Learn how to make this creamy pistachio butter recipe that will give peanut butter a run for its money. This delicious spread is made with 4 ingredients and takes just 20 minutes. You won’t believe how easy it is to make your own homemade pistachio butter.
Pistachio is one of my favorite nuts, right up there with macadamia. Ever since I made these pistachio cupcakes, I’ve been itching to use them in another recipe. I figure the next step would be to make pistachio nut butter from scratch, then I can use it as a spread and I can also use it to make pistachio truffles and these amazing pistachio butter cookies!
If you’re looking for an easy, uncomplicated way to make pistachio butter, I’ve got you covered. Also, with how tasty it is, it’s safe to say peanut butter’s got some serious competition. Pistachio nut butter will be toast and jelly’s new best friend in no time.
Table of Contents
Helpful tools
You will definitely need a food processor or a high-speed blender for this recipe. The food processor is actually great for making all types of nut butter and pastes, including my easy honey peanut butter and my homemade almond paste.
Another item you’ll need is a baking sheet for roasting the nuts in the oven. But you can also toast them in a large skillet on the stove top.
Ingredients and substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Pistachios – I bought raw shelled pistachio nuts in bulk from Sprouts. You can also use roasted pistachio but make sure it is unsalted so you can control how much salt is added to your final product.
- Honey – just a tablespoon adds the perfect amount of sweetness.
- Salt – balances out the sweet, earthy flavor of the pistachios.
- Oil – gives the butter a smooth, creamy, spreadable texture. I originally used coconut oil in this recipe, it does add a hint of flavor to the final product. You can use a different type of oil, I recommend something flavorless like vegetable or canola oil.
How to make Pistachio Butter
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
Step 1 – Roast the nuts
The first step in making this pistachio nut paste recipe — or any nut butter for that matter — is lightly roasting the nuts. This will warm up the oil, soften the nuts making them easier to process and also bring out their flavors. But you don’t want them to brown too much, so watch them carefully.
To roast or not to roast? You can skip the roasting step and just make raw pistachio nut butter if you wish. I think this will keep your final butter “greener” but I think roasting the nuts will definitely bring out more flavor and making it tastier in the end.
You can also use roasted unsalted pistachio. But even when using roasted nuts, I would still recommend roasting them prior to making the butter because again warm them up will release the oil making them easier to process.
Step 2 – Process the nuts into butter
Now, add the warm toasty pistachios to your food processor and turn it on. When you start processing the pistachio, the texture will change gradually. Just allow your machine to process until a creamy paste forms.
Note: You may need to stop your food processor and let it rest in between so it doesn’t overheat, and to scrape down the side of the bowl.
I added honey for a little bit of sweetness, a tiny bit of salt to balance the flavor, and oil to keep your pistachio paste smooth and spreadable. Process again to blend the added ingredients into your pistachio butter. Then transfer to a jar for storing.
Storage
Store your homemade pistachio butter in an airtight container or jam jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. If you want to keep it longer, you can freeze it for up to 3 months.
This stuff is so good though, it won’t last that long. Trust me, you’ll be eating pistachio nut butter straight out of the food processor by the spoonful!
More recipes with pistachio
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Easy 4-Ingredient Homemade Pistachio Butter
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cup shelled raw pistachio, 280 g
- 1 tablespoon honey, 20 g
- 1 tablespoon oil, vegetable, canola, coconut or pistachio oil, 13 g
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Spread pistachio in one layer on a baking sheet and roast in the middle of the oven for 5 minutes. Watch closely to make sure they don't brown too much.
- Take baking sheet out of the oven, stir the nuts and flip them over, roast for another 2 minutes.
- Add the roasted nuts to the food processor and process for 10 minutes. Stop the food processor and scrape down the bowl as necessary or to let it rest so it doesn't overheat.
- Add salt, honey and coconut oil and process for another 1 to 2 minutes until the mixture is smooth.
- Store in an air tight container for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Roasting the nuts is optional, the nut butter can be made with raw pistachio nuts.
- This recipe yields 1 ¼ cup total.
- Nutrition information is for 1 tablespoon.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I just discovered something I did not know about pistachios which is what lead me to look for this recipe and something that may help many of you health wise. Pistachios are the highest recorded natural Melatonin source. Eating just 2 before bed helps you sleep and a handful is equivalent to a full dose of a Melatonin Suppliment. Sweat Dreams all us Pistachio lovers
Interesting tip! Thanks for sharing it!
Insane! LOve this!!!!!!
Thank you Naomi!
Can you substitute other nuts for the pistachios and just keep the other ingredients the same or do you need to change them depending on what but you use? I love nut butters but have never tried to make them.
Hey Stacy, yes you can certainly sub other nuts and keep all other ingredients the same or adjust as you please, some nuts may need a little more sweetener, etc. However, just to warn ya, I used coconut oil with peanuts and didn’t like it very much. See my post for homemade peanut butter for tips, but in general you can use canola or vegetable oil.
Hi, Trang
Can I use extra light olive oil instead of coconut oil?
Thanks
Hi Lilyn, yes you can, the flavor will be different but it will serve the same purpose.
Hi, what can I use as a substitute for the honey? Thanks!
You can use maple syrup in the same amount or some other liquid sweetener. Some liquid sweetener might have a different level of sweetness, so start small and add more to your taste.
This is delicious but I had to add more than double the oil to get a smooth paste, and even then it was quite dry–did not look as creamy as the photo.
Thanks for the feedback Mimi, I wonder if you needed to process the pistachio a bit longer to get it smoother. I’m glad you still enjoy it!
I have purchases pistachio sause the one creamy i need it to be little bit smoothy , i have tried to add little water and little olive oil but it get dry after few days, what other ingredient which will keep the sause more soft
Hi Ruru, I have not used store bought pistachio butter before so I can’t give you much advice here but it shouldn’t just go dry, what do you mean by that? Like if you have peanut butter, it doesn’t just dry out because the nuts have their own oil.
Ok now this is unholy good stuff.
How many hours on the treadmill after I eat the whole jar?
Well Marj, how about don’t eat the whole jar and just spread a spoonful on toast as you would peanut butter? 😉
you wont be on a treadmill you will be asleep lol pistachios are the highest recorded source of natural melatonin. Just a handfull is equal to a full dose of a Melatonin suppliment
Can I do this Homemade pistachio butter like how you just did then add to my pancake mix for breakfast big bro?
Hi Lorraine, yes you can. It would be similar to adding peanut butter or any other nut butter to your pancake mix. I’ve never done it before but I use nut butter in many different things. When you mix your pancake batter up, reduce liquid ingredient (like milk) a little bit and watch your batter texture to make sure it doesn’t get too runny.
I can’t wait to try this. I love the idea of adding honey as I already know how well pistachio and honey are together and the coconut oil for spreadability is such a great tip.
oh wow – this is fun! I’m not sure I’d even need the honey. Brilliant!