All natural food stores and most supermarkets sell vegan butter. It’s delicious spread on any sort of bread. Countless dairy-free recipes also call for it, and it’s among the most common ingredients in vegan baking.
You can buy dairy-free butter in in sticks or tubs. Some tubbed brands are whipped for easy spreading. Ingredients vary by brand and may include soy, olive oil, coconut oil, or even oat milk. Several varieties are flavored with garlic and herbs.
Butter alternatives have come a long way since the 1970s. Back then, most contained low-grade partially hydrogenated oils that were even worse for your heart than butter. On top of that, most of these products contained artificial flavors and colors, plus some whey or other dairy byproducts for good measure.
Today’s butter alternatives are both better tasting and better for you, and are made from higher quality ingredients. The best of these products are cultured just like dairy-based butter, so they deliver the same complex and tangy flavors you crave.
Vegan Butter Brands
- Earth Balance: Spreads and Buttery Sticks (their “Organic Whipped Buttery Spread” is especially good)
- Melt Organic: Butter Made from Plants (tubs & sticks)
- Miyoko’s Creamery: Salted and Unsalted Sticks and Salted Oatmilk Butter
- Nuts for Butter: Salted, Unsalted, and Herb & Garlic
- I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter: Vegan Spread
- Wayfare Foods: Dairy-Free Salted Whipped Butter
- Wild Creamery: European Style Butter Alternative
Any of these brands provide great flavor. But you can also go minimalist: coconut oil or olive oil taste marvelous when spread on toast or warmed bread.
Serving Suggestions
Serve vegan butter with:
- Toast, bagels and English muffins
- Steamed or grilled vegetables
- Baked potatoes or baked sweet potatoes
- Popcorn
- Pancakes
Also add a little bit the next time you’re cooking a rice-based dish.
How to Make Vegan Butter
If are up for a challenging kitchen project, we’ve published the best vegan butter recipe on the planet. This is by far the most complicated recipe we’ve ever published but the results are worth the trouble. It’s based on unflavored vegan milk, and requires some special equipment plus a couple ingredients that are challenging to find.
