Homemade Peanut Butter

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.

Homemade peanut butter

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!

Jar of homemade peanut butter

Peanut Butter Recipe Tips

Ready to learn how to make peanut butter? There are a few things you should know before you start:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

Peanuts in a food processor

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.

How to make peanut butter

Then, they’ll form a shaggy ball.

Peanut butter in a food processor

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!

Homemade peanut butter recipe   Spoon of peanut butter

How to Use Homemade Peanut Butter

There are so many ways to use this homemade peanut butter! Here are a few of my favorites:

What’s your favorite way to use it? Let me know in the comments!

Peanut butter

More Homemade Basics

If you loved learning how to make peanut butter, try making one of these easy recipes for homemade basics next:

Get This Recipe In Your Inbox
Share your email, and we'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus, enjoy daily doses of recipe inspiration as a bonus!

Homemade Peanut Butter

rate this recipe:
4.97 from 134 votes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Learn how to make AMAZING homemade peanut butter! It's super smooth, creamy, and filled with rich peanut flavor. You're going to want to eat it by the spoonful!

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.

Notes

Makes about 1 cup.
*Note: I use my 7-cup Cuisinart or KitchenAid food processor. If yours is much larger, you may want to increase the amount of peanuts so that there's enough quantity to blend well.

213 comments

4.97 from 134 votes (87 ratings without comment)

Leave a comment:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Yve
    11.17.2024

    I tested this recipe by using just handful of peanuts ….it turned to powder then the blades didn’t seem to touch the peanuts and just sat at the bottom of the blender. Was this because I used too few peanuts? I didn’t want to shell the whole bag in case my blender couldn’t do the job!
    Tia.

    • Joice
      12.04.2024

      perhaps too little peanuts. add more, and just have faith in the process.

  2. Megan
    11.11.2024

    Do you have experience canning homemade peanut butter? Would a wet bath be good for this?

    • Ashley
      11.17.2024

      Peanut butter isn’t recommended/safe for canning. It can last for a few months in an airtight container or in the fridge

  3. Stacey
    11.09.2024

    5 stars
    Just made this and it’s SO good, my daughter loves it too! Do I store this in the fridge or room temperature? How long is it good for? Thanks again!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      11.09.2024

      Hi, I store it in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. So glad you love it!

  4. Shelley
    10.30.2024

    5 stars
    Made this in my Ninja. it is so good and creamy. I did eat some by the teaspoonful! Definitely making this again, just what I wanted, nothing but peanuts. Thanks for this recipe!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      11.01.2024

      Hi Shelley, I’m so glad you loved the peanut butter!

  5. JAMES T
    10.23.2024

    Can I honey to this recipe?

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      11.01.2024

      Hi James, yep!

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.