Name: Nourishing Homemade Pecan Butter (peanut-free, keto, 1 ingredient!)
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 2-1/2 cups soaked and dried pecans

Make the yummiest, creamiest, nourishing homemade pecan butter with just 1 ingredient — soaked and dried pecans! Made digestible and nourishing, this keto, paleo, Whole30-friendly pecan butter makes a great snack, goes with breakfast, or is awesome straight off the spoon!

glass jar of nourishing homemade pecan butter tied with red and white string

I was born in and lived in central Texas until I was 7 — making trips back a few times a year to visit my Memaw, uncles, and cousins who lived there.

Central Texas is well-known for the Hill Country, Austin the state capital, and pecans! Pecan trees are native to central Texas, so they’re everywhere!

My Memaw had a gigantic pecan tree in her backyard. I spent countless hours gathering pecans and having my fingers dyed black while shelling them!

Just like shelling peas or snapping green beans are Southern past-times, so is shelling pecans!

Memaw always had shelled, home-grown pecans in her deep freeze. And when we went down to visit her after moving away, she always sent us home with at least a gallon of her shelled pecans. 🙂

Nowadays, I live way up north, and pecans must be bought because they don’t grow here.

Still, pecans are my favorite nut! And pecan butter is a yummy, creamy snack — perfect for dipping apples and bananas, using for sandwiches, or just eating off the spoon!

jar of homemade whole30 pecan butter with text overlay

Step-By-Step: Making Nourishing, Homemade Pecan Butter

This is literally so, so simple: put pecans in a high-speed blender and blend until it’s the consistency you like.

That’s really it!

Still, it helps to have some step-by-step photos just to make sure you’re doing it correctly, right? Happy to help!

(1) First, place 2-1/2 cups soaked and dried pecans into the canister of a high-speed blender or food processor. I prefer my BlendTec for this job. A Vitamix should also work well, but I don’t have a Vitamix, so I haven’t actually tried it.

I also prefer skipping the step of soaking and drying my own pecans, so I buy them already soaked and dried!

(2) Begin by pulsing the nuts to get a crumbly consistency. As needed, stop the blender and scrape down the sides, pushing the pecans down toward the blade.

While the blender is running, you may even need to give the pecans a gentle push back down toward the blade, keeping the pecans in the vortex so they blend up nicely.

(3) If you like a chunky, thick pecan butter, stop the blender sooner.

(4) If you prefer a thinner, totally smooth pecan butter, process until the butter is as smooth as you like it.

(5) Once you’ve reached your desired consistency, stop the blender and transfer the pecan butter to a glass storage jar with an airtight lid. Store in the fridge indefinitely! As long as you keep this nourishing pecan butter in the fridge, it will stay fresh and tasty and won’t go rancid — as nuts tend to do.

step by step photos for making nourishing homemade pecan butter in a Blendtec

How To Soak & Dry Pecans Yourself

Don’t want to buy pre-soaked/dried pecans? I get it… they’re a bit more expensive, aren’t they? 😉

It’s really easy to soak and dry your own pecans or other nuts!

Add 2-1/2 cups raw pecans to a glass jar or bowl.
Cover completely with water.
Add 2 teaspoons salt to the water and stir.
Let sit for 24 hours.
Drain and rinse.
Spread on dehydrator trays and dry at 105 degrees — or — spread on baking sheets lined with parchment and dry on your oven’s lowest temperature setting.
Once they’re totally dry and crispy, they’re ready to make this nourishing pecan butter!

nourishing homemade whole30 keto pecan butter on an antique silver knife

Do I have to use soaked/dried pecans?

No, you can use plain, raw pecans. The soaking/drying definitely adds a few extra steps and extra time to this process.

I prefer soaked and dried pecans (and other nuts) because the soaking process reduces an anti-nutrient in the nuts known as phytic acid. (If you’re familiar with Nourishing Traditions, you know what I’m talking about.)

What is phytic acid?

Phytic acid is found in all grains, seeds, nuts, and legumes. It binds to the minerals in the foods you eat, preventing your body from absorbing them properly.

Too much phytic acid in the diet leads to loss of minerals, tooth decay, and nutritional deficiencies. Over time, phytic acid consumption also leads to a leaky gut — evidenced by symptoms such as gas, bloating, or food sensitivities.

If you’re going to eat grains, seeds, nuts, or legumes, always, always, ALWAYS soak (or sprout) them first! (Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon Morell is the BEST resource I have ever found that explains why this is so important and how to do it for just about every grain, nut, seed, and legume imaginable!)

I don’t want to spend the extra time soaking and dehydrating my pecans, so I take a shortcut and buy them pre-soaked/dried!

Wildly Organic is the only company I know of that soaks and dries nuts and seeds according to Nourishing Traditions principles.

overhead view of a jar of nourishing pecan butter with antique knife next to the jar

Shouldn’t I add oil to help it blend?

There is no need to add any extra oil to make the pecans blend until smooth.

I can think of just 2 reasons why your pecan butter won’t become smooth:

your nuts are old/rancid and lack enough natural oils to blend
you’re using a regular, not high-speed, blender

jar of nourishing homemade pecan butter with antique knife

5 from 2 votes

Nourishing Homemade Pecan Butter (peanut-free, keto, 1 ingredient!)

Make the yummiest, creamiest, nourishing homemade pecan butter with just 1 ingredient -- soaked and dried pecans! Made digestible and nourishing, this keto, paleo, Whole30-friendly pecan butter makes a great snack, goes with breakfast, or is awesome straight off the spoon!

CourseSnacks

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 1 cup

Ingredients

2-1/2cupssoaked and dried pecans

Instructions

Add the soaked and dried pecans to the canister of a high-speed blender or food processor.
Process until a crumbly meal forms, then open the blender and scrape down the sides.
Continue to process, stopping to scrape down the sides, until the pecan crumbles get smaller and smaller, eventually liquifying.
Stop processing as soon as the pecan butter has reached your desired consistency.
Transfer to a glass jar and store in the fridge for up to several months. As long as the nut butter is refrigerated, it will not go rancid!