Pitcher of vegan brown butter on a white plate with pecans. In the background are roasted carrots and chocolate chip cookie bars, both made with brown butter.
November 30, 2023

Easy Vegan Brown Butter

November 30, 2023

Easy Vegan Brown Butter

Pitcher of vegan brown butter on a white plate with pecans. In the background are roasted carrots and chocolate chip cookie bars, both made with brown butter.

Introducing easy vegan brown butter! If you’ve ever eaten anything made with real brown butter, you’ll know the delicious nutty flavour that it imparts.

Truly addictive, brown butter elevates both sweet and savoury recipes, from chocolate chip cookies to brown butter chocolate syrup and brown butter pasta sauce. But what to do if you don’t eat dairy?

Pitcher of vegan brown butter on a white plate with pecans. In the background are roasted carrots and chocolate chip cookie bars, both made with brown butter.

To make traditional brown butter, you simply heat the butter in a saucepan. Over about 15 minutes, it goes through a number of stages from cooking off the water in the butter to the point where the butter is foaming and the milk solids in the butter start to brown. These milk solids are what produce that coveted nutty, hazelnut-like flavour.

If you attempt to brown margarine, such as Earth Balance or Becel (aka Promise in the US), yes, it does brown. But the result decidedly does not have the same flavour appeal. Margarines, of course, vary in how they’re formulated, but if it’s vegan margarine, it will not contain any milk solids, and therefore it lacks that nutty flavour of browned butter.

So how to get that nutty flavour? The images provide a big clue -  by infusing margarine with pecans, you get that nutty flavour, and voila, easy vegan brown butter.
Melted margarine and pecans in a cast iron pan, making vegan brown butter

Frequently asked questions

Can I use hazelnuts?

You can try using hazelnuts for this recipe if you like. The dairy version of brown butter is also called beurre noisette or hazelnut butter, due to its hazelnut-like flavour. That makes hazelnuts an obvious choice, but the small problem is that I'm allergic to hazelnuts, so I could not do my due diligence with testing. Also, pecans, at least in my part of the world (Vancouver, Canada) are easier to find and less expensive. Finally, skinless hazelnuts are a bit difficult to find, but if you can find them, consider giving the recipe a try with them. Remember to keep an eye on how quickly they are browning and remove from the margarine before they start to go from brown to burnt. 

Can you use any kind of margarine for this? Does Earth Balance butter brown?

Different margarines have different formulations, so I cannot guarantee that they will all work the same way. I choose Becel vegan margarine to test this recipe. This is not a sponsored post, but I choose the brand because according to Wikipedia, it’s available in many countries worldwide. Note that in the United States the brand is called Promise. Make sure you are buying the vegan/plant-based version as there are several varieties. 

I've also tested to see whether Earth Balance butter browns. It does brown, and compared to Becel, less of the margarine is ‘lost’ in the browning process, which I believe is indicative of the water content – i.e., it looks like Becel (aka Promise) has a higher water content.

Can you use Miyoko's cultured vegan butter?

Yes, we have tested Miyoko's vegan butter with this recipe. On Miyoko's packaging, it advises that their butter "melts, browns, and spreads phenomenally." We compared Mikoyo browned butter on its own, versus browned with pecans, and we think the pecans added a layer of nuttiness to the plain version. 

Note that browning their butter - with or without the pecans - results in the butter turning into a light-brownish-gray colour.

Can I use this vegan brown butter in baking?

The short answer is, it depends. At room temperature, it's a semi-liquid oil not solid butter. Therefore, it will probably be fine in any recipe that calls for liquid oil or melted butter. Even if the recipe calls for butter sometimes you can get away with substituting oil, but you would usually replace it with less oil -- about 75% of the original quantity. For example, you would replace 1 cup of butter with 3/4s of a cup of oil.

If you want to make some cookies, try our awesome Vegan Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don’t think this vegan brown butter will work in recipes where you need butter in its solid state, such as in recipes for making puff pastry.

Vegan brown butter does not turn solid at room temperature.

The image is grainy, but you can see how the vegan brown butter is a pourable, semi-liquid oil.

Easy vegan brown butter being poured into a glass container, against a yellow background, with pecans scattered nearby

Easy vegan brown butter

What about using vegan brown butter in savoury dishes?

Again, it depends on how the brown butter relates to the overall recipe. However, you can definitely use it add a nice nutty depth of flavour to sauces. It would be perfect for a simple vegan brown butter pasta sauce with some sage.

What can I do with the leftover pecans?

Eat them! They’re buttery and delicious. I love them on my morning oatmeal or with fruit and yogurt. You can also add them to baking, such as the Vegan Brown Butter Chocolate Chip cookies mentioned above.  Or try this  Dark Chocolate Bark recipe with buttery pecans and salty smoked almonds.

Video

Recipe Card

Easy Vegan Brown Butter

5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 3 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 18 minutes
Impart the nutty deliciousness of browned butter to recipes both sweet and savoury with this easy vegan brown butter, made with margarine and pecans. 
Servings 12 tablespoons
Calories 138 kcal
Author Sylvia Eastman

Ingredients

  • 1 cup vegan margarine {See Recipe Notes}
  • 1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Instructions

  • Put the margarine and pecans in a saucepan or heavy skillet. Bring it to a low simmer and let it simmer for about 15 or more minutes. Toward the end, you'll want to watch it carefully as the butter (and pecans) will burn if you leave them too long. Mine is usually done around 18 minutes or so. If you are nervous, it's better to take it off the heat early than late. It will still taste good. 
    Strain out the pecans and let cool. 

