Our homemade margarine is made with simple ingredients, it’s 100% vegan, and it can be whipped up with a hand blender in about 5 minutes.

It’s perfect to make cakes, cookies, and crunchy preparations, and it can also be used as a spread on bread and toast. See how we use it in our vegan cannoli or in our vegan angel wings (Italian Chiacchiere).

Ingredients & Substitutions

  • Sunflower oil: we like to use sunflower oil because it has a light flavor and it is easy to find. You can replace it with any vegetable oil of your liking. Keep in mind that if you use coconut oil your margarine will be harder, more like a vegan butter.
  • Soy milk: perfect thanks to its emulsifying properties. I would not replace it with any other plant milk for this recipe.
  • Lemon juice: helps both the flavor and the emulsion. No seeds.
  • Salt: to make it taste better. Just a pinch.

Equipment

You’ll need an immersion blender and a tall and narrow container that can fit the blender.

Tips

  • Milk at room temperature. In my experience, this margarine thickens best if the ingredients are at the same temperature.
  • Start with the milk. You need to always start with the milk and lemon in a container before adding the oil. The other way around won’t work.
  • Add the oil very slowly. This is essential when you are trying to make any kind of emulsion – margarine is an emulsion of a liquid and a fat. If you add the oil too fast your margarine won’t thicken.
  • Blend in a tall container. For best results, blend your ingredients in a narrow and tall container. This way it’s a lot easier for the emulsion to thicken.
  • Move the blender up and down while blending. This movement will help the margarine to form.
homemade vegan margarine

Storage

Store your vegan margarine for up to 5 days in an air-tight container – something like a mason jar – in the refrigerator.

Questions & Answers

What is an emulsion?

An emulsion is when we put together two or more liquids that would otherwise never get together – like oil and plant milk. The same process happens when we make homemade vegan mayo.

Can I use a different oil?

Yes. Use whatever oil you like. But we recommend using an oil with a neutral flavor.

Can I use different milk?

Soy milk works the best due to its protein content. You can try with another plant milk but I can’t guarantee the result. Updates: we’ve tested with different oat, almond and pea milk, and we have not seen it work. So, we can only recommend soy milk.

Can I use coconut oil?

Yes, but your margarine will turn into vegan butter as coconut oil is saturated fat and will solidify when put in the refrigerator.

Where can I use my vegan margarine?

  • You can use your vegan margarine in preparations that call for margarine or butter. Cakes, cookies, pancakes, and other crunchy preparations.
  • You can also use your vegan margarine as a spread on toasted bread and in sandwiches.
  • We love to use it in our vegan Sicilian cannoli and in our Angel Wings (Italian chiacchiere).
  • Add a creamy element to your pasta, for example in this refreshing lemon pasta.
homemade vegan margarine

Homemade Margarine

By: Nico Pallotta
4.79 from 14 votes
Our homemade margarine is made with simple ingredients, it's 100% vegan, and it can be whipped up with a hand blender in about 5 minutes. It's perfect to make cakes, cookies, and crunchy preparations, and it can also be used a spread on bread and toast. See how we use it in our vegan cannoli siciliani or in our vegan chiacchiere.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 20 servings
Course: Plant-Basics
Cuisine: International, Italian

Equipment

  • Hand blender

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sunflower seed oil
  • ½ cup soy milk
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 pinch salt

Instructions 

  • In a tall and narrow container (something like a tall mason jar with a wide opening) add the soy milk at room temperature, the lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
    Soy milk, lemon and salt in a tall container
  • With a hand blender, start blending into the soy milk. Then add the oil in a steady stream, very slowly. NOT all at once. Keep blending at all times.
    Blending the liquids while adding oil
  • Drizzle the oil very slowly while blending and while moving the blender up and down into the soy milk.
    Slowly drizzling the oil in the tall container
  • Keep adding the oil, very slowly, until you run out of oil. Blend while moving the blender up and down until you reach a thick, creamy, consistency.
    vegetable margarine is ready
  • Store the margarine in the refrigerator in a glass jar for up to 5 days. Use for cakes, biscuits, cookies, and crispy preparations. You can also use it as a spread on toasted bread.
    homemade vegan margarine consistency

Nutrition

Calories: 91kcal, Carbohydrates: 1g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Potassium: 8mg, Dietary Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 20IU, Vitamin B6: 1mg, Vitamin C: 1mg, Vitamin E: 4mg, Vitamin K: 1µg, Calcium: 7mg, Folate: 2µg, Iron: 1mg, Magnesium: 1mg, Zinc: 1mg
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Nico and Louise in the kitchen

Hi! We are Nico & Louise

Welcome to The Plant-Based School, a food blog with easy, tasty, and wholesome recipes.

Our aim is to help you and your family eat more veggies through delicious recipes with simple ingredients.

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9 Comments

  1. Hi, I had a question regarding your homemade margarine recipe, I was wondering if you can freeze the margarine in order to extend its shelf life?

    1. Hi Natalie, yes you should be able to do it but might need to double the quantities depending on your blender size.