Is it just me, or are pistachios everywhere recently?
I’m not sure if it’s a seasonal thing, or if the big pistachio TV ad campaign actually worked. I’m guessing the latter, because I just googled ‘when are pistachios in season’ and Google told me fall. So, way to go, pistachio marketers, getting PSY to dance with life-sized pistachios on national television somehow actually worked out for you.
Yikes.
Moving right along.
I’ve had pistachios on the brain recently because we had a huge bag of them at work that no one could stop eating. (They were the salt and pepper kind from Costco – so good.) Then I started noticing pistachios popping up in lots of recipes. And a few weeks ago, I was reading an article on The Kitchn – I honestly don’t even remember which one – that mentioned making your own pistachio butter. It was just a casual aside and didn’t go into detail, but it was one of those moments where everything stopped and I was like, whaaaaaat, homemade pistachio butter?! I had to know more.
I did a bit of googling and found a few recipes. Different bloggers seemed to get varying results with their pistachio butter in terms of texture. Some claimed it turned out smooth and creamy with pistachios as the only ingredient, while others noted that it needed additional oil to smooth it out. I haven’t had great results with nut butters in the past, and I didn’t like the idea of adding oil, but I resolved to be patient and let my food processor run as long as necessary, and see where that got me.
Well, it got me a pistachio butter I was very pleased with! I processed the pistachios immediately after toasting, which I think helped smooth them out. They did clump up after adding the honey, but smoothed out again after letting the food processor run for a few (like, 10) more minutes.
Life lesson: patience is necessary.
This is a delicate-tasting butter. I like it best spread on toast or an English muffin. Or straight out of the jar… shhh. I’ve tried adding it to my smoothies, but the flavor isn’t really strong enough to stand up to all the other stuff going on in there. And no sense having your homemade pistachio butter disappear into a smoothie when you could be enjoying it by the spoonful on a piece of toast.
Oh and also, you should definitely buy shelled pistachios for this recipe. I take no responsibility for your blistered fingertips if you are foolish enough to embark on an hour-long pistachio-shelling journey. Whole Foods has them (Trader Joe’s probably does, too), and you will save yourself a few layers of skin and a lot of cursing my name. It’s worth it.
- 2 cups raw unsalted shelled pistachios
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350. Spread pistachios on a baking sheet and toast until just fragrant and starting to brown, around 6-8 minutes. This will depend a lot on your oven, so set a timer, keep a close eye on them, and stir after 4 or 5 minutes.
- Pour hot pistachios in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes. Add salt, honey, and cinnamon, and continue processing until smooth again, another 10 minutes. Taste and add more salt as necessary.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
pistachio butter?! what a fabulous idea! cannot wait to try this. just stumbled across your blog and I’m loving it :)
Thanks Taylor!
I’ve always been pistachio crazy, it’s about time the world caught up! This pistachio butter sounds amazing– I hope my food processor can handle it! I’ve never tried making any nut butters because I can buy them all at the store, but I definitely need to make this one for myself.
May I ask why you chose your food processor over the Vita Mix? I only ask because my part of my processor is in the gadget hospital but my Vita Mix is up and running! Just curious if you think it would be to hard on the VM to run it that long? I know to make soup, it only takes about 5 minutes so 10 minutes seems like overkill for the VM (but not the food processor). Thanks for another yummy recipe and your input.
Hi Marcia, I wish I had a VitaMix! I’m sure this recipe would work great in one, and you’re right, it would probably take less time, too. Let me know how it works out if you give it a try!
I don’t have a food processor, but I do have a Osterizer blender. You think it will handle pistachios or shall I just buy the butter. Never tried any solid things in it, only for making mixed drinks.
looks perfect!! love pistachios, never had them as butter but sounds amazing
I had noooo idea you could make pistachio butter! Mind blown.
Wonderful recipe! I love pistachios and I have patience ;) Thanks for sharing!
Haha thanks Rose. Pistachios + patience = great combo!
thanks for the tip on being patient with this…sometimes i think it should be whipped up in like 30 seconds…i’ve been loving pistachios lots lately…and on toast sounds like the perfect start to the day :-)
I’m with you on the 30 seconds thing… I think that’s why I haven’t been successful with recipes like this in the past!
This looks SO good – I love making pistachio cream with coconut oil and honey but I’ve never tried making pistachio butter.
Oooh pistachio cream sounds delicious. Just found the recipe on your site :) I want to try it out with my leftover pistachios!
Do you take them out of the shells at all? Looks so good. I love pistachios!
Yes, I just buy shelled pistachios for this recipe. That would be a loooot of work otherwise!
I want to spread this on EVERYTHING! I have patience and a fridge full of beer, I think those two things will be the trick! Great recipe lady!
Maybe we should start listing recipe times in the number of beers you can drink while you make it :)
Had a thought the other night, I love Peanut Butter, but my GF is deathly allergic to peanuts…. she does however love pistachios…. this is exactly what i was looking for, tyvm.
I made this last week. It was AMAZING! I had to add a little coconut oil to it, though. I’m never buying any kind of nut butter ever again.
So glad you liked it, Maren! Thanks for the note about the coconut oil.
This was delicious–I used it to make pistachio ice cream. I was concerned about the food processor overheating, so I beat the pistachio butter with my hand mixer for about 10 minutes to finish emulsifying it.