Notes

About Margarine
Different margarines are made with different formulations. I  tested this recipe extensively with Becel vegan margarine. This is not a sponsored post. I choose Becel because it is available in many countries around the world. See this Wikipedia article for a list of countries, and note that Becel is sold in the United States under the name Promise. 
I also tested (less extensively) with Miyoko's Organic Vegan Butter. 
If you are not using Becel (known as Promise in the US) or Miyoko's, I recommend doing a test version first, with 1/4 cup of margarine and 2 tablespoons of pecans. This will likely take less time to brown, so watch it carefully. 
If you are not using Becel (aka Promise), I recommend doing a test version first, with 1/4 cup of margarine and 2 tablespoons of pecans. This will likely take less time to brown, so watch it carefully. 
Getting the Margarine Brown
If you are nervous about burning the margarine or the pecans, you can remove it before it gets really brown. I have cooked it for as little as 7 minutes and you will still get the nutty flavour of the pecans infused into the butter. It will be more of a golden yellow colour still at that point, but it does taste good. 
Storage
I store this in the fridge. It will thicken up but it never returns to its semi-solid margarine state. 
Amp up the Flavour
If you want to give the brown butter even more of a nutty taste, you can add a teaspoon or two of hazelnut or pecan oil to it. 
Recipe Yield
The recipe yield is based on using Becel (aka Promise) margarine. 
Nutritional Information 
Nutrition information is an estimate, based on Becel vegan margarine.

Nutrition

Serving: 0g | Calories: 138kcal | Carbohydrates: 0g | Protein: 0g | Fat: 0g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0g | Trans Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 0mg | Potassium: 0mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 0g | Vitamin A: 0IU | Vitamin C: 0mg | Calcium: 0mg | Iron: 0mg

Courses, Cuisines, and Keywords

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Cuisine
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Keywords
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Comments

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Recipe Rating




  1. I usually stay away from all margarines, vegan or otherwise. Do you think I could do this with straight avocado oil, or another neutral oil?

    1. Hi Ellie – I honestly have no experience with that, but I think it would be unlikely. Depending on the recipe you’re making, you could just add a little bit of nut oil, like hazelnut oil or walnut oil, that would at least give you the nutty flavour that regular brown butter imparts to a dish.

  2. Thank you for this! I’ve been dairy allergic (and also hazelnut and almond) for several years now. Have found substitutions or tricks for most things but not brown butter. I’m trying this today. Fingers crossed!

    1. Hi Caitlin – I haven’t tried it with other nuts, but it would be worth a try. Maybe do a half-batch? This will take less time and you’ll want to watch it carefully so that the nuts don’t start to get burnt. I think I would choose hazelnut over almonds, but you’d want to have the skins removed first.

  3. I used the Country Crock Avocado butter sticks. It took a while but did brown, though the flavor AFTER browning wasn’t very good. I was disappointed because my husband and I really like the raw flavor of this specific “butter.”

    1. I also meant to say I didn’t try Promise because after I looked at the ingredients online, I found it isn’t vegan.

      1. Hi – In Canada, we have several types of Becel – there is one that is specifically labelled vegan, so you do have to watch out for that. I will add a note to the recipe. Thank you for the information.

    2. Hi Erin – thanks for posting this. I haven’t seen the Avocado butter where I live (Vancouver, Canada) so that’s good to know. I do find that avocado has a prominent flavour so it doesn’t surprise me too much. Are you able to find Earth Balance? I have tested that and liked it.

  4. Would this work in a graham cracker crust? The recipe I’m converting has the pie in the freezer for 8 hours and then on the counter for 45mins before serving. I’m concerned that the crust won’t hold together. What are your thoughts?

    1. Hi Michele – honestly, I’m not sure. I have’t tried anything similar with it. So the crust is just frozen – never cooked? If it’s not cooked, I am not too sure that it would actually hold together after being on the counter. You could try an experiment with a much smaller version to see, that’s the only way to know for sure. If you do, please come back and let me know how it goes.

  5. 5 stars
    Tried this with Earth Balance and toasted hazelnuts & raw pecans. It is honestly better than icing with real butter!!! Deep, rich flavor. Thanks for sharing this.

  6. 5 stars
    Absolutely genius recipe. Used Miyoko’s and the smallest amount – like the tip of a toothpick – of liquid smoke and it was chef’s kiss. Brilliant recipe.

  7. In reviewing the recipe for the vegan brown butter and adding the pecans, I had the thought… what if a person has nut allergies? Is there something else that could be used? Thank you.

    1. Hi Curtis – Unfortunately I don’t have an alternative for nuts. I know that the Miyoko’s Vegan Butter advertises that you can brown it. I have tried, with and without adding the pecans, and I preferred the version with the pecans added.

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We're creating a course: Baby Steps to Plant-Based Eating

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