Homemade Date Paste | A Natural Sugar Substitute
How to make date paste in just 5 minutes with only 2 ingredients. An all-purpose natural sugar substitute that can be used in place of any recipe that calls for sugar, syrup, or honey! This recipe is Paleo, Vegan, Whole30 compliant, and refined sugar-free!
Table of Contents
What Makes This Recipe Great
This homemade date paste recipe is SUCH a lifesaver whenever I’m doing Whole30! It is the perfect 1:1 sugar substitute for virtually any sauce, condiment, or dressing recipe that requires sugar/honey/maple syrup/agave nectar/coconut sugar.
It is the best natural sweetener I have found. I use it in SO many things! To sweeten my coffee (only when I’m not doing a Whole30. If you’re doing a Whole30, no sweetened beverages!). In my BBQ sauce. In salad dressings. You name it.
Dates are simply wonderful. Nature’s candy!
How to Make Date Paste
This recipe could not be simpler to make. It’s only two ingredients (dates and water!) and takes 3-5 minutes from start to finish.
Ingredient Notes
- Medjool Dates: I buy a pack of organic Medjool pitted dates from Costco (the best deal I’ve found!). There are other date varieties, but I prefer Medjool because they are plump and juicy. The bag I buy comes with the pits removed. If you get a bag with pits, make sure to remove the pits before blending!
- Water
Step-by-Step Instructions
- If your dates are very dry, soak them in hot water for at least 30 minutes (or up to 8 hours) to plump them up. If you just opened the carton and they’re still fresh and plump and juicy, no need to soak them.
- In your high-speed blender, combine the soaked dates and water. Blend on high speed for 3-5 minutes, until the dates are completely pureed into a paste, scraping down the sides a few times.
- Transfer to a sealed container (I love using half-pint mason jars), and store it in the fridge.
Expert Tips
- If your Medjool dates are older and/or dried out, those can work too! Just give them a soak in warm water for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 day. Just keep them soaking until they’re juicy and plump again. This will make it much easier for your blender to break them down and make them into a silky smooth paste.
- I prefer to make this recipe in my high-speed blender. I find that it makes a much smoother paste. I’ve made it in my food processor too, and it works, especially if the dates are extra plump and juicy.
- You can buy store-bought date paste in a pinch, but it’s much more expensive. Homemade is budget-friendly and so easy!
Storage Tips
- Store it in a half-pint mason jar. If you don’t have a half-pint mason jar, any sealed container will do.
- It will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 months. I doubt it will last you that long!
Recipe FAQs
It’s an all-natural sugar substitute, which means there’s no refined “added sugar”. Dates are the only sweetener that is Whole30 compliant. So much healthier, packed with nutrients, and delicious.
Everything! Use it for coffee, tea, yogurt, oatmeal, smoothies, dressings, sauces, spreads, and dips. You name it!
Date paste is wetter than regular sugar, so keep in mind there will be a bit more moisture that you may have to offset with more of your dry ingredients. However, it’s minimal. I recommend trying it out and getting familiar with the way the paste feels and works. It’s very similar to honey or maple syrup.
More Recipes Using Dates…
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Homemade Date Paste | A Natural Sugar Substitute
Ingredients
- 1 packed cup of pitted organic medjool dates, about 14-15
- 3/4 cup of water
Instructions
- If your dates are very dry, soak them in hot water for at least 30 minutes (or up to 8 hours) to plump them up. If you just opened the carton and they’re still fresh and plump and juicy, no need to soak them.
- In your high speed blender, combine the soaked dates and water. Blend on high speed for 3-5 minutes, until the dates are completely pureed into a paste, scraping down the sides a few times.
- Transfer to a sealed container (I love using half pint mason jars), and store in the fridge. Will keep for 3 months.
Notes
Expert Tips
- If your Medjool dates are older and/or dried out, those can work too! Just give them a soak in warm water for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 day. Just keep them soaking until they’re juicy and plump again. This will make it much easier for your blender to break them down and make them into a silky smooth paste.
