The best-tasting vegan butter! It's plant-based, super buttery, smooth, rich & creamy & can be made in minutes. Use it for all of your spreading, baking, and frying needs. This is a real reader favorite with hundreds of five-star reviews. No fancy ingredients are required and it's palm oil-free!
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FEATURED COMMENT
"I'm impressed! When I read all the comments & high ratings about it tasting as good as real butter, I was hopeful but still skeptical…. However, I proved it to myself today. It came out perfectly first go! Follow the well-detailed directions and you can't go wrong!"
- Clare ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ More reviews →
If there is just one new vegan recipe you are going to try this month, let it be this vegan butter. It is life-changing and absolutely tried and true. It has been one of my most popular recipes since 2015 and it comes with hundreds of five-star reviews.
Make it in your blender in minutes and then use it just like regular butter for all of your spreading and baking needs. It's unbelievably smooth, rich, and creamy, and spreads and melts perfectly. You can even use it to make vegan brown butter!
A slice of no knead sourdough bread, toast, or light whole wheat bread just isn't the same without a thick layer of butter and when you make your own you can avoid the palm oil, emulsifiers etc that are in most store bought vegan butters.
Mel x
What Is Vegan Butter Made Of?
So that you get the very best results when making this vegan butter recipe, here are some important notes on the main ingredients:
- Almond flour - This is crucial for the best buttery flavor and emulsification. Almond flour is made from blanched skinless almonds and is super fine, powdery, soft, and pale creamy yellow in colour. It has a mild, buttery flavor. Almond meal on the other hand is made with raw almonds, often with skins still on. It is coarser and grainier than almond flour, slightly stronger in flavor, and darker in color with small brown flecks throughout if the skins were still intact. For best results, you need to use almond flour for this recipe. Almond flour is found in almost all grocery stores and it will be clearly labelled on the bag that it is made from blanched almonds. I buy mine in bulk from Costco but Bob's Red Mill is a popular brand of almond flour carried in most stores in North America. In the UK you can usually find almond flour at Holland and Barrett or you can order it from Amazon.
- Refined coconut oil - Note that it must be refined (i.e flavorless and odourless) and cannot be MCT oil or liquid coconut oil. This is a crucial ingredient and without it the butter won't set.
- Dairy-free milk - For creaminess and emulsification. It should be a neutral tasting milk and it must be unsweetened and unflavored so be careful to check the ingredients. Vanilla and sugar sneak into a lot of plant milks and they really aren't good additions to savory recipes. My preferences are oat milk, soy milk, or cashew milk. I don't recommend using almond milk because it has quite a strong flavor which you can detect in the finished butter.
- Nutritional yeast - Just a touch for a buttery umami flavor.
- Apple cider vinegar - The butter needs some acid to balance the flavors and apple cider vinegar is milder than most other culinary acids which is why it's used here.
- Oil - Any neutral oil such as mild olive oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, or sunflower oil. This is what makes the butter spreadable.
- Turmeric - Used for color. It gives the butter a yellow hue. This is the only ingredient you can safely omit.
You will also need a high-powered blender.
If you have any questions check the FAQs for the most common ones, and if it's not covered there feel free to leave a comment under the recipe. I'll get back to you a.s.a.p.
Serving Suggestions
Slather this vegan butter on bread, scones, and biscuits, and pancakes, and waffles. You can also add it to all of your favorite buttery recipes like vegan mashed potatoes, vegan cream cheese frosting, and lemon curd, and use it in your vegan baking. It's great for cakes, pastry dough, etc. You can even use it to make brown butter!
Recipe FAQS
If you use unrefined or virgin coconut oil, your butter will taste and smell of coconut, not butter. Refined coconut oil has no coconut flavor or smell which is why it is essential for this recipe.
I have a few readers who use ground-up cashew nuts, sunflower seeds, or pine nuts instead of almonds. Almonds give a more buttery flavour but the results are still ok when using these substitutes.
The nutritional yeast helps with the buttery flavor and the butter is at its best when it is included so I highly recommend using it. However, if you omit it the recipe will still technically work, it just won't taste quite as good.
No. Baking yeast and brewer's yeast are completely different from nutritional yeast and will not work in this recipe.
There is no substitute for coconut oil in this recipe. Nothing else will work.
Yes, it bakes perfectly. Use it in cakes, pies and frosting etc as you would regular butter.
