Homemade Cashew Butter (Single Ingredient!)
You won’t believe how easy it is to make your own super creamy and delicious roasted cashew butter with this step-by-step guide! Homemade cashew butter gives you full control over the ingredient(s) you use and yields a consistently great flavor and texture - every time. Plus it’s extremely versatile: spread it onto toast or use it to make smoothies, granola, cookies, oatmeal, dressings, and more.
Whether it’s crunchy peanut butter, creamy almond butter, and even a Nutella-inspired chocolate hazelnut butter, it’s safe to say that nut butters are big staples in my pantry. Not only do they make delicious spreads for toasts, they’re also incredibly versatile in everything from sauces and dressings to oil-free granolas, smoothies, and cookies. Most people keep their pantries stocked with peanut butter at all times (as they should), and there’s been a surge in almond butter’s popularity, but not enough people are aware of the amazing taste and versatility of cashew butter!
While cashew butter may not be nearly as popular as peanut butter or almond butter, and admittedly, it’s not something I reach for daily, it holds a special place in my heart. While peanut is my go-to for toasts, snacks, and sauces, cashew butter DOMINATES in the baking department. It’s ultra creamy, with a slight hint of vanilla that no other nut or seed butter can match, making it an absolutely delicious base for granola or cookies. For that reason, I consider it a pantry staple. And unlike so many recipes on the internet, homemade cashew butter truly could not be simpler to make. Here’s your shopping list: raw cashews. That’s it!
So whether you’re already a devout cashew butter fan or you’ve just stumbled across “cashew butter” in a recipe ingredient list, let me show you how easy it is to make your own!
Why should I make my own cashew butter?
Full control over ingredients. The best part about having full control over your ingredients is that you don’t have to settle for any additives in your nut butters (more on this below) and you can select the highest-quality available raw ingredients that you can afford! And high-quality cashews = best cashew butter flavor, which is obviously what we’re shooting for. Plus, if you choose to eat as many organically-farmed ingredients as possible, you can opt to use organic raw cashews to make your own organic cashew butter! (There aren’t as many organic cashew butters on the market as there are peanut or almond butters, so making your own is an easy solution.)
No added oils or sugars. On a similar note, since you have full control over your ingredients, you dictate what goes into the cashew butter and, just as importantly, what doesn’t. A lot of brands out there, including relatively premium brands, will add sugars, oils, or salt to their cashew butters. By making your own, you’re guaranteed to have the most pure, whole food version of cashew butter! And even if you plan on using it in a dressing, you can always add things like oil and salt to it later, as needed, and in the exact quantity you want.
Ultra creamy texture. Another benefit of making your own nut butter is you get to dictate the precise level of creaminess you want your final product to have! So in the case of this cashew butter, the longer you process the cashews, the closer you will get to that ultra smooth and creamy texture!
Great flavor - every single time. You know how there’s usually a variance of flavor and texture between different brands of nut butters? Some are great, some are terrible, and others…leave a lot to be desired. 🫠 By making your own, you’ll get the exact same consistent (and super delicious) flavor - every time! And who doesn’t want that? (Or, if you ever do want something different, you could spruce it up with some spices and/or a splash of vanilla extract. Just keep in mind that a tiny bit goes a long way!)
How to Make Cashew Butter - Step by Step Photos
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Add the cashews onto the baking sheet and spread them out evenly. Transfer to the oven to bake just until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
Add the cashews to the bowl of a large, high-powered food processor (12- or 16-cup capacity) and process the cashews until they turn into a very creamy, smooth butter (about 10 minutes). They will first start to resemble a meal, then turn into a paste, then turn into clumps, and eventually (finally!) transform into a creamy butter. (See photos below!) You will need to pause and scrape the sides of the food processor a few times to keep things moving.
Transfer the cashew butter to a clean 16-ounce jar and store at room temperature for up to a month.
There’s also a video after the section below if you’d like to see the whole process in motion!
Tips for Making Cashew Butter
Use a large food processor (12 or 16-cup capacity). It might seem like this is only helpful in making a larger quantity (i.e. a full jar), but it’s actually absolutely crucial for preventing your food processor’s motor from burning out. Unfortunately for me, I learned this lesson the hard way when I first tried making homemade nut butters a few years back and killed my tiny 4-cup food processor’s motor. 🥲 (The good news? I upgraded to a powerful full-sized one. 😎) So if you’re even considering using a small food processor (typically with a 3-4 cup capacity) to turn 3 cups of nuts into a nut butter, DO NOT DO IT! Make sure you’re using a nut:food processor cup ratio of at least 1:4 (i.e. use 3 cups of cashews in a 12-cup food processor).
Buy the highest quality raw cashews you can find. At the risk of sounding like an ingredient snob, I definitely suggest using the highest quality raw cashews you can find for two reasons. 1) This is a single ingredient recipe, so the flavor of the cashews is really going to come through, and the highest quality cashews will result in the best tasting cashew butter! 2) Make sure you’re buying raw cashews (i.e. not roasted, unsalted) as you’ll be roasting them yourself immediately before blending.
Roast the cashews just until slightly golden. You’ll want to roast those raw cashews right before processing them (unless you really prefer the taste of raw cashew butter). Just make sure to roast them until they turn slightly golden - no less, and definitely no more. Keep a close eye on them in the last 2-3 minutes of roasting because cashews can burn very quickly!
Keep processing those nuts until you get an ultra creamy, silky texture! If this is your first time making any nut butter, don’t be surprised if about 3-5 minutes into the process, you find yourself looking down on tiny floured bits of cashew and wondering if and how they’ll ever transform into a nut butter. They will! It just takes time, and some pausing/scraping the sides of the food processor, but I promise those cashew bits will eventually break down. So even when things are starting to look completely dire, ~*trust the process*~, keep that food processor running, and you’ll eventually get a super creamy nut butter. 😋
Recipes to Try with Cashew Butter
There’s a lot of different ways to use cashew butter, such as in granola, overnight oats, smoothies, cookies, or even savory dressings! Here are a few recipes ideas of how to use your homemade cashew butter:
Homemade Cashew Butter
Vegan
Yields approximately one 16-ounce jar
Ingredient
3 cups raw cashews
Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Add the cashews onto the baking sheet and spread them out evenly. Transfer to the oven to bake until just golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. Let the cashews cool for 1-2 minutes until safe to handle.
Tip: check them often near the end of the cooking time as cashews can turn from perfectly roasted to disastrously burnt in just a couple minutes!
Add the cashews to the bowl of a large, high-powered food processor (12- or 16-cup capacity) and process the cashews until they turn into a very creamy, smooth butter (about 10 minutes). They will first start to resemble a meal, then turn into a paste, then turn into clumps, and eventually (finally!) transform into a creamy butter. You will need to pause and scrape the sides of the food processor a few times to keep everything moving.
Transfer to a clean 16-ounce jar and store at room temperature for up to a month.
Loving your homemade cashew butter? Please take a moment to share it with someone who would also love it and tag me on Instagram when you make it! PS - if you’re also obsessed with nut butters of all varieties, you might also like my homemade Nutella-inspired chocolate hazelnut butter recipe.