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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Ashley vn says
I LOVE this recipe. It is truly delicious. Have you had success using it as a butter replacement in baked goods, etc without issues? I haven't tried that yet.
Butter was something that I truly miss and didn't want to support the vegan ones that use palm oils.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thats awesome. I'm so glad you are enjoying it. It does work perfectly in baked goods and for things like frosting. Have fun experimenting!
Jennifer Unangst says
I am new to all of this and this was delicious and tastes great!! I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk so I'm not sure how it would taste with cashew milk...I'll try that next time. This is awesome!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it Jennifer.
Kayla K. says
I have a question before I make this, and hopefully someone who has can answer: does it get really hard and unspreadable being stored in the fridge like regular butter does? I’ve recently decided to make the jump from vegetarian to vegan, but my husband is very hesitant. So I’m trying to find good replacements for our household to prove to him that veganism isn’t as bad as he’s thinking. Currently we leave our butter out on the counter in a butter dish (I know, shame on me) that way it’s soft and spreadable. How about with this butter?
A Virtual Vegan says
This butter does get hard in the fridge. I usually take it out about 20 minutes before I'm going to use it unless it's going on something hot. You could make it less hard by upping the amount of olive oil and reducing the coconut oil but I haven't personally done that so I'm not sure on exact quantities.
Rachel Simpson says
This recipe is absolutely brilliant. Butter, for me, has been the hardest thing to replace as shop bought margarines taste so gross (and palm oil, ugh). Your recipe has saved the day! It was easy to make and I've even been eating it straight up on toast. No way would I do that with shop bought stuff.
For anyone wondering, I made this in my Nutribullet without too much trouble (though it's a little more annoying removing and replacing the lid when there's liquid inside). I used half a teaspoon of Maldon sea salt, but next time I'll use a little less (maybe Maldon tastes saltier?. A little over a quarter teaspoon would be enough for me I think.
I'm never buying margarine again!
A Virtual Vegan says
That's awesome Rachel. I'm so pleased you are enjoying it! I couldn't go back to store bought vegan margarines again after eating this either. I love Maldon salt. I used to use it all the time when I lived in England. I don't often buy it here because it's pretty expensive. Was it the flakes or crystals? There is a chance they are saltier than regular ground sea salt. I tend to buy Bob's Red Mill salt and that's what I used when creating the recipe.
Rachel says
It's the Maldon flakes I'm using. It's good stuff :)
Patricia says
This stuff is AMAZING. I am on a 30 day plant based diet and was a bit sceptical about this... I love butter... don’t judge me lol.... but WOW. Just wow. It. Tastes. Like. Butter. I’m floored. Thank you for making this experience so much easier ????
A Virtual Vegan says
Good for you, and I'm so glad that my butter recipe is making it easier for you. I loved butter before I was vegan too, which is why I created this recipe. There really is no need to go without anything when you are plant-based. Almost everything can be 'veganized'. I hope you enjoy your 30 days and consider carrying on after that!
Philippa says
Hi, I am uk-based and made with local cold-pressed rapeseed oil as it has a mild flavour and deep yellow colour - worked really well! I love this recipe, thank you. :-)
Philippa says
Meant to say, I used oatmilk successfully, too...
A Virtual Vegan says
So glad you are enjoying it Philippa!
Molly says
Can I use cashews instead of almond meal? Really looking forward to trying this!!
A Virtual Vegan says
You can but the flavour is much better with almonds.
Heather Reader says
Hi Mel
I'm planning on making this as I so rarely use margarine, and it is freezable so when friends visit, I will have some spread to hand. My question is as you say to use as you would marg/butter for cooking/baking does it work well if used to make butter icing for frosting? I'm guessing yes but wanted to be sure lol.
Cheers and Happy New Year :)
Hev
A Virtual Vegan says
Happy new year to you too! This butter recipe works perfectly for frosting. It hold up really well. I used it in this cake recently: https://avirtualvegan.com/earl-grey-vegan-cake-lemon-frosting/ and the frosting piped perfectly but I did need to refrigerate the piping bag every so often during frosting as my hand heat made it a little too soft for it to hold it's shape. That probably would happen with store bought alternatives too though and if you were just spreading it on and not taking ages piping patterns like me you wouldn't run into that problem.
