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 took the process a little further and wow! My tastebuds were singing. To remove the antibiotic r proprieties in the peanuts (oxolates) I soaked my peanuts in water overnight then dehydrated them for 24hrs first. This made the buttering process even quicker, 4 minutes to make amazing peanut butter. Will do this every fortnight for my family from now on.
Hi Leiah, thanks for sharing your process! So glad you loved the peanut butter.
So good, very easy. Definitely takes some time, just follow the recipe and it’ll get there. Eating by the spoonful, and I love that I know exactly what’s in it, thanks for this great recipe
Hi Katie, I’m so glad you love the peanut butter!
Recipes are useless without storage instructions. Do I have to eat it all at once? Does it go in the fridge? Do I keep it under my mattress? Cmon..
Hi, happy to answer your question! You can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a month.
Hi…making the peanut butter recipe again but it seems to be taking longer. How long would you estimate the process to take from peanuts to creamy butter?
I’ve been processing in 30 sec to 1 mim intervals for about an hour. It seems to be stuck in what looks like photo number 2 in yiur recipe. The only difference is I added honey. Thank you!
Hi Roseann, it sounds like the honey might be changing the peanuts’ texture – next time I might try adding honey at the very end once it’s creamy.
Is a Nutribullet strong enough?
Hi David, I wouldn’t recommend using a Nutribullet for the peanut butter. You’d need a high-speed blender like a Vitamix or a food processor with a strong motor.
I just finished making my first ever!!! Amazing! I used my black and decker. It worked like a champ! No cooling down needed. Thanks
I’m so glad you love the peanut butter!
What can I add to make it more high protein?
Hi Lauren, we haven’t tested any add-ins here, so I’m not sure.
I ran mine in a cuisnart food processor for 15min and it never turned out as liquidy as yours. It remained in the shaggy ball stage. I added honey to try and thin it. No dice. I like a thicker PB so it’s ok. But do I need to run it longer? Did the honey hurt the thinning process?
Hi Katie, it could be that the peanut butter just needed some more time—food processors can vary. To help loosen it up next time, I would add a little neutral-tasting oil, like avocado oil or grapeseed oil, instead of honey. Hope this helps!
I’ll add that it also really depends on your food processor. I have a really nice Cuisinart one and a Ninja, and I’ve only gotten this consistency with the Cuisinart. The Ninja just doesn’t seem to have the power or whatever, no matter how long I run it.
over roasting and honey have caused mine to be too thick in past. if ur nuts are bought roasted maybe try roasting your own peanuts. ive found if they’re too cooked it becomes more of a paste.
Hello again! I made the peanut butter today and it turned out amazing! I left it just slightly grainy. Your instructions were flawless. I didnt add a thing as but for my next batch I’m adding honey.
Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved it!
I buy natural peanut butter but this is way better because you can control the amount of salt and the smooth texture is way easier to work with. This has been a game changer for me!
Can I use a Ninja blender?
Hi Lori, I don’t think a Ninja blender would be powerful enough for this recipe.
Can I use a Vitamix instead of a food processor? I have both, but Vitamix is easily accessible vs. the food processor. Thank you for your assistance.
Yes, a Vitamix works well for this!
Thank you for getting back. I look forward to making it in the next couple of days.
Hello, thanks for the great explanation!!!
I have peanuts but they are not roasted. Can I still use them? Or should I roast them?
Thanks!
Hi Michal, I’d recommend roasting them. You can toast them in a 325°F for about 10 minutes, until they’re fragrant. They’ll blend more easily and have a nuttier flavor!
Hi! I actually have a question. I want to make this recipe and I have a mini kitchen aid food processor.
Is it possible to crush the peanuts before adding to processor to aid in the breakdown of peanuts and be easier on motor?
Thank you.
Hi Roseann, I have that mini food processor too… while it’s handy for pestos and small-batch sauces, I don’t think it’s powerful enough to make smooth nut butter. I highly recommend either the 7-cup KitchenAid or Cuisinart.
I’ve been making Peanut Butter this way for years! I use a heavy Cuisinart that looks like the one in your pictures. I haven’t bought store peanut butter in years! Glad you put out the word!
Hello! I was curious on how to store this after and how long?
Hi Ivy, you can store it in the fridge for 2 weeks-a month!
Hello,
do you keep or throw the skin of the peanuts?
Cheers,
Hi, I’d peel off and discard the skins as best you can.
‘m just curious about what the nutritional info is for the homemade peanut butter please/
Hi Kelly, we don’t typically calculate nutrition facts for our recipes, but in this case, the nutrition info would be similar to that of store-bought natural peanut butter.
If nothing is added, then surely the nutritional value will be the same, as stated on the pack the peanuts came in?