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.
I have recently tried to make vegan toffee and it was a disaster, there was not one thing right about it. It set into a thin, crunchy layer of what looked like melted butter. Would this butter work being heated to a high temperature for toffee?
Hi Adele, I’m not sure, I haven’t used this recipe for toffee.
Do you know how I could half this recipe to store it into one small ramekin? I don’t want to make too much!
Hi Char, yes you can definitely halve the recipe. Alternatively you can freeze some of it for a later stage if you’ve made too much of it.
Hi, I have just discovered your sight and your recipes sound awesome. Can’t wait to try some. especially your apple pie. I’m dairy and soy free, I use rice milk. Do you think I could use it in place of the soy milk, which I would also like to know if ricemilk would work with your buttermilk.
Hi Maxine, I’m not sure if rice milk would curdle but even if it doesn’t you can still give it a try.
Could you use oat milk, do you think? It’s what I like better than soy or almond.
I made this butter last night and I’m already addicted to it. Just wonderful. Thank-you.
Thank you so much for this delicious and simple recipe. So quick and all ingredients easily available, even though I live in a back of beyond village in deepest Cornwall. Namaste 🙏
Awesome Mim, so happy you found it simple and delicious!
Can I use the homemade vegan butter to make vegan cupcakes and vegan buttercream frosting?
Sure!
Can we use this to make vegan buttercream frosting?
Sure! It does get very soft out of the fridge though so you may need to keep your frosted items refrigerated if the weather is warm.
Amazing thank you 😍
Incredibly delicious recipe. Thank you Alison! I do add more alternative oil (cold pressed sunflower, but I’ll try avocado next time) for spreadability. I use half the nutritional yeast and salt. I let the nut milk and vinegar sit quite a while. And I add a teaspoon of sunflower lecithin for the health benefits and I think it makes the end result a little creamier. I also give it a quick stir after an hour in the fridge — I found that it helps to avoid a “core” that is a different consistency. I have split the coconut oil between equal amounts of refined and virgin in the past, but I agree it ends up being too coconutty.
So happy you like the recipe Steve! Thanks for the awesome comment and review and for sharing your great tips as well!
Hello. How long will this stay good in the freezer? I can not wait to try this.
Thank you!
Hi Becky, at least 3 months! 🙂
Hello,
Thank you so much for this recipe. My grandson has a coconut allergy. What can I substitute for the refined coconut oil? Thank you.
Hi Helen, unfortunately I don’t know of any good substitutes for the coconut oil, as it’s the coconut that makes this butter set.
Maybe Palm Oil would work for a good coconut oil substitute!
I have a coconut allergy as well, so use Organic Spectrum Shortening as a sub for coconut oil. It is palm oil. Works great!
Hi, I would love to try this recipe but unfortunately, I don’t have access to unsweetened plant-based milk. Could I make my own oat milk for this or use coconut milk? Worried the oat milk will be too watery and the coconut milk too sweet and strong in taste… what’re your thoughts?
Any thank you for sharing so many wonderful recipes!
Honestly I would rather just go for regular sweetened soy milk in that case. There shouldn’t be any overt sweet taste.
Hello,
I have been making this butter for several years. It is perfect. I generally sub the avacado oil which works well. I have also added a mixture (1/2 tsp ginger powder and 1tsp onion powder) for a garlic butter flavor which is great for Italian nights.
Could you please help me with this:
I found a recipe for a puff pastry which said store-bought butters that hold up well without melting too quickly are best. I prefer my own butter and I am not sure this one will stay solid enough for this particular pastry. I’m in the Bahamas so it’s quite warm and sitting out causes melting in no time.
Thanks for any guidance you can give.
So happy to hear you love the recipe! I’m not sure really, it may be that if you’re able to do it quite fast and use it straight from the fridge that it will still work out, but it would depend on that other recipe. All the best! 🙂
Wow…just wow!! I have been buying Country Crock Plant sticks the last 2 months since going dairy-free. I have totally missed buttering toast with the real stuff. I added a bit of coarse salt atop my toast (I do this with regular butter, too) and it was divine! I have to watch gluten, too, so I used Schar brown rice ciabatta. I actually feel like a normal gourmet-living person again! Thank you so much for this early Christmas present from you! I can’t wait to check your other recipes out!! You are a culinary goddess!!
Yay! Thanks so much for the fantastic review Ivy! 🙂
Just made this for the first time. I blended a good amount and it still came out chunky. Is that the result of not blending enough or blending too much? I wasn’t sure! Haha
Hi Tiffany, it could be blending too much, but I’m not sure. How was it once it set?
Ivy – I wonder if your coconut oil solidified slightly due to hitting the cold soymilk or other cold ingredients?