Thank you for posting this recipe. I LOVE the pistachio butter I made. It wasn’t as green as yours (how did you do that?), but the taste is fantastic! Your food processor must be much stronger than mine, because it took more like 15 or 20 minutes to get it to turn into “butter,” but I practiced patience (as you noted) and it got there eventually – and I didn’t have to add any extra oil. I then took my fresh pistachio butter and made pistachio walnut cookies. I simply replaced the peanut butter in my peanut butter cookie recipe with the pistachio butter and added chopped walnuts. Wow! I’ve always loved pistachio walnut ice cream and was looking for a way to reimagine it into a cookie. I did – and your fantastic recipe helped me get there. Thanks again!
So glad you enjoyed this, Meg! I must have purchased especially green pistachios? :) My food processor is a Cuisinart 11-cup and it’s just a few months old, so you’re right, it probably is more powerful than older models that have been around a while. Your pistachio butter cookies sound fabulous!!
I can not wait to try this… sounds VERY yummy!!! How long would you say it would last once turned into butter?
Thanks!!
It didn’t last long in my house, but that wasn’t because it went bad :) Keep it in the fridge once you make it, and I’d say it will last a week or longer. Hope you enjoy!
omg this looks amazing.
got any ideas how to make it more runny and sweeter? i was thinking about using it as a sauce on top of ice cream
Hi Latifa, it would absolutely be amaaazing on top of ice cream. I’m not sure that you could really get it to a sauce-like consistency, but certainly adding more coconut oil and/or maple syrup would make it sweeter and chewier (maybe not runny). Hope you enjoy!
Oops, I was looking at the wrong post! You could stream in some warm almond milk (or other type of milk) to make this sauce-like :)
Thanks for the recipe! I have salted and roasted pistachios. Would it be okay to use them and omit the salt and roasting part?
Hi Dina, I’ve never tried that. I expect it would be quite salty!
i once had pistachio butter shrimp over linguine, there were also small chunks of pistachios in it, it was an amazing meal! so, i figured just warming the butter will make it more saucey?
Warming it will definitely loosen it up. You could also try whisking in some warmed milk. Sounds fabulous with the shrimp and linguine!
This guy does the best pistachio butter: http://pistachiobutter.com.au/
He’s got some great recipes for pistachio butter cups, macarons and flan too.
Hi Erica, just found your blog. I live just outside Boston! About 3 months ago I bought some pistachio “flour” on impulse and after staring at it all this time I’ve decided to turn it into butter. I’ll use lavender honey and a bit of cardamom. Let’cha know !
Sounds delicious Dee!
That’s a great recipe! i love it!!
do you roast the pistachios with the shells ? and then remove them when you pour them in the processor ? or you remove the shells first before you roast them ?!
thank you :)
Hi Anfal, I’d recommend buying the pistachios already shelled, if you can! If not, definitely shell them before you roast them. Enjoy!
Hey i just made it it was perfect but little thick .. How can i make it more like sauce than butter? Should i add oil? Also if i want to sweeten in should i sweeten in with suger or more honey?! Thank you, anfal .. ( i apologize for my questions but i dont have experience in cooking also for my weak english)
I use coconut oil to thin it out a little. It adds a touch of sweetness too. I would recommend more honey to make it sweeter.
I can’t get my pistachio butter to the same consistency as yours. How do you get it so smooth??
My mistake for the first batch – I added a bit of water and it became this chewy mess!
Why store it in a refrigerator? All I the natural butters I purchase have no need for refrigeration after opening them. How is this any different?
Hi Angel, just habit. I keep my natural nut butters in the fridge. I’m sure whatever you usually do will work!
Homemade is all natural, store bought has preservatives. Nuts can go rancid if not stored properly. If you find it’s a little too solid out of the fridge, zap it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften.
Hi Erica ..do you think it would work if I used raw pistachio without toasting it in the oven? Just like when I make raw almond butter.
Hi Jessica, I’m not sure, but let me know how it turns out if you give it a try! It wouldn’t be as flavorful as with toasted pistachios and might take longer to process (probably similar to the difference between raw and toasted almond butter).
I made the pistachio butter this morning, and it’s great! I’ve never made a nut butter before, but this was a breeze. I used a blender – actually one of those ninja blenders. I was afraid it wouldn’t work as well, but it turned out just fine. I did add in ~2 tbsp of canola oil to make the butter more creamy, and a little more honey because I wanted it to be sweeter. I already had some with apples as a snack this afternoon!
Glad you enjoyed it, Diana! And good to know it worked well in the ninja blender.
Tried this in Tuscany 2 weeks ago. Loved it!! So glad to find your recipe to try on my own, as the commercial brand I brought home is nearly gone and out of stock at Eataly.
Hope you enjoy, Sue!
Hi, how can i make it more creamy as mine did not turn out runny as urs…thanks
I have tried a different version that i highly reccomend for treats (warning – it is heavenly!)
pistachio nuts (no salt), white chockolate and a little oliveoil – mix well in a machine and put in a jar – if you can stop yourself from eating it all :)
I have been buying this highly expensive jar from a store, but when the owner told me that the secret ingredent was white chocolate i had to try it out – and it is just as good and much cheaper to make myself. A great gift as well.
You can mix it with a little lemon oil or blend it into whipped cream or use it as a filling in cakes, or just serve it on plain bisquits.
Thanks for finally writing about > Homemade Pistachio Butter
< Loved it!
Hi Erica,
I would like to try the pistachio butter this weekend, I have some doubts maybe you can help me: no need to blanch the pistachios? do you think I can use the butter to make a custard/flan or it can’t be baked?
thanks!