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.
Christina says
Thank you so much for this recipe!!! It tastes awesome! However, I find mine to be very hard and difficult to spread. Would adding more oil to the recipe help make it softer? I have to wait a while for it to soften from the fridge.(my busy schedule doesn’t allow for much time to wait for it to soften!!!) Would you know if it could stay out on the counter in a butter bell like regular butter?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Christina, adding more oil would not make a difference. You could always take a section and put it in a bowl and microwave for 10 seconds just to soften enough to be spreadable. For the butter bell, I think it would just depend on the weather, if it’s very hot then I would think it would get too melty but if not then it would be fine! 🙂
Carol says
Hi, do you heat the coconut oil to melt it? This re pie looks so good and EASY! I can’t wait to try it.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Carol, you can heat it, or you can stand the jar in a bowl of hot water and let it melt that way. 🙂
Carol says
Thank you!
Edie Gardner says
can u use original soy or almond milk instead of unsweetened
Alison Andrews says
You can, but it will add a bit of sweetness which might compromise the flavor.
Pauline says
Hi, I’m about to try your recipe as a friend can’t eat cow butter and I can’t get goats butter here. Can I use sunflower oil instead of canola?
Thank you.
Alison Andrews says
Sure, that would be fine. 🙂
Brittney says
Can I substitute the apple cider vinegar?
Alison Andrews says
It’s quite important to the recipe.
Brittney says
My stomach can’t tolerate apple cider vinegar. Can I use lemon juice or any other vinegar?
Alison Andrews says
Oh I see! In that case I think lemon juice would be the best bet. It might change the taste a bit but it will still do the job! 🙂
Kathy H. says
Hi Alison. I’m quite anxious to try this out. I don’t have a blender, but I do have an immersion hand blender. Would that work just as well? Thanks!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Kathy, I think it will be fine! All the best! 🙂
Melissa S. says
Oh. Em. Gee.
Let me start by saying I’m not vegan. Far from it! If I could have my own dairy cow and make butter and cream and cheese every day, I would do it. I love the stuff that much.
However, my son was recently diagnosed with a rare GI disorder and we are having to eliminate dairy (among other allergens). I have tried vegan butter and vegan cheese, all of which went immediately into the trash. So gross. I was afraid we’d have no real options until I came across this recipe. I thought “it can’t hurt to try”…
but this is AMAZING. It’s so quick and easy. I already had all the ingredients in my revolutionized allergen-free pantry. It looks like butter. It Smells like butter. But it really blew my mind that it TASTES like butter! So GOOD! Thank you for saving my butter addiction. You’ve made a fan out of this mama!
Alison Andrews says
Sooo happy to hear this Melissa! Thanks so much for the wonderful review! 🙂
alison berry says
If freezing ‘spare’ quantities, use an icecube tray, that way you get ready-to-use portions (useful for keeping track of calories too) just like individual butter pats 🙂
P. S. Great name, Alison…!
Alison Andrews says
Haha yes awesome name there Alison! 🙂 Thanks for sharing, this is a great tip. 🙂
Summer says
Can I use Grape Seed oil in place of Canola oil
Alison Andrews says
Yes I’m sure that will be great. 🙂
DEBRA GADSDEN says
Hi Alison
This “butter” is fantastic, I can’t believe how much I love it, even better than dairy butter! I think I am doing something wrong. The flavour is awesome but I get a small amount of liquid in the bottom of the dish after it has hardened. Although that tastes good too, I can’t help thinking I’ve not beaten it right. I use a Vitamix and have tried using the regular setting and the cold beverage setting, still the same. If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them.
I’m still going to keep making it anyway 😉
Alison Andrews says
Hi Debra, so glad you like the recipe and thanks for the wonderful rating! I’m not sure why that happens, I haven’t experienced it, though other commenters have noted similar things. Sorry I can’t be more help I don’t really know why that happens. 🙂
alana miller says
It looks so good, is there any way to make it with no oil (big time bad for my heart, no oil, doctors orders) Thank you!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Alana, I’m afraid not, it’s the crucial ingredient in this recipe.
Cidalia says
Alana, I can’t comment on whether or not the following recipe is good (commenters seemed to like it!), but the Cooking with Plants blog and YouTube channel has a recipe for oil-free vegan butter.
Esme says
would I be able to use this recipe in vegan croissants?
Alison Andrews says
I’m sure you would.
Melanie L Daglian says
Okay, I figured out why it didn’t curdle. My coconut milk doesn’t have any protein in it the way almond and soy do. Soooo … next time I’ll get it right. Even with all my mishaps it tastes buttery and I love it! Even though the extra turmeric gives it too much bitterness, it still tastes good. I can’t imagine how good it will be if I actually do it right. .So happy I found this and your site.
Alison Andrews says
Hi Melanie, sorry only getting to respond to comments now, yes coconut milk doesn’t curdle, which is great really because we get to use it in lemony desserts without it curdling and ruining the dessert. 🙂 So glad you found the blog too and so glad the vegan butter tastes good! Thanks for the wonderful rating. 🙂
Melanie L Daglian says
Hi just made this for the first time and used the only milk I had which was coconut milk. Guess what, it doesn’t curdle with vinegar. Do you know why? I poured the mixture in anyway, and besides putting in way too much turmeric and getting a weirdly orange-green result 🙂 the texture is perfect. I’ll use almond milk next time but I’m trying to figure out why soy and almond milk curdle and coconut doesn’t … anyone know?
Rachael says
Can another plant based milk be used instead of Soy, like oatmilk?
Alison Andrews says
You can definitely try other plant milks. 🙂
Diána says
Hi Rachael,
If you tried oat milk could you please tell me if it worked out well? Was it good in texture and in taste?
Thank you! 🙂