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!
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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.
Hello! I am researching peanut butter recipes on my journey to eat healthier. I ran across your and plan to give it a try. Have you ever made crunchy peanut butter? My husband wants extra crunchy! Should I make it creamy and add nuts or not blend it so creamy? Any thoughts?
Hi Shannon, I would make the creamy peanut butter, then add chopped peanuts and pulse it in the food processor until incorporated. I hope he enjoys!
When you say three cups of dry roasted and salted /unsalted is that a total of 6 cups of peanuts?
Hi Judy, just 3 cups total! You can use dry roasted and salted or dry roasted and unsalted.
Cut celery into short lengths and fill them with peanut paste. Its a great tasting way to eat celery.
What brand of peanuts did you use? My batch that I made didn’t come out as creamy and smooth as I’d like it to be.
Great recipe! I received a bag of peanuts in the shell and happily found this recipe. Shelled the peanuts while watching TV and just made the peanut butter. I used 6 cups of peanuts in my 14 cup food processor. Came out perfect and delicious! Thank you.
Hi Lisa, I’m so glad you loved it!
Do you have the nutritional info for the recipe?
Easy to make. I have an 11 cup Cuisinart food processor. Doubled the amount of peanuts. Yielded 2- 16oz Mason jars.
Made tis because I did not want any added sugar or oils. Tastes good.
Should this be refrigerated?
Wow. I loved this! It’s was SO easy in my VitaMix. I was buying so much commercial🤯😱 peanut butter, bread, and tortillas, and granola bars, and cookies for my husband—he consumes LARGE quantities😅 of these same things plus I’ve been wanting him to eat healthier, and you have been amazing! I’ve made several of good recipes-you have given me inspiration and they have ALL been delicious, easy, and fantastic ideas!!!🤗 Big Hugs!!!xoxo
Hi Danielle, awww I’m so glad you love the recipes! I hope you keep finding more you enjoy.
Sometimes it’s hard to figure out the correct ingredient measurement for it to blend properly with certain kitchen appliances. This was a great guide to follow! Turned out lovely! Thank you!
I’m so glad your peanut butter turned out well!
If I don’t have a food processor can I use a liquidiser? Not made it so ignore the rating.
I’m not sure what a liquidiser is, but you can make it in a blender if you scrape down the sides often.
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.
perhaps too little peanuts. add more, and just have faith in the process.
I tried and had the same problem, next time I used more peanuts and it turned out great. ( add a tablespoon of sugar)
Yes, I had to add more peanuts so it touched, scrape the sides every 30 seconds and it’ll turn into smooth peanut butter.
Do you have experience canning homemade peanut butter? Would a wet bath be good for this?
Peanut butter isn’t recommended/safe for canning. It can last for a few months in an airtight container or in the fridge
In the directions you state that it lasts up to one month. What do you mean by “a few”? Two, three? I’m trying to figure out if this method would work for our smaller family.
hi claire, not the recipe developer! since it’s just peanuts, oil, and salt it will likely last 3-6 months. the quality may decline and the oil may separate. you would just need to thoroughly mix it to reincorporate. hope this helps!
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!
Hi, I store it in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. So glad you love it!
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!
Hi Shelley, I’m so glad you loved the peanut butter!
Can I honey to this recipe?
Hi James, yep!