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 favourite 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
Ingredient Notes
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 flavour 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 flavour. 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 flavour and darker in colour 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 flavourless 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 flavour.
- 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 colour. 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 in cakes and 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 flavour and the butter is at it's 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 is completely different to 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 flavour 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 labelled 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 flavour and texture than store bought margarines.
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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NUTRITION
This recipe was originally published on March 15th 2015. I've added new photographs & some new content and now I am republishing it for you. The actual recipe remains the same. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for following A Virtual Vegan!
Sheila Gordon Jones says
I am a 67 year old widow woman with 2 dogs and a 19 year old African Grey Congo Parrot. Both she and I have been improving our diet. I have Lupus and have become vegetarian. As for my parrot she has always had a pretty strict diet. But I have tried to find vegan butter in Ocean Park WA, as I found in Seattle. But that would be a big NO! So I'm going to make your butter for both of us. Tobbie (bird) loves butter more than life I think. So after I make it I will let you know how she liked it. If she eats it you will have made a winner recipe.
Thank you.
A Virtual Vegan says
Oh Sheila, I love this! I hope Tobbie (and you) enjoy it. I would love to see a photo of her eating it. If you can manage to get one my email is mel@avirtualvegan.com .
Nita says
I made this a couple of days ago. I used store-bought ground almond meal with brown flecks and Ripple plant milk. It turned out great. It really, really, really tastes like butter. It is the best vegan butter I have ever had. I don't mind the brown flecks because I use it mostly on toast so it doesn't show at all. Absolutely yummy and easy to make. I will be making this recipe forever as my vegan butter. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
A Virtual Vegan says
That's great Nita. I'm so glad you are enjoying it! Thank you so much for coming back to leave feedback. It's much appreciated!
Nita says
The almond meal I have has tiny bits of skin in it. Will that work ok? Can I substitute raw cashews for the almond meal?
A Virtual Vegan says
It will work but you will have brown flecks through your butter so it's not ideal. Almonds give the very best buttery flavour. Cashews will work but it wont be quite as good. If you have raw almonds you can make your own flour. Soak them in boiling water for 5 minutes then pop the skins off. Let them dry then blend until a flour.
Not Yet Vegan says
I hate store nondairy milk. Is it possible to make at home to use in this?
A Virtual Vegan says
Any neutral tasting milk is fine to use. See the recipe notes for a useful tip about using homemade milk.
Jay says
I wanted to know would it be okay if I used instant yeast or active yeast ( these are the only kinds available where I live) and what adjustments should I make to the recipe if I use any of the previously mentioned yeast types.
A Virtual Vegan says
You can't use any other kind of yeast. They are so different to nutritional yeast. You can however just omit the yeast if you can't get hold of any. It adds some depth of flavor, a bit of color, and a little butteriness, but it's still good without. Hope that helps!
Janine Goodwin says
Hi, I was wondering if you could substitute almond meal for something else, I 't eat almonds's.
Regards,
Janine
A Virtual Vegan says
Almonds are the best option because of their buttery flavor but ground up, flour like cashews will also work.
Destiny says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I am slowly changing my diet to be 100% vegan and finding vegan recipes that I like has been difficult. This is by far the most amazing recipe I've found!! My husband also loves it so that's a plus! :) I was nervous to try it once it was done setting and I was absolutely blown away by how much better it tastes than actual butter! I can see myself making this recipe for years and years to come, thank you so much!
Also, I used unsweetened, plain almond milk and found it to be delicious and not over-powering at all for my taste. Thanks again!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm thrilled that you enjoyed it so much and that it's helping to make becoming vegan easier for you. Thank you so much for the amazing review!
Susan says
I'm allergic to almonds. Can any other miss be used?
A Virtual Vegan says
I have a few readers who use cashew nuts ground to a flour instead.
Patricia Payne says
Hi
I have just come across this recipe today and am excited to try it!
I have an inollerance to yeast so do you know if it will work without it?
Thanks for reading ????
A Virtual Vegan says
I don't know much about yeast intolerances, but nutritional yeast isn't an active yeast if that makes a difference? Regardless though, the recipe will work without it. It does give a little depth to the flavor, a bit of butteriness and some yellow color, but it doesn't make a huge difference if you omit it. It will still be good!
Zuzana says
Hey Mel,
Thanks for THE BEST BUTTER RECIPE IN THE UNIVERSE!!! I have been making it for some months, started with double batch but last time doubled the double batch! And for all the vegan folks - it is very easy and quick /and I make it from the scratch - homemade cashew milk and almond meal/.
A Virtual Vegan says
LOVE this! Thank you. I am thrilled you are enjoying it so much!
Ro says
Hey Mel - this butter recipe is AWESOME. I have been nervous to make a butter recipe but yours sounded so good so when a friend who has been absolutely vegan for 5 years (me only 8 great months so far) said that she had been buying a delish vegan butter from a lady at a local farmer's market but who had decided to stop making it to sell now. I told my friend about a recipe I had found that sounded good but that I hadn't made yet, and she said if I could make one as good as the one that she was getting she would be grateful forever as she missed it heaps. I made my first batch of yours last week and it was a total winner with my friend and we here at home loved it too. Am looking forward to using it in icings etc...Thank-you so much for sharing this AWESOME recipe. :) :) :)
A Virtual Vegan says
Your comment has made my day! Thank you. I'm so glad you both enjoyed it and thank you for coming back to leave feedback. I really appreciate it!
Rosana says
Hello!! I would like to lnow what other types of meal could I use fot this recepie. Thank u
A Virtual Vegan says
This butter can be used in any way you would use regular butter, except those that use it to fry or when it's on something that's broiled, like garlic toast.
Bouchra says
Would this refined coconut oil work? It looks like it's already liquid so I'm not sure how they've achieved that. would it set ok? https://groceries.asda.com/product/coconut-seed-nut-oil/asda-flavour-free-coconut-oil/910002521745
A Virtual Vegan says
It wouldn't. That's fractionated coconut oil and it stays liquid and doesn't set hard. This one from Asda is ok though https://groceries.asda.com/product/oils/ktc-coconut-hair-oil/910000033621 I have no idea why it says hair oil on their website. They must have made a mistake! Further down it says "A versatile flavourless cooking oil" and I have actually used it to make my butter when I was staying with family in the UK. Tesco sell it too.
Delon Starkey says
How long is the shelf life of this butter and how many servings would you estimate it to be from this recipe?
A Virtual Vegan says
Servings are impossible to calculate because everyone uses it differently and it would depend what you were doing with it and how much you use. As stated in the recipe it makes about 24 teaspoons or half a cup. With regards shelf life it will last for however long the milk you use is good for. Storage instructions and details about how to freeze it are in the notes section at the end of the recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
Rachel says
I made this butter yesterday and it was fantastic! I have been raving about it to people at work today! I'm so pleased to have found this website, I can't wait to try more of your recipes! Thank you so much!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Rachel. I'm so glad you are enjoying it!
Patty Porter says
Hi - I need to stay away from all coconut (oils, etc.) due to food sensitivities. Is there a different oil I could substitute for the coconut oil in your recipe? Many thanks.
A Virtual Vegan says
No there isn't. Sorry. It won't work with anything else because it needs to be made with an oil that sets hard and is flavorless and colorless. Refined coconut oil is the only option.