Learn how to make AMAZING homemade peanut butter! It's super smooth, creamy, and flavorful - you won't be able to stop eating it by the spoonful.
I start drooling just looking at the pictures of this homemade peanut butter! Jack and I have been all about cooking projects lately, churning out homemade bagels, pasta, tortillas, and more. We’ve loved all of them, but this homemade peanut butter recipe reminded us that cooking projects don’t have to be ambitious to be fun.
This peanut butter recipe calls for just 1 or 2 ingredients, and it comes together in under 10 minutes. Still, making it is a blast! You get to watch whole peanuts transform into the smoothest, creamiest nut butter you’ve ever seen. Its oozy texture beats any store bought brand I’ve tried, and its rich peanut flavor is out of this world. You won’t be able to resist eating it by the spoonful!
Peanut Butter Recipe Tips
Ready to learn how to make peanut butter? There are a few things you should know before you start:
- Making this recipe is easy, but it does require patience. Your food processor will need to run for almost 10 minutes, including breaks, before the nuts become smooth and spreadable.
- You’re going to need to stop the food processor often. Making homemade nut butter can be hard on a food processor’s motor, so be sure to stop it every 30 seconds to 1 minute to give it a chance to cool off. This break is also a great opportunity to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- The amount of peanuts you use should be proportionate to the size of your food processor. I use 3 cups of peanuts in my 7-cup food processor. If yours is much larger, you’ll need more nuts to create a smooth, creamy spread.
- You don’t need anything except for dry roasted peanuts, and maybe salt. You can use unsalted or salted peanuts in this recipe, but if yours aren’t salted, you’ll need to season to taste with salt at the end.
How to Make Peanut Butter
Add the peanuts to the bowl of a food processor, and process until very smooth, pausing to scrape down the sides of the bowl every 30 seconds or so. When you first start grinding the peanuts, it might not seem like they’ll blend into a smooth nut butter. But trust me, they will! You don’t need to add any vegetable oil, I promise.
At the beginning, they’ll be chunky.
Then, they’ll form a shaggy ball.
And finally, they’ll blend into creamy natural peanut butter! Let the food processor run as long as necessary to get the mixture really smooth. Store it in an airtight container or jar at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Enjoy!
How to Use Homemade Peanut Butter
There are so many ways to use this homemade peanut butter! Here are a few of my favorites:
- Slather it onto a slice of crusty bread.
- Drizzle it over a bowl of oatmeal, granola, or overnight oats.
- Use it as the binder in homemade granola bars or energy balls.
- Make it into a tangy peanut sauce to serve with noodles, spring rolls, or bowls.
- Whisk together a peanut dressing for a summer slaw.
- Blend it into a smoothie for extra protein.
- Make cookies! It works perfectly in my chocolate peanut butter no bake cookies, peanut butter cookies, and chocolate chip cookie dough bars.
What’s your favorite way to use it? Let me know in the comments!
More Homemade Basics
If you loved learning how to make peanut butter, try making one of these easy recipes for homemade basics next:
Homemade Peanut Butter
Ingredients
- 3 cups dry roasted & salted or unsalted peanuts
- sea salt, to taste, (if using unsalted peanuts)
Instructions
- Place the peanuts in a medium food processor.* Process until very smooth, stopping every 30 seconds to 1 minute to scape down the sides of the bowl, as necessary, and to give the food processor's motor a break. The mixture will be chunky at first. Then, it'll thicken into a ball, and finally, it will become creamy and smooth. The whole process should take about 8 to 10 minutes.
I like to do this with shelled Spanish peanuts I’ve roasted in a skillet with peanut oil to a medium-dark brown so they taste very well roasted. Then I salt them with powdered sea salt sprinkled through a mesh teaballer. And I like to leave the skins on because they add a flavor I love more than “naked” peanuts. It comes out a dark peanut butter, but it tastes so good. To me, if a peanut still tastes sweet, it hasn’t been roasted long enough. Not to say I won’t eat a good peanut, but I like fairly dark peanuts that are almost on the verge of becoming bitter. If there is a hint of bitterness, that’s fine, too. I like the coffee-like flavor of peanuts pushed a little beyond medium roast.
While it’s still in the dry, but finely chopped stage, it makes a fantastic topping for ice cream. And it’s also good to just eat the stuff with a spoon.
Wow ! I’m so glad a normal food processor works. I used to make this using a top of the line Braun machine which had 10 speeds. But that machine broke years ago, so I stopped making my own peanut butter. I was under the false impression that it only works if the blades move slowly. Thanks for sharing this!
I don’t like store bought cause all the brands available in my area contain palm oil uggggh!
I’m so glad it came out well for ryou!
