed orange juice and a tablespoon of grated orange peel. You will also need a tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 cup of heavy cream along with the standard flan ingredients which include egg yolks, vanilla extract, white sugar, whole milk, and condensed milk.
Instructions:
- Make the standard caramel syrup by melting sugar and water until the colour changes. Coat the flan pan with the caramel syrup.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
- Mix condensed milk, whole milk, vanilla extract, and egg yolks in a blender. Gradually add orange juice and the grated orange peel.
- Blend until the mixture becomes smooth. Then add cream and pulse blend several times to get better results.
- Pour the blended mixture into the caramel-coated flan pan. Place the flan pan in a large baking dish with boiling water and bake the flan for 1 hour.
- Once done, let the flan cool for an hour and then freeze for a minimum of four hours.
- Invert the dish and serve the generations-old Mexican Flan.
9. Leche Flan

Resembling a lot of the crème caramel dessert and the most-demanded caramel custard, the Leche Flan is loved by people around the globe, especially in the Philippines as it is a standard item on most restaurant menus. We will shortly share with you how to bake this restaurant-style treat conveniently at your home.
Ingredients:
The defining difference between Leche Flan and crème caramel is the Leche Flan Recipe does not involve heavy use of the cream. However, it still tastes heavy than crème caramel or caramel custards because of the use of condensed sweet milk, egg yolks and evaporated milk.
Instructions:
- Beat the eggs in a bowl and gradually add the condensed milk, vanilla extract, and whole milk. Mix them well and put the mixture aside.
- Apply the caramel sauce to the flan pan.
- Bake the mixture in a water bath and steam it for 30 minutes. Let it cool down for half an hour before serving it.
- Leche Flan Pan can also be used as an ingredient in making Leche Puto or Oven Baked Leche flan that involves the use of an oven instead of a steaming system.
10. Puto Leche Flan Recipe

Another Filipino dessert recipe that is simple to bake and convenient to consume includes the Pluto Flan which is a pale fluffy flan dish. It contains the combination of the taste of velvet creamy caramel taste of Leche Flan and the fluffy porous appearance of a Puto Flan. If you have a sweet tooth, you will love to eat this healthy treat every day.
Ingredients:
You will need two tablespoons of lemon juice, two cups of all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, yellow food colouring, baking powder, a can of condensed milk and 4 eggs.
Instructions:
- Bake the flan first and then cook the Puto. Mix the egg yolks, lemon juice and condensed milk.
- Use a steamer to heat the water to its boiling temperature. Pour the flan mixture into a lightly greased Puto Pan.
- Wrap a towel over the flan pan and steam for about 20 minutes on medium heat until it is not in liquid form anymore.
- In the meanwhile, work on the Puto half of the dish. Add the liquid ingredients to your dry ingredients such as the all-purpose flour and baking powder and mix them well.
- Pour the Puto mixture atop the Leche Flan mixture and steam for another 15 minutes.
- Once a dome starts forming, your sweet dessert is ready.
- Allow it to cool down before you eat for the best taste.
11. Vegan Flan

Next up, we present to you a flan recipe that only requires 15 minutes of preparation time. Our Vegan Flan Recipe is a no-bake dessert that is known to be creamy, sweet yet 100 per cent vegan. This recipe is dairy-free, egg-free, and soy-free. Not just that but it is super easy to make.
Ingredients:
Unlike all of the recipes mentioned on the list. This unique recipe does not involve eggs, milk or even cream. Instead, we have used the vegan substitutes to come up with an ideal vegan flan recipe. You will need Coconut Milk, Cornstarch, Sugar, Maple Syrup, Agar powder and Vanilla extract.
Instructions:
- You will need two saucepans and a stove. No need for a blender or a mixer of any sort. Mix sugar and water and heat it over medium flame to caramelize the mixture.
- Use ramekins instead of a pan and pour the caramel liquid into these dishes. Spread it evenly around the sides and the base by tilting the ramekins
- In a separate saucepan, add coconut milk, salt, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. Stir the mixture on medium heat.
- Just when the mixture starts boiling, turn down the heat and let it cool for about 2 minutes. Pour the flan into ramekins and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours or preferably overnight.
12. Sugar-free Flan

This low carb sugar-free flan is a dream for any diabetic patient that hears the mention of this mouth-watering creamy dessert. In fact, it is an excellent finish to any meal for anyone as it is health-friendly.
Ingredients:
Take a ¼ cup water, half cup Allulose or if it is unavailable you can substitute it with Monkfruit, 2 cups of whipping cream, vanilla extract, salt, and egg yolks.
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Heat Allulose and water over medium heat. Stir slowly for about 15 minutes until it dissolves and a light brown colour emerges.
- Coat around 4 to 5 ramekins with this sugar-free syrup.
- To make flan, whisk the egg yolks with cream, more allulose and salt. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat it over medium flame. Make sure you constantly stir it.
- Add vanilla as per desire and when the taste is just right, stop the heat.
- Pour the entire mixture into the ramekins and place these little pans inside a large baking dish that has been half-filled with boiling water.
- Bake the flan for about 30 minutes. Make sure the flan is jiggly at the centre and not too solid. Refrigerate overnight for better results. Do not freeze this dessert.
13. Ube Flan

