Creamy and super buttery homemade vegan butter! Easy 7-ingredient recipe that is spreadable, melts fabulously on toast and is great for baking and frying.
I can’t even tell you how pleased I am about this homemade vegan butter!
It is just perfect. It’s wonderful on bread, for spreading (and melting) on toast, you can use it for baking, for frying, for whatever you would usually use your vegan butter for.
And it’s homemade!
It has a wonderfully buttery flavor and takes all of about 5 minutes to make (a little longer to set).
Why Make Your Own Vegan Butter?
Now you might be asking: why do I want to make my own vegan butter when I can just buy some?
Well here’s the thing – a very common question I get asked on my baked goods that use vegan butter is: ‘Where can I find vegan butter?’ because a lot of countries don’t seem to have great availability for this.
Or it might be that you don’t love all the ingredients in the brands that are available to you, or maybe you’re like me and are just delighted when you can make your own things!
How To Use Vegan Butter
I wanted to make sure that this vegan butter is good for various uses, so I tried it for frying and fried up some mushrooms with some spring onions and it was perfect (and delicious!).
And then I wanted to make sure it was good for baking, so I creamed it up with some sugar and made some vegan oatmeal cookies with it, and they were perfect!
And as you can see I’ve been spreading it on bread and toast and just enjoying it all the ways one tends to enjoy butter.
You can pretty much use it anywhere you would use a regular dairy butter.
So Much Buttery Flavor!
It has a wonderful buttery flavor and everyone who has tried it agrees that it tastes like real butter. It really does.
And comparing the flavor to other vegan buttery spreads on the market, it compares very favorably. It’s just damn good I must say.
The buttery flavor comes about from the vegan buttermilk – apple cider vinegar mixed in with unsweetened soy milk or almond milk, I tested both and both worked great – and a little nutritional yeast.
Refined coconut oil is very neutral in flavor yet perfect in texture, so it enables this vegan butter to take on the other flavors added to it.
How About That Texture..
It does get very hard in the fridge, so it’s a lot like a traditional butter in that sense, if you want to spread it on bread or cream it up with sugar for baking, it’s best to let it soften slightly out the fridge first.
Spreading on toast is of course fine as is and it doesn’t need to soften first.
You’ll also find the texture of it tends towards crumbly when it’s still hard straight from the fridge, but this doesn’t have any impact on the result once spread. And to avoid this, let it soften a bit first.
Homemade Vegan Butter Q&A
How long does it keep in the fridge? This is of course a fresh homemade product, so while the oils in the vegan butter are long lasting (the base of this is refined coconut oil), other ingredients such as the non-dairy milk, are not.
It keeps for up to 2-weeks in the fridge, though it’s at it’s best for around 10-12 days.
Can I freeze it? Yes, if you’re going to want to use it for longer than 2 weeks then freeze the excess and only keep on hand what you are going to use. When you’re ready to use the frozen portion, just pop it in the fridge where it will thaw and get ready for use.
What can I use instead of canola oil? I found the canola oil to have a very neutral taste and to work well for this, but other options are avocado oil or olive oil. If you are going to use olive oil though then don’t blend the olive oil in. Blend everything else and then stir the olive oil in. Olive oil can tend towards a bitter taste when blended too long.
Can I use extra virgin coconut oil instead of refined coconut oil? Extra virgin coconut oil can be used but the flavor just wasn’t nearly so good when I tried it. It ends up with a coconut flavor. And I like coconut flavor, so it’s not like I had something against that.
The blend of flavors wasn’t as nice and it didn’t taste as buttery as it does when you use refined coconut oil. Also after only around a week in the fridge, it had got a sort of whitish look to it, like lard, rather than like butter. You can definitely try that though if you have an issue with using refined coconut oil, just know that the result is not as good.
What is the nutritional yeast for? It adds buttery flavor. However, it’s only used in a small amount so you can omit it if it’s an ingredient you have an issue with. You will lose some buttery flavor but that’s all.
What is the turmeric used for? The turmeric is just for color. So you can omit it, but it’s great to add it for a more buttery look. Make sure you only use a small pinch though. I tried it with a ¼ tsp and oh my, the color was luminous yellow, like the color of those highlighter pens!
If you love homemade things, then you will love this homemade vegan butter! It is:
- Creamy
- Buttery
- Spreadable
- Melty
- Great for baking or frying
Use it anywhere you would use a vegan butter! Keep it covered in a glass butter dish in the fridge where it will keep for up to 2-weeks – the italics there are because I tested this all the way up to day 15, and it still tasted okay but there was just something in the taste that was saying, hmmm, maybe this is past its best days!
