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!
Elizabeth Bennett says
Hi, Can I use this vegan butter in cake recipes and also may I substitute almond flour for plain flour please. Elizabeth
Melanie McDonald says
This butter works well for all baking. A local bakery here actually uses it for all of their vegan baked goods.
But no don't use regular flour in place of almond flour. That will definitely not work. The almond flour is essential for the buttery flavour and also if you want to bake with it for the fat content.
Kelsey says
Wow. I cannot believe how good this is. It tastes better than Earth Balance. Love it. Thanks so much.
Sam Prior says
We've been making this for months and I thought I should come and leave a review because it is so good. We've made other vegan butter recipes and non taste as good as this. I can't believe the combination of ingredients makes amazing tasting butter!
Elizabeth says
Thank you for all your hard work. This recipe tastes like fry oil, though EEK!! Was it the nutritional yeast? And it's a huge volume. Probably as much butter as my family would use in a year. Any advice on making a smaller amount that doesn't taste like a chicken wing? Was it the almond flour? Thanks again for your hard work and dedication.
Diane says
Hello! I am french canadian so sorry for the grammatical errors.... What can I use instead of grounded almond? Is macadamia nuts ok?
A Virtual Vegan says
Ground almond are the best option. They are key to the buttery flavour. Macadamia will work but they don't produce quite as good a taste.
Debby Sereda says
Hoping you can help. Mine keeps separating (splitting). I can't figure out why. Can it be fixed once it's happened?
Melanie McDonald says
That's really odd. I've never had it separate when I've made it (and I've been making it monthly for years now), so whether it can be fixed once it's happened I don't know.
Are you following the recipe absolutely exactly and not making any changes? And you are melting the refined coconut oil then allowing it to cool before adding it to the blender?
If you are following it exactly, is there a chance it's getting hot in the blender? If it is maybe try shorter bursts so it doesn't warm up. That's all I can think the problem may be.
Ramya says
Will be making this soon this is perfect for me as i dont like dairy butter will use this for my food will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
Elisa says
Hi.
I am positively excited about finding your recipe.
Could you recommend substitutes on the almond flour.
My family is full of food allergies; 2020 sucked for us in so many ways health wise.
We just found the vegan butter we are using is unsafe for one of our kids. Peas, corn, and soy are in everything.
Altogether we have: Celiac, Eosinophilic Esophagitis, tree nuts, all legumes(soy, peas, peanuts, beans, lentils...), corn, milk, eggs, chicken, wheat, banana, tomatoes.
A Virtual Vegan says
Copying this from the FAQs in the post. Hope it helps:
I am allergic to almonds. Is there something I can use instead?
I have a few readers who use ground-up cashew nuts, sunflower seeds or pine nuts instead of almonds. Almonds will give the best buttery flavour but the results are still ok when using these substitutes.
V says
Hi. Have you found any substitutes for the almond flour? I can’t have nuts, so I was wondering...
Thanks!!
A Virtual Vegan says
Almonds will give it the best buttery flavour, but I do have some readers who make it with ground pine nuts or sunflower seeds. I haven't tried it myself but they have said it works fine.
Lamia says
Your recipe sounds very appealing and I can't wait to try it. Instead of almond flour, can I use the almond okara that I get as a residue after making almond milk?
A Virtual Vegan says
No I wouldn't recommend that. The almond flour is really important for the buttery flavour and colour. If you've made milk with it all of the flavour will have been stripped out.
This is a really old and ugly cookie recipe that you might be interested in. It uses up pulp: https://avirtualvegan.com/chocolate-chip-oatmeal-cookies/
Leigh says
Hello, can I use MCT oil rather than the coconut oil? thnx
A Virtual Vegan says
No you can't. It won't work. MCT oil doesn't solidify.
Belinde Davidson says
HI Melanie,
I tried the recipe but the result was absolutely awful. The "butter" was grainy although quite a smooth taste. Does that mean the initial step (blending everything together) needed more time in the blender? Once everything was blended, my "butter" was definitely not pourable...... Where did i go wrong?
A Virtual Vegan says
It definitely shouldn't be grainy and it should be pourable. It's impossible to know what went wrong without more info but maybe your measurements were off, maybe you didn't melt the coconut oil, used almond meal instead of ground almonds (which are blanched so softer), you didn't blend enough or you blended too much and it got hot, or you made a substitution of some kind. Hope that helps you work out what it might have been!
Tina Scoley says
Hi AVV,
This looks interesting — I haven't tried the recipe yet but I suspect that your metric weight re the almond flour should be around 4 oz (114 g to 120 g) if one cup is 236 g - 240 g!
Best wishes
A Virtual Vegan says
1 cup of almond flour weighs about 100grams give or take a few grams depending how it was filled, so 50 g for 1/2 a cup is correct. All of my recipes/measurements are tested thoroughly by me and my recipe testers prior to publishing.
Jen says
This is very tasty. I love it, but after it's been refrigerated, it is very hard and it comes up i flakes. I have made it twice and same issue. How can I make it more smooth and softer when cold?
A Virtual Vegan says
Just like real butter it gets hard in the fridge. Just let it warm up a little to room temperature before using. I take mine out about 10 minutes before I'm using it.
Lauren says
I'm allergic to Coconut and I cannot have cashews, oats or soy what would you recommend in place of the refined coconut oil and plant milk?
A Virtual Vegan says
The refined coconut oil is essential in this recipe otherwise it won't set. With regards plant milk any neutral unsweetened milk can be used, I just don't recommend almond milk as you can often detect its flavour in the finished butter. There are so many varieties of milk available that it will be easy to find one at the store that is cashew, oat or soy-free. Hope that helps!
946797576 says
this vegan butter is amazing. granted, it's hard to find vegan items where i am so i don't really have anything to compare it to, but it behaves exactly like butter in baking and i absolutely adore this recipe. it whips up beautifully in buttercream too! i may have added too much apple cider vinegar though, so it ended up tasting a little too vinegar-y. otherwise, this will be my go-to whenever making vegan butter!
Yvonne says
This is insane!!! Even my brother who is a huge critic of all things vegan exclaimed “ WOW THIS IS SO REALLY GOOD!”