How to Make Homemade Nut Butters

Making your own nut butters at home can be an easy, enjoyable, and creative process. DIY nut butters put you in control of the ingredients. Homemade nut butters can be made without fillers or added oils - and you can control the sweetness, saltiness, and other added flavor elements!

2 cups nuts or seeds, toasted

1 tsp sea salt

Put nuts and/or seeds in a food processor and process. They will first form a ball - stop the processor, break it up, and scrape down the sides, then start again. Process until smooth and liquid - this can take between 5-20 minutes depending on the type of nut or seed. Once smooth, add salt and other flavorings, pulse to combine, and enjoy!

Makes 1 cup of nut butter.

Make sure you're buying quality nuts! Nuts quickly go rancid when not stored refrigerated or tightly sealed - it's best to buy from bulk containers that are refreshed often. Feel free to test the product before you buy! Sample a nut (just one!) and note if the smell or taste is bitter or off.

Nuts can be raw or roasted - we generally recommend roasting for greatest flavor! Preheat oven to 350, spread nuts on a baking sheet, and roast for 5-10 minutes. When you can smell a nutty flavor, they're done! Softer nuts will roast faster than harder nuts. And processing them while warm will make your "grinding" time go faster!

Nut butters can be crunchy or smooth - it depends how long you grind your nuts! You can also remove part of the mix while still crunchy, then process the rest till smooth and add back in the crunchy portion at the end - then you'll achieve that perfect "creamunchy" texture.

Making nut butter can take a while! Sometimes as much as 20 minutes depending on your machine. Keep processing even when it looks grainy or separated - it will come back together! If you're really worried, you can add a tbsp or two of oil, but be warned: this may affect your texture in the end.

Homemade nut butters are like natural nut butter and require later stirring - the oil will naturally separate! However, you can make your nut butters more emulsified by adding in some melted coconut or cacao butter - these will harden at room temp.

Store your homemade nut butter in an airtight container at room temp for up to 1 month. It will keep longer in the fridge, but I recommended letting them come to room temp before enjoying - they'll taste better! You can speed up this process by setting the sealed jar of nut butter in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes.

Assemble your toolkit - you'll need a blender or food processor, spatula, jars, bulk nuts, and optional spices, sweeteners, and flavorings.

Check out our Product Guide for recommendations.

Food processors and high-powered blenders work best for nut butters. Did you know you can buy a "dry grains" container for your VitaMix - it's made specifically for these sorts of projects! (Find it here.) It takes a lot of energy to turn nuts into nut butters so make sure your machine is in good condition with a strong well-oiled motor!

Here are some of our favorite nut butter recipes.
Follow the directions & tips above to make your own:

Chipotle Honey Almond Butter - 2 cups almonds, 1 tsp chipotle powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 tbsp honey

Chai Cashew Butter - 2 cups cashews, 1/2 tsp salt, cinnamon, cardamom, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp cloves, black pepper

White Chocolate Pistachio Butter - 2 cups pistachios, 2/3 cup white chocolate chips, 1 tsp vanilla, salt

Matcha Rose Coconut Butter - 2 cups coconut flakes, 1 tsp matcha powder, 1 tbsp dried rose petals

Rosemary Almond Butter - 2 cups almonds, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp dried rosemary, 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Espresso Mixed Nut Butter - 1 cup almonds, 1/2 cup cashews, 3/4 cup coconut flakes, all toasted; 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbsp honey or maple, 1 tbsp instant espresso powder, 1/2 tsp vanilla

Chocolate Hazelnut Cashew Butter - 1 cup cashews, 1 cup hazelnuts, toasted; 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp vanilla, 1/8 cup coco sugar, 1 tbsp maple, 1/2 tbsp coconut oil melted, 1/4 cup cocoa powder

Pecan-Rosemary Butter - 1 cup pecans, 1 cup cashews, 1 tsp salt, 1 1/4 tsp minced fresh rosemary

Sumac Chili Almond Butter - 2 cups almonds, 1 tsp salt, 4 tsp sumac, 1 tsp red chili flakes, pinch of cayenne

Walnut Mesquite Butter - 2 cups walnuts, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp mesquite powder, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cinnamon