This most exquisite looking flan is the mixture of three delicious layers of caramel, flan, and Ube Cake. It is basically a delicious combination of two creamy desserts; the soft cake is topped with a small layer of custard flan.
Ingredients:
You will need the regular ingredients for making caramel and the flan. As for the chiffon layer, make sure you have the cream of tartar and Ube flavouring.
Instructions:
- Create a caramelized layer by melting sugar and water in a round baking pan.
- Create the flan layer by mixing egg yolks, evaporated milk and condensed milk until the colour becomes uniform. Strain the mixture into the caramelized baking plan.
- Next, create the chiffon cake layer by mixing egg yolk and sugar together until froth starts to appear.
- Add Ube flavouring, oil, and more sugar. Blend the mixture constantly
- Blend cake flour and baking powder in a separate bowl and add to the yolk mixture as well. You may use a hand-whisker to get rid of all the lumps that can ruin the texture of the flan.
- Add egg whites to the mixture along with the cream of tartar. Mix until soft peaks appear.
- Add ¼ cup of sugar gradually and thoroughly beat until egg whites start forming soft peaks as well.
- Use a spatula and add the cake batter over the flan later in the caramelized pan until it is completely full.
- Bake the entire Ube Flan Cake for half an hour or until the cake becomes set or jiggly.
- Allow it to cool, invert it and serve the luscious dessert.
14. Cassava Flan

This is another recipe for those of you who are avoiding desserts that are too sweet. Besides being easy to make, Cassava Flan Cake is also among the top delicious flans. It will take less than an hour for you to present it on the table.
Ingredients:
If you are unable to find ready-made cassava, it is not an issue. You can use fresh cassava and then grate it carefully and extract away the excess juice. You will also need 1 can of coconut milk and condensed milk along with butter and sugar.
Instructions:
- Caramelize sugar and water over low heat in a flan pan until the colour changes.
- In a separate bowl, add cassava, eggs, condensed and coconut milk. Stir the mixture.
- Pour the flan mixture into caramelized flan pans or ramekins.
- Place the ramekins in a steamer over moderate heat and steam for about 45 minutes.
- Remove and let it cool completely
- Invert the ramekins and you will observe that the tops are dark solid which is the beauty of it.
Video Recipe:
15. Funfetti Flan Cake

Ideal treat for birthdays and celebrations, Funfetti Flan is a colourful-looking creamy dessert that is not only appealing to the eyes but also delicious to taste.
Ingredients:
You will need half a cup vegetable oil, 3 eggs and a Funfetti cake box to make the cake layer. As for the flan layer, you need eggs, vanilla extract, whole milk and condensed milk.
Instructions:
- Whisk for a couple of minutes Funfetti Cake-Mix, eggs, water, and vegetable oil to make a cake batter.
- Pour the whisked batter into a nonstick Bundt pan and even out the layers.
- Next, use a blender to mix eggs, cream cheese, condensed and whole milk.
- When the blended flan mixture is smooth enough, pour it over the cake batter in the Bundt Pan.
- Make sure that you avoid stirring so that texture remains smooth and no bubbles are formed
- Lay aluminium foil over the pan and place it inside a large baking dish that is half-filled with hot water.
- Place the water bath into the oven with care and bake for around 80 minutes minimum.
- Allow the flan to cool completely overnight. Serve and enjoy the next day.
16. Creamy Caramel Flan
What’s Special?
Creamy Caramel Flan is a super easy and tasty custard dessert recipe, famous in most parts of the world, like South America, Europe, and many more. Caramel Flan is very creamy that has a custard consistency. Its top is covered with sauce. Whenever you shake it, it moves like a wiggly Panna Cota. It serves at family gatherings, birthdays and as wedding cakes. Caramel Flan is a versatile dish with many flavors hidden in it. Flan is not difficult to make; practice and patience are the only requirements.
17. Cheese and Onion Flan

What’s Special
Who says flans only need to be sweet? If you are someone like me, who is more into savory items, This Cheesy flan can be your next breakfast. But don’t mix it up with the classic quiche, as this flan is made differently. Serve with a side of mashed potatoes or fresh salad.
18. Flan de Maracuja (Passion Fruit Flan)

