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)
Love this!! I made it with xylitol, and when I was finished, I weighed it – I have 240 grams of “nutella” which means for a 15g serving its about 85calories, I’m curious how yours is under 60 calories when using agave? Believe me, its delicious and thank you so much for the recipe, I love it! Just curious how you calculate your calories for it?
How long does this keep and should it be kept in the fridge? It tastes fantastic by the way. My kids love it!
Oops, just seen the answer to my question on an older post. Keep up the great work
your nutella recipe is simply amazing!
It is so easy and soooo tasty! I wish I had never find it, because
it isn’t possible to stop eating..;) Thanks for sharing
your recipe….
Can I use honey instead of agave or maple syrup?I am a honey lover and I would love to use honey,but I am afraid that it will change the taste and the texture too much.
Thank you, Katie, this is marvellous! I was going to make a chocolate peanut cake today, but decided to pick up hazelnuts instead. Then it hit me that I was essentially making a Nutella cake by accident, so I found your recipe and ditched the “cake” part entirely.
As a child, I was never allowed Nutella, and only discovered it once I’d gotten to university. I went through a bit of a binge phase, then swore off it. Finding something rather healthier and just as tasty is a wonderful thing.
Also, to chime in on the food processor discussion, I have a 4-cup Cuisinart chopper/grinder (~$60) that worked well for this. I’ve mostly used it for curries and jams, though. One caveat with this model is that the bowl lock is just a spring clip, so you should hold onto the handle when you’re using it in grind mode – otherwise it can actually jump out of the clip and spin around and chip the bowl. This is a design flaw, though, that’s easy to work around – the actual materials and build quality is high.
I made this & it has a weird bitter chemical flavor. I love Nutella so I was really looking forward a much healthier recipe. I don’t know what went wrong 🙁 Any suggestions on how to fix it?
could add a bit more sugar or milk… that’s what I did.. thoguh I did use a bit more hazelnuts as wel
Made this and my son loved it. thank you for a great healthy recipe.
Looks lovely! Does this need to be kept in the fridge, seeing as it has milk in it or is the sugar content enough to preserve it?
Hi,
how am I to store this? Just in a jar, and on the shelf like normal nutella, or should it go in the fridge?
Thanks!
Ooo! I’ll try this one. I prefer a Norwegian creation called Nugatti, myself. Its less creamy, more nougat. But I’d eat tubs of it if left alone at home with it. (Also delicious with cucumbers in the sandwich, don’t judge until you try – the crunchy fresh with the sweet dark chocolate taste… yum!)
hi Katie,
just wondering how do you store this yummy spread n about how long do you have to eat it after its been made before it goes Off?? Thanks:)
Katie, my daughter is a nutella lover although I don’t allow her to eat often at all. I have JUST finished making your Healthy Nutella and have to stop myself eating spoonfuls of it as I spoon into a jar. OH my god it is incredibly good. My daughter is going to love you, thank you x
I saw this last night just before I was going to bed. My dreams, needless to say, were filled with thoughts of the sweet, divine creaminess of homemade – and dare I say, kind of healthy – Nutella. 🙂 What? How come I never thought of making my own?
I’m been wanting to ask: is the consistency of homemade Nutella similar to that of the original? I want to try using this to make cookies/brownies.
Last thing I want to say: Katie, you are an absolute genius! Thank you so much for blessing my life with this blissful chocolate-hazelnut spread!
I think because it has less fat, baking with it might not turn out the same. But in terms of using it in no-bake recipes you should be fine.
Ok no posts here since 2012 but thought I’d give it a try anyway!
Would the recipe work with powdered milk? That way the Nutella could maybe last longer than the week or two it does with milk? If so, how much?
And to everyone using a food processor or who doesn’t have one- I just bought organic hazelnut butter. The oil separates while it is in the jar so you can either mix it back into the hazelnuts before using in the recipe (that way you don’t have to add oil later) or you can pour the oil off the top and you’re left with just hazelnuts “butter”! Effort-free!
Thank-you for all of your recipes CCK!! I really enjoy them 🙂
Katie, you have turned me into a savage, licking the insides of my blender for the last traces of your lovely chocolate-hazelnut spread. 😉 It may have took me a lot of time and effort, but the end results were so worth it! I used my Magic Bullet, and I was really worried as the hazelnuts remained a slightly oily clump. Nonetheless, I decided to add the rest of the ingredients. To my great surprise and relief, the clump turned into the most beautiful, chocolate-ty, smooth spread I have ever seen in my life, that I didn’t eve use any oil! Thanks for the recipe!
I apologize if this had been answered but entirely too many comments to read just to check if this has been answered. I just stumbled across your site for the first time! Your recipes look amazing and I am really excited to try this Nutella. My question is how do you store it and how long do you think it would last?