Learn how to make Nutella from scratch using simple pantry staples. The process is easy! Just roast hazelnuts and puree them in a blender or food processor with chocolate until smooth. The decadent spread adds rich chocolate-hazelnut flavor to snacks and sweet treats.
Jessica’s Recipe Science
- Roasting the hazelnuts releases their natural oils and develops new flavor compounds for a smoother, more flavorful spread.
- Powdered sugar’s superfine particles blend smoothly into the hazelnut paste, reducing grittiness for a silkier texture.
- Gradually blending in the melted coconut oil and chocolate coats the fine nut and sugar particles in fat, giving the spread its silky, smooth consistency.
Why It Works
Nutella is one of the most recognized brands of Italian chocolate hazelnut spread. The rich cocoa and pronounced nutty flavor can instantly add elegance to any recipe. My homemade version takes the familiar flavors of the grocery store jar and makes them even better. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to make and how much better it tastes from scratch.
I use whole roasted hazelnuts, cocoa powder, and chocolate for a deeper, more complex flavor. You can make this condiment in a countertop blender or food processor—I’ll show you both ways. Then you can enjoy it spread on crunchy toast, dip with fruit like strawberries and bananas, or mix it into beverages. It’s a kid-friendly favorite that’s also great for filling sweet treats like crepes, cookies, and cakes.
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Ingredients You’ll Need
- Hazelnuts: You can use unsalted raw or roasted hazelnuts, also called filberts, sold with their papery brown skin still attached.
- Sugar: Since we don’t have heavy-duty commercial grinders at home to break down granulated sugar, I find that powdered sugar works best to reduce grittiness. The superfine particles blend more smoothly into the nut mixture.
- Cocoa Powder: I use cocoa powder to give an intense flavor and aroma. The cocoa solids also help thicken the spread. I use Hershey’s 100% unsweetened cocoa powder.
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract heightens the sweet, roasted notes of the hazelnut spread. It also adds an extra touch of baked aromatics. Over time, the nut oils slowly oxidize, so the roasted flavor is strongest the day it’s made. The vanilla helps round out the nutty and cocoa notes as the spread is stored.
- Salt: A little bit of salt can intensify the cocoa and earthy nut flavor. I use sea salt or kosher salt because the larger crystals are less salty by volume than table salt, so it’s harder to overdo it. Start with ¼ teaspoon and increase to ½ teaspoon if you like a saltier finish.
- Coconut Oil: The commercial Nutella product uses palm oil to prolong its shelf life. It’s neutral in flavor and odor, semi-solid at room temperature, and provides a smooth, silky texture. Palm oil is not always easy to find at the market, so I use refined coconut oil as a suitable substitute. Both are naturally solid at room temperature without hydrogenation, which helps the spread set up as it cools. I melt the coconut oil before using it, making it easier to incorporate during processing. As the spread cools, the fats firm up and make the texture firmer.
- Chocolate: I use milk chocolate chips to add a creamy taste and extra sweetness. Most chips also contain lecithin, a natural emulsifier that helps keep the spread smooth and the ingredients blended. Since lecithin isn’t a common pantry ingredient, getting it from the chips is a nice bonus. Microwave the chips in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth.
See the recipe card below for all ingredients and measurements (US and metric).
Ingredient Substitutions
This Nutella recipe is easy to customize! Try these delicious options:
- Cocoa Powder Swaps: You can use raw cacao powder, but it will taste more bitter. For a milder, less acidic flavor, use Dutch-processed cocoa, which is treated with an alkaline solution.
- Chocolate Options: If you like a stronger taste, use semi-sweet or up to 60% cacao dark chocolate.
- Coconut Oil Substitute: You can use unrefined coconut oil, but it will have a coconut flavor. Palm oil is my other top choice. Use other neutral-tasting oils like sunflower, vegetable, canola, or avocado, but the spread will be slightly thinner since these oils stay liquid at room temperature. For a more robust nut flavor, use hazelnut oil.
How to Make Nutella
Step 1: Heat the Oven
Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). This moderate heat roasts the hazelnuts evenly without scorching them and warms their natural oils, so they blend into a smoother, creamier spread.
