For a vegan alternative to the whipped butter I mentioned earlier, this plant-based option from WayFare is a great choice. This healthy butter substitute is made with organic plant oils and butter beans. The combination of the two gives the spread a rich and creamy texture that's satisfying to eat on literally anything and everything.

Smart Balance's organic buttery plant-based spread is a step above their original formula, made with certified organic and non-GMO canola oil, soybean oil, palm oil, and olive oil.

There are also no artificial flavors or preservatives added in. So, if you're looking for a clean healthy butter substitute, this one is a great choice. Miyoko's cultured oat milk butter is the first of its kind. This low calorie butter is made with a blend of organic vegetable oils and cultured whole grain oat milk.

The result is a rich and creamy vegan butter with a hint of tang. It's perfect for livening up the taste of things like this roasted broccolini and this air fryer zucchini.

If you want a tasty plant-based butter option that has the look and feel of real sticks of butter, this low calorie vegan butter from Melt Organic is a great pick. This healthy butter substitute has a thick, melty texture and creamy flavor that is pretty darn close to regular butter.

Not to mention, it has just a fraction of the calories of "normal" butter. Also, for what it's worth, Melt Organic also makes a salted version of their butter, as well as classic and probiotic butter spreads that are similarly low in calories.

Kerrygold's butter is basically the gold standard for traditional butter. It's super high quality and is churned in Ireland from pure grass-fed cows milk. So, you can expect nothing but delicious buttery goodness from their reduced-fat butter too.

This blended butter combines salted butter with olive oil - which is a healthy plant-based source of monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats - to make a wonderfully rich and tasty butter spread that has some additional health benefits.

Finish off our list of healthy butter options is another vegan butter from Miyoko's Creamery. It's a low calorie butter that's made with coconut oil and cultured cashew milk for a good balance of healthy fats, essential fatty acids, and probiotics for digestive health.

Honestly, this is as close to real butter as a vegan option will get, making it perfect for baking, cooking, and spreading on toast. You can even turn it into browned butter for a variety of recipes!

Okay, so I've talked about the top butter substitutes that are lower in saturated fats and calories, and now I want to quickly get into some other healthy butter substitutes that are completely fat-free.

It wasn't the most flavorful, but none of the spreads were really rich in flavor. I thought the flavor of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter was pretty good, but it wasn't quite as easy to spread. I'd probably skip Smart Balance and Earth Balance because of their higher cost and more solid texture.

All in all, I still plan to stick to using traditional butter. But I'd buy Country Crock again if I needed a quick, convenient butter-like spread. When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission.

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Written by Matthew Zahnzinger. Credit: Flickr user "Stacey Spensley". Applesauce is a popular substitute not only for butter, but also for sugar and oil. Credit: Flickr user "Jaanus Silla". Olive and canola oils are ideal substitutes for melted butter.

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However it is suitable for people with a dairy allergy or lactose intolerance and also, surprisingly, contains less saturated fat than butter. For every grams of butter required in a recipe, use 80 grams of lard, or multiply the quantity of butter by 0.

In cups, for every 1 cup butter use a little bit more than ¾ cup lard. If you want to make puff pastry, Danish pastries, or croissants without butter, then vegetable shortening might be your best option, especially if you buy pastry shortening.

Vegetable pastry shortening is an ideal vegan substitute for baking pastries. Shortening also results in a taller bake, making it a good butter swap for muffins.

Vegan butter is similar to margarine but never contains animal products , and is often made with oat milk, or oils like avocado, flax, vegetable, or soybeans. A vegan version of a butter performs well in pie crust dough or biscuits and some claimed in trials that they could not taste the difference between vegan butter and the real thing!

Some of the most popular vegan butter is Earth balance vegan butter. You can make a direct swap baking with vegan butter instead of dairy butter using a ratio.

Cream cheese, mascarpone, ricotta, and potentially cottage cheese can all be used in place of butter in some baking and cooking recipes.

It is best to choose high quality so they are not too watery or strain through cheesecloth and check the fat content which can vary. Sometimes cream cheeses have lower fat content to butter so you may need more to achieve the same effect in baking.

Cream cheeses make excellent cake frostings without or instead of butter, just like this cream cheese frosting without butter.

