Are you looking for the best vegan butter substitutes out there? Well, I have you covered with this list of all the vegan butter substitutes to traditional butter.
Butter is so widely used that it’s often hard to avoid. Many foods and desserts are prepared with some amount of butter. While many recipes also require the use of butter. Making it difficult even to make your own vegan desserts or foods.
What if I told you there are plenty of vegan substitutes to butter? Vegans cannot have butter as it’s derived from an animal. However, that’s not an issue as long as you know the best vegan substitutes and their usage.
Not all alternatives are suitable for everything, as butter is. Some are great for baking, while others are excellent for frying or sauteing. That’s why this list covers not only the best substitutes but also their usage. -Most of these are much better than regular butter, even for desserts!
1. Shea Butter
So to start this list off, we have Shea Butter. It sounds like a seed although Shea is actually a sort of nut. However, it’s no ordinary nut as it’s not particularly popular in the western world. Although, while that’s true, it’s becoming more popular in recent times, and with good reason.
People all over the word see amazing benefits from eating this nut. It reduces inflammation in the body and has incredible skin smoothing abilities. That’s also the reason that many cosmetic products now use this nut. Its skin-smoothing effects are unnoticeable, and eating the Shea nut is just even better.
Definitely the ultimate vegan butter substitute due to its many abilities. Please note that not all Chea butter are eatable. I have provided a link above to 100% pure Chea butter that you can eat!
2. Cocoa Butter
The color may surprise you, but this is cocoa butter. Yes, the same used in chocolate but the cocoa bean itself is entirely vegan, in contrast to most chocolate. Even though it doesn’t look like chocolate, it still has that distinct taste. At least to some degree.
It’s a fantastic vegan butter substitute for baking cookies or cakes. It adds a great texture and even some flavor. You can also use it for regular cooking, but I recommend it’s used primarily for baking.
What else? It’s extremely healthy. Besides the physical benefits, it also contains components that enhance mood. That’s also why chocolate is recommended to fight depression or a generally bad mood.
3. Mashed Avocado
Avocado is another great example of a butter substitute. Whether you want a piece of toast, bake or just need some healthy fats. Avocado is the go-to fruit.
It works wonders in dishes to add a little more creamy texture. Although you can also mash a few avocados to use for spread. Mash a few, put it in a jar, and store for a couple of days. This makes for a perfect spread, that’s much more delicious than regular butter.
It tastes better and is entirely free from unhealthy fats. On the contrary, avocado is packed with the healthy fats your body needs. Great for your immune system, bodily functions, and even your skin!
4. Coconut Oil
You have definitely heard of coconut oil as a butter alternative before. The flavor of coconut oil is subtle enough that you can use it in many dishes. In fact, it’s hard to think of any recipe where coconut oil does not work.
It works exceptionally well for frying foods in a pan. I recommend you try fried plantains, which is one of my favorite vegan snacks. The reason coconut oil works so well for frying is its low smoke point. That means your foods are frying without getting burned.
Coconut oil has also been found to boost good cholesterol (HDL), energy levels, and even fight diabetes. Not just an alternative to butter, but a better one.
5. Homemade Hummus
Obviously, hummus is not suitable for cooking. Meaning you won’t have much luck frying or sauteing with it. Although butter is used for many purposes and one of them is a condiment to other foods. Such as potatoes or bread.
Hummus is an excellent alternative in this regard. It’s so delicious and offers a lot of healthy fats and even a lot of protein. Swapping out butter with hummus means you’ll get much more protein and healthy fats. As we know, fat from butter is not exactly beneficial for our cholesterol levels.
It’s widely available in almost all grocery stores, so that won’t be an issue. However, you can also make it yourself, using this healthy vegan tahini above.
6. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Olive oil is everywhere. Who doesn’t have some olive oil in the kitchen? I know that I have. It’s an amazing oil for cooking or even use as dipping for bread. As the Italians do. However, not all olive oil is the same.
Extra virgin olive oil is what you want. It’s one of the healthiest fats out there. As it contains a lot of healthy Omega-3 and Omega-6. Not only that. Extra virgin olive oil is also extraordinarily high in both Vitamin K and E. Truly one of the best vegan butter substitutes out there.
