First of all, in a million years I would never have thought of making margarine. The credit goes to Mattie of Vegan Baking, who did all the heavy lifting by creating an amazing recipe for vegan butter. In fact, six recipes for a variety of vegan butters. Thanks Mattie!
I adapted his recipe to make something more spreadable. If you are baking and want to replicate the properties of butter, by all means use his original recipe.
I first tried making margarine during October Unprocessed, as midway through the month I was craving the creaminess. I also wanted to cut down my plastic tub consumption, and the weekly margarine tubs were the last thing to go. The Husband really likes his margarine, so I couldn’t simply stop buying it.
This recipe makes a margarine that is spreadable at room temperature, although still a bit hard straight from the fridge. But it’s nice and creamy and definitely tastes as good as store-bought margarine. I already stock xanthan gum for my GF baking. Lecithin was the only product that I had to buy, and I can buy it from the bulk store. Store it in a glass jar and only buy small amounts, as it gets weird and sticky if stored in a plastic bag. If you can find it in liquid form, that would be ideal.
Suitable for:
vegan, gluten-free, low-sodium, reduced-sugar diets
Not for:
migraine diets
All of our recipes are gluten-free, sugar-free, and made with plant-based ingredients to help you build a healthy life. Look for midweek posts on meditation, service, and life lessons, helping you create inner balance.
How to make margarine
Ingredients
- 2/3 cups soy milk (use low-sodium soy milk for low-sodium diet)
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp sea salt (omit for low-sodium diet)
- 1 cup coconut oil organic, extra virgin
- 1/3 cup grapeseed oil canola, olive oil
- 2 tsp lecithin granules
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
Notes
- 88 calories
- 9 g fat
- 7 g saturated fat
- 0 g monounsaturated fat
- 2 g polyunsaturated fat
- 0 g trans fat
- 0 g cholesterol
- 37 mg sodium (2 mg sodium with salt omitted)
- 10 mg potassium
- 0 g carbohydrate
- 0 g fiber
- 0 g sugars
- 0 g protein
- 2 Weight Watchers Points Plus
You were laboring under the misapprehension that this is butter.
Ooooh looks yummy!
For the margarine could I use either Agar agar powder or guar guar instead of Lecithin graduals??
Thanks :)
Letitia, I have not tested either of those options to lecithin so I can’t say if they would work. It’s possible but you would need to experiment. Let us know.
Thank you for your final comments about what you have tried and has not worked. I am trying desperately to find a margarin I can make my son who is allergic to dairy, soy, coconut and pea proteins. I think your site say end my search. Your honesty has been a huge help to me.
You are welcome Nancy! Good luck with it! I know it’s so hard when you are dealing with multiple allergies. If you haven’t checked it out, Cybele Pascale’s blog has some amazing recipes that are free of all the top allergens.
I would really like to try this recipe but I don’t have xanthan gum, can I use arrowroot starch instead? What’s the amount to use? Thanks for your help and sharing :)
Jen, I would not recommend arrowroot starch, as this isn’t a cooked recipe and I’m not sure how it would react. You can try it without the xanthan gum, maybe substitute that amount of lecithin, and let us know how it works, okay?
I gave up margarine long ago, but my husband still uses it. I was tired of throwing out those Earth Balance containers, plus, the palm oil…
I just made this and it is delicious! I can’t wait for my husband to try it!
Hi! Sorry I’m commenting a year late haha but I have a question about this recipe that may sound silly…is the taste comparable to real butter/margarine? I ask this because I’ve tried several vegan substitutes (Earth Balance, etc.) and they just don’t taste right to me!
Thanks.
Hi Maddie, I’m always happy to hear from readers and there are no silly questions. This tastes like a good quality margarine, similar to Earth Balance. The only thing that tastes like butter is… butter. The curded soymilk gives it that dairy-like tang, and it’s very creamy. But no, it won’t fool anyone into thinking it’s butter if you eat it straight.
Dear Steph!
I like your site and decided today to make this margarine.
I’ve been looking for granulated soy lecithin for long cause mostly it is sold as pills.
So, I made the recipe, but the granules didnt solve…There are 2-3mm in diameter big. Do you use the same lecithin or you use powdered?
PS: I think this recipe will work without it. But you can add just a bit agar agar in the mixture, just to make it stable ;)
Cheers, Vania!
Hi Vania, if you blend it long enough, most granulated lecithin will dissolve. You do need a high-speed blender for that though, which is why I recommend liquid lecithin if you can get it. I do NOT think that agar would work, but if you try it and it does, do let me know! Thanks for the comment.
I can’t use soy. Is there anything that can replace those soy ingredients in this recipe? Thanks so much.
Emma, you could try a nut or hemp milk instead of the soy milk and see how well it curdles. If it curdles up and gets thick, give it a go. You can also buy sunflower seed lecithin. Let me know how it all works!
[…] researching this article, I discovered that it is possible to make homemade margarine. Click here and/or here to read recipes. « Cheating On the Gluten Free […]
Thanks for the recipe!!
re coconut oil – here is a link showing how it can cure alzheimers :)
google ‘cbn tv’
quicksearch: type in coconut oil and click little box to the right – coconut oil touted as Alzheimer’s remedy will appear
Thanks Amber!
You are truly amazing – not certain where to get the last 2 ingredients but we can talk about that. Homemade margarine! Love the low sodium here.
You can buy lecithin (in bulk or in packages) at most health food stores like Whole Foods or Sprouts. Xanthan gum is a common ingredient in gluten-free baking. It’s kinda pricey but a package lasts me more than a year, as you only use a teaspoon at a time. Will continue to experiment to see if I can make this using something other than these two ingredients, which are pretty highly processed. Stay tuned.
Really interesting Steph. I will have to try this. Just need to get the lecithin. I’ve been using Nutive organic EV unrefined coconut oil (no hexane) and like it. Been wondering how a butter substitute like this would work in making a lemon curd, and using agave instead of sugar or maybe partially. Need to experiment. Thanks.
Keep me posted on your lemon curd progress! Yum!