After camembert, blue cheese and yogurt, now comes butter. It’s starting to feel like a real creamery here!
The recipe was supposed to be released a looong time ago, but I kept tweaking it because I was not fully satisfied with the texture.
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 some research on 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 contain palm oil and flavorings? By making your own butter, you know exactly what you put inside, meaning no palm oil, no flavorings, no 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 very easy, 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. With just a few ingredients from your pantry, you can make your own butter anytime. I made a quick calculation and the cost for 16 ounces of butter comes at around $5,8. This is over half the price of store-bought vegan butter!
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN CULTURED BUTTER
Before starting, you will need a few specific ingredients:
- Raw cashews
- Acidophilus probiotic (or a pinch of mesophilic culture)
- Refined coconut oil
- Liquid sunflower lecithin
The process starts like cheese making, you soak the raw cashews and blend them with some water and cultures. Then let the cashew milk ferment at room temperature for 24-48h, depending on the temperature of your house. Culturing the cashew milk gives the butter a tangier taste, a more complex body, and a richer texture. It’s the secret to make it smell and taste like real dairy butter!
After about 24 hours you should see some air bubbles in your cashew milk, this means the fermentation worked and it’s now ready to use. It usually let ferment mine at room temperature for 36 hours, then cover, place it in the refrigerator and use within the next 4 days to make the butter.
Once the milk has a thickened a bit and has a sour, lemony smell you blend it with refined coconut oil, grapeseed oil (or sunflower, canola oil), sunflower lecithin, salt, and a teaspoon of carrot juice 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!
Sunflower 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.
In my opinion, 1/4 tsp of salt is the perfect amount, it’s not too salty but enhances the flavor of the butter.
Once this is done you can transfer it to a plastic box and let harden in the freezer. After chilling in the freezer for a few hours, transfer to the refrigerator.
Thick, creamy, soft, it has the perfect texture. It’s spreadable right from the fridge and works so well in baked goods!
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, or 2 months in the freezer. If you plan to freeze it I recommend cutting it into small cubes so you can thaw just what you need.
HOW TO USE IT
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, sandwiches, top your pancakes or even stir into oatmeal. Breakfast will never be the same!
- Use in baked goods: Cookies! Banana bread, cupcakes, pies, the possibilities are endless. Oh, and what about puff pastry!
- Make 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 in cookies, sauces, etc.
- Add 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’m sure you guys won’t be disappointed by this butter, it smells and tastes like real butter! Plus it’s cheaper to make than store-bought, and you know exactly what’s inside!
Let me know in the comments if you try it!
Vegan Cultured Butter
Creamy and spreadable cultured vegan butter that smells and tastes like real butter! Palm oil-free, soy-free, and dairy-free!
Yield: 16 oz (450g) 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeIngredients
Cultured Cashew Milk
- 1/2 cup (75g) raw cashews
- 2/3 cup (160g) water
- 1 capsule (about 1/8 tsp) acidophilus (or a pinch of mesophilic culture)
Cultured Butter
- 1/2 cup (130g) cultured cashew milk
- 1 and 1/4 cup (250g) refined coconut oil
- 1/3 cup (64g) grapeseed oil (or other neutral oil)
- 1 tsp liquid sunflower lecithin (or 2 tsp powdered lecithin)
- 2 tsp carrot juice (for color)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Place the raw cashews in a bowl. Cover and let soak overnight, or for at least 8 hours.
- Drain the cashews and put them back in the bowl. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, pour the water over the cashews. This step will kill possible bacterias. Drain the cashews.
- Add them to a blender with the 2/3 cup water and blend on high speed until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides from time to time until everything is smooth.
- Transfer to a small bowl or container and stir in the acidophilus powder. Cover with a clean towel and let sit at room temperature for at least 24 hours. The cashew cream should have a light sour taste, and you should see some air bubbles.
- Melt the coconut oil over low-medium heat. Measure 1 and 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil and put it in a blender. Add 1/2 cup of cultured cashew milk, neutral oil, sunflower lecithin, salt, and carrot juice. Blend on high speed about 1 minute.
- Line a 6×4-inch container with parchment paper. Transfer the mixture to the container and place in the freezer at least 1 hour, or until firm. Once firm, transfer to the refrigerator. It will become softer after a few hours.
- This vegan butter will keep for up to 7 days in the refrigerator. Since this butter contains live cultures it might get stronger in taste/smell as time passes. If the smell is too strong, trash it. It will keep in the freezer for up to two months.
Notes
Recipe adapted/inspired by Vegan Baking, Miyoko’s VeganButter, and Nutcrafter’s Bettah than Buttah, as well as traditional butter-making techniques.
If using mesophilic instead of acidophilus, just use a tip of a fork, or a pinch. If there are too many bacterias the cashew milk will turn bad.
To make flavored butter: follow the recipe as stated. Once firm, let the butter on the counter for 1-2 hours, or until soft. Stir in your add-ins (herbs, garlic, or raisins, cinnamon, or chocolate for a sweet version), and transfer to a container. Place in the refrigerator until firm again.
Nutritional information is an estimate.
Soy lecithin can be used as a substitute for the sunflower lecithin.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tbsp
- Calories: 96
- Sugar: 0
- Fat: 10.5g
- Carbohydrates: 0.5g
- Fiber: 0.1g
- Protein: 0.3g
This butter is amazing! A friend asked me to make him vegan baklava and I wasn’t sure if I could make that because with traditional baklava, every single layer of phyllo pastry is brushed with melted butter. I decided to make this butter recipe and use it for the baklava rather than just using coconut oil or another kind of oil. It came out amazing! Beautifully golden brown and perfectly crisp. I used agave in the syrup instead of honey and added orange blossom water. Perfection. My friend couldn’t have been happier (or more impressed). Thank you so much, Thomas.
