Homemade Vegan Butter (Cultured!)

I tried many recipes for vegan butter but couldn’t find one that smells, tastes and spreads like real dairy butter. So I had to make my own version. I don’t claim to have created cultured butter, though, since there are already recipes that rely on yogurt to give the butter a tangy flavor. Anyway, this butter is flavorful, has the perfect texture, and is soy-free, dairy-free, and palm oil-free. Did I mention it also melts like real butter?

After researching how butter is made, I found out it’s actually a fermented product. Did you know that? I didn’t. But we know making fermented food is easy, right? So, ready to make your own butter?

📘 Why Make Your Own Butter?

There are several advantages of making your own vegan butter from scratch:

• Ingredient control: Did you know that over 80% of vegan butter available in supermarkets contains palm oil and flavorings? By making your own butter, you know exactly what you put inside, meaning no palm oil, flavorings, or preservatives. And you can flavor it! Add chives and garlic for a savory spread or cinnamon and raisins for a sweet treat.
• It’s a fun process! Don’t be scared to try it. This recipe is straightforward. The only thing is that it requires some patience, like any fermented recipe.
• Save money: Vegan butter alternatives can be quite expensive and not available everywhere, especially if you live in a small town. You can make your own butter anytime with just a few ingredients from your pantry. I quickly calculated, and the cost for 16 ounces of butter is around $5,8. This is over half the price of store-bought vegan butter!

🥥 Ingredient Notes

This vegan butter recipe requires just 7 ingredients. Here is what you will need:

• Raw cashews – We will be using raw cashews to make cashew milk and ferment it with probiotics.
• Probiotics – Acidophilus probiotics will allow the cashew cream to ferment and get a subtle tanginess.
• Refined coconut oil – Coconut oil will help the butter firm up in the fridge. Do not use regular coconut oil. The flavor would be overpowering. Instead, use refined odorless coconut oil.
• Grapeseed oil – You can also use sunflower or canola oil.
• Sunflower lecithin – Lecithin is mandatory. Without it, the cashew cream will separate from the coconut oil, and you will end up with two different layers. Definitely not what you want! You can also use soy lecithin if you prefer. Both work.
• Salt – To enhance the flavor of the butter. In my opinion, 1/4 tsp of salt is the perfect amount, but feel free to adjust to your taste.
• Carrot juice – Optional, for the color. I first tried using turmeric to give it a yellow color, but it didn’t look natural. Too yellowy. So I went back to testing, and I found out carrot juice gives it a nice beige color, don’t worry, you can’t taste the carrot! Note: You can use half of a teaspoon of annatto oil instead of carrot juice to give your butter a nice beige/yellow color.

🥣 How to Make Vegan Butter

This recipe consists of two steps: 1) Making the fermented cashew milk and 2) Blending it with the rest of the ingredients.

Cashew Milk

It starts with the cashew milk that we will let ferment to get a tangy flavor.

1. Make the milk. Start by blending soaked raw cashews with water and cultures.
2. Ferment it. Then, transfer the milk to a clean bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it ferment at room temperature for 24-48h, depending on the temperature of your house.
3. Taste it. After about 24 hours, you should see some air bubbles in your cashew milk. This means the fermentation worked. Once your cultured cashew milk has a subtle tanginess, it’s ready to use!

Making the Butter

The next and final step is preparing the butter itself:

1. Melt the coconut oil over low heat. You don’t want the oil to be hot, just melted.
2. Add the cultured cashew milk, melted coconut oil, grapeseed oil, lecithin, carrot juice, and salt to a high-speed blender.
3. Blend for about 1 minute or until smooth and fully combined.
4. Transfer to a container lined with parchment paper and refrigerate for a few hours or until firm. Alternatively, you can place the container in the freezer for about one hour if you want to speed up the process.
5. Your vegan butter is now ready!

Since this butter is traditionally cultured, it won’t keep as long as margarine. You can keep the butter for up to 7 days in a fridge.

🥞 Where to Use Vegan Butter

You all know where to use butter, but here are a few ideas of what you can do with it:

• Breakfast: Spread on warm toast and sandwiches, top your pancakes, or even stir into oatmeal. Breakfast will never be the same!
• Use in baked goods: Perfect for Chocolate Chip Cookies! Banana bread, cupcakes, pies, caramel sauce, the possibilities are endless. Oh, and what about puff pastry?
• Make the frosting: Yep, you can use this butter to make buttercream frosting the traditional way. It will be soft and fluffy.
• Brown: I successfully made brown butter from it. You have to be careful not to burn it, though. Then, use it in cookies, sauces, etc.
• Add a flavor: Stir in risotto before serving, add to sauces, or melt on vegetables, a knob of butter will take your meal to the next level.

I hope you are going to love this plant-based butter! With over 75 ★★★★★ ratings, it’s definitely a must-try!

Thick, creamy, and soft, this vegan butter has the perfect texture. It’s spreadable right from the fridge and works so well in baked goods!

🧀 More Dairy-Free Recipes

• Vegan Camembert
• Almond & Cashew Greek Yogurt
• Vegan Blue Cheese

Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!