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With just 5 ingredients and 30 minutes of your time, you can whip up a delicious jar of homemade Vegan Nutella. Dairy-free, Vegan, Paleo, refined sugar-free, and healthier!
It’s taken me a while to get this homemade chocolate hazelnut butter to the point that I can now, officially, consider it a ‘homemade vegan Nutella’. After lots of recipe testing, I think I’ve finally hit the nail on the head! This spread is chocolatey, rich, and super-duper addictive- Not to mention that it uses all-natural ingredients and is 100% refined sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free – Bonus!
As much as I have loved to eat Nutella as a child and growing up, the sugar content alone is pretty crazy. Not to mention that, unfortunately, it includes milk powder AND palm oil! Luckily, making homemade Nutella means you can omit all the unwanted ingredients. I actually prefer this chocolate hazelnut spread now if I’m being completely honest and it’s refined sugar-free AND palm oil-free – yay!
Now, I’m not going to claim that this is a ‘healthy Nutella’ – because is that really even possible? But it’s certainly much much healthier than store-bought Nutella. And it’s made using just 5 ingredients; hazelnuts, maple syrup, cacao powder (or cocoa powder- if that’s all you have), coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Plus, a pinch of salt enhances the chocolate flavor even more!
The Method
Like I said above, I’ve tried numerous versions of this chocolate hazelnut spread before finally reaching this recipe and officially upgrading it to a vegan Nutella recipe. The best thing is- the method is so ridiculously simple. In fact, the entire process of making this vegan Nutella recipe is made up of just a few steps:
- Roast hazelnuts for 8-10 minutes
- remove the skins (I promise it’s much simpler than it sounds)
- Blend the nuts into a smooth butter
- add the other ingredients and blend some more
Voila! Okay, so there’s a little bit more to it than that. But that’s the gist – it’s basically the exact same process as making homemade hazelnut butter with ONE additional step at the end. Let’s get into the details now;
The Steps
As I said- to begin, you need to roast your hazelnuts. To do this spread them out as a single layer on a baking sheet and place in the oven for between 8-10 minutes at 160ºC/320F (fan assisted). This helps to loosen their skins and also bring out some of their oils ( making them easier to blend).
Once they’re out the oven it’s time to get rid of the skins. If you can’t get them all don’t worry- some will be quite stubborn The more skins you have, the less silky smooth your vegan Nutella will be. Luckily, it’ll taste just as amazing. You can leave the hazelnuts to cool down slightly / to room temperature before removing the skins, but I just pour them onto a kitchen towel and rub. Bring the sides of the towel up around them and scrunch, scrunch, scrunch in your hand. This should loosen all the skins.
Note – you can also use a hairdryer to get rid of all the skins instead of picking them out. be warned though – this can get messy!
Next, it’s time to blend. pour the hazelnuts into a high-powered food processor or blender and blitz until you obtain a smooth butter. If you’ve seen my recipe for hazelnut butter then you’ll know that it takes me around fifteen minutes. However, this can change depending on what blender you are using. When blending, give your machine a rest every 2-3 minutes, so it doesn’t overheat and be patient – it might not look like it’s going to get creamy, to begin with, as it stays in that ‘finely ground’ stage for quite a while but, it will.
Once you’ve achieved a texture that you’re happy with then add all the remaining ingredients into the blender and blitz again until thoroughly combined. If the chocolate spread seems too thick, then you can add a little splash of plant-based milk ( like this hazelnut milk) to loosen it up.
Once ready, your dairy-free Nutella can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 weeks. It will thicken up slightly in the fridge due to the coconut oil solidifying – but this will easily loosen up.
How To Use Your Vegan Nutella
Other Recipes You May like
If you love this vegan Nutella recipe as much as I do, then you might want to experiment making chocolate spreads with other nut butters. You can also make a delicious chocolate hazelnut Milk. If you’re looking for other simple homemade Vegan DIY recipes then feel free to check out my list of dairy-free milks, tomato puree, vanilla extract or even homemade rose water. And, if you’re in the mood to try making some other healthier childhood favorites then you might like these recipes for homemade Bounty, Twix Bars & Snickers.
If you give this recipe a try then let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Also, I love to see your creations, so feel free to tag me @Alphafoodie.
DIY Homemade Vegan Nutella (5 ingredients)
Equipment
- Airtight jar for storing
Ingredients
- 2 Cups hazelnuts
- 1/4 Cup Cacao Powder or cocoa powder - you can use more for even more chocolate flavour
- 1/3 Cup Maple Syrup
- 1 Tbsp Coconut Oil
- 1 Tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- Splash of plant-based milk, only needed if the Nutella is too thick Optional
Instructions
- Spread the hazelnuts as a single layer on a baking sheet and place in the oven for between 8-10 minutes at 160ºC/320F (fan assisted).
- Once ready, remove from the oven. You can leave the hazelnuts to cool down slightly, but I just pour them straight onto a kitchen towel and rub. Bring the sides of the towel up around them and scrunch, scrunch, scrunch in your hand. This should loosen all the skins. *
- remove the hazelnuts from the skins and pour into a high-powered food processor or blender.