Cream cheese or cottage cheese is also an excellent butter substitute for toast. Substitute cream cheese for butter but check the fat content on the packaging to get a more accurate swap. You can use full-fat Greek yogurt instead of butter in baking, and Greek yogurt works especially well as a butter replacement due to its thick and creamy consistency.

Other yogurts can have higher water content which affects the bake, but Greek yogurt performs well as a butter alternative in cakes, bread, cookies , and muffins.

You can even make shortcrust pastry with yogurt as a butter substitute. Butters made from nuts like almond, hazelnut, peanut or cashew butter can work instead of butter in baking recipes, and they are especially useful in baking brownies or cookies.

They will lend a nutty and rich flavor to your bakes, but they can be heated and melted too, so if a recipe calls for melted butter, nut butter could be the right butter substitute for cookies! Can you use oil as a substitute for butter? Baking with oil instead of butter is one of the most common ways to substitute butter and using neutral v egetable oil in cakes can contribute to an incredibly moist texture.

Baking cakes with oil instead of butter also keep a cake moist for longer, making them ideal for use when baking ahead of time. Oil is, in our opinion, the best substitute for butter in cake. Neutral oils like vegetable oil can also be used in cake frostings!

Neutral oils are also the best butter alternatives for cooking. So if the recipe states grams of butter, use 80 grams of oil meaning instead of 1 cup of butter use a bit more than ¾ cup of oil.

Olive oil makes an equally good butter substitute, but it has a strong flavor that needs to be acknowledged before swapping it into a baking recipe. It works especially well in savory recipes like bread or savory muffins.

Olive oil with some sea salt or oregano can be the best healthy butter substitute for toast. So if a recipe lists grams of butter, use 80 grams of olive oil or multiply the quantity of butter by 0. In cups, instead of 1 cup of butter use a bit more than ¾ cup of oil. It is delicious as an alternative to butter in brownies and sweeter baked goods like muffins, but it contains more fat so adjust your quantities accordingly to avoid a greasy bake.

Coconut oil works especially well in vegan cake frostings as it is usually firm at room temperature. If a recipe calls for grams of butter, use 80 grams of coconut oil or multiply the quantity of butter by 0. Now we are moving on to fruit and vegetable alternatives for butter. Avocado has a creamy texture and creaming abilities and contains both fat and moisture.

It does have its own flavor but it is quite mild and works very well in fudgy brownies , for example. The best avocados to use for baking are ripe avocados , as they are not too hard and will cream effectively. You may also need to bake at a lower temperature for a longer time if baking with avocados.

To use avocado instead of butter in a recipe, use a ratio so make a direct swap for the amount of butter listed for the same weight of mashed avocado. Starchy vegetable purees like mashed potato, or mashed sweet potato can be used as butter substitutes too.

Be mindful of flavor though, and these butter replacements perform best in savory recipes like bread, pancakes, or savory muffins. There is also little to no fat content , so this can affect the texture and tenderness of the bake. Substitute ¾ of the amount of butter for the potato, or multiply the amount of butter in a recipe by 0.

Similar to sweet potato, pumpkin puree has nutritional value and natural sweetness which makes it a healthy alternative to butter in baking muffins, cupcakes, and cookies.

However, it has a strong flavor of its own and can contain a lot of water. To use pumpkin puree in place of butter in baking, make sure you either strain it first or cook off the excess liquid before weighing and using it.

Check my homemade pumpkin puree recipe if the stores are out of canned ones. Use ¾ of the amount of pumpkin puree instead of butter, or multiply the weight of butter by 0.

Remember there is little to no fat content, so you may need to make other adjustments to create a tender bake. Bananas are a great ingredient to use in baking and can be swapped in place of butter and eggs as well. They contain little to no fat content though, and also have a strong flavor so do not work for items with delicate flavors that can be easily overpowered.

Banana puree works well in muffins as a substitute for butter. Use a ratio when swapping banana for butter in baking.

In very general terms, one banana equates to a stick of butter but in baking, we are all about precision, so always try to weigh out your ingredients by the gram using a digital scale.

Apple sauce or apple puree has long been revered as a baking hero, being able to work as a substitute for butter and also for eggs too! It is a healthy butter alternative and works very well in muffins. Be mindful of the fact it does not contain fat, however, so the overall texture of your bake can be a little dryer if you do not add any other fat.

