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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Sandra says
I followed the recipe exactly using a scale. Right after I added the oils I tried to blend. It became so thick (almost instantly) that it wouldnt blend anymore, it just stuck to the sides of the blender.
Melanie McDonald says
Coconut oil sets when cold. If you add really cold milk (or any other ingredient that's cold) then it will make the coconut oil set. Sounds like what happened. It's not an issue and should still blend up if you have a decent blender and scrape it down while blending. The heat from your blender will make the coconut oil soft and melty again.
Sabrina says
Can you use Coconut milk instead of the others? I'm not able to do Soy or Oat milk. Not a fan of cashews either.
Melanie McDonald says
I personally wouldn't use coconut milk because your butter will end up tasting like coconut. Any neutral and unsweetened plant-based milk is fine.
Carol Johnson says
This is the best vegan butter recipe that I've tried. It's delicious and would recommend it to everyone. It's easy and quick to make. Thank you Melanie!
Homeschool Mom says
This is AMAZING! I was always intimidated by recipes that called for immersion blenders or recipes that said they only work in an expensive high-grade blender. Though we've been egg-free, dairy-free for about a decade and I'm comfortable with GF, vegan baking, I have never tried a DIY vegan butter recipe... until today. I kept eyeing this one, as I had the ingredients on hand and thought *maybe* I could make it in my faithful Oster Blender. I just made this and my two boys (tough critics as they've been having vegan butters their whole lives) said it tasted like Earth Balance, except possibly a tad saltier, which we could easily customize. With grocery store prices what they are, I am so glad I tried this today. I am grateful that you shared this recipe for free with us.
{I used Westsoy Organic soy milk original unsweetened for the milk, Better Body Foods brand avocado oil, and was sure to weigh the almond flour to 50g as 1/2 cup by my measuring would've been too much. It "fluffed" right up in the blender as I had mine on food chop mode while pouring the oil in, then finished with the frozen drinks mode for just a few seconds to ensure it was all blended in.}
Madeline says
Is this recipe cholestrol free or less
Melanie McDonald says
This butter and everything vegan is cholesterol free. Only animal products contain cholesterol.
Josée says
Hi,
Thank you for the amazing recipe. I have been making half of it but now i am making the full recipe since it is soooo good. I use it as is, no substitution. Can be used on anything, fresh bread, corn on the cob, potatoes etc. Continue your good work.
Terry says
My Daughter has been wanting to make the change from vegetarian to vegan, but disliked the idea of palm oil, I found your site while looking for non-palm oil "butter" and so tried this recipe, and it went over very well. Definatley a keeper!
Peggy S Rose says
I make it all the time without the flour. Its pretty hard when you take it out of the fridge but we love it!
Stephanie says
Is there anything that can be used in place of almond flour? On top of everything else, my daughter is allergic to almonds.
Melanie McDonald says
Some suggestions are given in the FAQs!
Cynde says
I (prefer and usually) use cashew flour when making this recipe.
Danielle says
I figured I should finally write a review as I love this recipe and am so glad I found it and your website a couple of years ago. You definitely eased my transition from dairy as I love butter and there’s not a decent vegan one out there, which was causing me much despair! I make this regularly and it’s good enough that I have it on toast as I used to with real butter. So easy to make and so good. Thank you so much for all your amazing recipes that even I manage to follow!
Liliane says
Oh wow ..I like this better than butter :). Soo good !! Thank you!!
Gail says
This sounds interesting as I don't use anything like this (butter or margarine).
Can we use this for roasting/baking vegetables or air-frying?
Melanie McDonald says
Yes you can.
Sue says
Can you substitute Coconut Flour for Almoud Flour?
Thanks!
Melanie McDonald says
Definitely not in this recipe.
Janice Hutson says
This is the best homemade vegan butter I've ever had! My husband loves it! Thank you so much for all the work you put into making delicious recipes for us. I'm allergic to eggs, dairy, and can't eat gluten. I know that your recipes aren't always gluten free, but I use the ones that I can eat.
Melanie McDonald says
Thank you Janice. I'm so pleased you're enjoying it!
Vickie says
I've made this recipe twice and had two different results. The flavor is very good, though I would reduce the salt next time but the consistency varied...don't know why. The first time I made this recipe, I used 1/4 cup canola oil (in addition to the coconut oil) and after refrigerating, it firmed up like butter usually does in the refrig. The second time I made this, I used 1/4 cup olive oil (in addition to the coconut oil) but it did not firm up in the fridge and remains soft, though not a problem because I can still use it. Does anyone know why this second batch did not firm up?
kate says
what is the reason for not using almond milk.....
Melanie McDonald says
Its flavour comes through in the butter detracting from the buttery flavour. The other milks I specified give better results.
Jo says
I've been making my own nutmilk because of the additives in the commercial ones. 1 c almonds, 1/2 c pecans, 1/4 c pinenuts and 1/8 t salt. It's quite delicious and doesn't identify as any specific nut so doesn't come thru as almond in the butter. Thanks for a terrific vegan butter!!!
Jo