In recent years, the demand for vegan butter has soared as more people embrace the vegan diet. Whether you follow a vegan lifestyle or simply want to explore dairy-free options, vegan butter offers a delicious and versatile alternative to traditional dairy butter.
Let us dive into everything you need to know about vegan butter, from its ingredients to how to use it in your favourite recipes.
In today’s world, vegans do not have to miss out as swapping to dairy-free butter is easy with plenty of options readily available in stores. These days we are used to switching cow's milk for dairy-free alternatives such as oat milk.
But if you take a trip down the butter aisle, you will find there are just as many options when it comes to vegan alternatives.
Vegan butter does not contain dairy but is made from plant-derived oils such as olive, avocado, coconut and palm oil. These oils are blended with water, salt, flavours and emulsifiers, to create a butter substitute that looks and tastes like butter.
Is vegan butter healthier than dairy butter?
According to Healthline, vegan butter and dairy butter have similar levels of calories and total fat content. However, vegan butter is cholesterol-free and usually has less saturated fat than dairy butter.
Vegan butter is also generally higher in healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. That said, vegan butter is more processed than dairy butter, and the refined oils in some vegan butter can be inflammatory.
Overall, choosing vegan butter over dairy butter is less about health benefits than it is about meeting the requirements of a plant-based diet.
What are good vegan butter substitutes?
While the taste and texture of butter may seem hard to replicate there are a few options out there worth trying.
In baking, you can use vegan butter, apple sauce, dairy-free yoghurt, coconut oil, coconut butter, olive oil, nut butter, mashed banana and mashed avocado.
In cooking, you can use olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable stock or avocado oil to replace butter. Keep in mind that the percentages of fat and water will vary with substitutes and this may affect your baked goods in texture and flavour.
Olive oil
This should be in everyone's kitchen. Extra virgin olive oil, the purest of them all, as it offers a robust taste that highlights the flavour of vegetables.
A drizzle over beans, rice, or pasta right before serving is ideal. Regular olive oil is great for baking – just make sure you use a bit less than the quantity of butter that is called for in the recipe.
Coconut oil
Coconut oil is one of the most popular vegan butter substitutes. Not only is it a fat that has a similar effect on food that dairy butter has, but it is also a solid oil.
This makes coconut oil perfect for baked good recipes that call for softened butter for creaming butter. Coconut oil is also perfect for cooking up vegetables or for adding to dishes that need a bit of fat.
The only thing to keep in mind is that coconut oil is lighter than butter. This means that it can sometimes make baked goods oily.
Apple sauce
Mashed fruit can be used in some baking recipes as an alternative to butter. The moist fruit helps provide the perfect consistency, but you may need to adjust some of the other quantities accordingly.
Mashed avocado
Due to their colour, avocados work best in chocolate recipes. Avocados have less natural water than other fruit-based replacements and can even be used for piping or frosting.