What Is Vegan Butter Made From?

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Butter is a non-negotiable item in any kitchen, but that doesn't mean you have to use dairy. Plant-based butter is a vegan staple (along with nutritional yeast) because of how closely it resembles dairy butter while not containing any animal products. It can give food a unique flavor you might truly enjoy because of the different ingredients inside.

Vegan butter is plant-oil based — usually canola, olive, avocado, or sunflower — combined with lecithin. Lecithin is another ingredient in most plant butters because it works as an emulsifier that helps bind oils and water. While lecithin itself is not inherently plant-based, the kind used in vegan butter is typically made of sunflower or soy. It's a substance that helps preserve flavor and structure.

Some vegan butter will also include pea protein as another emulsifier and gelling agent. It's also there to help add protein that may otherwise be lacking in vegan butter. Brands like Country Crock and Earth Balance use pea protein in their vegan butter. If not plant protein, some manufacturers will use dairy-free milk to achieve these effects. For example, the Miyoko's brand uses cashew milk instead.

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Things You Should Know When Using Vegan Butter

Vegan butter is quite a reliable plant-based alternative to dairy butter, but there are some key compositional differences to note for culinary and dietary measures. Fat is an important part of why we use butter in cooking and baking because it improves the flavor and texture of food. Vegan and dairy butter have comparable total fat contents, but the former tends to be higher in monounsaturated fats, while the latter can have more saturated fat. Vegan butter typically has much lower cholesterol but higher sodium. It behaves more similar to margarine than traditional butter.

Another important consideration when working with plant butter is that it contains different allergens than dairy butter. Soy and nuts are common allergens that can be found in vegan products, only stated within the nutritional information index on the back of the container. Overall, vegan butter can be just as delicious as dairy butter, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses because of ingredient compositions. Vegan butter is a particularly great ingredient to use in colorful cookies due to the lower levels of cholesterol and saturated fat.

Read the original article on Chowhound.