Because of my dietary restrictions, I am not allowed to consume butter any more. I miss that creamy flavor, especially in mashed potatoes. It used to be one of my favourites, but now I don't enjoy it as much. Is there any non-animal substitute for butter?
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‘Creamy’ is more a mouthfeel than a flavor. I personally use olive oil + chicken stock and can get a similar texture, but the flavor isn’t close. I suspect that coconut oil might work, but again, it won’t give you the flavor– JoeOct 24, 2022 at 1:29
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See: cooking.stackexchange.com/q/87736/34242– EcnerwalOct 24, 2022 at 1:57
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It’s possibly also worth mentioning that there is ‘artificial butter flavoring’, but not all of them are vegan.– JoeOct 24, 2022 at 23:38
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1Pretty much every vegetable oil/fat is a substitute for butter. Butter is an emulsion of 75% fat in 25% water and soluble solids, so you could similarly emulsify any other fat to get a similar texture and structure. Flavor you'd probably have to do artificially.– Lee Daniel CrockerOct 24, 2022 at 23:51
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3 Answers
Vegan “butters” will be the closest substitute based on your requirements. They are specifically formulated to have the taste and mouthfeel of dairy butter, but contain no animal products.
Margarine, also a good substitute for dairy butter, is primarily vegetable based, but may contain a small amount of flavorings from dairy.
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be aware that, at least in the US, "margarine" will have at least 80% fat, but "vegan butter" may have a lot more water, which can be important for baking. Check the fat content of "vegan butter" before baking anything sensitive with it, or stick with margarine that has no dairy added.– EstherOct 25, 2022 at 18:29
There are plenty of vegan 'butter' and margarine options out there, but these are primarily vegetable oil or soy-based. This only partially achieves your 'butter' goals. If it's the creaminess of butter you're after, I recommend trying something like Miyoko's European Style Cultured Vegan Butter. Its base is coconut and sunflower oil, but also includes cashew cream—a vegan fan favorite for achieving a creamy texture.
Most vegan butters are highly processed chemically. If you want to avoid any non-naturally occurring ingredients, an alternative for the kind of cooking you are talking about would be a coconut oil that is not chemically processed. If you use unprocessed coconut oil, you will have a strong coconut flavor in whatever it's added to.
Spectrum's organic oils (has to be its organic ones) that are refined are not chemically refined. They are mechanically refined. This would be something to try: https://www.spectrumorganics.com/product/organic-coconut-oil/ That should give you some creaminess. Flavor of butter is a different thing. But at least this version of a refined coconut oil will not bring tons of coconut flavor to the party.
To be clear, I'm not making any health claims at all. Mechanically refined coconut oil is not chemically refined with anything that could remotely be non-vegan or of any potential concern. There's no health claim. You have to research and decide for yourself on that front. I personally find the mechanically refined coconut oil tastes better. It's also organic. The chemically refined version is not.
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The suggestion of coconut oil is a reasonable contribution, but we avoid making claims about the health of products here beyond government food safety rules.– dbmag9Oct 24, 2022 at 16:12
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Not making any health claims at all. Mechanically refined coconut oil is not chemically refined with anything that could remotely be non-vegan or of any potential concern. There's no health claim. The reader can choose to research and decide for themselves. I also find the mechanically refined one tastes better. It's also organic. The chemically refined version is not. Should I edit my answer to reflect this? Happy to do so.– EarnieGOct 24, 2022 at 16:46
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