I have never tried baklava! But I’m sure it was delicious, I love orange blossom water 🙂
Thanks for your feedback!
Hello! I made your butter and it’s delicious! I was so excited about this as butter is one of the things I’ve really missed since going vegan. The texture and the taste are exactly the same – I’m so impressed.
The only thing I’ve found is that mine is not very spreadable, it is quite crumbly straight out of the fridge. Do you leave it to warm up for a bit?
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Thanks for your feedback Adrianna! 🙂
Yes I usually leave it at room temperature a bit before using. If you want a more spreadable butter, increase the neutral oil and decrease a bit the coconut oil!
I made this and it tastes great! However, it definitely didn’t come out creamy, The texture is a bit dry/chalky/powdery. When scraping the surface of the block of butter with a butter knife, it doesn’t act like butter, but instead comes off in sort of crumbs. It almost reminds me of sorbet texture.
Do you know how I might be able to get a more creamy texture?
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I realized that the butter seems to have separated quite a bit and now, in it’s finished form, it’s got a top layer that seems to be where lots of the cashew is and a middle later that seems to be more coconut oil.
What did I do wrong?
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Hi Jesse, I’m subscribed to this thread and saw your question. I’ve made this butter several times now and pretty much nailed the method to avoid separation as you’re describing. I don’t recommend following the recipe in regards to melting the coconut oil, it’s not necessary and leads to splitting. You can place your coconut oil chilled or room temp into the blender, and the heat generated by the blender will be more than enough to soften the oil and blend it through. Blend until mixture is completely smooth and incorporated, on very high for maybe 20-30 seconds, then stop to avoid it heating up. I recommend touching a little with your finger before freezing – if it feels on the warm side, let the mixture cool down and blend again. If even slightly warm, it will split. All the best.
I’ll try that, thanks! The mixture was very warm indeed when I put it in the freezer due to the oil having been warmed on the stove.
Looking forward to trying your way
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I would follow the advice of Claire, you do not want the mixture to be hot or too warm or it will separate.
Okay, so first make sure you use a good quality coconut oil. I had bad results with cheaper coconut oil as they are usually crumbly and grainy compared to a good quality one. Also, did you use the lecithin?
Otherwise, if you want your butter to be a lot softer right from the refrigerator, decrease a bit the coconut oil and increase the neutral oil, you can play a bit with the ratio to get the consistency you are looking for.
Thanks for this recipe, Thomas, this cultured butter is absolutely amazing! I’ve tried some other recipes, but none tastes as good as this one (nor do they have the right texture to use it in baking as I would use dairy butter). Thanks again!
Will also try to follow Claire’s advice and add the coconut oil at room temperature next time.
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Thanks for your feedback Irina 🙂
Can the carrot juice be omitted if I am not too concerned about the colour?
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Sure!
Great recipe. I did tweek it just a bit: the carrot juice separated on me so I used a little turmeric, it didn’t turn orange. Also, it was a bit too hard in my refrigerator so I cut back the coconut oil by 1/4 cup and added 1/4 cup good olive oil. I thank you very much for sharing your recipe.
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You’re welcome! Thanks for sharing your tweaks!
This butter is absolutely amazing! I work at a hotel where we are very concerned about sustainability and health so I shared my finished butter with our chef (who is not at all vegan). You should have seen the look on his face! He kept commenting on the mouth-feel and the texture. Thank you so much for helping me get rid of one of the few reasons why I am not completely plant-based! Chapeau!
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I’m so glad you and your chef liked the recipe! 🙂 Thanks so much Lise!
wee heads up – the acidophilius linked to contains milk.
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I can’t find cultured cashew milk anywhere. Can I had culture to regular cashew milk? Can’t wait to make this.
You actually make and culture cashew milk yourself here.
This recipe is absolutely amazing and I’ve conquered absolutely all my non-vegan friends with it. It’s been exactly one year that I’m making it every 3 month. I double the recipe and store in the freezer what I’m not using and just get out what I need for a week. I still remember one year ago buying soy lecithin.. it was a big box and I was afraid that I won’t use it if the recipe fail me. And today I have to buy one again ^^.
I replaced the carrot juice by a bit of curcuma, it’s easier to find i think and non-rottenable. I’ve also done sone “half salt” batch. And used the cashew fermented cream as a base for some vegan cheese, so perfect.
And in France since few month a new brand of vegan half salt butter appeared . No cashew in the ingredient but buckwheat ! So I think I’ll try next time, their butter is as good as this one. And cashew come from far away compared to buckwheat.
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Hi Julie,
I’m glad to hear this recipe became a regular at your house!
I have never heard of this buckwheat butter, sounds interesting if it acts like real butter!
Any suggestions on what I could do with any remaining cultured cashew milk?
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Use in curries, stir fries, dals, sauces.
Thanks for the great suggestions. I had a little left yesterday and actually poured it over some lovely berries with a tiny dollop of maple syrup.
Really enjoying the recipes/suggestions as well as people’s comments/feedback.
Thanks 🙂
Can I use any probiotic, or does it have to be Acidophilus?
All probiotics are different, I had luck with some while others made the cheese turn bad. I recommend sticking with acidophilus or mesophilic.
Thank you. One last question, as I’m still new to making yogurts, butter, etc. Will the amount of bacteria present (half a billion vs 1 billion, etc) affect the taste of the butter. I’d still use the same amount, correct?