Vegan butter, a healthy alternative to margarine and regular butter. It's so creamy and ready in less than 5 minutes with 6 ingredients.
This vegan butter is much healthier than margarine, regular butter, and many kinds of vegan butter out there. Besides, it's easily made with 6 simple and affordable gluten-free ingredients you can get at your local supermarket. Just 5 minutes required!
It really tastes buttery and rich and also melts in your mouth, so it is perfect to spread over some toasts. It also works wonders when using it for any recipe that calls for regular butter, such as frying, baking, or whatever you can think of!
Looking for more vegan kitchen basics? Start with Vegan Sour Cream, then explore Vegan Buttermilk and Vegan Condensed Milk for a complete dairy-free experience!
What is vegan butter?
Vegan butter is a plant-based alternative to regular butter. It doesn't contain any kind of dairy or animal products, so it is cholesterol-free and suitable for vegans.
Ingredient notes
- Unsweetened plant milk: any type of unsweetened dairy-free milk is okay, but soy milk is my favorite one for this recipe.
- Lemon juice: you could also use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar instead. However, I prefer to use lemon juice.
- Coconut oil: deodorized or refined coconut oil work best for this recipe, as they taste "neutral". Extra virgin coconut oil has a stronger flavor, but it’s also a good option. If you can’t find them, just use regular coconut oil.
- Neutral oil: any type will do. Although I prefer to use a neutral oil, any kind of oil will work, but keep in mind that its flavor may be strong, such as extra virgin olive oil.
- Nutritional yeast: it gives this non-dairy butter its characteristic flavor, so it’s an important ingredient. If you can’t find it, you could also use brewer’s yeast. However, nutritional yeast is the best choice.
Dietary variations
- Make it soy-free: use soy-free unsweetened plant milk.
Pro tips
- If you’d like your dairy-free butter to be yellow, you can add a little bit of turmeric powder, although it would change the flavor of the butter.
- Omit the nutritional yeast if you can’t find it.
- Add more or less salt depending on how salty you like your butter.
How to make vegan butter
- Mix the milk and the lemon juice in a bowl. Stir and allow to sit for a minute.
- Add the mixture and all the remaining ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into a container and refrigerate until set.
- Use your vegan butter immediately.
How to store
- Fridge: keep it in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 weeks or even longer. Keep it at room temperature to soften for a few minutes if you'd like a softer texture.
- Freezer: store it in an airtight container in the freezer for about 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Is butter vegan?
Regular butter is made with fat and other components of animal milk, so it is not vegan.
How to use
Feel free to use this buttery spread just as if it were regular butter. You can use it to make some vegan donuts, or cookies, or add it to your vegan French toast or any other recipe.
Looking for more easy vegan recipes?
Did you make this vegan butter recipe?
Please leave a comment and rate it below. We’d love to hear from you!
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Butter
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsweetened plant milk of your choice, I used soy milk
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 and ¼ cups coconut oil, melted, see notes
- ¼ cup neutral oil, I used sunflower oil, see notes
- 2 teaspoon nutritional yeast
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Mix the milk and the lemon juice in a bowl. Stir and allow to sit for a minute or so. It will thicken and curdle. You can also mix them in the blender jar if you want.
- Add the mixture and all the remaining ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into a container and refrigerate until set.
- Use your vegan butter immediately with vegan donuts, vegan French toast, or any other recipe.
- Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 weeks or even longer. Remove from the fridge to soften for a few minutes if you want your butter to be soft. It's freezable and will last about 3 months in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
Notes
- Deodorized or refined coconut oil work best for this recipe, as they taste "neutral". Extra virgin coconut oil has a stronger flavor, but it’s also a good option. If you can’t find them, just use regular coconut oil.
- You can use any kind of neutral flavor oil or also extra virgin olive oil.
- If you’d like your vegan butter to be yellow, you can add a little bit of turmeric powder, although it would change the flavor of the butter.
- Omit the nutritional yeast if you can’t find it.
- Add more or less salt depending on how salty you like your butter.
Nutrition
Update Notes: This post was originally published in March of 2019, but was republished with new photos, step-by-step instructions, and tips in July of 2022.
LeeAnn says
I love that I can make this butter at home, especially since my usual store-bought vegan brand appears to be a hot item these days and is missing from the shelves (coronavirus panic buying). This butter tastes great and is super easy (if super greasy) to make. However, it’s difficult to get it onto the knife because it’s so hard when cold and impossible to spread on anything that’s not hot. I’m not sure there’s any solution for that.
Iosune Robles says
Hi LeeAnn! Try to get it out of the fridge several minutes before using it. Have a nice day!
Annie says
Is the temperature of coconut oil important when blending all ingredients? I melted coconut oil in the microwave and it was quite warm. My vegan butter was not creamy like yours in the video but liquid. Do you think I had to blend it longer?