Sarah Weller says
Hi Mel
I'm trying veganuary and although a vegetarian I am a big fan of butter and eggs. I made this last night and although I was dreading it (sorry!) it was actually OK. I used unrefined coconut oil because that's all I had but it was OK.
Will try to source refined for the next batch. Thanks again for the recipe!
A Virtual Vegan says
You're welcome. I'm so glad you were happy with it. You will notice a massive difference when you get some refined coconut oil. When you use unrefined it doesn't really taste very buttery because the coconut flavour and smell hide it. You'll see what I mean!
Mary says
I love this butter I have made it several time today it's in process thank you so much
A Virtual Vegan says
So glad you are enjoying it!
mary says
Thank you so much for this wonderful better-butter recipe! It has all the mouth feel and drippy salty yum-ness I crave on baked sweet potatoes and mmm some gluten free oatmeal muffins right out of the oven. I found that one batch of this made plenty for me to use daily for just over two weeks (have not baked with it yet, that will be fun!). The coconut oil is much easier to digest than dairy... excellent for my eating protocol to help heal my poor sad gut. Major appreciation to people like you out there putting together these recipes and helping us all get healthy!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much Mary! I'm thrilled you are enjoying it so much. Happy new year to you!
Hannah says
Hi there, can I use unrefined coconut oil instead?
A Virtual Vegan says
It technically works with unrefined but it will taste and smell of coconut. To get the best buttery result it needs to be refined coconut oil.
Janie says
Love this recipe!! Wonderful flavor. I’m just enjoying the last of my first batch on a sourdough baguette. Another batch...coming right up! This will become a staple in our house. Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased you are enjoying it Janie! You can't get a much better accompaniment to it than a fresh sourdough baguette either. My weakness is good bread and butter! Thank you so much for stopping by to leave feedback!
Jess says
This recipe is amazing! I couldn’t believe how thick and buttery it turned out. Took 5 minutes and was easy. Taste really good.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
MJudge says
Regarding the Easy Vegan Butter recipe, I have a dilemma. I am allergic to wheat, palm oil and coconut oils. They give me hives. My 8 year old grandson is now dairy free. What can I do for butter that we both can use? Can I substitute the coconut oil in this recipe for another, ie, avocado, grape seed oils? Thank you..
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm afraid that it isn't possible to make this recipe without the coconut oil. It is needed to set the butter. Sorry!
Michelle says
You could try food grade babassu oil? it has a very similar texture, consistency, and melting point as coconut oil, and a mild flavor.
francesca says
Hey Mel, I wanted to drop by and thank you for this amazing, easy and foolproof recipe! Made it last night in just under 5 minutes, and enjoyed it this morning on a lightly toasted, warm baguette (here in France it's a pretty typical breakfast).
So thank you, I'll probably be making this all the time now, instead of buying commercial non-dairy butter
♥
ps: happy holidays!!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much Francesca! Personally I think the best way to eat it is on fresh bread and I'm slightly jealous you have a freshly baked French baguette! I love the bread in France! I'm so glad you are enjoying the recipe and thank you so much for stopping by to leave feedback. I really appreciate it. Happy holidays to you too!
MissB says
Would this butter work for making pastry or vegan croissants?
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes it's great for all kinds of baking. I regularly make pastry and croissants with it.
Kate says
Can you bake with it?
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes you can bake with it. It's great in cakes, cookies etc and for frosting!
Sophia Greacen says
This sounds perfect! Do you think it would also be suitable to whip into a buttercream? I’m trying to shock my family with a decadent vegan cake but I don’t want butter with palm oil in it!
A Virtual Vegan says
It works perfectly for buttercream! I used it in this recipe https://avirtualvegan.com/earl-grey-vegan-cake-lemon-frosting/ .
Camille says
Cant wit to try this recipe, however due to an allergy to coconut oil, is there an optional replacement?
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm sorry but there is no alternative to the coconut oil. The recipe will not work without it because it's needed to solidify everything.