Also, ensure that you use unsweetened apple sauce to avoid upsetting the sugar balance in the rest of the bake. Butter is made by churning heavy cream also known as double cream until it separates into two mixtures, a thick, creamy, and spreadable solid mass and the leftover liquid, which is called buttermilk.

This means that you can make butter yourself at home and all you need is heavy cream and a food processor or electric whisk. To make your own butter , simply add heavy cream into the bowl of your stand mixer and whip it - whip other words churn it - until it forms a thick, spreadable mass. Strain off the buttermilk and store it in the fridge in an airtight container.

Check my homemade butter tutorial for more details. You can add salt, or even other flavorings like herbs or spices to your homemade butter too. Homemade butter can be frozen in blocks or in ice cube trays for easy use, and you can expect a lot of impressed faces at a dinner party when you say you made the butter yourself!

It is hard to choose one overall winner for the best substitute for butter in baking as every bake is different and butter serves different purposes within them.

The No1. butter substitute is definitely homemade butter , so if you have heavy cream at hand, make your own butter! Vegan butter, no flavor vegetable oil, and margarine are the best options if you want to substitute butter but still want the final baked goods taste like butter.

Oil, shortening, margarine, lard, vegan butter products, high fat yogurt, fruit and vegetable purees, and nut butter can all be used instead of butter in baking. But, nothing beats homemade butter that is made in less than 5 minutes using one single ingredient heavy cream.

Using Greek yogurt or mashed avocado will give the most similar effects to butter in baking whilst being a healthier substitute. Using fruit purees like apple sauce or mashed bananas could be the healthiest alternatives to butter, but the end result will not be similar to baking with butter.

Use ¾ cup of vegetable oil instead of 1 cup of butter. Or, multiply the amount of butter in the recipe by 0. For baking cookies without butter that have a crisp exterior and some crunch to them, you will need to use oil rather than a fruit or vegetable puree. Yes, you can make pastry without butter, use vegetable pastry shortening instead of butter for puff pastry, choux pastry, shortcrust and more.

Hummus has been used as a butter replacement by some, but the flavor is strong and hard to integrate with a bake. Personally, I do not feel that enough tests have been done for me to recommend using hummus instead of butter.

Mayonnaise contains both fat and eggs, so technically speaking can work as a substitute for both butter and eggs in a recipe, meaning you do not need either ingredient. However, results can be greasy and unreliable, so we do not recommend it without a lot of trial and error! The butter alternatives listed above are tried and tested with consistent results.

Are you working around a dairy allergy or lactose intolerance? Are you searching for a plant-based or vegan butter replacement? Despite that, it's actually superior to butter in some baking projects, according to The Forked Spoon. Shortening is known to make some baked goods lighter and airier, allowing them to rise higher than they might have if made with regular butter.

Shortening also has a high smoke point, making it better than butter for frying. Shortening is likewise shelf-stable and more affordable than butter. So, if you're frying something, or baking something particularly light and fluffy, feel free to reach for the shortening — even if you're not out of butter!

You can use shortening in recipes calling for butter in an equal amount. Let's say you're not worried about the dairy content, and you just need a quick swap for that butter you forgot to pick up at the grocery store. If you have some Greek yogurt on hand, you might be able to use that instead.

As Our Everyday Life explains, this is a popular pick for those who want to cut down on fat content in their baked goods without sacrificing texture. Do note, though, that you'll get a bit of that characteristic Greek yogurt flavor in whatever you're making if you use it instead of butter.

While this is fine in some cases such as in recipes that already use slightly tangy ingredients, like buttermilk , it might not be desirable in others. Additionally, you don't want to use flavored Greek yogurt as a butter replacement.

Instead, use plain, non-fat Greek yogurt. You can use Greek yogurt as a butter substitute in equal amounts. Another good butter substitute option if you're not going vegan is mayonnaise.

It is made from eggs, oil, vinegar, and lemon, so it offers the fat content and creaminess that you might desire from butter. However, mayonnaise isn't always going to be a great pick as a butter substitute, depending on what you're making.

Sweet baked goods aren't always going to benefit from mayo's tang. Yes, there are baking recipes that call for mayonnaise, but it's not typically there as a butter substitute; the mayonnaise is included to provide a very specific flavor and texture. Instead, you might find that mayonnaise works as an awesome butter substitute when making things like grilled cheese sandwiches or any other recipe that requires you to toast some bread , scrambled eggs, corn on the cob, or mashed potatoes.