I would say it has a fridge life of up to 14 days but really it is at its best for around 10-12 days. If you know you won’t use it that fast, then keep around only what you’ll use right away and freeze the rest.
This Vegan Butter Is Great In These Recipes:
- Vegan Garlic Bread
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Pound Cake
- Vegan Bread Pudding
- Vegan Apple Crisp
- Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Homemade Vegan Butter
Ingredients
- 1 cup Refined Coconut Oil (240ml) Melted*
- 2 Tbsp Canola Oil See Notes*
- ⅓ cup Unsweetened Soy Milk or Almond Milk (80ml)
- 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Small Pinch Turmeric
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
- Add melted refined coconut oil to the blender jug along with the canola oil.
- Add the apple cider vinegar to the unsweetened soy or almond milk and stir in so that it curdles into buttermilk. Add the buttermilk to the blender.
- Add the nutritional yeast, small pinch of turmeric and salt.
- Blend very well until smooth.
- Pour out into a butter dish and refrigerate until set.
- Remove from the fridge to thaw for a few minutes if using on fresh bread or creaming with sugar for baking.
Video
Notes
- The coconut oil must be refined coconut oil and not extra virgin coconut oil.
- Avocado oil is a great option to use instead of canola oil. Olive oil also works but bear in mind that high speed blending can cause olive oil to become bitter. If using olive oil, add it in at the end and mix in without blending.
- Storing: This lasts up to 2 weeks in the fridge. If you need it to last longer, freeze the excess and only keep what you will use within 2-weeks in your fridge.
- Make it soft and spreadable: This butter recipe above comes out a lot like a traditional butter in that it’s very firm straight out the fridge and needs to soften first before it becomes spreadable (unless you’re spreading on toast, in which case you’re good to go!). This makes it great for the purposes that a regular butter is good for. However, if you want to use it mostly as a spread (that also works for baking and frying) and want it soft and spreadable straight out of the fridge then adapt the first two ingredients of the recipe as follows: ½ cup (120ml) Refined Coconut Oil and ½ cup (120ml) Canola Oil or Avocado Oil (OR ¼ cup (60ml) of each canola oil and avocado oil) and then follow the rest of the recipe exactly as it is. This results in a soft, spreadable vegan butter that still works great for baking and frying. Thanks to one of our readers for experimenting with the recipe and coming up with this adaptation.
- This recipe makes one 9.7 ounce block (275g) of vegan butter.
Feanna says
Hi there! I tried making this the other day but it didn’t quite turn out like I’d hope for. The mixture separated and ended up with a top layer that looked more like a opaque yellow misture and the bottom was more of a clear mixture. Any idea what had gone wrong ?
Thanks !
Alison Andrews says
Did you make any ingredient substitutions?
Cath says
I had same problem. No subs..any ideas..hot oil maybe?
Alison Andrews says
I honestly don’t know what might cause this, I’ve never experienced it! Sorry I can’t be more help! I wonder if you melted it a little and then stirred it up again if it might solve the issue, no idea, but maybe worth a try so you don’t waste the ingredients?
Hawa says
Hi Alison. So I tried this recipe today and I had the same experience with the mixture curdling and separating. I let it cool down a little in the fridge and then reblended it with an immersion blender. It emulsified perfectly. It’s a great flavour, next time I’ll a little less salt though.
Alison Andrews says
Glad to hear you found a great fix for it if that happens, thanks for sharing! 🙂
Ella Scott says
I have made this, it’s great!! I can’t eat mass produced stuff as it tastes so bad, but this works a treat on bread and melts just like butter! I have yet to bake with it – exciting! I have shared it on Instagram and Facebook.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome Ella! So happy to hear you like it! And thanks so much for sharing the recipe! 🙂
Ella Scott says
Ok, so it went a bit soured/cheesy tasting but i can’t understand why as the fats are so stable. Can you think of what it might be that made this happen?
Alison Andrews says
Do you mean after some time in the fridge? It only has a fridge life of around 12 days, the fats are stable but the milk added to it is not, so if you want it to last longer than around 12 days, definitely freeze some.
Ella Scott says
Hi thanks! It was sooner than that but I left it out the fridge overnight and also maybe the milk wasn’t that fresh. I will try again.
Katie Siegfried says
I was thinking of adding garlic, parsley and chives to this but I am not sure when in the process to do so. When do you think it would be a good time to add?
