Making hazelnut spread at home is easy! Nutty hazelnuts blend beautifully into a creamy and flavorful nut butter enriched with cacao powder, sugar, and vanilla extract.
You’ll love how simple this homemade Nutella recipe is. It keeps well for weeks and you can have it ready in the fridge for a quick breakfast or snack on a slice of bread.
Our vegan nutella recipe is without milk and dairy, and you can put it together in 15 minutes.

Table of Contents
What is a hazelnut spread?
Dietary Note: this recipe is suitable for a vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diet.
Our hazelnut spread recipe is a delicious chocolatey and creamy recipe inspired by Nutella, a famous chocolate and hazelnut spread from Italy.
The recipe is primarily made with roasted hazelnuts blended with cacao powder, sugar, and a few drops of olive oil to help the hazelnuts turn into a luscious, velvety spread.
Homemade Nutella is rich, with a nutty, intense flavor and a smooth texture. You can make it in a high-speed blender or a food processor; it’s really quite easy to do.
Try this chocolate hazelnut spread on a slice of toast, waffles, overnight oats, or oatmeal for breakfast.
It’s delicious on vegan pancakes and banana pancakes, as a filling for vegan crepes, or spread on a slice of vegan banana bread.
You can even use it for more elaborate desserts, such as topping on our vegan cheesecake.
Its thick and creamy texture makes it ideal for dipping fruit such as sliced apples, strawberries, or breadsticks and topping ice cream.
Hazelnut spread video
Ingredients & Substitutions for hazelnut spread
Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
Hazelnuts
We recommend using hazelnuts that are already peeled; it will make this recipe easier.
We recommend roasting the hazelnuts in the oven at 350°F or 180°C for 8 minutes so that their flavor intensifies and their natural oils warm, making them easier to blend.
Substitute toasted almonds, peanuts, and cashews for hazelnuts.
Cacao powder
Pick unsweetened cacao powder. It’s the easiest way to add the chocolate flavor to this delicious dairy-free Nutella.
Alternatively, substitute cocoa powder or 70% dark chocolate for cacao powder.
To do so, you’ll have to melt the chocolate first. We explain how to do this in the “variations” chapter below.
Sugar
You can use any sweetener, such as brown sugar, powdered sugar, white sugar, coconut sugar, maple syrup, or agave syrup.
Add more or less sugar based on your dietary preferences and taste.
Olive oil
You’ll need a few drops of oil – we use olive oil – to get the blender going and help the hazelnuts turn into a creamy chocolate spread.
Substitute avocado oil, hazelnut oil, coconut oil, or any other vegetable oil for olive oil.
Vanilla extract
Vanilla extract adds a pleasant flavor that works beautifully with the chocolate.
Salt
A pinch of sea salt or kosher salt helps bring the flavors together and enhance the taste of this delicious homemade hazelnut spread.
Equipment
You’ll need either a high-speed blender – we use a Vitamix – or a good quality food processor – we use Magimix.
If you use a power blender like a Vitamix, blend for 5 minutes. You must blend for 10 minutes or more if you use a food processor.
You will get the smoothest results with a high-speed blender.
How to make homemade Nutella
US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.
Add the hazelnuts to a rimmed baking sheet and roast them in the oven for 8 minutes.
Let them cool down at room temperature for 5 minutes, then add them to a high-speed blender with the sugar and a few drops of olive oil.
Tip: if your hazelnuts are unpeeled, remove some of the thin brown skin by rubbing them between your hands or in a kitchen towel.
Blend hazelnuts and sugar until they turn into a creamy hazelnut butter.
Note: You’ll just need a few minutes if you use a high-speed blender like Vitamix. You might need up to 10 minutes with a food processor and scrape down the sides of the food processor occasionally.
Now add the unsweetened cacao powder, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt.
Blend for a few more minutes until combined.
Ultimately, you’ll want a smooth hazelnut spread that you can store in a jar in the refrigerator for a couple of months.
The vegan Nutella will thicken a little as it cools in the fridge. You can store it in a bowl or a mason jar.
Serving suggestions
Hazelnut spread can be part of a nutritious breakfast on a slice of bread or toast.
Or add a spoonful of oatmeal, overnight oats, or bircher muesli, as if it were peanut butter.
You can also have it for a special weekend breakfast with our vegan crepes or as a dip for strawberries and apple wedges.
