When Pete Ghione opened Truth & Tonic Wellness Café, the first and only 100 percent plant-based restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip, he knew he wouldn’t have to sacrifice flavor to make delicious food and baked goods that everyone would love.
In fact, Ghione, the director of Food & Beverage and executive chef at Canyon Ranch, Las Vegas—and a vegan himself—says cooking and baking the plant-based way is his preference. “I’ve managed 22 kitchens and 16 restaurants throughout my career, and the most rewarding work has been when I’ve worked with ingredients to maximize their health benefits,” he says. “When you do that, you can use food to change people’s lives.”
The key, says Ghione, is focusing on a plant-based diet. And the best part is that it’s easier than ever to cook and bake with strictly plant-based ingredients—including butter.
“Foods and baked goods that call for traditional butter can turn out great when you use plant-based butter instead,” he says. “We make everything from shortbread cookies to biscotti to omelets with plant-based butter and get the same kind of taste and texture that you expect.”
TRY:
Country Crock Plant Butter with Olive Oil
To help you get started cooking and baking with plant-based butters, follow this advice:
Use a 1:1 ratio.
When you’re following a conventional recipe and making tweaks so it’s 100 percent plant-based, odds are you’ll have to make some adjustments in how much of a different ingredient you use. Good news: That isn’t the case with plant-based butter, says Ghione. “You can use equal amounts plant-based butters as you would traditional butter,” he says.
Add flavor.
Ghione likes to think of ingredients as if they’re friends and family you’ve invited over for a party. “Odds are you gravitate toward some more than others,” he says. “You can add your favorite flavors and ingredients to plant-based butter to amp up the flavor of whatever you’re making.” For example, you might mix in the zest of one lemon to a tablespoon of plant-based butter before you sauté kale or spinach. Or, mix in a tablespoon of maple syrup to a couple tablespoons of plant-based butter to make a sweet compote for spreading on toast or a scone.
Sauté plant-based butter on medium heat.
While you might use high-heat when cooking with butter or vegetable oil, Ghione suggests turning the temperature down a touch when you’re sautéing foods with plant-based butters. It’ll help you get a great consistency without heating the ingredients in the plant-based butter (such as olive oil) above their smoke point.
Use plant-based butter when you bake.
While you can swap plant-based butter for dairy butter in any of your favorite baked-goods recipes, there are also a growing number of recipes that call for plant-based butter. These Berry Swirl Butter Cake and Apple Cranberry Crostata recipes are proof that you can make dairy-free sweets that are every bit as tasty as their conventional butter-laden counterparts.
Melt plant-based butter to drizzle over veggies before roasting.
Roasted vegetables are one of the easiest ways to boost your produce intake—something experts agree all of us could do to optimize our health. Rather than pour oil over those veggies, melt a serving of plant-based butter to drizzle on top. Try this simple Roasted Kale and Potatoes recipe to get started.
FAQs
Although plant butter is typically 100% vegan, it can contain saturated fats due to the use of coconut and palm oils. How do you know which spread is healthy for your heart? The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting saturated fats to less than 10% of calories per day.
Does vegan butter bake the same as regular butter? ›
Even though butter, margarine, and plant butter all have slightly different ingredients, you can still cook and bake with all three equally. The taste will not differ too much, but the texture of the food may change a little.
How does plant-based butter affect baking? ›
Vegan Butter is Still Butter
It is my personal opinion that vegan butter:1) works much the same as traditional dairy butter, when it is worked properly; 2) gives excellent texture to baked goods, when you use a high-fat vegan butter; and 3) lends excellent color and flavor.
What is the best non-dairy substitute for butter? ›
What are good vegan butter substitutes? In baking, you can use vegan butter, applesauce, dairy-free yogurt, coconut oil, coconut butter, olive oil, nut butter, mashed banana and mashed avocado. In cooking, you can use olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable stock, or avocado oil to replace butter.
Can you leave plant based butter on the counter? ›
It is best to refrigerate Plant-Based Creamy Spread after each use and not leave it on the counter.
Can you use plant-based butter in cookies? ›
It's a 1:1 swap! If a recipe calls for 227 g (or 1 c) of dairy butter, you can use the same amount of vegan butter as an equal swap. Remember, though, that for baking, you want a higher-fat vegan butter.
Can you bake with country crock plant butter? ›
Yes! Country Crock® is great for cooking and baking. Certain Country Crock® products can be swapped 1:1 for butter in cooking and baking recipes: Country Crock® Baking Sticks and Country Crock® Plant Butter sticks and tubs.
What are the pros and cons of plant butter? ›
Pros: Can typically be used as a one-to-one ratio swap for butter, has a similar taste and consistency to butter, and can be used for baking and cooking and as a topping. Cons: Some plant-based butter substitutes (not WayFare's!) may have ingredients that can trigger allergies, like nuts, soy, or gluten.
Is plant based butter inflammatory? ›
While both vegan butter and margarine are better alternatives to dairy butter, they are high in Omega-6 fatty acids. Even though including Omega-3 and Omega-6 in our diet is healthy, increased consumption of them may cause chronic inflammation. Therefore, moderate consumption is recommended to avoid such problems.
What to use instead of eggs for vegan baking? ›
Coconut oil is widely used as an egg replacement in vegan baking and it's easy to see why. Once melted, this delicious oil will mix well into most batters, brownies and bakes. And it can be used to replace eggs when you're breading foods, such as tofu, before baking or frying.
How to Replace Butter in Vegan Baking
- Applesauce. Applesauce can be used to replace regular or melted butter in a recipe. ...
- Olive Oil. You can use olive oil as a butter substitute in more savory vegan baking dishes. ...
- Pumpkin Puree/Avocado Puree. ...
- Ready-Made Vegan Butters.
Our butter is perfect for baking.
Can I bake with country crock plant butter? ›
Country Crock® Plant Butter is perfect for cooking and baking. Try for yourself – these delicious plant-based recipes will not disappoint!
Can you melt plant-based butter? ›
In my tastings, I found that vegan butters with blended bases needed a little warming up to become easily spreadable, but that they do melt easily.
In fact, Ghione, the director of Food & Beverage and executive chef at Canyon Ranch, Las Vegas—and a vegan himself—says cooking and baking the plant-based way is his preference. “I’ve managed 22 kitchens and 16 restaurants throughout my career, and the most rewarding work has been when I’ve worked with ingredients to maximize their health benefits,” he says. “When you do that, you can use food to change people’s lives.”
Use a 1:1 ratio.
Add flavor.
Sauté plant-based butter on medium heat.
Use plant-based butter when you bake.
Melt plant-based butter to drizzle over veggies before roasting.