How to Make Edibles Without Butter {5 Cannabutter Alternatives}

If you’ve ever made your own edibles, there’s a good chance you made your own cannabutter. And while cannabutter is a beloved, classic edibles staple, and simple to make even with just a small amount of flower (or concentrate) and butter using Ardent's FX or Nova, there are many reasons that you might be tired of this and just want to try some cannabutter alternatives.

Whether you want to know how to make edibles without butter because you are seeking something plant-based, trying to avoid saturated fats, or just looking for a faster way to prepare your cannabis therapies, we got you covered.

Check out the 5 key cannabutter alternatives below and try something new today:

Here's How to Make Edibles Without Butter

1. Instant Edibles (Easiest Way to Make Edibles Without Cannabutter)

The simplest way to make edibles without cannabutter hands down! Instead of making a butter or oil, use the decarboxylated flower right in your edibles or other products after activation.

There’s a misconception that you MUST extract into an oil, butter or alcohol to make an edible. Simply not true! Once you complete the decarb cycle on either FX or Nova, the cannabinoids (THC, CBD, CBG, etc.) are active right on the plant and ready to be consumed. Just break or grind it up and mix it into your batter, sprinkle it on your finished meal, or pop it into some capsules.

Be careful -very little goes a long way, and those new to edibles should start slow while testing tolerance and determining their ideal dose. For example a 20% THC flower has 200mg of THC in each gram of flower, so you would only need 1/10th of that gram (0.1 gm of flower) to get a 20mg dose!

If you're cooking with weed and you're not feeling the effects of your edibles, make sure you eat your decarbed material in a meal with a high-fat content, or mix in a little lecithin or oil (you can just add the oil, no need to infuse into it) to help boost absorption.

2. Kief Butter/Oil (Closest Cannabutter Alternatives)

If you want to know how to make edibles without cannabutter but want to use a different form of butter in your marijuana recipes, kief butter or kief oil is a great alternative to traditional cannabutter. Kief is the sticky bits of resin you see on buds. Making kief butter is quicker and simpler than its cannabis-infused counterpart and when cooked, it doesn’t impart the flavor of cannabis like using the whole flower.

You don't have to worry about warming it for more than a few minutes and you don't need to stain the plant matter, making this option faster than making your traditional cannabutter. The major difference in the finished product is the fact that kief has a very high concentration of cannabinoids so you can easily make a very potent cannabutter or oil.

3. Cannabis Coconut Oil

Cannabis coconut oil is a very popular cannabutter substitute. It has a high amount of saturated fat, making it great for extraction, but more versatile than butter, working perfectly in edibles, topicals and even suppositories. Plant-based, infused coconut oil is a great choice for people on vegan, paleo, or keto diets.

Making cannabis coconut oil is simple and cannabis extraction with coconut oil gives a high infusion rate. After the decarb step, mix the coconut oil and decarbed flower and place back into the machine for a second cycle, letting it extract for at least 45 minutes. Here's a guide if you would like to know more about infusing decarbed weed into oil.

4. Cannaoil

In addition to coconut oil, a wide variety of oils make great alternatives for cannabutter. Avocado, canola, olive, and even walnut oil - the possibilities are almost endless. Any oil with a high fat content will do well in extracting the activated THC, CBD or other cannabinoids after decarboxylation. This gives you a lot of choice in selecting an oil that pairs best in flavor. For example, the mild taste of MCT oil means that MCT and other mild oils can be easily switched out for butter in most baked goods. Olive oil is another popular choice, but it is best suited for cooking savory dishes.

5. Tinctures

Tinctures are a great, no-mess way to infuse weed into your edibles. Many people have learned how to use cannabis in this way and like using tinctures in recipes over cannabutter or cannaoil because there is no added fat and alcohol tinctures preserve munch longer than butter or oil, which can go rancid.

Cannabis tinctures are very easy to make:

• Decarb your bud and place it in a jar with a high-proof alcohol like Everclear
• Let the mixture sit for 1-3 hours, shaking intermittently
• Once the alcohol is infused, strain out the bud, and it’s ready to use!

Do not eat the alcohol tincture straight if you are using Everclear, as it is a very strong alcohol. Many people add vegetable glycerin to their tinctures, but be aware that while vegetable glycerin is great to mix with alcohol tinctures, you can't use it as the base solvent to extract the THC and CBD.

Recently, the term 'tincture" has also been expanded to include MCT oil infusions, as MCT is a flavorless liquid that is easy to ingest orally alone and does not have the burning associated with alcohol tinctures. If you would like to make an MCT tincture, refer to #4 above.

If you’re over the mess of traditional methods or can’t enjoy butter, you can still create amazing infusions, treats and other products with these easy alternatives. And whether you're an instant edibles type of person, or would rather extract and infuse your way to health and happiness, FX and Nova will help you get there, hassle-free.