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!
Susan says
Can I use liquid no flavor organic coconut oil? That's what my husband bought. LOL!
Melanie McDonald says
No because it needs to be able to set or you'll have liquid butter.
Susan says
Yes, I figured. I should have specified solid to my husband. LOL!!! Thank you!
serene swanson says
I'm curious why almond milk is not an option? Will it absolutely not work? Or is it a flavor issue?
Melanie McDonald says
It's a flavor issue. I almost never recommend almond milk in savory recipes because its flavor always come through. It's more of an issue with store-bought than homemade almond milk though. Hope that helps!
Peter says
I am looking for a healthy, real food, Vegan Butter recipe but this still uses refined coconut oil (as do other websites), but this is an ultra-processed ingredient and I really am trying to avoid all ultra-processed ingredients. What do you suggest? I want to eat healthy as well as vegan (for religious reasons).
Melanie McDonald says
I suggest you don't make it if it doesn't suit your needs. This recipe needs the coconut oil to work.
Kim Wilson says
This looks like a great recipe. Can this butter be browned for cookies?
Melanie McDonald says
Yes you can use it make brown butter.
Heather Deline says
Very easy to make and it is delicious. Thank you for sharing thus fabulous recipe!!!
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you enjoyed it, Heather!
Antonia Sattler says
Can I use this butter to make buttercream frosting?
Melanie McDonald says
Yes you can.
anna belle says
Hi Mel,
This vegan butter is great. Even my fussy husband likes it !
Thanks for your attention and work, Anna Belle
Tina Squire says
Can I use a nutra bullet to make the butter?
Melanie McDonald says
I've never used one and never made this recipe in one. If it's pretty decent at blending though it should be fine.
Tina Squire says
Great will let you know!
Fatima D. says
I’ve made this vegan butter twice now, turned out great both times thanks to the detailed and well laid out instructions. Don’t think I’ll be buying vegan butter anytime soon.
Thank you Mel for sharing another great recipe!
Mira Kaafarani says
Why using refined coconut oil is a most?
Melanie McDonald says
Because it's flavorless and odourless. If you don't use refined coconut oil your butter will taste of coconut and not butter.
Rosemary says
I'm not vegan but made this so I could host my vegan visitors without their worries. Is it possible to make it with other flours than almond? One friend is allergic to nuts.
Lisa says
I have the same question!
Melanie McDonald says
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.
Jan says
This recipe has literally saved my life as I am transitioning to vegan cooking. Butter was the thing I missed most, on toast, pancakes, a little on cooked vegetables. But no more, this absolutely is as good as butter.
Melanie McDonald says
I'm really pleased you're enjoying the recipe, Jan, and thank you for leaving a review. It's much appreciated!
candice koski says
love it!
Abby says
This vegan butter recipe is the best! Perfect texture, it's spreadable even right out of the fridge, and absolutely delicious. Thank you!
Catherine says
This really tastes like butter, but better.
Richard Albon says
I am a vegan with heart disease issues so cannot have saturated fat oils like palm or coconut. I would really like to know if there is an alterntive since many people choose a vegan diet for health reasons
Melanie McDonald says
There is no alternative. The coconut oil is essential.