How to make vegan butter at home with NO hard-to-find ingredients! Easy, quick and you only need a whisk and a bowl. Perfect for baking, spreading on toast, frying or anywhere else you would use butter!
Why would you want to make your own vegan butter, you might ask? Well, I get comments quite regularly from people who live in countries or towns where buying plant based butter is near impossible, or very expensive.
Or maybe you are looking for a palm oil free buttery spread, which can be hard to find as well. Making your own is a big money saver, too!
I wanted to create a recipe that was super simple, quick and that works anywhere you would normally use butter. It took me several rounds of testing to come up with the perfect recipe! This dairy free butter is gloriously creamy, rich, buttery and spreadable.
This is an overview with photos of how to make vegan butter. For the full, printable recipe scroll down to the recipe card.
How to make it
- In a bowl, combine 1/2 cup of unsweetened soy milk and 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar. Let it sit and curdle while you melt the coconut oil.
- To the bowl, add a cup of melted, warm coconut oil, along with the salt (1/2 tsp), canola oil (1/4 cup, can also use olive or avocado oil), and 1/4 cup coconut cream. Add optional tiny pinch of turmeric, if desired.
- Whisk well for a couple of minutes until smooth and pale in color. You could also use a blender or food processor here.
- Pour into butter molds. You could also simply pour into a glass container or two. Place in the refrigerator to harden and chill for an hour or two.
That’s it! You’re a vegan butter making pro. 😉
Whipped butter!
With just a tiny bit more work, you can make delicious whipped, fluffy vegan butter. This is a batch I made with no added turmeric, so it’s white. This would be perfect for making white frostings, such as in my Vegan Vanilla Frosting. But whipped butter is also wonderful for spreading on toast and other baked goods.
To whip, once you have whisked the ingredients, set the bowl in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes until it hardens slightly. Take it out of the refrigerator, and, with a hand mixer, mix and whip until fluffy. Place in containers and back in the fridge to harden the rest of the way.
How long does it keep?
Vegan butter will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks. It also freezes really well. Simply let it thaw in the refrigerator before using.
For baking
I have tested this homemade vegan butter in all sorts of baked goods, from pie crust to cookies to frostings. It works perfectly well!
The butter is harder from the refrigerator than store bought plant based butters, so if you need slightly softened butter, such as for cookies or frostings, let it sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes before using. You could also microwave it for 15-20 seconds, but this is not ideal since some may melt, which can be especially problematic when making frosting.
Recipes to try using homemade vegan butter
- Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Vanilla Frosting
- Vegan Chocolate Cake (for the frosting)
- Best Ever Vegan Brownies
- Easy Vegan Pie Crust
- Vegan Rice Krispie Treats
How to Make Vegan Butter
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup melted refined coconut oil *make sure to use REFINED, unrefined will taste like coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup canola oil *OR light tasting olive oil, avocado oil or other neutral flavored oil
- 1/4 cup coconut cream *may omit, but it helps make the butter gloriously soft
- tiny pinch turmeric, optional for color
Instructions
- Get out a medium sized bowl. Add the soy milk and apple cider vinegar, stir and let sit for 5 minutes until it curdles.
- While the milk/vinegar curdles, melt the coconut oil in the microwave (or stovetop) until warm, but not too hot. I microwave it in a glass measuring cup, so I can make sure I have exactly 1 cup of melted coconut oil.
- To the bowl with the milk/vinegar mixture, add the melted coconut oil, salt, canola oil, coconut cream and optional tiny pinch of turmeric. Whisk well until smooth and pale in color. This will take less than 5 minutes. You could also place everything in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into glass containers or butter molds. If you use 1 large container, the butter will take longer to harden in the refrigerator, small molds will be ready faster. Place in the refrigerator for an hour or two to set.
For whipped vegan butter
- This is so delicious, but just a little more work. After you have whisked the butter mixture well, place the bowl in the refrigerator for 20 minutes so it slightly hardens. Remove it from the refrigerator and, with a hand mixer, mix and whip until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add to glass storage containers and place back in the refrigerator to harden.
How to store vegan butter
- Vegan butter will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks. To use for baking, slightly soften it by leaving out at room temperature for 30 minutes. You can also microwave it for 15 seconds, but some may melt that way which is not ideal.
- It freezes very well, too! Simply let it thaw in the refrigerator before using.
Notes
- It is fine to use another unsweetened non-dairy milk, but I like soy the best here. Almond, coconut, perhaps even oat milk will work okay though. Just make absolutely sure it is unflavored and unsweetened, with no sugar added.