- Blitz until you obtain a smooth butter. If you've seen my recipe for hazelnut butter then you'll know that it takes me around fifteen minutes. However, this will vary.**
- Once you've achieved a texture that you're happy with then add all the remaining ingredients into the blender and blitz again until thoroughly combined. If the chocolate spread seems too thick, then you can add a little splash of plant-based milk ( like this hazelnut milk) to loosen it up.
- Once ready, your dairy free Nutella can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 weeks.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hello! if I use ready-made peeled hazelnuts, is the process the same?
Hi Gina,
Yes, you will just skip the process of removing the skin, everything else will be the same.
It tastes amazing. I think the most important thing is to buy good walnuts. I notice that when i put marple syrup makes it less soft so I think it should be the last thing to put inside.
Thank you for your comment, Chara. Indeed, you can add the maple syrup last. Or, if the spread still seems too thick, then you can add a little splash of plant-based milk to loosen it up.
Hi. Your recipes look sooo good and I really want to try them all,I’m just on the search of a good blender that will be able to turn nuts into butter and be very strong generally. I was wondering which blender do you use?
H Marianna,
Thank you for your comment, I interchangeably use the Blendtec and the Nutramilk processor, they are linked on my shop page on the blog. I also use a Magimix food processor. I hope this helps.
Hi, was wondering if you knew what would be best to use, old blend tech blender or black and decker food processor? I want to follow this recipe to a “t” since I am Nutella obsessed
Hi Julia,
If you have experience with both blenders, choose the one that’s stronger, maybe you’ve already made nut butter with it. In any case, as long as give your food processor a break so it doesn’t overhear, you should be able to achieve the consistency you like. The smoother and runnier you want it, the longer you need to blend.
When I added the almond milk the oil started to go out and I had a very sticky paste that couldn’t mix with the oil anymore… Can’t really use it 🙁
Hi Chloe,
This is really weird. You only need to add a splash of plant-based milk if you find that the spread is too thick. Also, please keep in mind that blending the hazelnuts takes some time – they should become a smooth butter before you add the rest of the ingredients. I hope you give this recipe another chance 🙂
Hello! I was wondering, what could I do if I want to keep the Nutella for longer? Does it freeze ok? Thanks!
Hi Flavia,
Yes, you can freeze the Nutella to prolong its life.
I ended up with a sticky paste too. It tastes good but it’s not smooth and runny. The hazelnuts looked smooth after running them through my food processor for several minutes, but not a whole 15 minutes. I guess 15 minutes is the gold standard.
Hi Visnja,
I’m so sorry you struggled with this recipe. Did you process the hazelnuts long enough? This could definitely affect the consistency of the paste. Also, make sure you give your food processor a break so it doesn’t overheat – heat will affect the recipe. Let me know if you tried making it again and how it turned out.
UGH! Yours looks so good. I’ve made this twice with 2 different recipes and neither of them worked! First time it was super crumbly and dry, second time it separated into oil and crumbly chunks. How do I save it??
Hi Dayna,
I recommend roasting the hazelnuts as that brings out their natural oils and then blending is easier. Then you just need to keep blending until you achieve the desired consistency – it’s best to give your blender a break every now and then so it doesn’t overheat. The whole process might take longer depending on the strength of the blender. If the mix still looks too try, you could add a splash of plant-based milk to help with the texture. I hope this helps.
Same thing happened to me the first time, about the oil separating, I saved it by adding oat flour till it wasn’t so greasy and then making little balls, like some sort of truffles. I know it’s late for the tip but it might be useful for someone else. This time I was super patient, it eventually gets creamy, and didn’t add any milk, it came out perfect
Thank you for your tip, Eli. Great way to save it! 🙂
hi samira.can we replace sugar syrup instead of maple syrup?
I can’t find maple syrup in my area!
thank you
Hi Fatemeh, I personally prefer to use natural sweetener like honey or maple or agave but if you only have sugar, start with 1/4 cup (and increase as you need). No need to use sugar syrup, just use dry sugar (maybe powdered is even better). Hope that helps 🙂
If I substitute Malk’s syrup for honey would it make a big difference in taste
It will still work but you should add it at the very very end (when you get smooth texture) otherwise you will get clumps. The taste will still be great. You can also try with agave!
Hey your food processor caught my eye! What is it?? Thanks! I desp need a good one!
Hi, I use the Nutramilk machine. It’s a bit of an investment – but if you are interested then I have a link to it in the ‘shop’ section of the blog. I also have a discount code ‘ALPHAFOODIE50’ for £50/$50 off (affiliate)
Hi Samira! I’m making this today and I’m excited 🙂
How many grams do you think 2 cups of hazelnuts are? I’m using a scale so it’s hard for me to measure in cups!
Hi, It would be around 300g in weight 🙂 I hope you enjoy the Nutella!
This nutella is beyond imagination. I’ve made it several times and it tasted great everytime regardless of the consistency. You do need a good blitzer to get a smooth nutella. Mine isn’t as good as samira’s but i still keep on making it.
The BEST chocolate spread out there!! Very simple to make, smells heavenly, and tastes delicious!! Be warned that you will lick your fingers and all the utensils you used! 😀
When trying to make mine it resulted in chuncks of sticky butter that at some point wasn’t able to blend anymore so had to throw everything away
Oh no, I’ve never had that happen before. Was it paste-like or as if it had seized?