How to Make Almond Butter

Learn how to make almond butter at home! Made with just 3 ingredients, it's smooth, creamy, and nutritious. You'll love it on toast, oatmeal, and more.

Almond butter

I started making this homemade almond butter recipe in an effort to clear out my pantry. It sounds silly, I know, but partway through last winter, I ended up with jars and jars of different nuts in the cupboard. Pistachios left from this carrot salad, hazelnuts left from this kohlrabi slaw, and so forth. I had one big canister of almonds that was begging to be eaten, and since Jack and I had a great time making homemade peanut butter last spring, I decided to try blending them into homemade almond butter.

Let me tell you, I am so glad I did! If you’ve never learned how to make almond butter at home, you have to try this recipe. The almond butter is smooth and creamy, perfectly runny, and filled with a nutty, toasted almond flavor. It’s fun to make, watching the whole nuts slowly melt into a luscious spread, and it’s even more fun to eat. You’ll love slathering it onto toast, dolloping it onto oatmeal, and downing it straight off a spoon!

Homemade almond butter in a food processor

How to Make Almond Butter

To make this homemade almond butter recipe, you’ll need 4 things:

  • Raw almonds – We’ll start by toasting them in the oven to bring out their nutty flavor. This step also makes them easier to blend.
  • A food processor or high-speed blender – To grind the almonds into a smooth, creamy nut butter.
  • Sea salt – If you like, you can skip it and make unsalted almond butter, but I highly recommend adding a pinch or two. It gives the homemade almond butter a richer, more complex flavor.
  • A neutral-tasting oil – Only if you need it! If my homemade almond butter looks gritty and isn’t getting smooth, I’ll add a little oil to help loosen it up.

Once you have them handy, here’s what you need to do:

Ground nuts in a food processor

First, toast the almonds. Preheat the oven to 350°F and spread the almonds on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake them for 10 minutes, or until they smell rich and nutty. Remove the sheet from the oven, and allow the almonds to cool slightly.

Then, transfer the roasted almonds to a food processor or powerful blender. From here on out, you’ll just be processing/blending the almonds until they transform into a smooth nut butter. But heads up – this will take some time, about 15 minutes total. Stop regularly to scrape down the sides of your food processor or blender and to give the motor a break.

Grinding nuts in a food processor

At first, the mixture will be crumbly and chunky.

How to make almond butter - Nut butter in a food processor

Then, it’ll thicken into a ball.

Creamy almond butter inside food processor

Finally, it’ll become smooth and creamy! If the mixture is still thick and gritty after 15 minutes of processing, add a neutral oil, 1 teaspoon at a time, to help it blend.

Season to taste with sea salt, and enjoy.

Smooth and creamy almond butter in food processor

How to Use Almond Butter

If you’re anything like me, you’ll be happy eating this homemade almond butter straight off a spoon, but have fun experimenting with other ways to use it, too! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

How do you like to use homemade almond butter? Let me know in the comments!

Almond butter recipe

More Homemade Basics

If you love this almond butter recipe, try making one of these homemade basics next:

Get This Recipe In Your Inbox
Share your email, and we'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus, enjoy daily doses of recipe inspiration as a bonus!

How to Make Almond Butter

rate this recipe:
5 from 13 votes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Serves 12
Learn how to make almond butter at home! Creamy, nutty, and smooth, it's delicious on toast, overnight oats, yogurt, and more. Vegan and gluten-free.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups raw almonds
  • Avocado oil or another neutral-tasting oil, such as grapeseed, as necessary
  • Sea salt, to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Spread the almonds in an even layer on the baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes, or until fragrant. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
  • Transfer the toasted almonds to a medium food processor. Process until very smooth, stopping every 30 seconds to 1 minute to scape down the sides of the bowl, as necessary, and to give the food processor's motor a break. The mixture will be chunky at first. Then, it'll thicken into a ball, and finally, it will become creamy and smooth. The whole process should take about 15 minutes.
  • If the almond butter still isn't coming together after 15 minutes, add avocado oil, 1 teaspoon at a time, to help the mixture blend.
  • Season to taste with salt, and serve on toast, overnight oats, oatmeal, yogurt, or banana bread. Find more serving suggestions in the post above.

37 comments

Leave a comment:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Ellen Della-Serra
    12.18.2023

    5 stars
    I made this recipe & turned it into homemade Christmas gifts. I know my vegan family will love it!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      12.21.2023

      What a nice idea!

  2. Marie
    12.09.2023

    Hi, can I use Ninja to make this almond butter? How long would be the shelf life? Thank you!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      12.13.2023

      Hi Marie, a recommend a food processor because there isn’t enough liquid in the recipe to blend in a blender.

