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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Catherine Delaney-Walshe says
Hi Melanie, Could I use cashew flour?
Melanie McDonald says
Yes you can. I think almond gives a better buttery flavour but cashew is a good 2nd best.
Angie says
Made this butter and it was delicious!!!! My entire vegan family approved! The only problem was when I needed to melt it for baking purposes the almond flour seemed to be sitting in the bottom of the bowl. If I am going to bake with it, should I make it without the almond flour? Then I can make one with the almond flour for spreading :) Thanks!
Melanie McDonald says
Sounds like maybe you aren't quite blending it quite enough. Next time give it a little longer. The little bits will be fine in your baking though. You won't even notice them. I don't recommend leaving the almond flour out because the almonds contribute to the fat content which is important for cakes/pastries/pies etc. Hope that helps!
Sarah Kersey says
Is there a nut free substitute for almond flour? Can I use regular flour? Severe nut allergy.
Melanie McDonald says
Check out the FAQ's: https://avirtualvegan.com/easy-vegan-butter/#recipe-faqs
Joyce says
Why do you recommend against almond milk? Thank you.
Melanie McDonald says
Because almond milk has a very distinctive flavour that comes through in the finished butter. Other more neutral plant milks give much better results.
Claude Funston says
You are making stuff that is worse for you than eating bacon fat. Coconut oil is TERRIBLE from a heath perspective. Look it up. I want something with NO palm oil (which is equally as bad) or coconut oil.
Melanie McDonald says
Feel free to come up with your own recipe then Claude :O)
Katie says
We did look it up, Claude, it appears you didn't.
Great recipe. I used avocado oil as the neutral and it came out wonderfully. Thank you!
Matt Taylor says
Claude is right , coconut oil is high in saturated fat. Can't we use olive oil and avacado oil along with guar gum , surely this would work like coconut oil?
Melanie McDonald says
This butter recipe has been tested extensively and works perfectly as written. As I said to Claude, feel free to develop and test your own recipe if you don't like the ingredients in this one.
Shekinah says
Why can’t I use almond milk for this butter recipe?
Melanie McDonald says
Because almond milk doesn't taste good in it. It's not a milk I use in many recipes because its strong flavour comes through and detracts from the other flavours. It isn't as neutral as oat, cashew, or soy for example.
Marlene Glover says
I use this recipe all the time, I LOVE it! I have tried it without the almond flour, I prefer with:)
Zua says
So nice! I'd personally add more acidity, but my vegan family love it nonetheless.
Elaine says
I've made your butter recipe a couple of times now, made it for a 90+year old man who chooses to avoid dairy - wanted to make lemon curd with it for a tart. Turned out great both times, good stuff!
Maya says
I made this butter yesterday and just want to thank you for an amazing recipe. It turned out great. Creamy, spreadable and tasty. And so easy to make!
Anita says
I can't wait to blend this up. Will omit Almond flour until the end. Will drvide it in half to make 1 cup spreadable and for baking the other cup for sautéing and frying. Thank you I would say this is AIP friendly.
Elaine McLean says
The only reason I'm giving 4 stars and not 5 is because my masterpiece is cooling and firming up in the fridge so I can't really rate it just yet. I had a little dip with my finger and I think it's going to be really really good! I'm making it for a 93 year old gentleman who prefers to be dairy free, sugar free and gluten free. I'll try a portion of it to make lemon curd - got a good biscuity tart base - can't wait!
JWA says
Will a non-nut flour (all-purpose gf) work in this recipe?
Melanie McDonald says
Definitely not. Regular flour has totally different qualities and flavour. Copied from the FAQ's "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."
Matilda says
Tastes just like margarine and I eat buttery regularly, but I’m lactose intolerant. This is an amazing substitute!
Missy says
Can you make brown butter with this recipe? Would just eliminate the flour, then brown like regular butter?
Melanie McDonald says
I have a brown butter recipe. You can use this homemade butter or store bought vegan butter for it. https://avirtualvegan.com/vegan-brown-butter/
anita says
excellent recipe thank you