Super easy and simple Vegan Garlic Butter is perfect for toast, garlic bread, or making any recipe amazing and flavorful. Melt it to make an awesome vegan garlic butter sauce for dipping or drizzling anything you like!
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Hey Internet, this recipe is something I’ve loved for a while but just haven’t shared yet and I don’t know why. Maybe I thought it was too simple? Oy.
I already have a bunch of vegan condiment recipes like nut-free vegan mayo , tofu sour cream, tofu cream cheese, vegan honey, vegan honey mustard sauce, vegan BBQ sauce, vegan tzatziki, and more. So this recipe seemed like a natural fit.
This vegan garlic butter is super quick to make with some softened vegan butter and just a couple other ingredients. And what can you use it for? So many things.
If you melt it (in the microwave or a small pot on the stove) you can make a delicious vegan garlic butter sauce. I make this recipe every time I make air fryer gnocchi, but I also love to pour it on cooked veggies like my air fryer frozen brussels sprouts, veggies, even shishito peppers (coming soon!).
You don’t have to soften the butter if you’re making vegan garlic butter sauce. Just melt the butter in the microwave and stir in the other ingredients.
It’s also phenomenal on toast—and you can use it to make almost-instant garlic bread. Which, I mean, as much as I love my regular vegan garlic bread recipe, this is even easier!
I know this vegan garlic butter will become a staple in your house. It’s so rewarding to make your own condiments as you’re able to customize them to your preferences.
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Why This Recipe Works
I really don’t have to tell you, I mean, it’s just garlic and butter, right? Well, sort of.
There’s a few ingredients that make this vegan garlic butter RECIPE amazing. And, making a recipe for it enables me to give you my favorite tips.
Those tips include: softening the butter for an hour so you can easily mix it together, how to make a sauce for pasta or anything you like (hint: it’s even easier), grating the garlic instead of mincing it (helps it disappear into the butter), not using salt since most vegan butter comes salted, and extra tips like… add some vegan parmesan and/or your favorite herbs.
If you do happen to find unsalted vegan butter, by all means add some salt to taste!
So basically, what we do for this recipe is soften the butter, stir in a few ingredients like grated garlic and herbs, and that’s it! If you want the butter hard for serving, put it in the fridge. If you want a sauce, you can melt it and use it on whatever you like (you can even just mix melted butter with the garlic and herbs so you don’t need to pre-soften it).
That’s really it. So simple. And then it’s perfect for toast, vegan bagels, air fryer gnocchi, garlic bread, vegan scallops, veggies, and more.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- ½ cup vegan butter, softened: While you CAN use vegan margarine in a tub, I’ve found that using stick vegan butter tastes better. We love the Earth Balance Plant Based Butter Sticks the best for this recipe but Melt is also a great choice. Pay attention to whether your vegan butter is salted or unsalted. If unsalted, you should add a pinch of salt to the recipe. If it is already salted, I feel that this doesn’t need any additional salt.
- 2 - 3 cloves of garlic: It wouldn’t be vegan garlic butter without garlic! I used three because I really love garlic, but you can use less for a more subtle flavor. I do recommend grating your garlic with a microplane or a zester as it makes the garlic finer and disappear into the butter.
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs: I just used parsley for this recipe, but I think a combination of parsley and chives would be delicious.
- Vegan parmesan, optional: You could add a few tablespoons of grated vegan parmesan (we love Violife brand) if you want an extra special vegan garlic butter, but it’s great without, too. I would definitely add this if I was melting it into a vegan garlic butter sauce, for what it’s worth.
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How to Make Vegan Garlic Butter
- NOTE: If you’re making spreadable vegan garlic butter or if you’re going to mix it and stick it back in the fridge, you’ll want to leave your vegan butter out on the counter for an hour before mixing anything into it. This will make it much easier to work with.
- If you’re making vegan garlic butter sauce, simply melt the vegan butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan and stir in the other ingredients. Pour over pasta, vegetables, or use for some other purpose as you like.
- In a small bowl, stir together the softened vegan butter, grated garlic, chopped herbs, and the grated vegan parmesan (if using).
- Serve immediately with toasted bread or vegan bagels or whatever else you like. Yes, this is almost-instant garlic bread. You can definitely add some vegan cheese if you’d like.
- Refrigerate leftover vegan garlic butter in an airtight container for up to one week. It may last up to two weeks but it’s never lasted long enough for me to test that, haha. You can also freeze it in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can absolutely use this to make buttered noodles. I even have a recipe for vegan butter noodles if you’re interested.