What’s Special
Although classic flans comprise of the custard mixtures only or chocolate occasionally, but experimenting with fruits yielded so many tasty flavors. This one with passion fruit ended up so well i now make it every other day. Serve it with raspberry or blueberry flavored ice-cream for a perfect dessert feel.
19. Carrot Flan

What’s Special
Just on a random Sunday afternoon, i thought to find a use of the leftover carrots, and ended up making a carrot flavored flan. Now every Sunday, my family asks to make me one, and it’s actually fun to experiment with new flavors. And yes! It ended up having a smooth and soft texture.
20. Zucchini Salty Flan

What’s Special
Once i was invited to a potluck party and i took this salted Zucchini flan. It vanished so quickly that even i could not taste a slice of it. And you can serve this to your kids as well, because it has a balanced flavor, which is not too spicy. Serve it as a side with beef steaks or baked chicken.

20 Best Flans You Can’t Resist (Recipes Collection)
Ingredients
- Pumpkin Flan
- Coconut Flan
- Spanish Flan
- Caramel Flan
- Puerto Rican Flan
- Cuban Flan
- Chocoflan
- Mexicano Flan
- Leche Flan
- Creamy Caramel Flan
- Zucchini Salty Flan
- Carrot Flan
- Flan de Maracuja (Passion Fruit Flan)
- Cheese and Onion Flan
How to Make?
- Try these flan recipes as instructed
- Follow the instructions
- Enjoy the best meal you'll love
Video
Nutrition
Conclusion:
You may encounter countless varieties of Flan across countries with many of them having the exact same recipe but different names, such as Vanilla Flan Recipe or the Cuban Flan Recipe or the Mexican Flan Recipe, or they can have slight alterations in the recipe such as the addition of lime juice in making of caramel syrup in Vietnamese Banh Flan Recipe.
If you are making flan for the first time, we recommend going for an easy flan recipe such as the Spanish Flan Recipe or the Caramel Flan Recipe. You may still encounter difficulties in steps like inverting the pan at the end of each process, however, eventually, you will be able to make the best flan recipe yourself.
Tips For Making The Best Flan:
An ideal flan checks all the boxes that make a dessert appetizing and visually appealing. It should be smooth but not too smooth that it would lose its shape; the texture should be creamy but not saccharine. The emphasis should be on the sharp tone of caramel. Additionally, there are three tips that bakers should keep in mind to make sublime flan.
Buy an appropriate Pan
If you are a beginner, start with using small ramekins because it will be much more convenient for you to delicately invert the flan onto your serving dish without damaging the shape. You can also cook evenly thanks to these small dishes. We would only recommend experienced individuals to use large baking pans like a pie pan or a cake pan. This is because although the flan would look much more impressive in appearance, it will require special care and time. It can be difficult to invert a heavy pan without accidentally splitting the custard under the pan’s weight.
Keep flan as smooth as possible
Another tip that can prove very useful is passing the initial mixture of the custard through a sieve plate before you start the baking process. This will remove any bubbles that may present in the flan and your finished flan will appear more finesse and smooth.
Heat evenly
In order to allow equal heat distribution throughout the flan, we recommend using a water bath. Just like how you would cook a cheesecake by placing the pan in boiling water. You can also make a water bath at home simply by setting up the ramekins in a deep baking dish and then filling it up only halfway with hot boiling water. Then place the entire dish in the oven and this will ensure that all parts of the flan are evenly cooked adding to the brilliance of your sweet custard dessert that you can prepare for celebrations or as a weekend treat.
Avoid Eggy flavour
If any recipe is telling you to use more than six eggs for your flan, avoid it. The maximum number of eggs to give appropriate flavour to your flan recipe is 5.
Avoid Grainy texture
Instead of using a whisk which introduces air into your flan causing the formation of grains, use a paddle. Make sure you are not over stirring the mixture but allocate intervals. Avoid high temperatures as well as it can cause your custard to curdle. This is why we always recommend medium heat and the use of a water bath
How we tested the recipes?
Researching is always our first step. We compiled a list of top-ranked flan recipes after having a meeting with a culinary specialist and further narrowed down the list. The selected recipes were sent to our cooks. All of the recipes were then analyzed on the basis of the ingredients they required, cost and availability of the ingredients required and the total time required to make the recipe. The recipes that were most convenient to make with readily available ingredients were then selected.
Why Trust TheLadyChef?
It is our utmost priority to ensure the information that reaches you has been carefully assessed by kitchen experts and is as relevant as possible. From thoroughly researching the recipes to testing them in our kitchen, our experienced team of analysts ensure the filtering of the top-rated recipes on the internet. After the entire process, we finalized a list of the best flan recipes that was then proofread to ascertain utmost accuracy.
The ingredients in this recipe were easy to find at my local grocery store.