*This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details!*

A delicious three ingredient homemade pistachio spread that is super easy to make, and utterly delicious to eat.

Yes, that’s right… A HOMEMADE PISTACHIO SPREAD RECIPE! It’s been a recipe that I should, obviously, have posted a while ago – but either way, it’s here now and it is delicious.

Pistachio Bakes

This is one of those situations, where I feel a little like I am in a cult? But I am not mad about it. I love pistachio bakes, I always have, and I likely always will.

Many years ago, I posted a amaretti, pistachio and rum truffle recipe, and my version of some berry pistachio cupcakes, and since I have published quite a few more. I have two delicious new pistachio recipes coming in my new book Jane’s Patisserie Classic as well – the craze is truly here at Jane’s Patisserie.

I am sorry, however, if you aren’t a pistachio fan – you are a little overwhelmed here and luckily I have hundreds of other bakes for you instead. I did need to have my own pistachio fix however, so here we are.

Pistachio Butter vs Spread vs Cream

In my research for this recipe, I came across so many other recipes, in such variations. Butters, spreads, creams and so on – and they all vary ever so slightly.

Pistachio butter to me, is like peanut butter, where if I was to make it, it would be 100% pistachios and that is it. You blend pistachios for a long time in a food processor until it creates its own butter. It’s the purest form really, and can be used as a base for many things.

Pistachio cream often has a few more ingredients in it, and it’s a runnier consistency usually – this is also delicious (And you can achieve one from this recipe easily – notes below) but often this has a crossover with a ‘spread’. It’s a classic situation, where different places in the world have a different name for the same thing.

I will say, this post is purely how I, Jane, make a pistachio spread. No other recipe is wrong – methods can just vary. I wanted a simple three ingredient spread that was easy to make. Also taking inspiration from my white chocolate hazelnut spread I published last year.

Which pistachios should you use?

I am based in the UK (this can often make a difference to ingredients so I feel it’s important to mention here) – and I buy the unsalted, unroasted and shelled pistachio kernels.

They are usually in the nut section, or the baking section – and typically come in 100g bags in the UK. I use these ones in particular as I don’t want any additives in the pistachios, but also as they are already shelled it saves me a step. I don’t tend to buy the snacking bag ones, as they tend to be roasted or salted already.

You can buy the non-shelled pistachios, and do it yourself, if it saves you money it will just add on time. You can of course buy other ones, but if they are roasted/salted it will change the flavour profile – and to be able to blanch and skin the pistachios it might reduce this any way so it seems wasteful to me.

Skinning the pistachios

This step, is optional. I will say that, as it’s the most time consuming part of the recipe – I would say it’s quite important, but that’s just because I prefer my homemade pistachio spread to be as green as possible and have the best flavour possible.

To skin the pistachios you need to get a pan of boiling water, and tip the pistachios into the water. You want to boil them for a MAXIMUM of THREE minutes. I usually go for two and a half, to three minutes, to make sure I don’t over do it.

Whilst the pistachios are boiling, you need to get a bowl of ICED water ready. The ice is important here, as the pistachios are going to be boiling hot and you need super cold water.

Once the pistachios have boiled, drain the water out of the pan (I just pour it into a sieve) and then tip the drained pistachios straight into the iced water. Let the pistachios cool down fully and then drain them again.

I tip the pistachios onto a clean tea towel and dry the pistachios. I use the towel to rub the pistachios quite firmly and this helps start to take the skins off the pistachios (the purple/brown skin). Once I have done this, I then pick off the skins that are still a little stuck and then discard the skins. This can take 10-15 minutes but it’s worth it.

If you don’t do this step, the pistachio spread will be darker in colour, and will likely have a more natural bitter flavour – but some people don’t mind this.

Pistachio Spread

So, for this pistachio spread… this spread as I classically and usually make it, is only three ingredients. The blanched pistachios, white chocolate, and milk. I wanted to make it as simple as possible, and it really is only those three ingredients.

Pistachios – as mentioned in detail above
White chocolate – I use a basic white chocolate from either the confectionary aisle, or the baking aisle, you don’t need to use a fancy branded one.
Milk – it is important to use FULL FAT milk. Anything else may cause the spread to split which you do not want due to the higher water content and lower fat content.

I blitz the pistachios, once skinned, on their own for 5-10 minutes until it reaches a fine meal. It may be slightly oily, but this is the natural oils coming out of the nuts. I then blitz the melted white chocolate in. This can look a little weird at this stage, but then I blitz and add the milk whilst it’s mixing and it smoothes the mixture out and makes the texture you are after.

Make sure to wipe down the processor/blender throughout to make sure nothing is getting caught.

Spread alternatives

So, as I use the three ingredients as mentioned above, there are some alternatives for you:

Condensed milk – you can switch out the fresh whole milk for condensed milk for a longer life product that won’t really need storing in the fridge. This does make the spread slightly thicker and set firmer either way, and be slightly sweeter.
Neutral oil – you can swap out the milk for a neutral oil, such as vegetable oil, sunflower oil, or even coconut oil that has been melted. Add a little at a time, and blitz very well before adding any more.
Cream – instead of milk, if you really don’t want to use it as you don’t buy full-fat milk, you can use single cream or double cream in the same way. It just makes it slightly more indulgent and slightly thicker so you may need a drop more
Flavours – you can add in extra sweetness or flavour with a sprinkle of sea salt, or a dash of vanilla, if you prefer. I do often do this, but I wanted to keep the base recipe simple.

How to make this recipe Free-From

Gluten free – The recipe should be naturally gluten free, but double check all ingredients anyway.

Dairy free – Make sure the base chocolate is dairy free (lots of dark chocolate’s are) or you can try a dairy free white chocolate. These are naturally more oily and made of different ingredients so you likely won’t need the milk but if you do you can add a little extra oil for texture

Tips & Tricks

The recipe is slightly different to my white chocolate hazelnut spread due to the nature of the nuts themselves – both recipes are delicious.

If you find your pistachio spread has a texture, your processor/blender might not have been powerful enough. You really do need a good one to get it super super smooth, but a slight texture is totally fine

Purely because it’s homemade and has no additives, I store the spread in the fridge in a super clean container. It will firm up in the fridge this way, but I just use a heated spoon to scoop it out again quite easily, or I split the mixture into smaller portions to only get out what I want

I would store it in the fridge for 2+ weeks, or freeze for 3+ months

If you don’t fancy making your own spread however, I can recommend this one online