There is an increasing number of vegan butters available on the market and with that comes more smooth buttery goodness for you to spread on warm toast, bagels, baked potatoes, or whatever your heart desires. There are a lot of considerations when choosing a vegan butter, so it’s also completely normal to consume and have more than one variety on hand!
4 Best Vegan Butters
Miyoko’s Creamery, Butter Unsalted Cultured Vegan Organic
What We Love: Miyoko’s popped onto the vegan butter and cheese scene with simple ingredients that rely on the culturing of cashews (mostly) to create that “tang” you can expect with dairy based butter and milks. The butter is coconut oil based, so while it will be hard when cold, it will melt into buttery puddles once on something warm. You can find Miyoko’s Creamery Butter to be salted or unsalted. They both are tasty, but it depends on your personal preference really. However, the unsalted vegan butter is best for baking and the salted variety is better for everyday use in our opinion. The nutritional profile is similar to butter but unlike many other vegan butters, the ingredients are whole food based with cashews and coconut oil making up the majority of the vegan butter.
Considerations: If you want a smooth vegan butter, Miyoko’s Creamery Vegan Butter is not going to be the best option as coconut oil is hard and tends to go from not spreading well when cold to melting into a liquid when warm as it’s a natural saturated fat without a binder or stabilizer.
Livlo Organic Vegan Ghee – Plant Based Butter – No Refrigeration Necessary – Dairy Free, Soy Free, Gluten Free Substitute to Ghee and Butter
What We Love: This thick, hearty, vegan “ghee” is fun to add into meals like curries, soups, stews, and sauces to give them a rich satisfying mouthfeel like butter. Livlo’s organic vegan ghee is coconut and avocado oil based and does not require refrigeration (which can be a bonus to make room for other vegan goodies). They add a vegan butter flavor that really makes it taste great – how they do this we’re not sure, but you’ll want to be spreading it on your toast for a different vegan butter experience.
Considerations: While Livlo vegan ghee is a great butter option for cooking or adding into your coffee, shakes, it doesn’t have the same spreadability like Earth Balance or Country Crock Butters for everyday use on toast, etc. Plus, if you have a mixed household (of plant-based eaters and omnivores), this may not be the best option for everyone in that it doesn’t taste/spread like a traditional butter. If you’re looking for a traditional butter, opt for Earth Balance or Country Crock Plant-Based Spreads.
Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread
What We Love: Earth Balance is the OG vegan butter …and for good reason! It spreads well on warm and room temperature foods, it’s perfectly salted, and has a smooth, rich mouthfeel. Earth Balance works exceptionally well in baking, cooking, or consumed as is with your favorite foods. The nutritional profile is comparable to salted butter and while vegan Earth Balance includes palm fruit, it does taste the smoothest, creamiest vegan butter.
Considerations: If you are concerned about your palm fruit/palm oil consumption, vegan Earth Balance butter may not be the best vegan butter for you and you may opt for one with simpler ingredients that are more environmentally friendly. However with that, know that those options are not going to be similar in spreadability or taste to traditional dairy based butter.
Country Crock Plant Butter with Olive Oil Tub
What We Love: Country Crock has a new line of vegan, plant-based butters with either olive oil, almond oil, or avocado oil. In our experience, they are all very similar but perhaps the olive oil version is slightly more “robust” in flavor and the almond one is slightly sweet (would be great for baking). Country Crock Plant-Based Butter is exceptionally smooth and spreads very, very easily. So much so that if you leave it out on the counter, it will melt quickly so be ready to spread or scoop! Because it melts so quickly, it’s not going to be as great if your baking recipe needs “cold” butter – as many biscuits and pastries require. If you are using it for more everyday purposes, Country Crock Plant-Based Butter is tasty, smooth, and vegan!
Considerations: Country Crock Plant Butter also uses palm fruit (that’s how they get it to be so smooth and makes it easier to spread). So again taking into considerations why you are opting for a vegan butter is important. It’s also important to consider how many other things you consume or don’t consume with palm fruit – like your vegan butter may be one of your only sources in your diet/lifestyle. Just food for thought but in terms of straight taste, Country Crock vegan butter hits the spot.
That’s a wrap of our favorite vegan butters based primarily on taste and spreadability. Which vegan butter is your favorite? My kids can’t seem to get enough of the Earth Balance and they have definitely been caught taking scoops of it for snacks/meals. 😉
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Great post