Whether you are frying up a veggie breakfast, baking vegan cakes or cookies (or making pastry), you’re going to be needing some kind of butter. But if you eat dairy-free, some brands on sale contain palm oil. So here are some good vegan butters, that are orangutan-friendly!
Before cooking, read our post on food safety for people & pets (keep fresh dough away from young children and pets, as it can expand in the stomach).
Don’t give fatty foods (like leftover sandwiches) to garden birds or wildfowl, as fat smears on feathers, affecting waterproofing and insulation (vegan butters also contain salt or garlic – toxic to pets, birds and wildlife).
Recycle packaging at supermarket bag bins, if kerbside does not recycle.
Break Free from Palm Oil (to save orangutans)
There is a lot of nonsense talked about palm oil. Greenpeace says the term’ sustainable palm oil’ is as useful as a chocolate teapot. It’s just a self-policed term used by industry, to greenwash the public. The only term to trust would be ‘certified organic’. But there is not enough land on earth to provide this, with the amount of palm oil used by food brands.
Some plantations carrying the ‘Round Table on Responsible Palm Oil’ logo’ have been found to have burned forests to the ground, with orangutans and their babies inside them (some orangutan mothers have even been shot and burned, while trying to protect their babies).
Reduce Saturated Fats for Heart Health
Vegan butter is obviously high in fat, but palm oil makes things worse. It’s a saturated fat that can raise LDL ‘bad’) cholesterol and clog your arteries.
The fat in these vegan butters is unsaturated, so if eaten sensibly, a tablespoon on toast or stirred through meals, gives all the creaminess, without the heart attack risks.
Palm oil is often from plantations that rely on pesticides and herbicides, once they’ve chopped down the old growth forests that were home to native species. These pesticide are not just harmful to humans and creatures, but drift into waterways and leave residues.
Lower Your Carbon Footprint
The companies that defend palm oil, say it’s needed in food products. It’s not. They could use more local oils like rapeseed (which supports local farmers). Or even better, encourage people to make their own food, which requires no palm oil (only found in processed foods).
We are always being told about ‘local food miles’. Well, palm oil is not local at all. It’s grown in Indonesia, and then shipped (by air) thousands of miles, creating a huge carbon footprint. For an ingredient only used, because it gives more profits to big food brands.
Enjoy Better Taste and Quality
When you go for artisan brands without palm oil, you’re usually supporting brands that put taste and quality on a par with profit. So these vegan butters have less of a greasy mouthfeel.
All Flora Vegan Butters Have No Palm Oil
Instead of being a stick-in-the-mud food brand, Flora has really turned the worm. It used to be a dairy company that used palm oil. Now it offers a full range of plant-based spreads (all free from palm oil) and in easy-to-recycle oil-resistant tubs. If this company can do it, so can the others.
Vegan butters are also cholesterol-free, so the brand can truly advertise itself as heart-healthy too. You’ll find them everywhere, even in smaller grocery stores. It also makes a block baking bar (ideal for baking and pastry).
Naturli (widely found in supermarkets)
Naturali is the other main vegan butter without palm oil, that you’ll find in most grocery stores and supermarkets. It’s made in Denmark, also in a block version for baking.
Other Good Brands of Vegan Butter
There are a few other good vegan butters without palm oil, although they are not so easy to find in grocery stores. So you may have to seek them out in health shops or farm shops.
The Flower Farm (made from shea butter)
The Flower Farm is a Dutch brand sold in supermarkets, made with shea butter (not for latex allergies) that grows wild on the African savannah. These plum-like fruits naturally fall off the trees, then are collected by hand. There is also a version for children, with extra calcium.
Founder Marcel van Wing (cool name!) spent 4 years in Indonesia. He says swapping to this brand could remove 17 kilos of palm oil demand yearly, for a family of four.
The only caveat is that you could not feed the entire world on this brand, as there are not enough shea butter plantations. But Marcel is keen to do his bit! He says that orangutans (our closest relatives) are like ‘greed-free versions of humans’.
Lurpak Now Offers a Dairy-Free Version
Many people think Lurpak is the best brand of butter. It now offers a plant-based version, sold everywhere and with the same ‘buttery taste’.
Mouse’s Favourite (in compostable packaging)
Mouse’s Favourite is a delicious organic vegan butter, a real artisan choice. Lovely on your morning toast or vegan scones, or simply melt into a hot jacket potato. It also gives a glossy crust for baking, and you can even use a knife to make butter curls, like it’s 1973!
Keep this vegan butter chilled in the fridge, at 5 degrees centigrade or less. You can freeze extra packs (thaw them gradually in the fridge).
Mergulo (a premium cashew butter)
Mergulo is a premium brand adored by chefs, made with salty cashews and sold in plastic-free packaging. Blended with coconut oil, its founder is a chef who sells this brand nationwide.
Inspiration from Abroad: Oat Milk Butter
Miyoko’s Creamery (USA) is a good inspiration for us, as it’s made with oats (which could be locally-grown here to make butter). This would have the lowest food miles of any vegan butter.
Many livestock farmers are transfarming, leaving animals to live in peace. This lets family farms flourish, due to the growing oat milk market. Also in a yummy autumnal cinnamon oat milk butter version.
How to Make Your Own Vegan Butter
This vegan butter (Jessica in the Kitchen) can be spread on bread or toast, or use for baking. Made with soy milk or full-fat cashew milk, it contains sea salt, apple cider vinegar and refined coconut oil.
It has cheesy-tasting nutritional yeast too. You can leave out soaked cashews, but it won’t be as creamy (and won’t brown). Also try Jessica’s recipe for vegan buttermilk.
Or for something a bit more gourmet, this cultured vegan butter (Full of Plants) is from a French chef (and we all know that people in France know their butters!)
This is very fancy, made with homemade cashew milk, sunflower lecithin and probiotics. One for chefs!