- If you don't have apple cider vinegar or can't eat it, you can substitute lemon juice or white vinegar.
- There is no substitute for REFINED COCONUT OIL, it is what makes the butter. Unrefined coconut oil will make your butter taste too much like coconut.
- I really like the coconut cream in the butter. It doesn't make it taste like coconut, but it adds a creaminess and softness. You can skim the top of a can of full fat coconut milk to get only the cream, or use a can of coconut cream.
Once again a fantastic recipe. I recently tried a more complicated recipe using shea butter but it completely separated. What a waste of ingredients. Your recipe is easy and produces delicious vegan butter. You are my go to for all vegan recipes. Your vegan fish being a huge family favourite. A birthday is not complete without one of your cakes. Thank you so much.
Can you use homemade cashew milk instead of soy milk?
Yes, that should work just fine.
This butter is fantastic Nora! With the loss of Miyoko’s butter on the market for several months now, I’ve been starving for good vegan butter. I used unrefined coconut oil and don’t mind the coconut it flavor to it, since I use coconut in so many recipes. And it worked perfectly in your Vegan Irish Soda Bread recipe that I’ve loved for years 😁
Looking forward to making bigger batches to freeze in ready-to-use sizes too! Thank you so much.
You are welcome! Thank you for sharing your great comments, Gina! I’m glad you are loving my butter recipe! I appreciate the recipe love and support! Happy cooking!
I’ve made this before and had mixed results, one time it came out perfect and another time wasn’t as good. I’m getting ready to make homemade soymilk to use in this recipe.
My question is does it make a difference in the texture/results if the soymilk (or any other nut milk) contains any gums or emulsifiers like xanthan, guar, or sunflower/soy lecithin?
Does the milk you use contain any gums or emulsifiers?
Thanks for a great recipe!
I usually use soy milk without anything else (just soybeans and water), but I have used ones with other ingredients and it worked fine. Thanks, and I hope you find consistency with the recipe!
Thank you for the quick reply. I will make my soybean milk without lecithin and see how it goes!
Commenting again with a 5 star rating! (Oops!) I got really excited lol thanks Nora!
WOW! I can’t believe I made butter with what I already had at home! No more stressing over butter when we run out of it in the fridge! It tastes just like vegan butter from the store but better!
I’m so glad you tried and loved the butter recipe! Thanks for sharing your awesome review and feedback! Happy cooking!
Could this be used in your southern biscuit recipe? We are palm oil free, and finding palm oil free butter has been very difficult lately. Thank you!
Hi Jess. Yes, this butter works well in all different types of baked goods! Enjoy!
Hi Nora! This butter is absolutely delicious. I followed the recipe and instructions fully but it turned out rather hard and almost crumbly when trying to scrape the knife over it. Any tips to avoid this for my next batch?
The whipped version is softer and more spreadable straight from the fridge, so you could try that. Or, leave it out for a few minutes at room temperature and it will soften up. 🙂 Thank you!
You saved our Thanksgiving day, Nora! 💯🎉 I looked around at a lot of vegan bloggers sites for vegan butter recipe that didn’t have sunflower granules because I don’t even know how to get my hands on that. I also can’t drink soy milk. My lips swell up. Miyokos butter is also super expensive and I need a lot for mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, rolls, etc. ANYWAY, I knew how much I liked some of your other magical recipes so I chose to trust. So I used refined coconut oil, avocado oil, rest of the coconut milk from the coconut cream top and some almond milk. I quadrupled the recipe because after chilling the coconut milk, there was a TON of coconut cream. I used a handmixer to make sure it was all incorporated because of previous reviews. My husband was shocked that it set VERY well in the glass Tupperware like regular butter. He also said it tasted BETTER than real butter. I tried it and agreed! I’m so excited to put it in the rest of our thanksgiving day foods. Thank you for not having weird ingredients that I can’t find and creating these gems. I’m thrilled it will last 2-3 weeks!! 😄 I did want to ask, would cashewmilk work as well?? Anyway. Thanks again!!
Oh thank you for sharing Alexandria! I’m so glad you are enjoying the vegan butter recipe. Cashew milk would work just fine here, yes. Happy Thanksgiving!
Hello! I haven’t tried to make this recipe yet, but I was wondering if oatmilk might work instead. Any thoughts?
It should work just fine, as long as it’s unsweetened and unflavored.
Oh dear! Not sure what went wrong here? I let the mixture cool for about 1/2 hour before whipping it with intention to put into molds but it seems like the soy milk didn’t incorporate into the vegetable/coconut oil/coconut cream? It was sitting separately under the fat in the bowl and didn’t whip into the oils when I brought out the beaters. Any advice ?