  3. Judy Rocconi
    12.04.2023

    5 stars
    Easy to make and tastes great! This recipe is great for a diabetic❤️

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      12.05.2023

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it!

  4. Diane S.
    08.22.2023

    5 stars
    Just finished making my first batch. I only have a small food processor, so I halved the recipe.

    It worked perfectly, and I didn’t need to add any oil. It made about 6-8 oz. My husband & I tried it and love it! I will be making this regularly!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      08.25.2023

      Hi Diane, I’m so glad you loved the almond butter!

  5. Doreen
    05.05.2023

    5 stars
    This was so satisfying to make and really delicious! I added in the Avocado Oil to make it creamy and it is perfect!! Thank you!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      05.09.2023

      Hi Doreen, I’m glad your almond butter came out perfect!

  6. Arlene G. Northway
    04.07.2023

    Delicious! I don’t think I’ll ever buy almond butter again! It went through the stages exactly as you said. Thanks for posting this recipe!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.12.2023

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  7. Lori
    04.05.2023

    5 stars
    Love my almond butter! Does it need to be refrigerated?

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      04.07.2023

      Hi Lori, yes! I would store this in the fridge.

  8. Carolyn McMurtery
    11.11.2022

    Can you use blanched almonds to make lighter in color

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      11.17.2022

      Hi Carolyn, The almond butter would have a lighter color that way, but I think it would also have a much milder flavor. I’d recommend sticking with the whole almonds for this recipe.

  9. Tammy S
    09.27.2022

    5 stars
    Oh wow! I may never buy store bought again! This was so easy and it taste great!!! Thanks for the recipe!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.28.2022

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  10. Anita
    05.31.2022

    5 stars
    Thanks for your recipe and instructions, I just finished my first batch and it came out perfectly! My processor is a Ninja Auto IQ, 1000 watt; it took 29 minutes but that was running for a minute, scraping down and resting for a minute (initially) and as it became smoother, I ran it and rested in 30 second increments. I didn’t need any oil, just added a tiny bit of salt. I was concerned that 3 cups of almonds may be too much but it ended up being 2 smallish jars (one for me & one for my daughter’s family).

  11. Nidhi
    05.11.2022

    5 stars
    Hello Jeanine, thanks for sharing this recipe. I finally made it today and I am so delighted…it has come out perfectly, had almond butter for the first time and it tasted great!
    Thanks 😊

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      05.11.2022

      I’m so glad you loved it!

  12. Renee
    04.01.2022

    I have a bag of slivered almonds at home, and I’d really like to avoid buying more almonds when I already have some. Do you think that would be ok? Maybe just don’t roast them as long so as not to burn them? What do you think?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      04.02.2022

      Hi Renee, you can use them – since they don’t have skins, your nut butter will just be a lighter color.

  13. Sharon
    01.22.2022

    5 stars
    Mine is tasty but definitely not as runny as the website photo. It is more the texture of toothpaste.
    Did I not process it long enough? Lost count of time as I processing 60-90 secs, then stopping.
    Added 2t coconut oil.
    It’s absolutely delicious but not at all liquidy.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      01.22.2022

      Hi Sharon, you can keep processing, it’ll get more runny the longer you go.

  14. Beverly
    12.03.2021

    This was delicious, so much better than store bought. I added about 2 teaspoons of olive oil at the end and seasoned with sea salt.

  15. Happy
    08.28.2021

    5 stars
    Awesome! I am so happy to have this wonderful recipe! Really easy to read and easy to follow directions. Nicely designed website, in a time when so many bloggers tell their life story before posting the recipe with 150 videos on their pages. I will actually be able to remember it. Thank you!!!!!!!!!

  16. rose
    07.27.2021

    did you remove the skin of the almond?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.27.2021

      I don’t

  17. Maria
    05.23.2021

    5 stars
    Hi! I just made this. It was so much easier than I ever imagined – and delicious too! I assume it should be stored in the fridge? How long will it last?

  18. Catherine Lee
    05.20.2021

    Can you do this with walnuts for walnut butter?

      • CATHERINE LEE
        05.20.2021

        Awesome, thank you!

  19. Kayla
    05.18.2021

    Would love to try this! What if I use almonds with salt already? Would this make it too salty?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      05.18.2021

      It should be just fine, you probably don’t need to add any additional salt in that case.

  20. Tammy
    05.18.2021

    One of my favorite snacks is a crisp sweet apple, sliced and dipped in almond butter.

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.