This delicious smooth and creamy healthy homemade Nutella recipe is one of the most popular recipes I’ve ever posted, and for good reason!
The Best Nutella Recipe
Currently with more than ten thousand positive online reviews, this surprisingly easy Nutella recipe is definitely a huge reader favorite.
Super rich and creamy, it effortlessly holds its own against that famous Ferrero chocolate spread in the iconic red and white plastic jars at the grocery store.
And yet the homemade version also has fewer than half the calories per serving.
It’s much healthier than store-bought, without sacrificing any of the kid friendly classic chocolate taste that we all know and love.
Also be sure to try these Black Bean Brownies
Homemade Nutella
Just one spoonful of the thick chocolate vegan Nutella recipe, and you’ll absolutely never want to put the spoon down again.
Yes, it’s that good.
Unless, of course, you don’t like Nutella… is such a thing even possible?
Is there really a single person in this world who can resist that luxuriously rich and velvety hazelnut chocolate spread?
If true, please send me your spoon so I can happily eat your portion.
I’m nice like that.
Healthy Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
I didn’t specifically set out to make a low calorie Nutella.
It just turned out that way.
Unlike store-bought Nutella, which lists palm oil and sugar as the first two ingredients, this option is suitable for vegans or those with dairy allergies and is lower in sugar or can be a sugar free recipe.
It’s also high in Vitamin E, B vitamins, and healthy fats.
My first introduction to Nutella was in preschool, and it was love at first bite.
Back then, the spread wasn’t popular like it is now. All of the other children in my class thought I was so weird for bringing Nutella sandwiches to school, neatly packed into a lunchbox with the crusts cut off.
Day after day, they ate their boring peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, while I blissfully devoured a chocolate sandwich.
Needless to say, in just a few months I’d hooked all of my friends on this miracle hazelnut cocoa spread, and soon everyone was bringing Nutella for lunch, as sandwiches or a dip for fresh apple slices, strawberries, or bananas.
Vegan Nutella Ingredients
I gave up eating Nutella upon going vegan years ago. Vegan Nutella or gianduja brands, including Justin’s or Nutiva, do now exist, but buying them can get expensive.
Making your own hazelnut spread at home saves money, and you get to control exactly what ingredients to use.
For the milk: If you choose a nondairy milk such as almondmilk or coconut milk, the recipe can be naturally dairy free, gluten free, egg free, and soy free.
The sweetener: Use your favorite all purpose sweetener, such as date sugar, regular granulated sugar, or coconut sugar. Liquid sweeteners like pure maple syrup, agave, honey, or date syrup also work but will yield a much less creamy and spreadable result.
For a low carb or keto Nutella recipe: Simply use a sugar free sweetener such as xylitol or erythritol instead of the sugar. The low carb version will have just 0.1 net carbs per serving.
I haven’t tried sweetening the Nutella with stevia or allulose, so feel free to experiment and be sure to report back with results if you do.
The hazelnuts: Look for raw hazelnuts in the bulk aisle of health food stores or online. I’ve also seen them sold in bags at Costco. Feel free to sub unsalted roasted hazelnuts and skip the roasting step in the recipe instructions below.
If you can’t find hazelnuts at all, the spread can be made with almonds instead. The flavor will be different but it’s still tasty.
How To Make Nutella At Home
Gather all of the ingredients, and preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roast the two cups of raw hazelnuts on the oven’s center rack for about 6 to 8 minutes.
Rub the roasted nuts together in a cloth or paper towel to remove the skins. Don’t worry if some of the skins refuse to come off.
In a high speed blender (like a Vitamix) or food processor (like a Cuisinart), blend the hazelnuts until they turn into a smooth butter.
Add all remaining ingredients, and blend on high for a few minutes until the texture resembles real Nutella.
Homemade Nutella Storage Instructions
Is using the oil instead of milk, the homemade Nutella is shelf stable and does not need to be refrigerated. It can be stored in a tightly covered container in your kitchen cabinet for up to two weeks. Or refrigerate for up to two months.
If using the milk, it’s best to store the recipe in the refrigerator, where it should stay good for two to three weeks.
After this time, to prevent the nuts from going rancid, you can freeze leftover Nutella. The texture will not be as smooth, but it still tastes great!
Is Nutella Healthy?
The main ingredient in store-bought Nutella is surprisingly not cocoa powder or hazelnuts. Palm oil and sugar make up more than 50% of the spread, which also includes skim milk, whey, soy lecithin, and vanillin (artificial flavor).
Two tablespoons of the packaged hazelnut spread with cocoa contain 200 calories, 11 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, and 21 grams of sugar.
Even if you use all regular sugar in the recipe below, it will still only have 70 calories, less than a gram of saturated fat, and under 5 grams of both fat and sugar per two tablespoon serving, making the homemade Nutella a much healthier option.
