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!

looking down on vegan butter on a white plate in sticks

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.

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sliced vegan butter on a plate, more in background

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Whisk well for a couple of minutes until smooth and pale in color. You could also use a blender or food processor here.
  4. Pour into butter molds <– I used these silicone 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.

collage of how to make vegan butter

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.

photo collage showing whipping butter process

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.

3 sticks of butter with ridges on a plate

Recipes to try using homemade vegan butter

showing a piece of white bread toast with melted butter on it, knife nearby

square image of butter being cut
4.69 stars (38 ratings)

How to Make Vegan Butter

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!
Prep: 15 minutes
Chilling time: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 32 servings (2 tbs each)

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

  1. 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.
  2. If you don't have apple cider vinegar or can't eat it, you can substitute lemon juice or white vinegar.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

Nutrition

Serving: 12 tbs serving | Calories: 82kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 38mg | Potassium: 11mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 8IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Appetizer, Breakfast, Side Dish
Cuisine: American, French
Author: Nora Taylor
Did you make this recipe?Mention @nora_cooks_vegan_ or tag #noracooks!

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Comments

  1. The consistency is perfect. My only issue is that it still tastes quite vinegar-y once hardened in the fridge. Will this mellow out with time? Is there something else I could do?

    1. Given that everyone else gives this recipe top praise, I am going to try it again only using lemon juice. Hopefully, that will improve the flavor.

  2. I am currently staying away from soy and oat milk. Is there another milk I can use for the vegan butter? Almond or cashew ?

    1. Omg, I have followed your recipes forever but I can’t find vegan butter without sunflower so I’ve not made treats unless coconut oil was an optional swap. Even then, everything is slightly different. We are i digressed, we have anaphylaxis to sunflower in my house, so this recipe is a life saver! I wonder if you or anyone tried making this with coconut or hemp milk? I have to stay away from soy per my MD right now…. Anyone?

      1. Hemp or coconut milk will work just fine here, just make sure it’s unsweetened and unflavored. 🙂 I’m so glad this recipe is so helpful to you! Hope you enjoy it and use it often.

  3. I fricking LOVE this butter! I’m ecstatic to not buy the chemically ladden plant butter that is much too expensive. It tastes delicious and all my recipes have come out brilliantly. Once again Nora, you are the GOAT!

    1. Hi Susan. Thanks for your awesome feedback and review! It’s so encouraging! I appreciate you using my recipes! Wishing you happy cooking!

    2. This is so great to hear! Have you tried it with hemp or coconut milk? Per my MD I must stay away from soy right now.

  4. This butter is perfect! I double the recipe and use it for everything. I made a brownie batch and the flavour was perfect. Better than real butter. Thank you for sharing!

  5. I made this exactly as the recipe said and I just did not like the flavor. To me it just tasted like the oil (not the coconut oil). It didn’t work for me. Sorry.

  6. My ‘butter’ separated in the refrigerator. Not sure what I did wrong? Any suggestions? Can I still use the solids?

    1. I’ve never had this happen and it’s hard to know why it separated without being there. It could have something to do with the temperature of the ingredients, or maybe the butter wasn’t emulsified enough (whisked well enough). Make sure your coconut oil is warm but not super hot when melted. You should be able to use the solids but they will likely taste and spread differently than the solid (not separated) butter.

    2. I had come in here to ask Nora the same exact thing. I made a new batch and made sure everything was room temperature before mixing it up and it did NOT separate at all! Woo hoo! The key is having everything at the same temp. 😉

      1. When the ingredients are mixed together, should the coconut oil still be warm or should it be cooled to room temperature? Also, should all of the other ingredients be at room temperature?

        1. Yes, the coconut oil should be warm when you mix. It’s helpful if the milk is also at room temperature, but it can be a bit cold as long as the coconut oil is warm. Hope that helps!

  7. I absolutely love this vegan butter. It was so easy to put together in my food processor. Thanks for a terrific recipe!
    (My only comment is that the recipe didn’t yield 32 servings of 2 tablespoons per serving. It yielded half of that. There are not enough ingredients to yield 64 tablespoons.)

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