Not Your Mama’s Salted Vegan Butter

This Not Your Mama’s Salted Vegan Butter recipe is an exclusive from Bailey Ruskus’ new cookbook Cook. Heal. Go Vegan! A Delicious Guide to Plant-Based Cooking for Better Health and a Better World. Click here to find out where you can order the book.

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Not Your Mama’s Salted Vegan Butter from Cook. Heal. Go Vegan! by Bailey Ruskus

5 from 2 votes

There’s nothing quite like the essence of butter. This staple has a long history across the globe. As a French-trained chef and person of Eastern European descent, I saw butter in practically everything in my culinary school books and in my family’s recipes when I was growing up. Butter is a simple way to add an incredible amount of flavor and fat to almost any dish at any step in the cooking process. Sure, you could go buy margarine or vegan butter alternatives, but are they really that much better for you? With all those hydrogenated oils and preservatives, none of those have lived up to the hype of real butter—until now. With this simple and delicious buttery recipe, you avoid the harmful effects of dairy, hydrogenated oils, preservatives, and excessive sodium. All you need is a blender and some patience while the butter sets. The result is all you really wanted in the first place: incredible flavor and the versatility to be used in any recipe requiring butter. This’ll make you go, “Mmmmm.” Every. Single. Time.

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Author: Bailey Ruskus | Chef Bai Kitchen

Servings: 1 ½ cups (360 g)

Ingredients

• ▢ ¼ cup 38 g raw cashews, soaked in cool water overnight or in hot water for 15 minutes, and drained
• ▢ ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
• ▢ 1 cup 240 ml refined melted coconut oil (see Bai’s Tips)
• ▢ ½ cup 120 ml unsweetened oat milk
• ▢ 1 tsp salt

Instructions

• In a high-powered blender, combine the cashews, vinegar, oil, milk, and salt. Blend the ingredients for about 60 seconds, until the butter mixture is smooth.
• Line an 8 x 8–inch (20 x 20–cm) glass baking dish or a butter mold that can hold 2 cups (480 ml) with parchment paper or plastic wrap. Pour the butter mixture into your prepared container. Cover the container, transfer it to the fridge and allow the butter to chill for at least 4 hours, preferably up to overnight. This butter will last in the fridge for 9 to 12 days, and you can freeze half of the batch if you need to.

Notes

Make sure to get refined coconut oil for this recipe, so that you'll avoid the intense coconut taste of unrefined coconut oil! When sautéing veggies with this butter, make sure to do so over low heat, as the oil has a very low smoking point. For high-heat sautéing, I prefer avocado oil or veggie broth.

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Reprinted with permission from Cook. Heal. Go Vegan! by Bailey Ruskus, Page Street Publishing, Co. 2021. Photo credit: Bailey Ruskus

Click here to order your copy.

About the Author

Bailey Ruskus, also known as Chef Bai, is a seasoned chef and holistic nutrition and health coach. Classically trained at Le Cordon Bleu in San Francisco, she uses her culinary expertise to create rich flavors with clean, nourishing ingredients. Her podcast, The Plant Remedy, features interviews on plant-based living with chefs, doctors, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and more. She also hosts virtual cooking classes and has taught thousands about the healing power of food. Bailey lives in San Diego, California.

About the Book

With the guidance of professional plant-based chef Bailey Ruskus, chef, holistic nutrition and health coach and founder of Chef Bai Kitchen, adopting a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle is full of fun and flavor thanks to her new book, Cook. Heal. Go Vegan! (August 17, 2021; $22.99; Page Street Publishing, Co.) With Chef Bai’s guidance, readers will learn how to make easy, nutrient-dense dishes while inviting purpose and intention into every meal.

Consider this collection a gateway into the colorful and delicious plant kingdom. Each recipe is designed to teach core culinary techniques, so readers can become confident and creative in the kitchen. Comforting classics―think pizza, falafel, tacos and curry―get a vibrant vegan makeover, ensuring tasty alternatives for any craving. Savor Spaghetti Alfredo in an indulgent sauce; experience better-than-takeout Miso-Mushroom Ramen, low in sodium but big on umami; or dig into a chocolate-studded oatmeal cookie, packed with good-for-you ingredients. Fridge staples are made healthier and cheaper with essentials like Not Your Mama’s Salted Butter, Herbed Creamy Feta and Cashew-Hemp Milk. To encourage holistic healing from the inside out, most of Bailey’s recipes are gluten-free and all are free of refined sugars.

Whether it’s a quick garden bowl or slow-simmered chili, these dishes are fuss-free and seriously nourishing. Let Bailey lead the way to embracing Earth’s abundance, cooking consciously and feeling better than ever.

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