Vegan butter and margarine are similar but not the same. Margarine has a really distinctive flavor and a really soft texture that is not like traditional dairy butter. It is also not always vegan. It often contains milk derivatives amongst other things, even the ones that are sometimes labeled as plant-based" so be careful. Look out for ingredients like whey, lactose, and casein. Also, be wary of lecithin and vitamin D3 which can sometimes be derived from animals. My vegan butter recipe is more like dairy butter in flavor and texture than store-bought margarine.
No. The recipe will not set when made with liquid coconut oil.
Recipe
Vegan Butter
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240 mls) refined coconut oil , it must be refined NOT unrefined
- ½ cup (50 grams or 8 tablespoons) almond flour
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (150 mls) dairy-free milk , must be unsweetened & unflavored. See the post above for my fave milks to use.
- 2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 pinch ground turmeric , optional but helps make colour a little more yellow
- ¼ cup (60 ml ml) neutral liquid oil , such as light olive, canola, vegetable, or sunflower oil.
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
Please see the recipe notes before proceeding if you intend on using this butter for frying/sautéing.
- Gently melt the coconut oil. I put it in the microwave on defrost for about 20 seconds but you can also stand the jar in some hot water. Measure it when it's liquid and not solid, then set aside for a few minutes to cool to room temperature. Do not use it while warm or hot.
- Place the almond flour, milk, salt, nutritional yeast, vinegar, and turmeric into a high speed blender and blend until completely smooth. Touch the blender jar and make sure the contents aren't really warm or hot. If they are wait until they are at room temperature again before moving onto the next step.
- Pour in the refined coconut oil and olive oil then blend again until completely emulsified. It's important not to let the contents of the blender get warm/hot so blend in short bursts and give it a break for a minute or two in between if you can feel it getting warm.
- Pour the liquid butter into a container, cover and refrigerate until set.
- Let the butter soften at room temperature for a few minutes before spreading for ultimate creaminess and ease of spreading.
NOTES
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Denise P:lant says
I've made this butter five times now and I can honestly say it is the best vegan butter I have ever made. I have tried numerous other recipes but this one is the best. Thank you A Virtual Vegan for sharing your recipe.
A Virtual Vegan says
I am so glad you love the recipe. It's certainly a game changer! Thanks so much for stopping by to let me know :O)
Laura says
Just made a batch of this butter and it is absolutely awesome!! Thanks for the advice about using silicone ice cube trays: I found some which are about 6" x 4" with 15 little squares, just perfect for a double batch of this recipe. I just left the butter in the tray and placed it, in a zip top bag, in the freezer ... can easily pop out a 1" cube when I want to be a little decadent! Thank you so very much for this recipe.
A Virtual Vegan says
That's so good to hear Laura! It has certainly been a life changing recipe for me. I can't get enough of it on hot toast! I am glad the tip about the ice cube trays helped. It helps me to exercise a little bit of self control when it's frozen. It means I can't just eat it whenever I feel like which would almost certainly be too often if it was in front of me every time I opened the fridge! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave your feedback. I really appreciate it :O)
Melissa says
I was hoping this would work for me but I'm allergic to yeast (which includes vinegar). Is it possible to leave the yeast and vinegar out of this recipe?
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Melissa. Good news..you can still make the butter :O)
The vinegar provides a bit of acidity which this butter needs but I think you could replace that acidity with the same amount of lemon juice and get a good result. As for the nutritional yeast, it is there to add a bit of savoury, buttery flavour and some yellow colour. Leaving it out won't affect how the recipe works but it will affect the flavour a little bit. It won't taste as buttery without it but I am sure it will still be very good. You could always add a little extra turmeric (not too much though as you don't want to taste it) to get the colour a little yellower. I hope that helps.
Emma Crane says
This an amazing recipe. One that I will always use. It's super easy to make and the texture and taste is amazing. Thank you for sharing :-)
A Virtual Vegan says
That is so good to hear Emma. I hope you continue to find many delicious uses for it! Crumpets are in my future very soon after another reader told me how good it is on them! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I really appreciate it :O)
Shannon says
Have you tested this using nondairy milk that does not contain added stabilizers? I'm wondering because your recipe does not call for any emulsifiers. I usually use homemade nondairy milk or store bought soy milk that is "clean" (no gums etc) just out of preference, but I'm a little worried that this recipe won't work properly without that. I would love if you tested it with an emulsifier-free, gum-free nondairy milk and added your results to the recipe notes.