It’s also delicious as a snack, spread on a slice of vegan banana bread.
Variations
Hazelnut spread with dark chocolate
You can substitute dark chocolate chips or a dark chocolate bar with 70% cocoa content for cacao powder.
Chocolate will produce an even more decadent, silkier, and thicker spread.
You’ll need 5 ounces or 150 grams of dark chocolate to do so.
Cut the chocolate into small pieces, then melt it bain-marie or soften it in the microwave for a few seconds.
When it’s soft, add it to the blender with the hazelnut and sugar mixture and blend for a few more minutes.
Tips
Brown sugar: only use brown sugar if you make the spread with a high-speed blender. A food processor won’t be able to turn brown sugar into a creamy spread.
Oil: don’t add too much oil. Start with a few drops, and add a maximum of 1/2 teaspoon. Your spread will be too liquid if you add too much oil.
Cool down the hazelnuts: don’t add hot hazelnuts to a blender; they should cool down first.
Questions
Yes. Use stevia to taste; add a little at a time.
Yes. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons to taste. In this case, you might need to add a little more oil to adjust consistency.
Yes. The spread stores in the refrigerator for up to 2 months, and preparing it in advance is recommended as it needs to cool down after blending.
Yes. You can scale it up. It will even be easier to blend with a double dose.
Ferrero invented Nutella in Italy in the 1960s.
Storage & Make Ahead
Make ahead: this is an excellent recipe to make up to two months in advance.
Refrigerator: You can store hazelnut spread in your pantry or the fridge in an airtight container like a mason jar for up to 2 months.
Freezer: we don’t recommend freezing this recipe.
More chocolate recipes
- Easy chocolate cake
- Chocolate glazed donuts
- Vegan chocolate pound cake
- Vegan chocolate custard
- Vegan chocolate brownies
Desserts
Vegan Brownies
Desserts
Chocolate Glazed Donuts
Desserts
Vegan Chocolate Pound Cake
Desserts
Easy Chocolate Cake
More sweet breakfast ideas
- Vegan French toast
- Vegan pancakes or banana pancakes
- Vegan cinnamon rolls or apple cinnamon rolls
- Vegan banana bread, zucchini bread, or zucchini banana bread
- Homemade oil-free granola
- Apple muffins
Or check out this breakfast recipe list for more sweet and savory ideas.
Breakfast
Vegan French Toast
Breakfast
Vegan Pancakes
Desserts
Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
Breakfast
Banana Zucchini Bread
For many more breakfast ideas, check out our breakfast category page.
Hazelnut Spread
Equipment
- High-speed blender (like Vitamix) or food processor
Ingredients
- 3 cups hazelnuts
- ¼ cup sugar or more to taste, up to ½ cup.
- ½ teaspoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons cacao powder unsweetened
- 1½ tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.Add 3 cups hazelnuts to a rimmed baking sheet and roast them for 8 minutes.
- Let them cool down for 5 minutes, then add them to a high-speed blender with ¼ cup sugar and a ½ teaspoon olive oil.Tip: if your hazelnuts are unpeeled, remove some of the thin brown skin by rubbing them between your hands or in a kitchen towel.
- Blend until they turn into a creamy hazelnut butter.Note: You’ll just need a few minutes if you use a high-speed blender like Vitamix. You might need up to 10 minutes with a food processor and scrape down the sides of the food processor occasionally.
- Now add 3 tablespoons cacao powder, 1½ tablespoons vanilla extract, and 1 pinch salt.Blend for a few more minutes until combined.
- Ultimately, you’ll want a smooth hazelnut spread that you can store in a jar in the refrigerator for a couple of months.The vegan Nutella will thicken a little as it cools in the fridge.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Hello. I’m very much looking forward to trying out this recipe once my food processor finally arrives!! I’m just wondering if you could tell me how many grams 20 servings of this spread is? โบ๏ธ Thx!
Hi Eva,
thanks for your message. 20 servings is about 420 grams. That’s a heaping tablespoon of about 20 grams per serving ๐
I hope you enjoy it!
Best,
Nico
I love it and yes im a kid.
I made it with my parents and it is super yummy.
Hi Laura,
Thanks so much for your comment, and for taking the time to leave a comment!
We’re delighted you liked the spread – even better, that you can enjoy it with your family.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Kindest,
Louise
Sooooo good! And easy. I used a vitamix blender and it came out so creamy!