For recipes like these, where — let's face it — you're more likely to eyeball your butter amount than measure it, feel free to do the same with your mayo. Similar to Greek yogurt, cream cheese is another item that you'll find in the dairy aisle that can be used in place of butter in a pinch.

While cream cheese does contain less fat than butter, it can be effectively used as a replacement in cream-based sauces or in dishes that require melted butter for its creamy texture, like mashed potatoes.

Unfortunately, cream cheese is not a good pick for baking projects, as cream cheese can thoroughly throw off the texture. According to Our Everyday Life , you will want to soften or melt your cream cheese before using it.

After softening, you can measure it in equal quantities to whatever your recipe calls for for the melted butter. To melt the cream cheese, add one half of a cup of cream cheese to one cup of milk or broth in a saucepan and stir until you get your desired consistency.

To soften the cream cheese for use in sauces that do not require fully melted butter, you can microwave the cream cheese for 15 seconds.

If you're specifically looking for a butter replacement for a sauce recipe, a combination of corn starch and oil may just do the trick. Typically, butter is added to sauces to create a velvety, rich consistency. The butter also, of course, adds some extra flavor.

If you're out of butter, though, you can use a mixture of cornstarch and olive oil. The olive oil provides some flavor and fat, while the corn starch offers emulsifying properties that give your sauce the desired texture.

Plus, when you use corn starch and oil in place of butter, there's no need to make a corn starch slurry like you might normally do for other recipes. For this substitution, add ½ teaspoon of cornstarch plus olive oil in an equal amount to your called-for butter to your sauce.

This will result in enough sauce for two servings of pasta. If your sauce recipe is intended for more than two servings, you'll need to do a little bit of math. But let's forget all the cream cheese, Crisco, and mayonnaise for a moment.

What if you specifically want a butter substitution that's vegan? Luckily, there are a few vegetable and fruit-derived substitutions that can act as stand-ins. Applesauce , according to The Nest , works as a butter replacement in certain baked goods, including breads, muffins, and some cakes and even better in apple-based items, obviously.

The resulting texture will be slightly softer, though, which means applesauce is not a good substitution for items that normally have a crispy or crunchy texture like most cookies.

You can use applesauce as a butter substitute at a 1-to-1 ratio. However, The Nest recommends starting slow the first time you use applesauce as a substitution, just to test how your particular recipe reacts to the swap: They suggest using ½ cup of your chosen oil and ½ cup of applesauce for every 1 cup of butter needed.

Are apples not your preference? Then reach for some bananas the next time you need some butter, instead. Bananas are a suitable swap for butter if you're looking to vegan-ize your favorite baking recipe or if you just want to cut down on the calories and fat that butter adds to your favorite baked items.

While bananas won't provide the exact same texture that butter will, they can provide moisture and sweetness, so they are a better fit for breads, muffins, and other densely baked items, says Live Strong. Light, flaky, or crunchy baked goods are not a good fit for this substitution think batter-based baked goods versus dough-based baked goods.

Live Strong recommends adding half as much mashed banana to your batter as the called-for butter. If your batter seems too dry after that, you can add a little more.

Additionally, the outlet notes that if you swap bananas out for butter in a recipe, you can use less sugar and half the amount of eggs as your recipe calls for, and you'll also want to reduce the baking temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit.

This fatty fruit can add needed fat to your baked goods while also acting as a stand-in for butter in vegan recipes. Of course, you will need a ripe, mashable avocado for this swap, as AZ Central explains, and you'll need to mash your avocado before you add it to any recipe.

However, using avocado as a butter substitute can alter both the flavor and color of your resulting baked item.

To avoid this, use it as a substitute in recipes that include other, more dominant flavors and colors, such as chocolate cake or brownies. The Kitchn also cautions that since avocado won't add as much moisture to your recipe as butter will, you'll need to slightly increase your recipe's wet ingredients.

You may also want to lower your oven temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid over-cooking. Use a 1-to-1 ratio when replacing avocado for butter in any recipe.

Do you have a can of beans in your pantry? They'll make for a good butter substitute in a pinch.