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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Sara says
Why not use unrefined coconut oil? If it just the taste of another reason? I don't usually buy refined at all
A Virtual Vegan says
If you use unrefined the butter will taste strongly of coconut. It wont taste buttery.
Nav says
Hi Virtual Vegan, I just wanted to say thank you for your time and effort in producing this butter. I found you on Pinterest and it is the only butter recipe on my board. It is so easy and the ingredients are obtainable where ever you live (I am currently in Bali).
Keep up the good work.. :)
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Nav, so glad you like it!
Mary Evans says
I love it it has a mid buttery flavor. I found if I use my hand blender to smooth the nuts it takes longer but works well. Easier to handle small amounts. Thanks
A Virtual Vegan says
So glad you are enjoying it Mary!
Linnea says
I can't wait to make that butter, but I'm also curious about the bread in the picture. Is that homemade too? If so, would you mind sharing that recipe too?
Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
I did make the bread in the pictures. I bake all of my own bread. Trouble is I don't really follow a recipe. My general formula is 500g of flour (this would have been probably 3/4 whole wheat and 1/4 all purpose), 10g fast action yeast, 10g salt, a glug of olive oil and 320 - 340 mls water. Plus a handful or two of seeds like pumpkin and sunflower thrown in. I knead for 10 mins, let it double in an oiled bowl, then knock back, shape and leave to almost double again, then bake on 420F for 35-50 mins. I haven't really shared any bread recipes yet because I wasn't sure how popular they would be, plus there is so much room for error with them. Perhaps I should though? They might make a good video series. I will have a think on it. I hope you enjoy the butter in the meantime!
Louise says
Hi I can’t have almonds , cashews or peanuts so would macadamia work as they are creamy-like? Thank you
A Virtual Vegan says
I tried them all and almonds give the best buttery taste. You can use macadamia but you will lose a little bit of the buttery flavour. It will still be good though!
Kayley says
I'm getting 57kcal per teaspoon instead of 30 - do you know what might be different with the ingredients you use? I'm trying to reduce the calorie count to 100kcal per tbsp or below.
Coconut Oil, Refined
1/2 Cup
960 calories
Flour, Almond Meal
4 Tablespoons
160 calories
Cashew Milk (unsweetened)
5 Tablespoons
22 calories
Seasoning, Nutritional Yeast
1 Teaspoon
7 calories
Salt, Sea
1/2 Teaspoon
0 calories
Vinegar, Apple Cider
1/2 Teaspoon
0 calories
Oil, Olive
2 Tablespoons
234 calories
A Virtual Vegan says
This is why I hate having to include nutritional information. It's required by Google in order to be able to rank in search results, and I wouldn't include it otherwise. The nutritional information I give is just a guide. It will never be totally accurate because that isn't possible. Everyone who calculates the calories will get a slightly different result depending on which particular item they select from the list given in the calculator and what calculator they use. Also the nutritional information in the databases of the calculators is often inaccurate too. With My Fitness Pal for instance, literally anyone can add the information to the database. There are no guarantees it's correct. My nutritional information is calculated automatically using a nutrition API integration in my recipe card. It's how most food bloggers who include nutritional information do it. Hope that helps!
Debbie says
My daughter is now on a strict non dairy diet and there was no way I would be giving her any filthy margarine and other tubs of chemical rubbish so I googled and found this amazing butter. We now have jars of it all over the place. There's a Jar in our neighbours, a jar at school a jar at her Nans and some comes with me if we are visiting friends. We make it together and even bought a little blender to make it in. Thanks for this brilliant recipe!!!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so glad you are enjoying the recipe! I love that you are literally 'spreading the love' with jars everywhere! So funny! Thank you for stopping by to let me know!
Grace says
Can I subtitute the refined coconut oil with organic unrefined avocado oil?
A Virtual Vegan says
No you can't because avocado oil does not solidify. It would also affect the flavour. Coconut oil is the only oil that will work and it must be refined so the butter doesn't end up tasting like coconuts.
Molly Reid says
I have made this recipe 3 times now...it is absolutely perfect!!! Thank you so much!! Waiting for my baked potato to be ready so I can slather some on!!!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased you are enjoying it! I love it slathered on baked potatoes!
Lori says
Can this butter be used for baking and in oven baked dishes?
A Virtual Vegan says
Yes it can. It just doesn't work so well for frying and broiling.
Bryan says
I’m eager to find a vegan replacement to regular butter and I was all for this until I came to coconut oil... unfortunately it’s a no go in my house due to alergies. You wouldn’t know a possible susbstitue for the coconut oil by chance?
A Virtual Vegan says
Unfortunately there is no alternative to the coconut oil. It has to be an oil that hardens. The only other oil that does that is palm oil and even if you could find some sustainably sourced, ethically produced palm oil, it is red and has a strong carrot-y taste so wouldn't work flavour wise.
Donna says
Love this thank you sooooooo much I'm a 3 week old vegan and this was one of my worries about cutting dairy. It's no longer a worry and I make it for other peeps too!! ????
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so glad you are enjoying it and that it's making life easier. Thank you for stopping by to let me know!
fieldmouse says
This is brilliant- tastes great, melts really well and I love that it contains no emulsifiers or palm oil! Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
Awesome! so glad you like it!
Ashley van Noordwyk says
Thank you! This is delicious. My vegan husband is a 'butter' addict but I hate all of the ingedients in the store bought options. This is creamy, buttery, and perfect!!
A Virtual Vegan says
I am so glad you are both enjoying it! Thank you for letting me know Ashley! :)
sue says
why doesn't unrefined coconut oil work for this recipe?
A Virtual Vegan says
If you use unrefined coconut oil your butter will taste of coconut. With refined there will be no coconut flavour and it will taste like butter.
Joe says
Made this and liked it very much. So much so I am making another batch today.
A Virtual Vegan says
That's great! I'm thrilled you liked it so much :)