If you’re a fan of homemade nut butter, you must try this irresistible Strawberry Cashew Butter! Flavored with freeze-dried strawberries and vanilla beans, this Paleo, vegan, sugar-free, and Whole30-friendly treat will be a new favorite.

Meet my new favorite nut butter:
Strawberry Cashew Butter 🙌🙌🙌
Holy smokes, you guys, this stuff is good.
I’ve been pedaling some delicious homemade nut butter recipes your way lately, and it seems many of you are enjoying the easy nut butter recipes I’ve been sharing. For those of you who haven’t yet hopped on the homemade nut butter train, I surely hope and request that this is the one to change your mind.=

I finished off my jar last night, and I’m already planning a trip to the grocery store to get more cashews and freeze-dried strawberries. I have to make it again despite the 15+ jars of nut butter I have in my pantry. I think I have a nut butter problem.
This one is perfect in its simplicity. There are only a few ingredients, but they come together in the most magical, flavorful way to create a nut butter unlike any I’ve tried before. It’s pure heaven, if you ask me.

Cashew butter is usually not my go-to, as I tend to prefer the nuttiness that comes from almonds or pecans. However, cashews do tend to take on fruity flavors very well (hence the cashew cheesecakes galore), so they became the base here, and they are the perfect nut for the job.
What goes into Strawberry Cashew Butter:
We only need THREE ingredients to make this. Maybe four if you want a dripper nut butter.
- Cashews – of course! I like starting with raw cashews and roasting them myself.
- Freeze-dried Strawberries pack a fruity strawberry punch and give the nut butter a beautiful pink color. DON’T substitute fresh or frozen berries here.
- Vanilla Bean Powder, aka vanilla gold, is simply ground-up vanilla beans and packs such a punch. Plus, it gives little vanilla bean flecks.
- Coconut Oil is optional; it’s just used to make the nut butter drippy if that’s how you prefer it.

How to make Strawberry Cashew Butter:
Roast the cashews in the oven until golden, which helps bring out their roasted, irresistibly nutty + buttery flavor. I like to roast the cashews fresh because they blend more easily when they’re a little bit warm.
Blend the cashews into nut butter in the blender or food processor. Blend patiently until the cashews have turned into a creamy, smooth, delicious nut butter. Scape down as necessary, or use the tamper if you’re using a blender.
Add the freeze-dried strawberries and vanilla bean powder. Freeze-dried fruit is always one of my favorite ingredients because it packs a tart, fruity punch without adding any liquid—meaning you can add it to pretty much anything.
Blend in coconut oil if desired. I like my nut butter drippier, so I also blended in a tablespoon of coconut oil to achieve my preferred consistency.

The vast majority of this strawberry cashew butter never gets spread or smeared on anything. It makes its way directly from spoon to mouth (or finger to mouth, in my hangry moments). A little bit gets spread on apples, which is fantastic. But it is so outstanding on its own that I don’t want to muddle up the delicious fruity, vanilla-y flavor.
I’ll need to ration my next batch. I did share some of it, though (just a bit), and the flavor was likened to a PB&J and reminiscent of the colorful frosted animal cookies from childhood.

Friend, if you love nut butters, cashews, or strawberries, do yourself a big favor and make a batch of this Strawberry Cashew Butter. I bet you won’t be able to resist the creamy texture or the irresistibly bold and tart flavor. Oh, and it’s Paleo, vegan, AND Whole30-friendly! You can bet this will be a staple the next time I do a Whole30.

I’ll be impressed if you make it last longer than a week. I’d send you each a jar if I could! Happy nut butter making :)
Looking for more nut butter? Try out one of these!
- Banana Bread Pecan Almond Butter
- Super Seed Nut Butter
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Nut Butter
- Cinnamon Raisin Almond Butter

Strawberry Cashew Butter
Ingredients
- 2 cups raw cashews
- ¾ cup freeze-dried strawberries
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil, if needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread the cashews on a lined baking sheet and bake in the heated for about 10 minutes, or until fragrant and lightly toasted. Let cool for a few minutes on the countertop. You can also leave the nuts raw if you want.
- When the nuts are cool, add them to your food processor or high-powered blender (I used my Vitamix). Process for about 3-6 minutes, scraping down as necessary. Your time might be shorter if you’re using a high-powered blender – it will take a little bit longer in the food processor and require more scraping down.
- When the cashews have broken down into a smooth, creamy butter, add the freeze-dried strawberries, vanilla bean powder, and salt. Process to incorporate, and taste. Adjust add-ins as desired. Add the coconut oil if your cashew butter is thicker than you want it – I added 1 tablespoon.
- Transfer to a glass jar or two (like a mason or Weck jar) and store sealed for at room temperature for 1 month, or in the refrigerator for 2-3 months.
Strawberry cashew butter?! This looks AMAZING, Rachel! You seriously make the best nut butters! I’ve never seen a combination like this before, so I can only imagine how delicious it must taste. And I would be swirling it into just about everything! :)
I can’t even do justice to how good it is!!! Thanks Gayle.
This is genius!
Thank you so much, Megan!
Could you substitute almonds or pecans for the cashews?
I have an intolerance to cashews but I really want to try this recipe!
You could do either! I actually wanted to try it that way, so let me know how it is :) the flavor won’t be exactly the same because almonds and pecans are more strongly flavored, but it will still be super tasty. A mix of both pecans and almonds would probably be delicious, too. Enjoy Sara!
That color is so pretty! Love this cashew butter! :)
What a brilliant use of freeze-dried strawberries – it gives it such a GORGEOUS color! I’m already addicted to cashew butter on its own, so I can only imagine how good this tastes!
Thank you so much Casey!
The whole family loved this nut butter yesterday by the spoonful and this morning as the filling in your crepe recipe! So good and definitely a keeper! Thanks for another great recipe!
OMG that sounds amazing, Lori! Need to try that with fresh strawberries :) so glad the family is enjoying this one, definitely one of my new faves. I tried making it with peanuts this morning and that was also sooo good. Thanks for your feedback!
Where would we purchase vanilla bean powder? Could whole vanilla bean be substituted?
You could definitely substitute vanilla bean seeds. I get my vanilla bean powder from Amazon!
Can u use fresh strawberries instead? it’s their season now and I got a whole bunch of them so I’m looking for good recipes to use them in. Also what would the measurement equivalent be?
Hi Diana, unfortunately no – it would make the texture completely different, since freeze dried strawberries, when crushed, are essentially a strawberry flavor powder. Using fresh strawberries would add too much liquid to the recipe and cause the nut butter to go bad much more quickly.
I tried it and I almost fainted!!! It took me a bit of time cause I used my little cuisinart food processor but once done, I spread some on toast and put a drizzle of honey…..ummm yum!!!!!!
So thrilled to hear you’re loving it, Diana! It’s one of my favorites too :)
This is most amazing!! Delightfully delicious and so simple! It. Screams for hot biscuits! I’m making some for the whole family and friends post haste!!
One of my faves – so glad you’re loving it!! Sounds so good with biscuits :)
Thank you for all of your nut butter recipes! I’ve never made any, but they look so good! I am making some for my mom for Christmas. She can’t have salt and is a diabetic, so I am just choosing ones without sweetener and leaving out the salt. Do they all make the same amount? Trying to think what size of mason jars I should buy? Thank You!!
Hi Lora, it depends on the amount of nuts called for! You should be able to store this in a 16 oz. glass jar. Hope this helps!
Would it be ok to use vanilla extract in this? I have everything but the vanilla powder and want to make this today!
Yes vanilla extract will be just fine! Enjoy :)