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.
Catalina says
It’s amazing! I was wondering though the purpose of the canola oil in the recipe, purely out of curiosity.
I’m new into being vegan and I adored the recipe, fooled everyone in my house.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Catalina, so glad you enjoyed it! The canola oil (which can be swapped for another oil) is for texture and flavor.
Srishti Agarwal says
Hey Alison! Can we skip nutritional yeast in this recipe as we dont get it very easily in our country?
Alison Andrews says
Yes you can!
Julie says
After reading all the comments posted, I’m definitely impressed and super excited about vegan butter. I love to bake and always wished to use something other than land -O-lakes unsalted butter (which is best for baking) but not vegan. I don’t have canola oil but have plenty of grape seed oil on hand hopefully it will turn out fine. Thank you Allison for recipe ????
Manoharan Rathinam says
Can I use sunflower oil in place of canola oil?
Tess says
Wonderful! I used Spectrum Palm shortening (sustainably produced) avocado oil and oat milk. Interestingly the oat milk didn’t curdle even with extra vinegar, but the recipe still worked out fine. Thank you Alison!
Alison Andrews says
So glad it worked out! Thanks Tess!
Tina says
I am allergic to coconut and coconut oil, so tried it with Spectrum brand organic shortening and it worked beautifully! Fabulous on my baked potato last night, can’t wait to try it in some baked goods. Thanks so much!
Alison Andrews says
Oh wow! That is really good to know! thanks for sharing Tina!
Ninon Burgy says
If I use homemade almond or coconut milk will it still last two weeks?
Alison Andrews says
It shouldn’t make a big difference though I haven’t tested this with homemade milk options.
Mr Michael Davis says
Hi does it have to be soy or almond milk, will other plant based milks, such as oat work, I appreciate it may diminish the taste but textually would it work?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Michael, if you read the other comments, a lot of people have made this with oat milk.
Irina says
Hi! Greetings from Colombia.
This is a really live saver recipe, in my country it’s really hard to find vegan butter or butter without milk powder. I’m gonna try it.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Hope you enjoy it Irina!
Sasha f Deterding says
I’m in shock! Ive never tried making butter before and I didnt know it would be so easy and so good!!! I’m so upset I’ve been buying butter all this time! Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I didn’t have nutritional yeast so i left that out and it’s still amazing! Also I used oat milk.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks so much for posting!
Don says
I make small amounts and use it to fry eggs, it’s perfect…
Randall Baker says
The first time I tried it, it turned out terrific! Then all of a sudden when making a batch it turned grainy and not as tasty. I blended it again when it was still cold and it turned out nice and creamy.
I then changed it drastically because some recipes call for 1/2 c. butter and the 1/2 c. of coconut oil is too high in saturated fat. I’ve changed the ratio to 1:1 (1/2 c. coconut oil to 1/2 c. canola oil) and added a secret ingredient: 1 T. soy lecithin. It acts as a bonding agent to keep the Canola oil from separating.
Alison Andrews says
Thanks for sharing Randall!
Catalina says
How did it turn out using lecithin? Did it alter the flavor?
Rachel says
i found refined coconut oil that was expeller pressed. Would that be ok to use or would it change the flavor? I definitely don’t want a coconut flavor in my butter.
Alison Andrews says
As long as it is refined it shouldn’t have the flavor.
Zuki says
Hi Alison
Can i use this butter for buttercream frosting?
thanks
Alison Andrews says
Yes you can. This is discussed in the post. It tends to become very firm in the fridge and very soft at room temp though.
Melody says
Amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! It tastes just like dairy butter and it’s so easy to make!
J. S. says
Hi, the recipe looks great. I want to try using homemade almond milk. How many cups of water should I add to a cup of almonds for making almond milk?
Alison Andrews says
Hi there, check out our recipe for homemade almond milk.
Eugene Powers says
Close enough, a little saltier than I would like but I can use it on the corn. No more cholesterol!!!!