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
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 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 unflavoured 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 savoury recipes. My preferences are oat milk, soy milk, or cashew milk. I don't recommend using almond milk because it has quite a strong flavour 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 flavours 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 favourite 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 flavour 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 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 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 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 flavour 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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Shera says
Hi I noticed you use it to make your cake frostings. How is it when used in a frosting? Does the frosting hold well at room temp with this butter?
A Virtual Vegan says
It depends on the temperature in your house. In the winter when it's cool it tends to be fine. In the summer when it's really warm it can get a bit melty. To be safe I tend to store the frosted cake in the fridge then take it out an hour or so before we are going to eat some so it all comes to room temperature. Hope that helps!
LeeAnn says
Wow- this is so simple to make and so good! I used plain oat milk and whirled it all together in my Vitamix. The plant based butter I normally buy is $5/$6 block so this is a wonderful alternative. Can't wait to try more of your recipes. Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm really pleased you're enjoying it LeeAnn!
Whisperin Pints says
In your Notes, you mention using cashew milk, which I have on hand. I also have raw cashews on hand, but no almond flour/meal. Are the nuts, flour, meal interchangeable?
A Virtual Vegan says
Almond flour is what I recommend to make the butter. It's what gives it its buttery flavour.
Deanna Ceasar says
How long can this keep in the fridge?
Melané Fahner-Botha says
Hi Melanie, I have made this before and it's hands-down the the best on the net BUT (isn't there always a but? ❤️) I wondered if it could be made with smoothe white almond paste? I have not been able to get it really smoothe in the blender and that leads to a grainy consistency which is not a success on the stove as it hasn't blended and therefore the Almonds clump together and get brownish... Have you tried it this way at all? The taste is still the best of all, truly.
A Virtual Vegan says
Definitely don't use almond paste. It's way too sweet so would be really unpleasant in this recipe, and it has water added which could affect how the recipe turns out too.
I've never experienced any graininess when making this recipe. Are you using very fine almond flour and blending it for long enough? I'd suggest blending it for longer. It should come out completely smooth pretty easily because almond flour is really fine and soft. It isn't really grainy to start with. And when the finished butter is spread on bread (or whatever you're putting it on) it's totally undetectable.
You mention it not being a success on the stove. I do mention in my post that this butter is good for everything except frying/sautéing. That will be the case no matter what you do because of evaporation in the pan. The liquids will evaporate with the heat leaving the solids behind and no matter how well it's blended and how undetectable the almonds are when you make the butter and eat it spread on something, they are still present and can't physically dissolve. So when evaporation occurs during frying/sautéing you will see traces of them. That's why I don't advise using it that way. Even if you used almond paste that would happen.
Hope that helps!
Rita says
There is a big difference between 1/2 cup and 8 tablespoons of almond flour. Which is it?
A Virtual Vegan says
Half a cup is the same as 8 tablespoons. There are 16 tablespoons in a cup.
Brandy Dearborn says
Delicious!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe! I am super impressed!!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! I'm really pleased you are enjoying it!
sargam says
thank you for creating this recipe! Can I use the leftover almond pulp (blanched) that remains after making almond milk instead of almond meal?
A Virtual Vegan says
I wouldn't, no. You want the full flavour from the almonds. That's what makes this butter recipe "buttery". If you've made milk with it all the flavour will have seeped out and they'll be tasteless.
Michael says
Amazing recipe! Thanks for sharing it with us Melanie.
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Michael. Glad you enjoyed it!
Patricia says
So delicious. I make it weekly!
Ali says
Used it for baking cookies. Perfect!
Maryam says
Hi everyone
I would love to know if I could use any other kind of flour because because the person I'm making this for has an allergy from almond
Thanks
A Virtual Vegan says
Ground fine raw cashew nuts work well too and some readers with nut allergies use ground up sunflower seeds with success.
Lori says
Great recipe. Many thanks for sharing!
=^..^=
Susie says
I absolutely adore this butter I always make a double batch and solidify them in a silicone muffin tray. This gives me professional little moulds of butter that look lovely served to guests . I keep them in a container in the freezer and take a few out at a time ...love this on fresh bread !
A Virtual Vegan says
Love the idea of using a silicone muffin tray. I use ice cube trays to freeze it and the portions are never big enough. So pleased you're enjoying the recipe!
Anjuna Sultana says
Hi, can I make this without coconut butter at all? Can I add rapeseed oil? It avocado oil? Thank you x
A Virtual Vegan says
The recipe wont work without the refined coconut oil. It needs it there for the butter to set. If you used a liquid oil instead like rapeseed or avocado it would just stay liquid.
Katherine says
This is amazing!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Gayle says
This is an easy butter to make and I love the tastes. I use an immersion blender to mix it and it blends well and is creamy.
Marianne says
Hello, how do I tell the difference between refined & unrefined coconut oil if it's not listed on the label? I have 100% pure organic LouAna coconut oil. Maybe you can tell me. Wanted to make this butter to eat with my vegan cornbread. Your advise is greatly appreciated. Thank you
A Virtual Vegan says
In Canada and U.S grocery stores it is always on the label. They clearly say either virgin, unrefined or refined. I know in the UK it is sometimes labelled as "deodorized".
Probably as the one you have says 100% pure, I would guess it's virgin and unrefined. If os it's no good for this recipe. If you have it at home you can just sniff it. If it smells of coconut it's no good for this recipe. You need one with no coconut smell or taste. If you can shop from Amazon type refined coconut oil into the search and you'll see lots. I buy Nutiva refined coconut oil from Real Canadian Superstore or Whole Foods.
Priscille says
Love this recipe and have made it twice now. The first time I made it I had someone taste it without letting them know what it was and they were sure it was butter.....this is definitely a keeper. Thank you for providing this recipe.
Bill says
tasted like a coconut oil spread not butter. it's needs far less oil imo.
A Virtual Vegan says
If it tasted like coconut you didn't follow the recipe. You must use refined coconut oil as stated. Refined coconut oil does not taste or smell of coconut. If you use unrefined/virgin coconut oil then the butter will taste of coconut.
Joy says
WOW. Best butter recipe on the net.
Jess says
Oh man, I was so excited for this recipe - bought the refined coconut oil and ground almonds specially. I’m wondering how many minutes people blended it to make the almonds smooth in the first step? I have a top of the line Blendtec and no matter what I tried (including smoothie setting), I just couldn’t get it smooth... it remained grainy. My smoothie setting is only 30 sec though.... are we talking multiple runs, like 10mins or more? Taste is good but just couldn’t get the texture right. Also, recipe didn’t say when to add the turmeric. I added it at the end but next time will leave it out - could taste it a bit. Overall great taste though, I’d try again with more guidance on how long to blend.