The Short Answer
Miyoko's European Style Cultured Vegan Butter is the cleanest plant-based butter you can buy. It skips the palm oil, hydrogenated fats, and artificial flavors that plague almost every other vegan butter on the market.
Instead of blending cheap seed oils in a factory, Miyoko's uses fermented cashew milk and organic coconut oil to replicate the tangy flavor of traditional dairy butter. However, a late-2025 corporate buyout has led to severe product shortages and concerns about whether the new owners will change this pristine formula in the future.
Why This Matters
Finding a clean plant-based butter is like finding a needle in a haystack. Almost every commercial vegan spread is just a highly processed margarine disguised under greenwashed "plant butter" labels. Plant Butter Vs Real Butter
To make liquid vegetable oils solid at room temperature, most brands rely on environmentally destructive palm oil or heavily processed emulsifiers. Miyoko's cracked the code by using naturally solid coconut oil and traditional culturing methods. Palm Oil In Plant Butter
Traditional dairy butter has actually made a nutritional comeback in recent years. If you are going to swap real butter for a vegan alternative, you shouldn't be trading a single-ingredient whole food for a tub of industrial seed oils and synthetic flavors. Is Butter Healthy
What's Actually In Miyoko's Butter
- Organic Coconut Oil â A saturated fat that remains solid at room temperature. This allows Miyoko's to avoid hydrogenated oils, while still offering 80% less saturated fat than traditional dairy butter.
- Organic Cultured Cashew Milk â The secret to the authentic European butter taste. Fermenting the cashews with live cultures mimics the traditional dairy churning process.
- Organic Sunflower Oil â Added in small amounts to make the butter spreadable straight from the fridge. While we generally limit seed oils, this is organic and used strictly for textural balance.
- Organic Sunflower Lecithin â A natural, safe emulsifier. It binds the oil and water together so the butter doesn't separate when melted in a pan.
- Natural Flavors â Usually a red flag, but Miyoko's is exceptionally transparent. They have historically disclosed that their natural flavors are extracted from real foods like oregano, plum, and flaxseed to help preserve the butter.
What to Look For
Green Flags:
- Zero Palm Oil â Miyoko's is one of the only commercial vegan butters that completely avoids this environmentally devastating ingredient.
- Traditional Culturing â Using real bacterial cultures to create a buttery "tang" instead of relying on artificial lab-made butter flavors.
Red Flags:
- Corporate Takeovers â In late 2025, the brand was acquired by the parent company of Melt Organic. While the original formula remains intact for now, acquisitions often lead to recipe cheapening down the road.
The Best Options
If you can find it in stock, Miyoko's remains the gold standard for dairy-free baking and spreading. Is Plant Butter Healthy
| Brand | Product | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miyoko's Creamery | European Style Cultured Vegan Butter | â | The cleanest option, using fermented cashew milk and coconut oil. |
| Miyoko's Creamery | Salted Oat Milk Butter | â | A clean, nut-free alternative that uses cultured oat milk. |
| Earth Balance | Original Buttery Spread | đ« | Heavily processed with a base of palm, canola, and soybean oils. |
The Bottom Line
1. Stock up if you see it. Due to a 2025 corporate buyout, Miyoko's butter has been temporarily disappearing from grocery shelves.
2. Watch the ingredient label. The new owners have promised to maintain quality, but you should verify that palm oil or cheap gums haven't quietly slipped in.
3. Consider making it yourself. If you can't find Miyoko's in stores, the ousted founder has recently published her simple, 3-ingredient DIY recipe online.
FAQ
Does Miyoko's butter taste like real butter?
Yes, it is widely considered the closest match to real dairy butter. The fermentation of the cashew milk gives it the authentic, slightly tangy flavor of European-style cultured butter.
Is Miyoko's butter going out of business?
The company is not going out of business, but it was acquired by the parent company of Melt Organic in late 2025. This transition has caused temporary product shortages and paused production across many major retailers.
Why is Miyoko's butter better than Earth Balance?
Miyoko's uses whole-food ingredients like cultured cashew milk and coconut oil. Earth Balance is essentially a modern margarine made from a heavily processed blend of palm, canola, and soybean oils. Is Earth Balance Clean
References (9)
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