How to choose a vegan butter
Every vegan butter is a mix of plant oils, water, salt and an emulsifier. What separates a great one from a greasy one is the oil blend, the fat content, and whether it is cultured. Those three things decide how it spreads, how it bakes and how it tastes.
Sticks and blocks for baking, tubs for spreading
Dairy butter is roughly 80 percent fat. Sticks and blocks such as Miyoko's, Violife Vioblock and Country Crock Plant Butter sticks are close to that, so they cream with sugar, laminate pastry and hold their shape in cookies. Tub spreads carry more water, which makes them soft straight from the fridge but flat and cakey in baking.
Coconut oil vs olive and canola blends
Coconut oil based butters (Violife, Melt, Forager) set firm and taste clean, but they soften quickly on a warm counter. Canola, soybean and olive oil blends such as Earth Balance stay spreadable at fridge temperature and are the better toast butter. Palm oil shows up in many of them for firmness; if you avoid it, Miyoko's, Flora and Kite Hill are palm-free options.
Cultured means flavor
Miyoko's and Kite Hill culture a nut milk base before blending it with oil, the same way dairy creameries culture cream. The result is a tangy, slightly cheesy depth that plain oil blends cannot match. If butter flavor matters more to you than price, buy cultured. Read our baking test of six vegan butters to see how they compared in croissants and pie crust.
Allergens and labels
Most vegan butters are nut-free, but Miyoko's (cashew) and Kite Hill (almond) are not. Earth Balance makes a soy-free tub for soy allergies. Margarine on the same shelf is often not vegan at all, so check for whey, casein and lactose; our vegan butter vs margarine guide explains what to look for.
Our quick picks
- Best overall: Miyoko's Creamery Cultured Vegan Butter, for flavor and baking performance.
- Best budget: Country Crock Plant Butter sticks, the cheapest stick that bakes reliably.
- Best for toast: Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread, soft from the fridge and salty in the right way. See our full Earth Balance review.
- Best nut-free block: Violife Vioblock, slices and browns like dairy.
- Cleanest label: Forager Project Buttery Spread, organic coconut oil and cashew milk and little else.
No vegan butter in the house? Our list of 12 vegan butter substitutes covers oils, applesauce, avocado and other pantry swaps with the right ratios.
