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!
💌 SAVE THIS RECIPE!
Enter your email and I'll send the link straight to your inbox.
Watch out for more tasty treats coming your way too! Unsubscribe at any time.
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
💌 SAVE THIS RECIPE!
Enter your email and I'll send the link straight to your inbox.
Watch out for more tasty treats coming your way too! Unsubscribe at any time.
rhonda rivera says
can this be made with avocado oil?
Melanie McDonald says
Instead of the olive oil but not the coconut oil. That is essential in this recipe and it won't work without it.
Shannon K. says
Is there any alternative to the coconut oil? I am allergic to all things coconut and get the strongest reactions to coconut oil.
A Virtual Vegan says
No unfortunately there isn't. It is the only thing that will work in this recipe.
Danielle Lees says
Can this be made without the apple cider vinegar? I am not able to have any vinegars.
Melanie McDonald says
It adds some acidity which helps the flavour but you can safely omit it and the recipe will still work.
Brianna Levy says
What is the purpose of the almond flour in this recipe?
Melanie McDonald says
It's what gives it it's really good buttery flavour and it also works as an emulsifier,
Eugénie Boyer says
So glad I came across your receipes. I am gluten free, and dairy free and cannot eggs or fattty foods. Will be looking forward to viewing other receipes. Is your receipe book sold only through you, or can I buy it at a bookstore?
Melanie McDonald says
Aaaww thank you. My book is available everywhere that sells books (online and in-store) and if it's not on the shelf, they should be able to order it for you. I hope you enjoy my recipes!
Mosey says
Wow!
Absolutely wonderful butter. I had it spread on hot toast with jam. Thank you so much, as I am newly vegan and this has made it very easy for me. Can't wait to try some of your other recipes ?
Melanie McDonald says
That's so good to hear! I'm really pleased you are enjoying it. I hope you enjoy my other recipes as much!
Janet Paula says
My daughter has a terrible aversion to anything coconut, so I plan on using cocao butter or grapeseed oil. My cocao butter here (in the Middle East) has absolutely no taste (but is rather expensive). I would really like to use the oil. If I do, what can I expect? Will the butter be softer and melt faster? Will it solidify at all? Thanks for any input you can give me.
Melanie McDonald says
If you use refined coconut oil as specified there is no coconut taste or smell. There is absolutely no way you can tell there is coconut in the finished butter.
I've never tried making it with cocao butter but as it tends to be harder than coconut oil you might have a hard job spreading the butter once it's set and i'm not sure how it will affect the buttery taste. Grape seed oil or any other liquid oil will not work as the butter won't set up at all. Hope that helps!
Rita says
Totally fab. Wow.
JP says
Absolutely, hands down, the best vegan butter ever! Sooooo much better than any store-bought I have tried. It really does taste and behave like butter. I love it! Thank you so much for the recipe! It's genius. :-)
Melanie McDonald says
Thank you! I'm so pleased you are enjoying the recipe!
Kelly says
I’m a dairy-lover turned partial-vegan in the last year along with my hubb. Just made this butter with almond milk and ground cashews and WOW wow wow wow wow! Halfway through, it turned into a double batch, like no way was a single batch of this going to cut it haha. I’ve only tried it in liquid form (it’s setting in the fridge now) but holy butter it looks, smells and tastes so good! It’s really amazing- I would say this rivals our favorite store-bought vegan butters. Thank you so much for the recipe! ❤️?
Melanie McDonald says
That's awesome Kelly. Thank you! Just wait 'til you try the set version!
Rama Ananth says
One of my Vegan friend told me that regular Coconut oil can easily made like refined Coconut oil without any smell , by heating it to a smoking point. She told me it was the best way to make refined coconut oil at home. In India we don't get refined coconut oil. I have a few recipes of making Vegan butter, but no refined coconut oil, and I am yet to test my friend's suggestion.
Thanks for the lovely recipe.
Kathryn Gannon says
You do not need to use refined coconut oil Biona makes a coconut oil with no coconut flavour.
A Virtual Vegan says
Refined coconut oil is essential for this recipe. The Biona coconut oil with no coconut flavour is like that because it is refined. Biona is one of the decent companies that use steam to refine it rather than chemicals.
Gem says
I made this butter, omitting the nutritional yeast (personal preference) and it tasted so good even my daughter liked it! The only thing I found is, unless used on toast and melted, it is quite hard to spread due to being very crumbly. Any suggestions? I’d definitely make again
A Virtual Vegan says
Just like real butter, it's best to leave it out of the fridge for 15 - 20 mins to soften before spreading. Then it won't be so hard and will spread easier.
louise says
Isn't refined coconut oil bad for the environment? I thought they used Hexane in the refining process, which is classified as a neurotoxin by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and as a hazardous air pollutant by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Have you made this with unrefined coconut oil, is the coconut taste that bad?
A Virtual Vegan says
If you want it to taste like butter it needs to be made with refined coconut oil. Like anything it is possibly to buy ethically produced and natural versions. There are many coconut oil brands available that just use steam to refine their coconut oil and do not use chemicals. I link to my favorite brand in the recipe.
Rusty says
I will have to try Your recipe, I didnt read any other comments, so forgive Me if this has been said already, but there is @ least 1 store bought Vegan butter by the brand “Wayfare” that is palm free, I also am buycotting palm for the same reasons. I’m guessing that You would prefer to make Your own regardless, for what its worth I fig. that i’s mention it.
https://wayfarefoods.com/product/salted-whipped-butter/
A Virtual Vegan says
That brand isn't available in Canada unfortunately.
Nancy M Massy says
For some reason I am not receiving your "confirmation" email?? I have looked in the spam folder and not there either?/
A Virtual Vegan says
That's odd. I notice you are with gmail. Sometimes with gmail emails from a mailing list like mine, they get sent automatically to the "promotions folder". Have a look in there. I just resent a confirmation email to you. I suspect that's where it's hiding. I tried to add you manually but it won't let me without you confirming. I guess it's a safeguard to stop people adding people to lists then spamming them. If not do you maybe have another email address you can sign up with?
Shari Yawn says
Having to go dairy and soy free has been challenging enough but all the sodium in the replacements has a bad effect on my blood pressure. Doing a quick search today I came upon this recipe. The only thing i did different is make cashew flour because I had raw cashews in the freezer. It's not even set yet but I could swab this on my arm and eat it !!!! This went into my recipe book. Thank you thank you thank you !!!!! Yum ???
A Virtual Vegan says
That's great Shari. I'm so pleased you will be able to enjoy some butter again!