Follow up: Oh my gosh ! I just made the purest, healthiest peanut butter in my humble food processor. I just used lightly salted peanuts (many of which had their skins- the skins have antioxidants and disappear in the blend). For years I’ve not had peanut butter because everything I find contains palm oil or other hydrogenated oil, which are nasty (bad for cholesterol). They are added as “stabilizers” to prevent the oil from separating – but they also give peanut butter that smooth Nutella-like spreadable quality. Although Nutella is much worse since it actually contains more than 50% palm oil! And less than 10% chocolate & hazelnut combined. Back to peanut butter, your description & photos are amazingly accurate. You did a great job explaining what will happen. At one point, I just reached a peanut meal stage and thought “this is it… It won’t liquify”, but just like you said, it started clumping then formed a ball (I jumped when I saw the “ball”) then before I knew it, it turned into a paste and finally a runny peanut butter. Runny only due to the heat. It solidifies once cooled. This is the most useful recipe and is literally life changing in my case. Thanks again!!!
Hi Adam, I’m so glad your peanut butter was amazing!
Just read the recipe for peanut butter. Anxious to try it and other nut butters. Thanks!
Turned out very good by itself. I wanted it for PBJ sandwiches, but its not good that way. Jam changed the texture completely and I didn’t taste the peanut butter at all. My advice would be to eat it plain like on an apple or just a piece of bread. Don’t mix it with anything. I’ll give 4 stars because it is good , but not good enough for what I really needed it for.
Can I use a ninja or blender to make the peanut butter I do not have a real food processor
Hi Shannon, I don’t have one so I’m not sure. I’ve made it in my vitamix before but it’s harder because you have to keep stirring it at the bottom for it all to incorporate.
I did amd mine came out good still
Hi, I made it in my Vitamix blender. It took about 1 minute. It may take just a little longer in another blender.
Hi Shannon. I’m sure it will work in a Ninja. I did mine in a basic food processor which has 2 speeds only – nothing fancy . I put it on high speed. And I didn’t have to even stir it or mix it at all. Just don’t let your machine over heat too much. The wires or the plastic starts to melt. Just Stop when you feel it’s overheating . Pausing won’t affect the progress of your peanut butter. Then start again after letting the machine cool down. The process took me less than 10 minutes . A ninja may take up to 10 minutes. Just be patient & have faith that it will work. Believe me it works! At first u see it as powder … then a couple minutes later it starts to clump & turn to paste. It starts to transform at the base first – closer to the blades … you’ll see it get smoother and smoother. Enjoy! (Ps: reason I’m sure a Ninja works is I used to have a Braun Multi- part processor which had a grinder I used to make peanut butter. It was an upside down glass bullet shape which couldn’t be opened. So I couldn’t stir. I just had to be patient and wait for paste to form eventually – only difference was that machine had 10 speeds & I used the slowest speed. Now I know speed is irrelevant. I just made PB on high speed)
How do I store this creamy peanut butter
Hi Carmen, in a jar either at room temp or in the fridge.
I want to use unsalted blanched peanuts. I am going to roast them but do I need to soak first? thank you!
Hi Allie, you shouldn’t have to soak them.
Can I use normal groundnut to do it
You can.
Groundnuts are peanuts, it’s just a different name.
Love it with slices of apples or bananas
Just made this and aside from the ease, it’s definitely some smooth tasty peanut butter. I halved the recipe, added some honey using my Cuisinart Mini-prep food chopper instead of dragging out the big processor. Alternated back & forth from chop to grind, giving it a rest as recommended in recipe. Thank you for sharing your recipe
I’m so glad you loved it!
What kind of nuts do I use to make homemade peanut butter
Hi Maria, just regular peanuts.
I always make my own peanut butter. I’m a pushover for anything sweet, so in goes a good dollop of honey ir maple syrup as well. Probably not vegan, sorry.
Glad I found this recipe. Really easy to make and the resulting peanut butter tastes great! But you definitely have to let the food processor rest and cool off.
Hi Mike, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Everyone post but no one’s explaining what recipe that they’re talking about I scroll up and I see all types of love and lemons recipes like for instance true example I looked up peanut butter just to see what you had in recipe for him for something as basic as peanut butter and all of a sudden all these recipes below it pop up which is wonderful then I look at the comments which I always do and you guys are talking about things but it doesn’t signify exactly which recipe the way it’s explained sounds like a different recipe each time who knows maybe I’m overthinking it but it would be nice to to know which recipe and point it out ,….Please and Thank you
Hi, the comments in each post go along with the main recipe page you are on… not the other small recipe images.
This recipe is very easy to make with clear and concise instructions! Because I like the flavor of cashews, I used 1/2 cashews, half dry roasted peanuts. After making it, I was amazed that the batch yielded 3 1/2 jars of peanut butter.
I’m so glad you loved it!
Can I use normal groundnut to do it
How long does it last at room temp?
I think its best if you can add the nutrition facts on your recipe. Thanks! Looks amazing