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Shannon. Yes this recipe works with the more natural milks with no added stabilizers. I have made it with my own homemade cashew milk (just cashews and water). Your homemade milk or the soy you buy will be just fine. In this recipe the almonds kind of work as the emulsifier and hold it all together once its been blended up. I will add a note to the recipe :O)
Margaret Wall says
What a great recipe. Thank you so much.
It literally took just the time to measure out the ingredients.
Even prior to adding in the almonds it tastes good.
I will never need to buy Vegan butter again!
Fantastic!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment Margaret. I really appreciate it and am so glad you loved the butter! :O)
Colleen says
Can I use cashews instead of almonds?
A Virtual Vegan says
You can as long as you grind them up into a flour consistency first. They won't give the same buttery flavour as almonds though so bear that in mind.
Karlie says
Is the another non almond nut that would work or taste better? My family has both almond and cashew allergies.
A Virtual Vegan says
Almonds give the best buttery flavour but there are alternatives. I have had readers let me know that they have used hemp seeds, pine nuts (not a nut despite they’re name) or sunflower seeds in place of the ground almonds. As long as you grind them down to a fine flour in a blender or food processor they will be good. Someone even told me yesterday that they used rice flour and had a good result. I think if you can get them, pine nuts would probably lend the best buttery flavour out of them all. Hope that helps!
Mara says
Hi,
This recipe sounds great - I can't wait to try it! I don't like using soy milk though, so do you have any suggestions on a mild tasting nut milk other than the almond/coconut blend? I have hemp milk, but have not tried it yet, so not sure if it's mild tasting.
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Mara. I wouldn't use the hemp milk. It does have a distinctive taste and the flavour might come through in the buns. Coconut milk from a carton (not canned), cashew milk or rice milk would be good as would oat milk. In fact if you have some oats and a blender you can whip some up in minutes. Check out my recipe in the index under 'sips'. Its definitely the cheapest option and is great for baking with. I usually use it but happened to have the almond/coconut blend in the fridge so used that for this recipe instead. I hope that helps. Enjoy the buns and happy Easter! :O)
Courtney says
Hi I really want to try this, but I was wondering can I make it using unrefined coconut oil? It's my understanding that refined coconut oil the process can be quite chemically intensive and that something I want to avoid
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Courtney,
It is totally possible to make this butter with unrefined coconut oil but the finished butter will taste and smell of coconut so won't be butter like.If you are happy with that then by all means go ahead.It kind of depends what you are going to be using it for as to whether it will be ok like that. As for refined coconut oil. not all refined coconut oils are alike! Most are refined using a chemical distillation process dependent on lye or other harsh solvents, or they’re made from the rancid oil byproducts leftover from creating dessicated (dry) coconut flakes. Sadly, these are refined, bleached, and deodorized in an effort to create a palatable product that can be sold to consumers. Many coconut oils are even hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated! Avoid these at all costs. However, there are some quality, non-hydrogenated refined coconut oils available that are refined using a natural, chemical-free cleaning process (usually involving steam and/or diatomaceous earth). I make sure only to only buy these and they are perfectly ok and chemical free. Refined coconut oils do not offer the same health benefits of virgin, completely raw coconut oil, but they are still excellent sources of most of the beneficial fatty acids (like MCTs). I tend to use unrefined coconut oil more as it is nutritionally better for you, but on occasions when I don't want the coconut flavour (like with this butter) I am happy to use naturally refined coconut oil. I nearly always buy Nutiva coconut oil. It comes in unrefined and refined varieties, the coconuts are responsibly sourced (i.e monkey slaves are not used to pick the coconuts unlike 99% of other coconut products) and the refined version is refined with only steam. I hope that help :O)
Courtney says
Wow thank you for your detailed response, I will look more into it! Cheers!
Emma Warrington says
Certainly the easiest vegan butter I've made, with readily available, store cupboard ingredients. But also the tastiest! I'll definitely make it again, and probably double up the recipe and freeze half. Thanks for your ingenuity! Hot buttered toast! Yum!! ????
A Virtual Vegan says
I am so pleased you like it! Hot buttered toast.... Yum. I hadn't had that for over a year and it was so good when I ate it again after creating this recipe! Watch out for Mondays recipe...it is perfect to go with your new butter! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment Emma :0)
A Virtual Vegan says
You are very welcome Natalie. Let me know what you think when you try it!
