Vegan brown butter adds a rich, nutty flavor to any recipe. It can be used in both sweet and savory dishes and adds a depth of flavor that you don't get from plain butter.
Add some garlic and sage for a brown butter sage sauce and pour over savory dishes like pasta, gnocchi, perogies, or mashed potatoes, or use it in baking like brown butter cookies.
Jump to:
- ❤️ What is brown butter
- 🧈 What is the best vegan butter for brown butter?
- 🍃 Vegan Brown Butter Sage Sauce
- 🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- 🥄 How to make vegan brown butter
- 🌿 Vegan brown butter sage sauce
- 👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- ❓ Frequently asked questions?
- 🥡 Storage
- 📋 Recipes that use brown butter
- 🌟 More savory vegan sauces
- 📋 Vegan brown butter recipe
❤️ What is brown butter
Brown butter is simply regular butter that has been slowly heated to toast the milk proteins and sugars within the butter. It also cooks out the liquid in the butter making the fats more concentrated. When making traditional brown butter, the milk proteins and sugars go through a change when heated known as a Maillard reaction.
The trick with making vegan brown butter is to use high-quality vegan butter to start with. You need a vegan butter that contains sugars and proteins similar to that of the milk solids in regular butter to get a Maillard reaction and the complex flavors that it produces.
🧈 What is the best vegan butter for brown butter?
I tested this non-dairy brown butter with a variety of vegan butter. My homemade vegan butter and Mikayo brand butter worked the best and resulted in the most complex flavor. This is no surprise since both of these butter have higher amounts of sugars and proteins in them.
🍃 Vegan Brown Butter Sage Sauce
One of the most common uses for it is to make it into a brown butter sage sauce by adding garlic and fresh sage leaves at the end of browning the butter. This garlic sage butter sauce is delicious over mashed potatoes, noodles, vegan ravioli, gnocchi, or vegan perogies. I also love it drizzled over mashed potatoes on a vegan shepherd's pie or squash casserole.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Vegan Butter - any high-quality vegan butter will work. I highly recommend the stick version of my homemade vegan butter, but the Miyoko butter brand also works well. You can use either salted or unsalted butter.
For brown butter sage sauce
- Sage - fresh sage leaves work best. You can use dried if you can't get fresh.
- Garlic - fresh minced garlic works best. You could use garlic powder, but fresh is best.
🥄 How to make vegan brown butter
Step 1 - Place 4 tablespoons of vegan butter in a small heavy saucepan and turn to medium heat. (A light-colored pan makes it easier to see when it has browned.)
Step 2 - Allow the butter to melt and begin to slowly simmer and get foamy. Once the butter has melted turn the heat to medium-low. Pick up the pot and swirl it around about once every minute to avoid scorching. (Or simply stir the butter with a whisk every minute or so.)
Step 3 - After the butter has slowly simmered for about 10 minutes, the foaming will start to reduce, it will start to smell nutty, and you will see small brown flecks at the bottom. At this time, remove it from the burner.
🌿 Vegan brown butter sage sauce
- After the butter has browned, immediately add 3 cloves of fresh minced garlic and 5 sage leaves and let them sit and infuse into the butter for about 5 more minutes before using.
If you like this vegan brown butter recipe, you'll love my vegan garlic butter too!
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- Be sure to use high-quality vegan butter. You will not get good results from inexpensive vegan margarine with a lot of water content.
- Cook your brown butter over medium-low heat. Take your time and be patient, you don't want to burn your butter.
- You want the butter to have little brown specks in it and have a nutty flavor and aroma. If your butter has black specks and smells burnt, throw it out and start again.
- If you are used to making brown butter from dairy butter, this non-dairy version will not have as many brown specks in it.
❓ Frequently asked questions?
You can brown high-quality vegan butter with plant-milk solids in it. Inexpensive vegan margarine will not brown.
It will take about 10-15 minutes to brown vegan butter depending on the amount of heat used. You want to brown butter over low heat. Heating it too fast will cause it to burn.
🥡 Storage
Refrigerate: Keep leftover vegan brown butter in the fridge for up to a week in a sealed container.
Freeze: Brown butter can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the fridge.
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
📋 Vegan brown butter recipe
Vegan Brown Butter
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons vegan butter
For the brown butter sage sauce
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 5 leaves fresh sage
- 1 dash salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place 4 tablespoons of vegan butter in a small heavy saucepan and turn to medium heat. (A light-colored pan makes it easier to see when it has browned.)
- Allow the butter to melt and begin to slowly simmer and get foamy. Once the butter has melted turn the heat to medium-low. Pick up the pot and swirl it around about once every minute to avoid scorching. (Or simply stir the butter with a whisk every minute or so.)
- After the butter has slowly simmered for about 10 minutes, the foaming will start to reduce, it will start to smell nutty, and you will see small brown flecks at the bottom. At this time, remove it from the burner.
To make brown butter sage sauce
- After the butter has browned, immediately add 3 cloves of fresh minced garlic and 5 sage leaves and let them sit and infuse into the butter for about 5 more minutes before using.
Notes
- Be sure to use high-quality vegan butter. You will not get good results from inexpensive vegan margarine with a lot of water content.
- Cook your brown butter over low heat. Take your time and be patient, you don't want to burn your butter.
- You want the butter to have little brown specks in it and have a nutty aroma. If your butter has black specks and smells burnt, throw it out and start again.
- If you are used to making brown butter from dairy butter, this non-dairy version will not have as many brown specks in it.
Nutrition
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Click the stars above or leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you!
So so yummy and the perfect amount. A little goes a long way!! Used kitehill plant based butter and it was amazing
I'm so happy that you liked it! 🙂
OMG! I just made this to drizzle over mashed potatoes! I used your homemade butter and it was so good! Thanks for the recipe.
Glad to hear that you liked this as much as I do. It's my new obsession! 🙂
Hi Monica
What's a good brand of vegan butter?
My homemade butter works best, but if you want to use store-bought, I highly recommend using Miyoko brand.