7. Peanut Butter
Mmm! Peanut butter is a great example that vegans don’t miss out. It’s the perfect nut butter for baking, spreading on toast, or just eating straight.
Did you know that the most popular peanut butters are 100% vegan? It’s nothing more than mashed up peanuts. You can also easily make it yourself. Simply blend a bag of peanuts, and it turns into creamy peanut butter. Just as good as the ones in the store!
8. Almond Butter
Almond butter may not be as popular as peanut butter. Mainly because it doesn’t have the same powerful and distinct flavor. However, almond butter has many other abilities and also tastes quite good. Just much more subtle than peanuts.
Almonds are incredibly high in antioxidants, as well as Vitamin E and magnesium. All components that drastically improve your health. They protect against a wide variety of diseases and even gives you more energy.
Almost all almond butter is vegan, just be careful with any crazy flavors. Animal products like pork-enzymes are often added to flavored foods. So just make sure to either avoid this or better yet, buy the regular kind. It’s just as delicious.
9. Organic Coconut Butter
So we have already covered coconut oil, and now it’s time for coconut butter. You may think that they are very similar if not exactly the same. Admittedly, coconut butter and oil are very similar in many regards since they are both made from coconuts.
Although coconut butter is made using the actual coconut flesh, while coconut oil is extracted thereof. That means that coconut butter is actually much healthy in terms of nutrients such as fiber. It’s much closer to an actual whole food than the oil.
Coconut butter does have a wildly different texture than coconut oil, which makes it less suitable for certain cooking. For example, coconut butter is not exactly great for frying. On the other hand, it offers a lot to baking. In terms of texture and taste.
10. Tahini & Date Spread
This one is a little different. Not many are familiar with this delicious vegan butter substitute. As you might expect, this spread contains dates. An extremely healthy ingredient that is high in healthy fats and fiber.
You usually want to spread this on something, such as toast. Although it also works wonders in baking desserts like banana bread. The Date spread offers both a lot of moisture and taste to your baking.
What makes this particularly useful for baking is that the dates work as a sweetener. That’s because dates are very sweet, so you can even leave out the sugar. The sugar in dates is also much healthier as it comes with a lot of fiber. Thus your body absorbs the sugar slower and doesn’t cause those unwanted blood-sugar spikes.
11. Vegan Chocolate Spread
Nutella is usually the go-to when it comes to chocolate spread. Although that’s made of certain dairy products, which makes it non-vegan. That might lead one to believe all chocolate spread the non-vegan.
Luckily for vegans, that’s not the case. The main component of chocolate is cocoa beans, and these are entirely vegan. Meaning it’s possible to vegan chocolate spread products. So is vegan chocolate spread worse than the regular kinds?
Not at all. Vegan chocolate spreads are just as good as the regular. In fact, it’s much better as it’s cruelty-free. Although you should still be aware that not all chocolate spreads are vegan. Your safest bet is to choose brands that are labeled as vegan.
12. Bananas
Bananas themselves are actually an excellent substitute for butter. Admittedly mainly with baking. Although in case you are looking to bake yourself a delicious vegan cake, well, then bananas are amazing.
They add a lot of flavor and sweetness to your creations. In addition to its moisturizing abilities. You may know this from banana bread or other recipes with bananas. Although if you haven’t, then you need to try it.
13. Soy Yogurt
I’m not sure if many vegans are aware of this, but yogurt can be vegan. Yes, it’s not the regular kind of yogurt, made from dairy. Particularly soy yogurt mimics the effects of regular yogurts, and these are a great substitute for butter.
Granted, it depends on what you need it for. Especially, baking is one use where soy yogurt shines. It adds a lot of moisture to many desserts like cake. That’s one thing that butter also does and soy yogurt is a perfect alternative in this respect.
It’s also much healthier than regular yogurt. Soy yogurt has a protein count similar or even higher than regular yogurt, but with much less cholesterol. Although it’s not as high in calcium that shouldn’t be a problem. Simply eat other foods high in calcium or take a vegan supplement.
Hey, I’m Gus! I have been vegan for quite some years now, and have collected a lot of knowledge about the subject in this time. My goal with this blog is to spread the vegan message and make it easy to know exactly what’s vegan and what’s not.