Alison Andrews says
Well…. never tried anything like that, so this is a total guess. I would probably put the garlic in with everything else but chop up the chives and parsley really finely and add in at the end and only pulse it, so it’s not blended in, just mixed in. All the best!
Kat says
Can I use cashew milk instead?
Alison Andrews says
It might be fine, but I’m not sure if it curdles the same as almond and soy, so not sure if it would make buttermilk with the vinegar and the buttermilk contributes to the buttery flavor. You could still use it even if it doesn’t curdle but you would lose a little of the buttery flavor I think.
Nadine says
Hi Alison,
Do you think this recipe will work for buttercream? Want to try it out for my vegan swiss meringue recipe.
Thanks for always sharing your great recipes.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Nadine, I talked about this in the post – I tried it in a frosting and didn’t love the result as it got too hard in the fridge and too soft at room temperature. So it was the one place I was not a super fan of it, sadly.
Wendy Barry says
I don’t use any other milk or cream except for Coconut milk/cream…do you think that would be okay in this recipe?
Also, what is the difference with Refined Coconut Oil please?
Alison Andrews says
You can definitely try it, however I have found that coconut milk doesn’t tend to curdle into buttermilk, it may not be an issue for you though and may still taste delish, so give it a go and let us know how it works out! 🙂 Refined coconut oil is neutral in flavor so doesn’t taste like coconut.
Lyn says
I made this the other night and once it hardened in the fridge, I took it out to let it soften but found it had some moisture in it. Not a bad taste, but could taste the apple cider vinegar a bit. I will use it mainly for cooking I think, but all in all a good recipe – thanks!
Stephanie says
Hi, I tried this recipe and it turned out great. Not sure if someone already replied regarding the olive oil turning bitter but it has been my experience that this happens when olive oil is blended at high speeds. To avoid this from happening blend all other ingredients at high speed then drizzle olive oil into blender at a much lower speed. Alternatively, use avocado oil instead of olive oil or canola.
Alison Andrews says
OH! Awesome info there about olive oil, had no idea it got bitter tasting as a result of high speed blending. Avocado oil also sounds like a great option for this. Thanks for weighing in and glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
Dipti says
I don’t have access to nutritional yeast. Is there a replacement for it?
Alison Andrews says
Hmmm, I don’t know, you could try leaving it out. I think it would still be very tasty without it.
Anna Andrews says
Great taste, great colour and best of all vegan!
Alison Andrews says
Yes! It’s pretty awesome! Thanks Anna! 🙂
Mary Ann says
I have a question about the refined oil. I just bought some today and only to find out it is past the best by date. It has best by 10/14/2017. I have not opened it up, is this good to use or should I take it back to the store?
I am eager to make the vegan butter. Looks wonderful.
Thanks,
Mary Ann
Alison Andrews says
I would take it back to the store. Such a pain though when expired products are still on the shelves! Sorry you have to make an extra trip now! The thing is these oils generally have a long shelf life, but when it’s past its best-by date there’s a good chance the oil will be rancid. Hope the vegan butter turns out great! Let us know how it goes! 🙂
Mary Ann says
Will do, take it back this evening. So, after it is opened and stored in fridge, how long can I keep it? I’ve never used this before.
Thanks,
Mary Ann
Alison Andrews says
You don’t need to keep it in the fridge, it can be stored at room temperature like other oils (olive etc) and should last as long as its ‘best by’ date.
Von says
Is it possible to substitute lemon juice in place of the apple cider vinegar?
Alison Andrews says
It could be fine, but I didn’t test it like that. Can’t really think of why it wouldn’t be fine really but you know….. surprises can sometimes occur! 🙂 Let us know if you try it and if it works out.
Loyola says
Thank you for sharing such a great recipe. I just found your blog and its amazing.
Alison Andrews says
Thank you so much Loyola! So glad you’re here! 🙂
T says
Can I skip the turmeric? Thanks
Alison Andrews says
Sure, the only impact will be that it isn’t as yellow in color.
T says
Also may I know which nutritional yeast are you using? Powder or flakes? Is that a seasoning? Thanks 🙂
Alison Andrews says
It comes in flakes and it adds a sort of cheesy flavor in larger quantities, it adds to the buttery flavor in the small quantity used here.
Alba says
I’m guessing the turmeric is mostly for the color in this case… If so, yeah! 🙂
Cindy says
Can olive or almond oil be substituted?
Alison Andrews says
You can definitely give those a try. I did try with olive and didn’t like the taste as much, but maybe you will. I haven’t tried with almond oil but that could work nicely, worth a try for sure.