Iosune says
Hi Annie! I don't think so, but my oil wasn't too hot. Try to blend the mixture longer next time 🙂
Shelley Montgomery says
Hi
A lot of vegan set foods contains coconut oil, unfortunately I’m allergic to coconut so what would you Suggest as an alternative for things like this better?
Iosune says
Hi Shelley! In this particular recipe, you really need to use coconut oil, but for pretty much any recipe you can use any other oil you want 🙂
Tayah53 says
It tastes exactly like butter! Thank you.
Iosune says
Hi Tayah! So glad you like it 🙂
Marie says
Hello, do you have any substitution for coconut, as Iam not able to use it..
Iosune says
Hi Marie! I'm so sorry, but I think you need to coconut oil as it solidifies when is cold and the other oils don't.
Dianne says
Not sure if it will work, but I've noticed when I refrigerate dressings with olive oil, when it separates, the olive oil solidifies, but probably not as much as coconut oil.
Caitlin says
I love making homemade vegan butter (in fact now I hardly ever buy it in the store because homemade tastes so much better -- I've spoiled myself!) but hadn't thought of making vegan buttermilk to make it with. Awesome tip, I'll try that for the next batch. Thanks!
Iosune says
Hi Caitlin! Hope you enjoy it 🙂
Kristen Brown says
I am officially obsessed with this recipe for vegan butter! I've been vegetarian for about 20 years now but have recently started eliminating dairy from my diet as well for health reasons. I'm so glad I tried this recipe first! It's so super easy and honestly it's so delicious that I like it even more than "real" butter! I've shared this recipe with my vegan and non-vegan friends and it's always a hit. Making my second batch today and I'm really excited!
Iosune says
Hi Kristen! So glad you liked it 🙂
Colin D says
Absolute success in my butter cream icing! I withheld the nutritional yeast, but I'll use it next time, extraordinarily excellent replacement!
Iosune says
Hi Colin! So glad it worked 🙂 Have a nice day!
Milvi S. says
I'm particularly interested to hear how this home made vegan butter performs in your butter cream recipe. Can you share that recipe? I usually buy buttery sticks from the grocery store, but find they don't remain stable at room temperature (could be I'm not using enough sugar). Based on most of these positive reviews, I'm going to make up a batch of this and give it a try in a couple of baking recipes.
Iosune Robles says
Hope you like it Milvi 🙂 Have a nice day!
Blaire says
Thank you!
Iosune says
You're welcome Blaire 🙂
Blaire says
This looks so Easy to make! Can't wait to try it out. One question, ha e you tried making it without the nutritional yeast and would leaving it out have an effect on the outcome?
Thanks!
Iosune says
Hi Blaire! Yes, you can omit it if you want, but I think the butter tastes even better if you use it 🙂
Ryan says
Hi there!
Can anyone tell me if it's possible to brown this as you would with typical butter for cookies?
Thank you!!
Iosune says
Hi Ryan! I've never tried it myself, so I can't help you, sorry!
candice custodio says
Can you freeze these for reheating later?
Iosune says
Hi Candice! No, I've never frozen it myself, sorry!
Rev Dr Kathleen Raphael DD LPN says
Hello Iosune!
You seem totally interested in health.
I'd like to direct you to Michael Greger, MD postings about the extreme saturated fat levels in coconut oil. He is just one expert making the same claim. While our bodies do need some saturated fats in order to function, the saturated fat levels are 3x the amount of regular cow's butter - well above healthy tolerances for the human body!
I LOVE your recipes and look forward to more!!!
To your health!
❤
Iosune says
Hi Rev! Thank you so much for your comment 🙂 Have a nice day!
Robin Greenspan says
Thanks so much for this! But I need help. The first time I made it it came out perfect. But the next two times, the neutral oil (I used soybean oil) separated from the coconut oil in the fridge. Any suggestions?
Iosune says
Hi Robin! You're so welcome 🙂 Blend really well the mixture or use another type of oil or milk. Hope it helps!
Joan Kimmel says
Really delicious !
I’m a butter lover, and honestly, I would recommend this without hesitation.Being new to vegan food, I am often disappointed with some of the substitutes that are touted as being “just like”, or “close to” the original food. This “butter” recipe, did NOT disappoint. I will have no problem setting it out in my butter crock, and letting it speak for itself. Thank you so much for this simple, and delicious alternative to butter.
Iosune says
Hi Joan! You're so welcome 🙂 I'm so happy to hear that. Have a nice day!!!
JOSIE says
At last I can enjoy plant based spread without palm oil. Fantastic recipe, thanks!
Iosune says
Hi Josie! Thank YOU 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
Linda Sammeli says
Wow! I’m so happy I tried this! It. Is. Marvelous. Thank you, Iosune, for sharing. I’ve even passed some on to my non-vegan family to try. Delicious~
Iosune says
Hi Linda! You're so welcome 🙂 So glad you liked it!
Farida Banu says
Simply super vegan butter.
Iosune says
HI Farida! Thanks a lot 🙂