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Homemade cashew butter is creamy, sweet and delicious! All you need is cashews and salt (no added sugars or oil). Get ready to be amazed!
Want to make your own cashew butter? This protein-packed plant based (WFPB) spread is creamy and lightly sweet, and tasty smeared on just about anything. There’s a unique sweetness about it that’s almost, dare we say it, better than peanut butter? (Sorry, PB.) Making it homemade results in all natural butter with no added sugars, oils or preservatives. And even better: it’s just plain fun to make this healthy snack! Ready to whip up some cashew butter? Let’s go.
How to make cashew butter
There are just two basic steps to making nut butter. As long as you have a food processor, you can make endless batches using any nuts you have on hand. Alex and I eat quite a bit of nut butters in our household, and cashew butter is a fast favorite because of its unique sweet flavor. Here’s how to make cashew butter:
- Step 1: Roast the cashews! To start, you’ll roast the cashews for 10 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. This does two things: it brings out the flavor of the nuts, and helps them to blend better.
- Step 2: Blend! Here’s the fun part: blending! Turn on your food processor and blend for 4 minutes. The nuts go through a transformation: they start crumbly, then turn sticky, and then turn ultra creamy. After 4 minutes you’ll add salt, then blend again for about 2 to 3 minutes until you see that insanely creamy texture.
What you need: a food processor!
There’s one piece of equipment needed for this cashew butter: a food processor! It’s much more powerful than a blender and the perfect tool for nut butters. We recommend getting the large size, which is most versatile. When you get one, you can make lots of tasty recipes like hummus, pesto, and veggie meatballs.
Buy one: Cuisinart 7 Cup Food Processor
How to store homemade cashew butter
Some sources say to store homemade cashew butter in the refrigerator. But this makes it impossible to spread! Because homemade nut butters have no preservatives, they’re a little different than shelf-stable store-bought butters. But! We did a little research and found that you can store homemade cashew butter in the:
- Pantry for 1 month: Keep it in a cool, dry place. (Source)
- Refrigerated for 3 to 4 months: If you don’t mind the thick texture, you can extend the life by refrigerating it.
9 ways to serve cashew butter
Alex and I eat a ton of peanut butter in our house: but our next favorite nut butter to make is with cashews. It’s so sweet and creamy. Adding a smear of this vegan spread is a great way to add plant-based protein as a healthy snack, lunch, or breakfast. Here are a few great ways to serve cashew butter:
- Pancakes: try Banana Oatmeal Pancakes or Sour Cream Pancakes
- Oatmeal: swirled into Best Oatmeal, Instant Pot Oatmeal, or Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats
- Toast: try our Homemade Bread with Easy Strawberry Jam
- Stuffed Dates: make a vegan version of our Easy Stuffed Dates
- Chocolate: try Homemade Peanut Butter Cups with cashew butter instead
- Waffles: add a swirl onto Blueberry Waffles or Fluffy Gluten Free Waffles
- Yogurt: Make a parfait with berries and cashew butter
- Smoothies: Add a hit of protein to our Best Blueberry Smoothie or Green Apple Smoothie.
- Acai Bowl: try this tasty Acai Bowl with a swirl!
More nut butter recipes
Let’s not stop at cashew butter! There are lots of other nut butter recipes to try. Here are our favorites that we make on the regular:
- Peanut Butter The classic! It comes out ultra creamy and has no added sugar or oils.
- Almond Butter Thick and creamy, it’s perfect for adding protein to smoothies and toast just like cashew butter.
- Walnut Butter Cinnamon scented, it’s creamy with a hint of sweet.
- Pistachio Butter A fun alternative nut butter, it’s creamy and green.
- Nut Butter Use any nuts you like for this one! It’s great for cleaning out your pantry. We used a mix of cashews, walnuts, and almonds.
This cashew butter recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
Print
Homemade Cashew Butter
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: About 1 cup 1x
Description
Homemade cashew butter is creamy, sweet and delicious! All you need is cashews and salt (no added sugars or oil). Get ready to be amazed.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread the nuts out onto a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 8 to 10 minutes, until fragrant and toasted. Allow to cool for 2 to 3 minutes on the tray.
- Immediately add the nuts to food processor while they’re warm and process for 4 minutes.** You’ll see them start out crumbly, then get gradually creamier and creamier.
- Add the kosher salt to taste (we used between ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon using unsalted nuts). Process for 2 to 3 minutes more until luxuriously creamy. Taste and add additional salt as necessary.
- Transfer the cashew butter to a jar. Store in a cool dark place (pantry) for 1 month or refrigerated for 2 to 3 months.
Notes
*Doubles easily, so feel free to do 4 cups to make a large-sized cashew butter jar. You can also use salted cashews and salt to taste at the end. **If after several minutes of processing the nuts are very dry and crumbly and not becoming creamy, you can add up to 1 tablespoon of neutral oil like grapeseed or canola while processing. We’ve never needed to do this; it can depend on the age of the nuts.
- Category: Essentials
- Method: Food Processor
- Cuisine: Nut Butter
Keywords: Cashew Butter
More plant based recipes & resources
Cashew butter is a great way to add protein and make plant based meals more filling! Here are a few more of our favorite resources for eating vegan and plant based recipes on the regular:
- 15 Plant Based & Vegan Breakfast Ideas Our favorite plant-based ways to start the day!
- Plant Based Diet Guide & Recipes All the recipes you need for every meal of the day.
- 28 Day Plant Based Diet Meal Plan A meal plan for getting more plants into your diet!
- How to Go Vegan: Guide & Recipes All our favorite recipes for eating vegan meals, and a few tips for how to stay full.
