How to Make Cannabutter ?
What Is Cannabutter?
Cannabutter—aka cannabis-infused butter—is one of the easiest and most popular ways to make edibles at home. Butter is perfect for this because it tastes great, works in all kinds of recipes, and THC (the compound that gets you high) needs fat to bind to—and butter’s full of it. You can also use oils like coconut, olive, or vegetable oil if you prefer.
The infusion process takes a bit of time, but it’s super simple. Even if you’ve never done it before, this recipe will walk you through it, step by step.
One important thing to keep in mind: with edibles, always start low and go slow. After trying a small amount, wait at least 45 to 60 minutes to see how you feel before having more. Trust us—patience is your best friend here.
How Do You Use Cannabutter in Edibles?
Once you’ve made your cannabutter, you can use it pretty much anywhere you’d normally use regular butter—spread it on toast, stir it into pasta, or bake it into your favorite goodies. Most people use it to whip up classic edibles like brownies, cookies, or cakes, but the possibilities are endless.
You don’t have to go all-in with the cannabutter, either. If you want a lighter effect, you can mix it with regular butter—half-and-half is a popular option for a more mellow experience.
Before you can infuse butter with cannabis, there’s one key step: decarboxylation. That’s just a fancy word for heating the weed to activate the THC (the part that gets you high). Raw cannabis contains THCA, which won’t do much until it’s heated. When you smoke or vape, the heat does this automatically. But for edibles, you’ll need to gently bake the cannabis in the oven before adding it to your butter.
One quick heads-up: dosing homemade edibles is more art than science. We’ll share some tips to help you estimate potency, but it’s hard to know exactly how strong each bite will be. That’s why it’s always best to start small, be patient, and give it time to kick in before going back for seconds.
How to Make Cannabutter?
Making cannabutter is super straightforward, doesn’t cost much, and only takes a few basic supplies—plus a little time and patience. Just remember, butter can burn if you’re not careful, so keep an eye on it while it’s cooking!
Here’s What You’ll Need:
- A baking sheet (for decarbing your weed)
- Parchment paper (makes cleanup way easier)
- An oven
- A saucepan, stock pot, double-boiler, or even a slow cooker—whatever you’ve got
- A mesh strainer or some cheesecloth (to strain out the plant material)
- A container to store your finished cannabutter (a glass jar works great)
- A grinder (optional, but it helps break up the weed evenly)
That’s it! Once you’ve got everything ready, you’re just a few steps away from homemade edibles.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup ground, decarboxylated cannabis (about 7–10 grams)
We suggest using a 1:1 ratio of cannabis to butter for a stronger batch. If you’re looking for a more mild experience, feel free to use less cannabis—just adjust to your comfort level!
How to Make Cannabutter (The Chill Way)
Making your own cannabutter might sound complicated, but it’s actually super easy once you get the hang of it. All you need is a little patience, a few kitchen basics, and, of course, some cannabis. Here’s a step-by-step guide that’s beginner-friendly and totally doable.
Step by Step on how to make cannabutter
Step 1: Decarb the Weed
Before you do anything, you need to activate the THC in your cannabis—a process called decarboxylation (fancy word, simple process).
- Preheat your oven to 245ºF.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and break your weed up a bit (not too fine).
- Spread it out evenly and pop it in the oven for about 30–40 minutes.
- Every 10–15 minutes, give it a gentle stir so it heats evenly.
Shortcut tip: If you’re in a hurry, you can crank the oven to 300ºF and bake for 10–15 minutes—but low and slow is better for flavor and potency.
Step 2: Break It Up
Once it’s decarbed and cooled, break the weed down a little more. A grinder works great, but if you don’t have one, your fingers are just fine. Just don’t grind it too fine—you don’t want little bits sneaking through your strainer later.
Step 3: Melt the Butter
Add 1 cup of unsalted butter and 1 cup of water to a saucepan, stockpot, slow cooker, or double boiler—whatever you’ve got.
Keep the heat low and let the butter melt gently.
(The water helps keep the temperature steady and prevents burning, which butter is known for.)
Step 4: Add the Cannabis
Now, stir in your decarbed weed. Make sure it’s fully covered in the butter.