Nancy says
Love that the recipe doesn't use palm oil, but disappoint to see coconut oil, Which Has its own ethical issues (monkey slaves and other exploitative practices--seriously, research it!). Have you tried any other similar fat (vegetable shortening maybe?)?
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Nancy. I am all too familiar with the terrible practices which go on in the production of coconut oil and I always advocate responsibly sourced brands. It is absolutely possible to buy coconut oil that is produced responsibly and without cruelty to monkeys, or as is sometimes the case, people too. I have done extensive research into this and contacted many companies myself to find out their production/harvesting practices so that I can recommend good and trusted brands here on my blog. Personally I always buy Nutiva coconut oil because it is a brand I trust and one that I know uses responsible farming and harvesting practices.
As for shortening, it's not something I've ever used, but I would imagine after looking at the ingredients of most of them, that they also aren't very ethically processed (they contain palm oil and usally hydrogenated oils too), and if you were to use it to make my recipe you would end up with a butter that has basically the same ingredients as store bought vegan butter, so you might as well save yourself the effort and just buy it ready made from the grocery store.
I hope that helps.
Nancy says
Thanks so much for the detailed response and the valuable resources! I have been trying to research coconut sources myself since being made aware of these issues with difficulty--companies that make some of my favorite products (e.g., Earth Balance, Desert Essense) either never responded or only half responded. Looked like I should have read through your earlier posts sooner! Nonetheless, now I can try this Intruiging recipe comfortably!
A Virtual Vegan says
That's great. I am glad to have helped. I am of the opinion that if a company uses good and ethical harvesting techniques they will be proud of that fact and happy to tell you about it. If they skirt around the issue or only half respond then I think it's fairly safe to assume that they don't use good practices. I'm glad you feel happier about it all now and can eat your coconut products with a clear conscience! Enjoy the recipe!
Michelle McBride says
Is there any substitution to the Coconut oil? I am highly allergic to coconut, but love the idea of homemade vegan butter. Please help! Thank you.
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Michelle. You have to use an oil which will solidify in this recipe otherwise it just won't work. The only two other things that would technically work are palm oil and cocoa butter. Palm oil though is the main reason I created my recipe as I avoid it at all costs due to the terrible destruction it causes to the planet and wildlife (in particular orang-utans). And cocoa butter although it would work will give you an almost white chocolate flavoured spread so not really like butter.So it looks like you'll have to sit this one out. I am so sorry that I don't have better news :O(
Stephanie says
Hi, if you were to bake something with this butter would you put in the exact amount of normal butter that requires on the receipe? Or would the ratio be different? EG// one tablespoon of normal butter equates to how much of vegan butter (specific to cooking) xxx
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Stephanie. I have only tested it in my own baked goods recipes where I would usually use coconut oil. I have subbed it like for like quantity wise and results have been great. If you have a recipe that calls for butter I would just use like for like quantities. I am pretty sure it will work great. Enjoy!
lorna says
How long does it keep fresh ?
A Virtual Vegan says
Hi Lorna. It will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge but also freezes well. Instructions for that are in the post. I make it in silicone ice cube trays, then freeze and just pop out a square every now and again. Otherwise I'd eat far too much of it! It's a strategy that stops me overeating it!! Lol
patricia says
couple of weeks is 2 weeks 3, 4, or 5 week ? and freezes for a month ?
A Virtual Vegan says
I didn't say it freezes for a month. I said it freezes well. I haven't experimented with exactly how long it keeps in the freezer. In my recipe trials I simply froze it for a few days then defrosted it to check how it was. I haven't frozen it for an extended period. Standard dairy butter freezes well for up to 5 months so I would imagine this butter is similar but can't guarantee.
Again as for keeping it in the fridge, I have used mine for a fews weeks no problem. Exact times are impossible to predict as it depends on how old the ingredients used are and how the finished butter is stored. Remember that different fridges run at a different temperatures too. Because of all of these variables I can't give an exact time. I am physically not able to test every eventuality.
patricia says
sorry i didn't form the question well, when i say '' and freezes for a month ?'' its was a question to know how long can we keep in the freezer. Thank you very much for all the information. This better look very nice and awsum, thanks for sharing.
Natalie says
This is amazing Mel! I have no clue how you figured it out :o And it even melts and everything...just wow! So much better than the store-bought stuff!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much Natalie! It was a bit of a throw it all in a blender and hope for the best moment that really worked! I still can't believe it worked so well and I'm sat here as we speak eating it on toast !