Vegan Butter

For the perfect dairy-free butter, look no further than this homemade vegan butter recipe. You can spread it, sauté with it, bake with it, use it in frosting, and yes, you can even brown it!

We’ve been making vegan butter for about a year now and not only has it saved us tons of money making it at home, but we’ve also learned how to fully customise it for the various uses that we want. Whether it’s savoury, herbed, salted, or unsalted, I’ve got options for you.

After several tries, I settled on a version that uses cashews for my best vegan butter yet. Why cashews? After testing almonds and other ingredients, this recipe gave me the creamiest texture, the best set, the longest storage life, and it actually browned. (But don’t worry, I also have an incredible nut-free version!)

Why You’ll Love This Vegan Butter Recipe

• Budget-friendly. All of those vegan meats, cheeses, and milks really start to add up! If you’re looking for ways to make your grocery trips more affordable, making your own vegan butter (and vegan buttermilk, vegan chicken, vegan yogurt—so many options!) is a great way to do it.
• Ingredients you know. When you make vegan butter at home, you control what goes into it. You can also customise it for yourself, and let’s be real: sometimes it’s just cool making things from scratch! 
• Versatile. You can use this homemade vegan butter any way you would use traditional butter—spread it on toast, sauté vegetables, bake with it, use it in frosting, and even brown it!
• Easier than you think. Making vegan butter may seem complicated, but it’s actually quite simple. This recipe uses just a handful of ingredients and it’s easy to make in large batches for future use.

Notes on Ingredients

Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.

• Soy milk – If you can’t have soy milk, you can use full-fat cashew milk with soy lecithin granules. The lecithin in the cashew milk is crucial for the butter to set up. 
• Refined coconut oil – You want to use refined coconut oil to keep the butter from tasting like coconut.
• Neutral oil – Such as sunflower oil, safflower oil, canola oil, or avocado oil.
• Apple cider vinegar
• Sea salt – Add up to 1 teaspoon for salted butter, but you can leave it out completely if you plan to use this vegan butter for baking.
• Nutritional yeast
• Raw cashews – Soak these for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight. If you forget, you can boil them in water for 5 minutes on the stove top.

Can I make vegan butter without nuts? 

Yes, you can! To do this, simply make the recipe as written and omit the nuts. That’s literally it. It’ll taste great and still “set up” (because of the soy milk), but you won’t be able to “brown” with it and it won’t have the same level of creaminess.

How to Make Vegan Butter

• Blend. Add all of the ingredients to a high powdered blender and blend on high speed until the cashews are smooth. 
• Chill. Pour the butter mixture into a container or mould. Cover, chill, and allow the vegan butter to set completely for at least 5 hours, but preferably overnight.
• Use. Remove from the refrigerator to use, then return to the fridge afterwards. Use your homemade vegan butter any way you’d use dairy butter!

Tips for Success

• Follow the instructions. This isn’t a recipe where you can decide to skip something (other than the cashews, as described above!) or replace ingredients based on what you have; it just won’t work.
• Don’t use extra-virgin olive oil. I usually love this oil but oh my gosh, it’s so bitter once emulsified! Use a neutral oil for the best results.
• Don’t use ONLY coconut oil. Coconut oil will solidify and won’t give you the desired result.
• Use room temperature ingredients. This will give you the best quality. Without room temperature ingredients, your butter may whip up a bit like my vegan mayo and it’ll still taste delicious, but it will never set like regular butter.

Making Vegan Compound Butter

You can easily make this into a vegan compound butter with herbs, which is amazing with vegan cornbread muffins. After you’ve blended the butter ingredients, add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of your favourite herbs, then pour the mixture into the dish to set.

Ways to Use Vegan Butter

I’ve tried this for:

• Whipping into frosting, like my vegan chocolate frosting
• Browning (yes, you can make browned butter—just do it slowly at a lower temperature than you’d use for dairy butter)
• Sautéing, like this garlic sautéed mushrooms recipe
• Melting and drizzling over crispy smashed potatoes
• Baking and cooking 

How to Store

Homemade vegan butter will last in the refrigerator for about 2-3 weeks. Store it in a butter dish or airtight container.

Can I Freeze This?

Vegan butter freezes really well, and you may want to freeze half if you know you can’t finish it within a few weeks. Wrap it tightly or store it in an airtight container for up to 3 months; thaw it in the refrigerator before using.

More Vegan Basics

• Vegan Egg Substitutes
• Best Vegan Dairy Substitutes
• Homemade Oat Milk Creamer
• Coconut Whipped Cream (2-Ingredients)
• The Best Vegan Cream Cheese

Enjoy friends! If you make this vegan butter recipe, please snap a photo and tag #jessicainthekitchen on Instagram! We’d also love it if you would leave a comment below, and give the recipe a rating! Thanks so much!