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)
This turned out pretty grainy and runny for me, even though it was delicious. Any tips on making it as smooth as in your pics, and thick?
Hi! What sweetener and other specific ingredients did you use, and what type of blender?
Great recipe that my daughter LOVED! I substituted cashews and it tasted great!!
Hi I just made this in my 10 yr old Ninja food processor. It t ook at least 10 minutes to go from grainy nuts to butter – took a really long time to get there but the transition was quick once it happened. I followed directions to do the nuts first and then add sweetener, cocoa, salt and vanilla. Instead of getting smooth and creamy like the nut butter alone, the mixture stayed thick and crumbly. Instructions said milk or oil so I opted for oil and figured adding it would make the mixture start to get creamier. Instead, the more I blended the more the oil leached out of the mixture leaving me with a thick dense mass for the Nutella, surrounded by oil. I finally gave in and added some almond milk – bingo, once blended with the milk the mixture smoothed right out to the perfect creamy texture. Wondering if anyone else had success with this recipe leaving out the milk? I had planned to omit it so that it would keep for longer but it looks like that option doesn’t work for me. Anyway, apart from a few panic attacks along the way, the end result was yummy, That you cck! I also followed someone else’s suggestion to add water to the remnants left in the blender to make an equally yummy “hazelnut chocolate milk”.
Awesome taste love the recipe!
How is the yeild 2 cups with more than 2 cups of ingredients.
I don’t have time to look through all the comments to find an answer to my question, so here it is:
Can you use a jar of hazelnut butter instead of roasting/grinding the hazelnuts? My friend has a jar of it and was wondering what to do with it. I immediately thought of this recipe!
Thanks!!
It is really a tasty recipe. I find that the calories and amount of sugars really depend on the type of sweetener you use. If you go for regular sugar then this is not great in terms of nutritional value, instead I suggest finding some less sugary sweeteners.
Thank you!
Literally the best healthy Nutella recipe. I made it with coconut sugar (But more than 1/3 cup), and added some coconut oil (No milk). It turned out delicious and tastes almost same like Nutella!!!
This is the most delicious Nutella recipe and – dare I say it – we enjoyed it even more than the store bought one. It was smooth, creamy, and not as sugary as the original. Great great recipe.
I’m excited to try this! What is the serving size? The recipe says that it yields 2 cups and the nutrition info says 32 servings. What is the measurements of the serving? Thanks!!!
Hi, I just made this, can someone help me with some troubleshooting. My Mutella came out more of the consistency of cake pop batter sitting in a pool of oil. Here’s what I did: Blended the hazelnuts into the perfect smoothest nut butter consistency, I used the vitamix, added the rest of the ingredients, I used half the amount of honey for sweetener and I didn’t add milk or oil bc it’s very oily naturally. It tastes delicious, but it’s kind of a cookie/cake pop batter consistency, I can roll it easily into a ball.
How can I make it smooth?
Hi, so I solved my own problem! Posting here in case anyone runs into the same issue. All I did was add half the amount of milk called for in the recipe and it blended into a perfectly smooth consistency!! I guess if you’re using honey you really need that milk to smooth it out. Thanks so much for this recipe, it’s delicious!
Thank you Miriam L – your suggestion turned my clumpy mess into smooth deliciousness.
I just made this for the first time and it was great until I added the milk. I only put in a splash just to make it a bit smoother, but should have left it alone to just blend a bit more. The moment I added it, the whole mixture seized and the nut oil separated from everything else. I must have poured off a half cup and its still kind of greasy. I wasn’t even thinking and used milk right from the fridge. It must have been too cold for the mix, which was warm from blending. Such a bummer, but it tastes so good that I’ll absolutely try again.