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.
Joan. says
Beautiful butter, thank you again Alison, for your generosity in sharing and dedication to great products.
Alison Andrews says
You’re so welcome Joan, thank you for the wonderful review. 🙂
Cheryl E Miller says
Is it necessary to use the nutritional yeast? My son can’t have it as he has a food sensitivity.
Alison Andrews says
You can leave it out. 🙂
Kim says
Just read the notes about the Canola oil substitute! Thanks!
Alison Andrews says
No worries Kim! Avocado oil is definitely a great option, or really any liquid oil you prefer to sub for the canola.
Kim says
I am hearing a lot of negative things about canola oil lately. Do you think it would work if I skip it?
Wendi says
My daughter is allergic to coconut. Is there another oil you recommend as a substitute? Thank you
Alison Andrews says
Hi Wendi, unfortunately this particular recipe wouldn’t work without coconut oil as it is is what causes it to set.
Sophs says
Deodorized cocoa butter might work if she is able to tolerate it.
Jane says
This is brilliant. I made a ‘batch’ with rapeseed oil…added garlic and parsley and have frozen to have garlic and herb ‘butter’ on hand whenever I need it. Also good just as itself.
Alison Andrews says
Sounds delicious! 🙂
Nalini says
Hi Alison. This recipe looks amazing! So does your photos! I definitely want to try it and was wondering if you think it’s possible to make it in a nutribullet? Thanks ?
Alison Andrews says
I don’t see why not. 🙂
Nalini says
Awesome, thanks!! Definitely gonna give this a try ?
Valerie says
I love this recipe. I don’t like to use refined coconut oil so I just use organic virgin unrefined and it turns out delicious and buttery every time. Today I split the batch in two and blended one half with fresh rosemary and it’s awesome! I’m so happy that it calls for affordable and on-hand ingredients. Thank you for this simply tasty recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Valerie, thank you so much for this amazing review, I’m so happy you enjoy the recipe and thanks for sharing your adjustments. 🙂
Christin says
Does it have to be refined coconut oil just because of the coconut taste of unrefined or is there another reason for it?
Amy says
I’m wondering the same thing
Alison Andrews says
This is all answered in the post! It’s just for flavor, if you use regular virgin coconut oil it will taste like coconut. So if you don’t want it to taste like coconut, if you want it to have a more neutral ‘buttery’ taste, then refined is better.
George says
This recipe works great! I used homemade oat milk, unsweetened of course, and it came out perfect. So far, I’ve tried it on toast and in my pancake recipe instead of dairy butter. It tastes great and is so easy to make. I’m not vegan but this is definitely something I’m going to make regularly.
Alison Andrews says
Wonderful! So glad it worked out well, thanks so much for the great review. 🙂
Dana says
OMG! So, so good. This tastes just like butter! So glad I found your blog.
Alison Andrews says
Fantastic! So glad you found us too! 🙂
Lisa says
This vegan butter has made my day! It’s delicious and perfect on toast and simply makes a baked potato! So easy to make and better than anything you can buy in the shops! Thanks a million!
Alison Andrews says
You’re welcome Lisa! So happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
Monika says
Awesome recipes, thank you so much! However I have a question, why for the vegan butter coconut oil has to be refined..? It doesn’t work at all with virgin oil?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Monika, this has all been discussed in the post. 🙂
mary e carlile says
Absolutely love it. Im 61, been cooking a long time and find this recipe foolproof. Satisfies my craving for butter without the cholesterol
Alison Andrews says
Perfect! Thanks so much for sharing Mary!
Nathan says
Hi! thanks a lot for this recipe, looks amazing and I’m surely going to try it. I read that you tried to use olive oil instead of canola oil and your butter turned bitter. I just wanted to tell you that this can be avoided if you don’t put the olive oil in the blender and add it after blending, simply by stiring it. Olive oil has this thing against blenders, it doesn’t like them so it turns bitter when you process it on high speed.
I hope this helps you with this recipe and the future once because personally I love olive oil and prefer it over any other.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Nathan! Thanks! Yes, I had heard that since making this vegan butter. It’s a great tip because I’m also a big fan of olive oil. Thanks for posting! 🙂
Laurel says
Or you can drizzle it in slowly at the end, which, is what I do. 🙂 and I’ve been making vegan butter for several years now.