Yes, UNLESS you’re making a vegan garlic butter SAUCE. If so, just melt refrigerated vegan butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan over medium heat until melted, then stir in the other ingredients and use immediately.
Technically you can, but it won’t taste the same. Jarred garlic really has a different flavor than fresh garlic, and garlic powder is made from roasting garlic so that also has a very different flavor.
No… vegan butter contains oil. You can make some sort of harder nut-based (or seeds) spread and certainly add the garlic and herbs like I do, but it won’t be exactly the same.
You can use it on anything and everything from toasted bread or vegan bagels, roasted or steamed vegetables, in pasta or rice, with vegan scallops, use it to cook mushrooms, or as a dip for artichoke leaves, or really anything you like!
Store it in an airtight container (we like to reuse glass jam jars) in the refrigerator for up to one week. I think it may last two weeks, but I haven’t tested that theory. You can also freeze it in a freezer safe container for about 3 months.
Pro Tips for Success
- We have found that stick vegan butter tastes better in this recipe as opposed to vegan margarine that comes in a tub. We love the Earth Balance Plant Based Butter Sticks but Melt is also a great choice.
- If your vegan butter is unsalted, you should add a pinch of salt to the recipe. If it is already salted, I feel that this doesn’t need any additional salt.
- Unless you’re making a sauce, you need to soften the butter on the counter for an hour before mixing. Otherwise the ingredients won’t mix in well.
- Grate your garlic with a microplane or zester as opposed to mincing it if you want it to really incorporate well into the vegan butter.
- Fresh herbs work really nicely in this recipe. We just used parsley which was delicious but you could also try fresh chives.
- If you want an extra boost of flavor, try adding some grated vegan parmesan cheese (about 1 - 2 tablespoons). We love Violife Vegan Parmesan Block grated with a microplane.
More Recipes Like This
While I could share with you other vegan condiments I’ve made (you can find a list in the first few paragraphs of this article), I think it’s better to share with you my other garlicky recipes in case you love garlic like my husband and I do.
- Vegan Garlic Noodles
- Vegan Scallops with Pasta in a Garlic Butter Sauce
- Garlic Risotto
- Vegan Aglio e Olio
- Vegan Honey Garlic Tofu
- Lemon Tahini Broccolini Fettucine (with roasted garlic)
- Vegan Garlic Bread
- Vegan General Tso’s
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Vegan Garlic Butter
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 0.5 cup 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Super easy and simple Vegan Garlic Butter is perfect for toast, garlic bread, or making any recipe amazing and flavorful.
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegan butter (salted), softened (see note 1)
- 2 - 3 cloves garlic, grated (see note 2)
- 2 - 3 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped (parsley, chives, etc.)
- 1 - 2 tablespoons vegan parmesan cheese, grated, optional (we love Violife)
Instructions
- NOTE, soften vegan butter for one hour before mixing: If you’re making spreadable vegan garlic butter or if you’re going to mix it and stick it back in the fridge, you’ll want to leave your vegan butter out on the counter for an hour before mixing anything into it. This will make it much easier to work with.
- If you’re making vegan garlic butter sauce, simply melt the vegan butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan and stir in the other ingredients. Pour over pasta, vegetables, or use for some other purpose as you like.
- Mix ingredients: In a small bowl, stir together the softened vegan butter, grated garlic, chopped herbs, and the grated vegan parmesan (if using).
- Serve immediately with toasted bread or vegan bagels or whatever else you like. Yes, this is almost-instant garlic bread. You can definitely add some vegan cheese if you’d like.
- Store: Refrigerate leftover vegan garlic butter in an airtight container for up to one week. It may last up to two weeks but it’s never lasted long enough for me to test that, haha. You can also freeze it in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Note 1: While you CAN use vegan margarine in a tub, I’ve found that using stick vegan butter tastes better. We love the Earth Balance Plant Based Butter Sticks the best for this recipe but Melt is also a great choice. Pay attention to whether your vegan butter is salted or unsalted. If unsalted, you should add a pinch of salt to the recipe. If it is already salted, I feel that this doesn’t need any additional salt.
- Note 2: Unless you’re making a sauce, you need to soften the butter on the counter for an hour before mixing. Otherwise the ingredients won’t mix in well.
- Note 3: It wouldn’t be vegan garlic butter without garlic! I used three because I really love garlic, but you can use less for a more subtle flavor. I do recommend grating your garlic with a microplane or a zester as it makes the garlic finer and disappear into the butter.
- Note 4: Fresh herbs work really nicely in this recipe. We just used parsley which was delicious but you could also try fresh chives.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: Spread, Snack
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
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