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.
I have a question…. Can I use unsalted peanuts that have been roasted and are bought in bags. I realize it would be more work on my part rather than using a jar of dry roasted?
By the way, I’m glad I found your website!
Hi Ruby, yep, you could! So glad you’re loving the website.
Unbelievably simple and such an effective way to avoid unwanted additives like salt, sugar and hydrogenated oils.
Hi
Do the peanuts 🥜 need to be pealed
Never realized it was so simple. Yummy and healthy
Heyy I love the Peanut Butter but I wanted to ask how to store it and how long it will be good?
I tried another recipe and it was a big time fail, but this works thanks :DDD
When this peanut butter is stored, does it separate and require stirring at its next use? Thank you
Hi Liz, it definitely won’t separate if you keep it in the fridge. It might separate a bit at room temp, but less than store-bought natural peanut butter would.
Hey! I tried this and it turned out really well. Thankyou so much 🙂
Ok – I have been making this PB recipe for months and it is always dry and crumbly. It never looks creamy and smooth like yours and I could never pour it out of the food processor like your pics show! I usually add 2 tsps of honey to mine also bc my family likes it with just a touch of sweetness so even with the added “wet ingredient” it still isn’t creamy. I am using clean, store bougth roasted peanuts (no extra ingredients) so I dont understand why it would always be so dry! I make this almost every week. I would love to figure it out! Thanks!
Hi Christina, thanks for sticking with the recipe! First, I’d try leaving out the honey until the peanut butter reaches your desired consistency. Because it’s so sticky, I think it could affect how the peanut butter comes together. Second, it could be that you just need to run the food processor longer. That said, if you’ve been blending the peanut butter for 10 minutes and it still isn’t smooth, you could add a neutral oil (such as grapeseed or avocado) 1 teaspoon at a time to help it become creamy. Then blend in the honey to taste. I hope this helps!
I think you should follow the recipe as it is above, then add the honey later. The sugars are going to have an effect
This is the best peanut butter recipe ever. I have a dog and he refuses store bought peanut butter so I decided to make it and he really liked it.
Hi Jason, glad it was a hit!
This is the best homemade peanut butter recipe ever!!!! So easy to make, tastes delicious and love the extra pointers at the end!
Hi Judy, so glad you love the recipe!
THIS WAS SO SIMPLE SO EASY TO UNDERSTAND I LOVED IT SO SO MUCH
So glad you loved it, Gloria!
I LOVE the recipe and how easy it is to make.
Can you use a blender instead of a food processor, just wondering thanks
Hi Rina, you can, you just have to stir more often because gets stuck around the blade more.
Just made in our Ninja blender. Turned out really good
I have used this recipe lots of times, no added salt, I make Doggy Ice cream my dogs love it
Hi Carolyn, I’m glad you love the recipe!
Ridiculous how easy and yummy this was! I used unsalted and didn’t add salt because I’m making a birthday cake for my dog, and it still is delicious.
Hi Jennie, I’m so glad you loved the peanut butter! Happy birthday to your dog 🙂
How ling can i store this for? Like when does it expire in a warm climate kitchen cabinet?
Hi Mochi, I store it up to a couple of weeks at room temp, but it’ll keep longer in the fridge.
Thanks! So, how long in the fridge? Or how can you tell if it’s gone bad?
A small jar of peanut butter usually lasts me months (the store bought ones) so, I’m not sure how to avoid it going bad.
Hi Mochi, this peanut butter keeps well in the fridge for about a month. Beyond that, you can tell it’s gone bad if it starts to smell or taste off or if the color darkens.
If you wanted to make crunchy pb, would you process it less or add in some extra peanuts at the end?
I’d add some chopped peanuts at the end.
I don’t have a food processor, but I DO have a high-powdered blender. Will that work just as well?
Hi Linda, it’ll work, you just have to stop and stir more often.
What food processor do you recommend?
Hi Denise, I love the 7-Cup Cuisinart food processor.
I think I over roasted my nuts, it took way longer than 10 minutes and it didn’t come together. I added butter instead of oil at request of my fiance which helped a tiny bit but it definitely hardened in the fridge.
Next time I’ll keep an eye to not roast too much, it was smoother the first time I tried, but this time its all hard and crumbly. Still delicious and i snack on it with tea 🙂
Hi Vero, I recommend buying peanuts that are already roasted, I think it sounds like they dried out too much in the oven.