Butter is back, and so are its dairy-free rivals. Meet the new generation of cultured, small-batch vegan butters redefining craft, flavor, and performance.
Butter is the ingredient of the moment. From French imports wrapped in wax paper to chefs hand-churning cultured slabs in restaurant kitchens, the once-humble spread has regained its cultural status. The Los Angeles Time recently reported that sales of flavored and artisan butters have surged as shoppers reach for “affordable luxuries.” Home cooks are seeking out higher-fat European-style varieties, and social media has turned butter into a marker of taste.
But the fascination with butter’s flavor and texture has also pushed a parallel movement forward. The best dairy-free butters now also share the same virtues that define their dairy counterparts: whole food ingredients crafted through fermentation and churn.
The benchmark: how vegan butter got good
Miyoko’s Creamery helped establish modern dairy-free butter. Founded in 2014 by Miyoko Schinner, the California-based company brought classic cheese- and butter-making techniques to vegan fats.
“The flavor and tang come from fermentation of fresh cashew milk, which we make in-house, then add dairy cultures (lactic acid bacteria) to the milk, and ferment until it reaches the right pH,” Schinner told Sonoma Magazine. “We don’t add any flavorings — it’s all naturally derived through fermentation,” said Schinner.
But before Miyoko’s, most vegan butter was essentially margarine — oily, flavorless, and a processed food no-no. Schinner’s effort helped bring a new perspective: just like any plant-based milk can be a substitute for dairy milk, so too could it be transformed into a creamy, buttery spread.
The label’s European-Style Cultured Vegan Butter remains the category’s benchmark. Made from organic cashew milk and live cultures, it behaves like cultured dairy butter — browning evenly, folding into laminated dough, and carrying that distinct, clean tang. Though Schinner left the company in 2023, its emphasis on fermentation and performance continues to guide the broader movement toward artisan plant-based fats.
Butter, reimagined
Elle Decor writer William Li says that in our digital world, butter represents “something refreshingly authentic and tactile.” Its comeback celebrates “slow food values, artisanal craftsmanship, and the pleasure of real ingredients,” he writes. “It reminds us that sometimes the most profound culinary delights come from the simplest sources — especially when we give them the attention they so richly deserve.”
While mass-market spreads still rely on palm or canola oil, they can produce texture but little flavor. As butter regains cultural relevance, dairy-free producers are applying the same sensibilities as conventional butter producers — sourcing, process, and even terroir — to nuts, seeds, and whole grains.
These artisan butters focus on how fat behaves: how it melts, aerates, and emulsifies. Cashews do heavy lifting in this area, but just like it works well in coffee, oat milk can also churn out a rich vegan butter. Cultured vegan butters with higher oil content and live fermentation yield better results, closer to the flavor and texture of dairy butter — and, in many cases, matching or surpassing it.
Butter or cultured butter?
Butter is made by stirring or churning milk or cream until it reaches a semisolid state and separates from buttermilk. To qualify as butter under U.S. law, it must contain at least 80 percent butterfat. Artisan butters — especially those imported from Europe — typically go further, reaching between 82 and 86 percent fat for a creamier texture and richer flavor.
Cultured butter takes the process one step deeper. Before churning, the cream is fermented with live bacterial cultures, which lower its pH and develop a tangy, nuanced flavor. The method, common in France and northern Europe, produces a more aromatic butter that browns and bakes differently from sweet cream versions.
For plant-based producers, that culture-based approach is what bridges the sensory gap between dairy and non-dairy fats. By fermenting cashew, oat, or coconut milks before churning, artisan vegan butters mimic the same depth and slight acidity that define traditional cultured butter—without the cream.
The dairy-free artisan butters defining the category
Grab your favorite crusty baguette, bagel, or muffin and get ready to slather on these creamy, dreamy, dairy-free artisan butters.
Miyoko’s Creamery
The standard-bearer for cultured vegan butter. Made from organic cashew milk and live cultures, it’s palm-oil-free, soy-free, and renowned for its clean melt and performance in pastry.
Tourlami
Pastry chef Susannah Schoolman’s brand centers on cocoa butter and coconut oil to create structure and crispness without palm oil. “Cocoa butter is solid at room temperature,” she told Food52, “so things resolidify and you get that flakiness, that crispiness, and you get that richness.”
Om Sweet Home
Originally created for the brand’s vegan bakery, Om Sweet Home’s coconut and sunflower butter blend has the density and balance of cultured dairy butter, making it a go-to for laminated doughs.
Monty’s
Known for its cult cashew-based cream cheeses, Monty’s makes a minimalist Plant-Based Butter with just four ingredients — organic coconut oil, almond oil, cashews, and sea salt. The result is smooth, mild, and clean on the palate, more reminiscent of a cultured dairy butter than a spread.
LeGrand
LeGrand’s Unsalted Vegan Butter is described as “the simplest expression of a real botanical plant-based butter: rich and creamy with a delicate garden aroma.” It uses coconut oil, filtered water, potatoes, carrots, sunflower oil, sunflower lecithin, and live active cultures.
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