Recipes With Nutella
Other good uses for homemade Nutella include spreading it over toast or Vegan Pancakes, frosting cupcakes or adding a spoonful to hot chocolate, or eating it straight out of the jar with a spoon!
Above, watch the step by step homemade Nutella recipe video
Homemade Nutella Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups hazelnuts (240g)
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup sweetener of choice (see above for options that work here)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup milk of choice or 2 tbsp oil, optional
Instructions
- Homemade Nutella Recipe: If hazelnuts are not already roasted, preheat the oven to 400 F and bake for 6-8 minutes or just until they begin to brown. Rub them together in a paper towel to get the skins off. It’s okay if a few stubborn skins won’t come off. In a Vitamix or food processor, blend the nuts until they’ve turned to butter. (This could take up to twenty minutes in a food processor.) Then add all other ingredients except milk or oil and blend a long time until it’s smooth like Nutella! If desired, add in the milk or oil. Storage tips are listed above.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Easy Chocolate Recipes
Homemade Chocolate Bars (3 Ingredients)
Hi Katie!!
I just made some of this and it came out amazing!! i used stevia instead of the xyitol and agave and still tastes great!! I just wanted to know what you used to calculate the calories as i used about 200g of nuts and 1 tsp of coconut oil is there a website you used??
I’d like to know how long this keeps and do you need to refrigerate it because of the milk ingredient. I will be using probable almond milk or soy.
No Palm Oil!! I have always loved Nutella since I was little but after learning that Nutella was made with palm tree oil and the devastation Palm oil plantations have on rainforest and orangutans I was hesitant to by my next jar of Nutella. Now I can enjoy it all over again, all without destroying the rainforests to make room for palm oil plantations!! Thanks!
Can anyone help? Mine turned out horrible! Just bought a vitamix and tried the recipe and the oil separated and it turned into a big thick glob of mashed hazelnuts in a pool of oil. The consistency was ok until I added the agave, vanilla, and little coconut oil. Then the more I blended it the more oil started releasing. I even poured out about a half cup of oil and blended more but no luck. I tried this once before with a regular food processor and same thing happened.
I left out the salt, and forgot to add the milk. Would that be the problem? Any suggestions?
Try the Ninja blender. I like it better than my old food processor. Works faster. Great for lots of things. I don’t know where all you can buy them, online I know but Walmart also carries them.
As a Nutella lover I had to try this!!!! I did, but had no luck. It did not taste anything like the Nutella that I love!!!!!! What did I do wrong????
It’s impossible to know unless you give me more specifics of what you did and what ingredients you used.
Oh. My. Goodness! Just made this using maple syrup, cacao powder and almond milk and it was DIVINE!!! I used our Ninja blender and it came out very smooth.Thank you so much for this recipe.
Hi, glad to hear it worked out. May i ask, what type of vanilla essence you used ? Pure or Imitation ? And how long did you roast the hazelnuts ?
I love you, Chocolate-covered-Katie!
Wow! Just made this today and I can’t believe how good this is! I like the flavor of Nutella, but it has always made my teeth hurt because it is so sweet. This is perfect because I can control how much sweetener to put in. This will be addicting!
i tried it with coconut instead of hazelnuts and, Katie..oh my god! And if you add more milk it’s like an awesome chocolate mousse
Hi, I tried this recipe out 3 times, and all three came out with a bitter,aftertaste that just felt weird to me, it made me go dizzy a few times. I dont know what it is, i followed the recipe to the letter, My mom thiknks it mightb e from overroasting the hazelnuts, though im sure i didnt burn them, do u think burnt hazelnuts would have this effect ?
Also, may i ask what the tablespoon of vannila does, maybe thats supposed to counter the aftertaste ?
I’ll probably try Raw hazelnuts next time, thanks for the recipe anyway, 4th times the charm.
Did you use pure vanilla extract or imitation? Also, what sweetener?
I used imitation, and sugar.
I saw a post which suggested to roast for only 5 minutes, might try that next time.
That’s your funny taste. You need to use pure extract.
The jars that you use for your butters are adorable! I am trying to do a lot more with homemade gifts this year and would love to make some of the butters and put them in cute jars. Do I have to “process” them like one does with canning? I’m not good at that and I don’t have the supplies!
Try Michaels or Hobby Lobby. I didn’t process anything… just made the Nutella and stuck it in the jar.
How long can this nutella be storaged? I am asking this, because I noticed that the recipe contains milk.
Wow! That was so much fun to make. Watching it turn to butter was cool (I don’t get out much!). And the taste is wonderful. I am not a big fan of Nutella, but my family likes it. Great gift idea!
Where do you buy agave
walmart and most grocery stores have it in the sugar aisle and itll be in a bottle
Yes, it’ll be in the baking aisle next to the sugar.
I got a mini food processor for Christmas, hallelujah! I made this with almonds instead of hazelnuts and stevia instead of sugar and it made some dang good chocolate almond butter!