Let’s see! I wonder if you put the mixture in the refrigerator to cool or simply left it on the counter? It needs to go in the fridge right after emulsifying. Perhaps it didn’t get fully emulsified (mixed well enough). You can try putting it in a blender instead of whisking if you didn’t do that, and make sure it looks very well combined. Did you use all the exact ingredients called for?
I don’t think I will ever buy vegan butter again. This is beyond easy and absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe exactly. After pouring it into two containers, I didn’t want to wash the bowl! I heated up a corn tortilla to wipe the bowl with first! Highly recommend!
Hi Julie. I love your story about cleaning up the bowl with a corn tortilla! I’m thrilled that you are loving the butter recipe! Thank you for sharing your stellar review and feedback! Happy cooking!
I have made this recipe three times now, using unrefined coconut oil but no coconut cream. The first time was great, the second time it was lumpy and separated (I don’t think I let the milk curdle long enough). The third time I used an immersion blender and it’s absolutely perfect!! Now I know the secret. I love the taste, it’s great on hot toast. Thank you Nora!
No l will not use refined coconut oil! If it tastes like coconut l don’t mind at all. Lots of people like the taste of coconut oil.
That was extremely easy to make, and I love coconut.
Hi Nicole. I’m glad that you love the butter recipe and found it easy to make! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback!
Very good. I used lemon juice in place of acv just cuz I wasnt sure if id tast the acv thru it.But im so glad with how it set up. Texture as regular butter fresh out of fridge. Carves the same or feels the same.And im thinking to put into little moulds next time. I have it in a bowl but its just like a tub of butter youd buy.family wouldn’t know the difference. but I will save this recipe. Thanks
Hi Anna. I’m so glad that you love the recipe and then it turned out well for you! Thank you for sharing your glowing review, ideas, and feedback! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Hiii!!!!
I am beyond thankfull and exited to try this out! But I am in a dilemma? Can I use this butter sticks to make vegan croissant? Will this butter stick through the process of lamination? I mean is this like malieable?😅 i am sorry, i am quite new with vegan butter >_<
Hi! Making vegan croissants with my homemade butter is not something I’ve tried, but I’m pretty sure it will work. If you try it, please let me know how it goes. Thank you!
I was wondering if you could use coconut milk instead of soy milk?
That should work just fine, yes.
Hi! can you skip the coconut cream/milk?! Thanks so much for your recipes! I love them
Hi Laura. Thank you for your support! I am so glad you are loving my recipes! Hemp, almond, or coconut milk will work just fine here, just make sure it’s unsweetened and unflavored. I hope this helps!
is the serving size 1/2 a tablespoon? What I see on my phone looks like it’s 12 tablespoons per serving and I know that’s not right! I’m wondering if it is 1 tablespoon or if it is half a tablespoon? Thank you so much for the recipe, can’t wait to try it!
Hi Tam. The serving size is 2 tablespoons vegan butter per serving. I hope you enjoy!
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe to make your pumpkin pie crumble bars for Canadian Thanksgiving. I, too, am wondering about the servings. A pound of butter is 2 cups or 32 tablespoons. As the ingredients in this recipe (1x) are about 2 cups, I would think this would equal a pound of butter. I just want the make sure that I make enough. I guess I could always double it and freeze what I don’t use.
I’m not sure you will quite have a pound of butter with this recipe, I’d probably double it to make sure. And you’re correct, either freeze the leftovers or use for another recipe. I hope you enjoy the pumpkin pie crumble bars!
This recipe is so easy and tasty. You are the best for vegan cooking. Keep up the great work, I love your recipes.
Hi Anna. I appreciate your encouragement and great feedback! I’m so glad you are loving my recipes! Thank you for sharing your stellar review! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
Can you use almond milk for this recipe?
Yes, that should be fine.
This is great . Thank you . God bless you
Am trying this recipe this weekend
You are welcome, Grace. Thank you for sharing! Have fun and enjoy the recipe! Happy cooking!
Delicious! I was very skeptical about making vegan butter, but the store-bought stuff is so expensive, and it’s frequently got a lot of preservatives. I’m not saying this is health food—I mean, it’s butter—but it is better for you than most of what is available, it’s super tasty, and it’s way more affordable.
It was really easy to make, too.
Definitely a keeper
I can’t wait to make a 100% homemade grilled cheese on my home-baked bread using my vegan cheese recipe!
Hi Jules. I’m so glad you love the butter recipe, and found it easy to make! I love your 100% homemade grilled cheese idea! Thanks for your fantastic review and feedback! Happy cooking!