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.
Jacqui Covert says
I am new at vegan cooking. I made this recipe exactly as directed and although it tastes great, it remains a liquid after 24 hours in the fridge. I even returned to your website and watched the video and it seems that I did everything correctly. Any idea what went wrong?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Jacqui, the only thing that could’ve gone wrong is if you used something other than coconut oil? Or if you used a version of coconut oil that doesn’t ever set solidly (I have recently heard that such a thing exists!) and is always in a liquid form. You need the coconut oil (whether refined or not) to be in the form that goes solid when cold.
Jacqui Covert says
Thanks, Allison. I did use liquid refined coconut oil since all the other types said unrefined. However, yesterday I did find a jar that said triple filtered. It is not a liquid but did not say it was refined. I’m trying again.
Alison Andrews says
Hope it goes well this time! It really should work great if your coconut oil is the type that sets, and I just looked up triple filtered and it looks good!
Sahir says
can you taste the tumeric, I like tumeric but i dont really want my butter to taste like it
Alison Andrews says
I definitely don’t think you can taste it at all, it’s a small amount used that is entirely for color, so you can also leave it out if you prefer, but you won’t have the nice yellow color.
Sahir says
Okay, thank you 🙂
nicky says
Hi can I leave out the nutritional yeast or is it a key ingredient?
Alison Andrews says
You can leave it out, it’s not crucial, you’ll lose a little of the buttery flavor but it’ll be fine. 🙂
Dolores says
Hi! I’m from Argentina and don’t think we have the nutritional yeast available. Can it be replaced? What is its purpose to see if we have it under a different name? Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Dolores, I’m not aware of a different name for it, you could leave it out in this recipe, you would lose a tiny bit of buttery flavor, but it would still be fine. 🙂
Rachel Bell says
I am so looking forward to making this!! Can you advise if it is suitable for making shortbread? I note that the coconut will melt and the shortbread might soften at room temperature, but will harden at fridge temperature. Or will the flour and sugar help reduce the extremities of these?
Many thanks!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Rachel, I haven’t tested this vegan butter in shortbread specifically but I have used it to bake cookies and it was perfect. I don’t think shortbread would be any different or at least I can’t see any reason why it would be. So if you give it a go let us know how it works out! 🙂
Megan says
Is there any way to make this with something other than coconut oil? My sister-in-law is allergic to dairy and all mammal-derived products, so I have been trying to keep my eye out for good substitutes. Unfortunately, she is also allergic to coconut and all tree nuts. Not being able to use any coconut or tree nut milks, oils, etc. has made things really difficult for her.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Megan, unfortunately this recipe won’t work without the coconut oil. It’s not homemade, but something like Earth Balance may be a good fit? As far as I know it doesn’t have any of the tree nut milks or oils in it. All the best! 🙂
Sandy says
I had to try this because I just want something more natural. I usually use real butter so I wanted it to taste good. I am so pleasantly surprised! I used olive oil and it mixed beautifully. And the taste is amazing! I tried it on toast and it is perfect. Creamy, melty, rich. I didn’t use quite enough turmeric so it turned out pale. Thanks for the recipe. It will be one of my keepers!
Alison Andrews says
That is so great to hear! So glad it came out so well. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Jayne says
I just want to tell you this recipe is life-changing!! I just went vegan about 2 months ago so I’ve had regular butter pretty recently and let me tell you, for anyone who’s wondering, it tastes exactly like real butter. I’ve been seeing a lot of recipes lately that call for vegan butter but I didn’t want to buy the stuff with soy in it. I used almond milk in mine and it is delicious!
Alison Andrews says
Whoop! So glad to hear! Thanks for posting Jayne! 🙂
Alana says
Good day! Love the recipe! The bread you have in the pictures, do you have the recipe for it?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Alana, I didn’t make the bread myself, I bought it ready-made. 🙂
Ali says
I have just made this. I am so excited. It tastes absolutely amazing. I hadn’t read about not using olive oil until afterwards as I was in such a rush to make the recipe. I didn’t have the recommended oil so just used olive oil and seems fine. I made it with homemade almond milk. So quick and easy.. thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! So happy to hear that Ali! Thanks so much for posting! 🙂
Rose says
Hi Alison, this is the second recipe of yours I’ve tried in as many days and I’m thrilled! I must say, though, that I did everything you suggested NOT doing: I used a light olive oil, unrefined coconut oil and noticed in the ingredients that my soy milk is sweetened. Still, this came out beautifully! You said something about it going a whitish colour after a week in the fridge, which I have yet to determine since the batch I made is just now hardening. I’ll have to wait and see I guess, but so far, so great! Also, I just used a hand mixer and it came out smooth as…well…butter. Thanks SO much for such a great, easy and tasty recipe!!
Alison Andrews says
Oh that’s wonderful! Thanks so much for posting! Very helpful info. 🙂
Catherine says
I noticed liquid coconut oil in the stores now. Would that be okay to use instead of the solid that needs to be melted? Just wondering. Recipe sounds great and I can’t wait to try it.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Catherine, oh I haven’t heard of a new kind of coconut oil, this definitely requires the kind that solidifies as that is what will cause the butter to set. All the best! 🙂
Camille says
Two for two! I made your carrot cake last week and it was amazing. I decided to try your butter recipe a few days ago, but with reservations, since a lot of other recipes have soy lecithin as an ingredient. But this worked out perfectly — I was absolutely stunned. I went with almond milk and safflower oil. I froze part of the batch for later, and have some for right now in the fridge. Thank you again for sharing your expertise! High-five from Chicago 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Great to hear Camille! Thanks for sharing your adjustments! 🙂
Karen says
Tastes exactly like butter! It’s amazing!
Sarah says
I am mixing the almond milk and apple cider vinegar and it s not curdling. What’s wrong.