Step 2: Roast the Hazelnuts
Roasting intensifies the hazelnuts’ natural sweetness and aroma. Spread them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 350ºF until fragrant and lightly browned. This takes about 8 to 10 minutes for pre-roasted nuts and 10 to 12 minutes for raw. Warm, roasted nuts also release their oils more easily, so they grind into a smoother paste.
Step 3: Peel the Skins
The brown, papery skin on hazelnuts has a slightly astringent, bitter taste. After roasting, wrap the nuts in a kitchen towel and rub them vigorously to remove as much skin as possible. You’ll remove at least half of the skins, and that’s okay. The cocoa and sugar balance any remaining bitterness, and the bits of skin add more dimension.
Experimentation Encouraged: It’s difficult to remove all the skins unless you blanch the nuts in a baking soda solution and peel them off individually. That’s a lot of extra work that I don’t find necessary to achieve great flavor. However, if you prefer a smoother texture and slightly less bitterness, try blanching then roasting.
Step 4: Make the Nutella
Blender Method
A high-power countertop blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec yields the smoothest consistency with a more whipped texture. The nuts need less time, about 3 minutes on high speed. Scrape the sides, lid, and bottom of the blender often so the thick paste keeps falling back onto the blades.
Because the blender is so powerful, add the powdered sugar, cocoa, vanilla, salt, and melted coconut oil all at once. Blend in the melted chocolate last, for about 30 seconds. The blender method is quicker, about 7 minutes total, but needs more stopping and scraping.
Food Processor Method
An 8-cup food processor has enough room to grind the nuts and mix in the other ingredients. It starts just like making peanut butter. Coarsely chop the roasted nuts, then process for about 5 minutes until a smooth paste forms. You’ll see the nuts turn crumbly, clump into a ball, and then break down completely.
Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt, and process until just incorporated. With the processor running, slowly pour in the melted coconut oil until the spread is smooth. Add the melted chocolate last. This method takes less than 10 minutes.
Step 5: Strain
The food processor method yields a little bit of crunch, so I prefer to strain the mixture before storing it, using a spoon to press it through a fine-mesh sieve. I find straining afterward isn’t necessary with the blender method since the puree is fine, but you can still do it for an extra-smooth texture. This recipe yields about 1 ⅓ cups of homemade Nutella, or 22 one-tablespoon servings with about 92 calories, 8 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of protein, and 1 gram of fiber each.
Step 6: Store
The warm roasted nuts and the friction from processing make the spread warm. Let it cool completely before storing. This process will also thicken the texture. Store it in an airtight glass jar or resealable container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks for the best flavor. Since this recipe has less lecithin than the store-bought version, it may separate over time, so stir before using.
Longer Storage Tip: To keep the batch of Nutella longer, store it in the fridge for up to 1 month. The cold firms up the coconut oil and chocolate, so let it sit at room temperature until spreadable before using.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutella is an iconic, popular sweet hazelnut cocoa spread made by one of the world’s largest chocolate producers, the Italian manufacturer Ferrero. Introduced in the 1960s, it quickly became a pantry staple in homes, cafes, bakeries, and restaurants. The creamy and intense Nutella flavor comes from seven ingredients: roasted hazelnuts blended with cocoa, palm oil, sugar, milk, vanilla, and lecithin. It’s similar to gianduja, a velvety chocolate spread with hazelnut paste.
Nutella is made with hazelnuts, also called filberts. Roasting them first brings out their naturally sweet, nutty flavor, which is why this homemade version starts by toasting the hazelnuts in the oven.
Nutella is a chocolate hazelnut spread, not pure chocolate. It gets its chocolate flavor from cocoa, which is blended with roasted hazelnuts, sugar, palm oil, milk, vanilla, and lecithin to make a creamy, spreadable paste.
To intensify the chocolate flavor, add in melted chocolate. Chips contain stabilizers and less cocoa butter, which helps them keep their shape. This makes the spread thicker. Chocolate bars have more cocoa butter, which helps them melt more easily. This will give the mixture a slightly thinner consistency.
This homemade version is less sweet than store-bought Nutella, with about 40% less sugar, which I prefer. In addition to melted chocolate and vanilla, the roasting process creates a balanced flavor that lets the nutty notes shine through.
Cold temperatures firm up the coconut oil and chocolate, so let refrigerated Nutella sit at room temperature until it’s spreadable. For a looser spread from the start, swap the coconut oil for a neutral liquid oil like sunflower, vegetable, or avocado oil. Liquid oils stay fluid, so the spread won’t set up as firm.
