Here's everything worth knowing about cashew butter and how to pick it, what it is, how to store it, and what to use instead, plus 7 recipes to cook tonight.

What is cashew butter?

Cashew butter is a smooth, mild nut butter made by grinding roasted or raw cashews into a paste. It is softer and creamier than peanut butter, and noticeably sweeter, with a gentle, almost buttery flavor that does not dominate whatever you put it in.

That mildness is its whole appeal. Where peanut butter announces itself, cashew butter blends in, which is why it has become a workhorse in vegan cooking, standing in for cream and cheese as much as for jam-and-toast spreading.

Because cashews are low in fibre and high in soft fat, the butter grinds down exceptionally smooth and pourable, looser than almond or peanut butter at the same temperature.

Cooking With Cashew Butter

Its real strength is savoury. Whisked into broth it thickens and enriches without dairy, the trick behind a silky Mushroom Cashew Bisque, and it binds plant-based patties like Vegetable Nut Burgers and a Red Lentil Loaf so they hold together when they cook.

Thinned with water and lemon, or a splash of soy, it loosens into a pourable sauce or dressing. A spoonful is the body behind a quick cashew cream for pasta, and it rounds out a Basic Peanut Sauce when you want something mellower than straight peanut.

On the sweet side it folds into smoothies and frostings, or rolls into energy balls, and a little melted into a Chocolate Ganache Fudge Sauce adds richness without a competing nutty edge. Start with less than you think; its fat content thickens fast.

Pairing and Common Mistakes

Cashew butter leans sweet and savoury both. It loves maple, banana, and chocolate on the sweet side, and soy, ginger, lime, and garlic on the savoury side, which is what makes it the base for so many noodle and stir-fry sauces.

The most common mistake is not stirring a natural jar. The oil separates and pools on top, and if you pour it off to avoid mess you are left with a dry, crumbly brick at the bottom. Stir it in fully the first time you open the jar.

The second mistake is adding it to a hot pan over high heat. The sugars and soft fats scorch fast and turn bitter, so stir it into sauces off the boil or at a gentle simmer, never seared.

Substitutes

Almond butter is the closest swap, similar in mildness though a touch more bitter and grainy. Use it one for one in both sweet and savoury recipes.

Peanut butter works when you do not mind a bolder flavor; it is firmer and saltier, so in a cream sauce you may want to thin it more and ease back on any added salt.

Sunflower seed butter is the move for a nut-free kitchen, with a similar texture and a slightly earthy taste.

For cashew cream specifically, soaked and blended whole cashews are the better choice than the butter, giving a cleaner, fresher flavor and a silkier body.

Buying and Storing

Choose a jar whose only ingredient is cashews if you want it for cooking, since added sugar and palm oil throw off savoury sauces. Roasted cashew butter tastes deeper and nuttier; raw is paler and sweeter, better for delicate desserts.

Natural cashew butter separates, so store an opened jar in the fridge after the first stir to slow the oil from rising and to keep it from going rancid. Cashews are high in unsaturated fat, which means they turn faster than you might expect at room temperature.

Refrigerated, an opened jar keeps for three to four months; an unopened jar lasts well past a year in a cool cupboard. If it ever smells sharp, like paint or old oil, it has gone rancid and should be tossed.

Quick facts

In Chinese

腰果黄油

British (UK) term

Cashew butter

en français

beurre de noix de cajou

en español

mantequilla de anacardo

Recipes using cashew butter

There are 7 recipes that contain this ingredient.

All 7 recipes