Step 5: Let It Simmer
Let everything simmer on low heat (160–200ºF) for about 2–3 hours. Stir every so often, and whatever you do, don’t let it boil—you’ll lose the good stuff if it gets too hot.
Step 6: Strain the Mixture
Set a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer over a jar or container, and carefully pour the mixture through. Toss the leftover plant bits.
Pro tip: Don’t squeeze the cheesecloth—it’ll push out extra plant matter that can make your butter taste bitter or earthy.
Step 7: Chill It
Once strained, pop the jar in the fridge and let the butter solidify—overnight is best, but a few hours will do. After it sets, you might see a layer of water underneath. Just lift out the butter with a knife and pour off the water.
And just like that, you’ve got homemade cannabutter! Use it in brownies, cookies, on toast—or anywhere you’d normally use butter. Just remember: start with a small dose and be patient. Edibles can take up to an hour (sometimes more) to kick in, and they can sneak up on you!
Why You Need to Decarb Your Weed for Cannabutter
Before you even think about making cannabutter, you’ve got to decarboxylate—or just “decarb”—your cannabis. If you skip this step, your butter won’t really give you the effects you want.
Basically, decarbing is what wakes up the THC in your weed. Raw cannabis has something called THCA, which doesn’t get you high. When you heat it up, that THCA turns into THC—the stuff that gives you the good vibes.
Some recipes skip this and just toss the cannabis straight into hot butter, but doing the decarb step first makes your cannabutter way more potent and actually tastes better too. Plus, the less time your buds spend soaking, the less “green” flavor you get. So, we always recommend popping it in the oven first.
Why It’s So Hard to Nail Edible Dosage
Making your own cannabutter is awesome, but figuring out exactly how strong your edibles will be? That’s a bit of a guessing game. There are a bunch of factors that mess with the potency, like:
- How strong your cannabis actually is
- How long you cook it when making the butter
- The temperature you use while infusing
Here’s the thing—these don’t have a simple, direct effect. Just because your weed says it has 23% THC instead of 17%, it doesn’t mean it’s way stronger. Cooking your butter for two hours instead of one won’t magically double the strength either. And small temperature changes won’t necessarily make a big difference.
So the best way to figure out how strong your edibles are? Start small. Try just a tiny bit—like a quarter or half a teaspoon—on some food, then wait about an hour to feel the effects. From there, you can tweak your dose up or down until it feels right.
Once you find your sweet spot, you can use that to figure out how much to use in recipes. Say you’re making brownies—multiply your personal dose by however many brownies you cut, whether that’s 9, 16, or more. That way, each piece will be just right.
How to Make Your Cannabutter Milder or Stronger
Usually, we go with a 1:1 ratio when making cannabutter—that means 1 cup of butter to 1 cup of ground cannabis, like in the recipe above.
But if you find your butter is a little too strong, don’t stress. You can always mix your cannabutter with some regular butter to mellow it out. For example, if your recipe needs half a cup of butter, just use a quarter cup of cannabutter and a quarter cup of regular butter. Feel free to play around with the ratio until it feels right for you.
If you want to start lighter from the get-go, just use less cannabis when making your butter—say, half as much. So instead of a full cup, try around half a cup (about 3 to 4 grams) of ground cannabis to 1 cup of butter.
On the other hand, if you want to amp things up, add a bit more cannabis—like 1 ¼ cups of ground flower to 1 cup of butter—or whatever works for you.
Just remember, once you’ve made your cannabutter, you can’t really make it stronger without eating more of it or more edibles made with it. So nailing the right ratio before you start is the best way to go!
What to Make with Your Cannabutter
Now that you’ve got your cannabutter ready, the fun really begins—there are so many tasty things you can whip up!
Some of our favorites? Martha Stewart’s classic brownies and peanut butter cookies. The peanut butter is great if you want to mask that “weed” flavor a bit.
But honestly, you can get creative and use cannabutter anywhere you’d normally use butter. Just toss a little in the pan before cooking, or swap it in your favorite recipes to give them a mellow, stoney twist.
The possibilities are pretty much endless! If you want even more ideas, check out our guide to cooking with cannabis for recipes and tips.