Homemade Nutella is a great recipe for a variety of culinary applications. Fill it inside crepes, as the filling in a lava cake, add to frostings for chocolate cupcakes, swirl it into cheesecake brownies, or top on vanilla no churn ice cream or gelato.
More Nutella Recipes
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How to Make Nutella
Ingredients
- 2 cups hazelnuts, roasted or raw, skin on
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt, or kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- ⅓ cup milk chocolate chips, semi-sweet, or 60% dark
Instructions
- Heat the Oven – Set the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat to 350ºF (177ºC).
- Roast the Hazelnuts – Spread the hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until the surface is lightly brown and fragrant, about 8 to 10 minutes for pre-roasted nuts. If using raw hazelnuts, bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Shake the pan halfway through for even cooking.
- Peel the Skins – Transfer the nuts to a clean dish towel. The skins can stain, so a dark towel works best. Fold the towel over and vigorously rub them against each other until at least half of the skins fall off. It’s okay if some remain, it adds dimension to the flavor.
- Make the Nutella – Blender Method: Add the warm hazelnuts to a blender. Pulse for 5 seconds to break down. Process at high speed for 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides every 15 seconds. It should form a smooth, thick paste, like peanut butter. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, and melted coconut oil. Process at high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides every 15 seconds. Add the chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high power in 30-second intervals, stirring in between until just melted. Add the melted chocolate and process until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides halfway through.Food Processor Method: Add the warm hazelnuts to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for 5 seconds to break down. Process at high speed for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed, about every 30 to 60 seconds. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla, and salt. Process at high speed until just incorporated, about 30 to 60 seconds. Scrape down the sides if needed. With the processor running at high speed, slowly add in the melted coconut oil, process until smooth and shiny, about 1 minute. Add the chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high power in 30-second intervals, stirring in between until just melted. Add the melted chocolate and process until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Strain – Strain the Nutella through a fine-mesh sieve, using a spoon to help press the mixture through into a clean bowl. For a crunchier texture, skip this step. Straining is optional if using the blender method.
- Store – Cool the chocolate hazelnut spread completely, then transfer to a jar or airtight container. The mixture thickens into a spreadable paste once cooled.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Recipe Yield: About 1 ⅓ cups
- Serving Size: 1 tablespoon
- Melting Chocolate on the Stovetop: Set the bowl of chocolate over barely simmering water that does not touch the bottom of the bowl, and stir until melted.
- Oil Substitutions: Use melted palm oil, sunflower, vegetable, avocado, or hazelnut oil instead of coconut oil.
- Cocoa Substitutions: Cacao or Dutch-processed cocoa powder can be used instead of cocoa powder.
- Chocolate Substitutions: Substitute semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips or chopped bar pieces (up to 60% cacao) for milk chocolate. Bars have more cocoa butter and will make the spread slightly thinner.
- Make it Dairy-Free: Use semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips or bars instead of milk chocolate.
- Storing: Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks at room temperature. For the best taste and texture, stir before using. Refrigerate for up to 1 month. Let it come to room temperature to be spreadable.
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Jason says
Hi there
I love those jars
Can you advise me on where the jars were purchased?
Many Thanks
Jessica Gavin says
They are Kerr® Wide Mouth Half Pint Jars. I bought the at albertsons.
Rick says
Jess,
Made this today. Doubled recipe in my food processor. Used a weird expensive cocoa powder and at the end I wanted a little more sweetness. So I added a 1/2 cup powdered sugar and then I got lazy.
Instead of melting some more coconut oil I added a little warm water. What a mess. The oil all separated out immediately. I couldn’t fix it. 20 minutes later I dumped the whole thing. I learned a good somewhat expensive lesson.
Cheers, Rick
Cassandra says
Hi ! Can you use swerve powdered and Lilly’s choc chips?!?
Jessica Gavin says
Yes, I think you could give those two sugar alternatives a try in the nutella. Please let me know how it goes!
Judy says
Jessica, Timothy and I have never cared for Nutella but now I am eager to try your recipe. Thank you and Happy weekend. xo Judy
Jessica Gavin says
I hope you get to try this homemade version. I’d love to hear what you think. Happy mother’s day, Judy!