- I prefer to make this recipe in my high-speed blender. I find that it makes a much smoother paste. I’ve made it in my food processor too, and it works, especially if the dates are extra plump and juicy.
- You can buy store-bought date paste in a pinch, but it’s much more expensive. Homemade is budget-friendly and so easy!
Storage Tips
- Store it in a half-pint mason jar. If you don’t have a half-pint mason jar, any sealed container will do.
- It will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 months. I doubt it will last you that long!
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27 Comments on “Homemade Date Paste | A Natural Sugar Substitute”
Love using this recipe to convert recipes to vegan that only require swapping honey for another sweetener. Much better than replacing it with maple syrup.
Can I add some of the Date paste to almond milk for coffee?
Yes! For sure! Would be delicious!
I am looking for some recipes to make for some friends. One friend has to be gluten free she’s not Celiac but it messes with her stomach. Another friend is doing Keto and sticks to it very strictly. I always make goodies for everybody at Christmas and haven’t been able to make her anything. So I really wanted to try out the recipe 4 your keto salted chocolate brownie cookies. But I do love dates oh, there’s actually a honey caramel popcorn that I make and I put dates in it along with some other Yummies. But I wanted to know can I use the date paste to make candies, such as peanut brittle or can I use it to make my honey glaze that I use for the popcorn
What a great friend you are! I’ve actually never tried it. But I’d imagine you could!
I made this last night. My dad is currently dealing with pancreatic issues and with the possibility of cancer I’m having him avoid all added sugars. He LOVES meatloaf, but the recipe I was using calls for brown sugar. I made this date paste in place of the sugar and 😍 you can’t even tell! Thanks for such an easy and quick replacement.
What a wonderful daughter you are to make it for your Dad Gina. I hope he is feeling better soon!
I made Date Paste to make Balsamic Vinaigrette last month, and stored the rest in a mason jar in the fridge. I put the date on it (12-6-19) and then this weekend, when I went to make more salad dressing, I pulled out my date paste to find some moldy spots on it. The recipe says it can last in the fridge up to 3 months though. Should I freeze it next time?
Shoot! I am so sorry your date paste had mold on it. If there was a lot of air exposed to it, you can put saran wrap over the top of the paste and then seal the lid. If you really want to be safe, go ahead and freeze it.
I made this to use as an ingredient in Natalie’s herby coleslaw recipe but ended up using it frequently in my coffee. It is sweet but not overwhelmingly so! It freezes extremely well!
This does freeze really well and is a great addition to SO many recipes. I always keep this in my freezer!
I’m in the preparation stage of starting whole 30. If dates are acceptable to eat during the 30 days why are you not allowed to put in drinks? I’m excited to start my journey but I’m trying to get educated too.
Hi Debby! So excited you’re doing a September Whole30! I am too! The program doesn’t want you to recreate sweet drinks. To help wean you off your dependency on sugar. To be completely honest, it seems a little confusing that you can have coffee and dates, but not coffee with dates IN them. It all ends up in the same place. Haha! Just one of those rules that the program has deemed important for maximum longterm success.
You saved my whole30 diet! Like Erica and April mentioned, not having sugar in tea or coffee has been difficult, but this is a game changer. Happy I found your post!
Hi Sarah! I’m so happy to hear it helped you! Way to go on completing your Whole30!
(Also, just want to clarify that you’re technically not supposed to have any sweetener in your drinks during Whole30 according to the official guidelines.)
I never comment on recipes but I wanted to say this is life changing! The hardest part of whole30 has been no sugar in my tea in the morning. This is delicious and I am so happy. Thank you for a wonderful recipe
Thank you so much Erica! I’m so happy to hear that! Isn’t it great? Makes all the difference. Makes it much easier to wean off refined sugar. Rooting for you and your whole30 journey!
Has anyone tried this in coffee??
Yes! I have and it’s so so so so good!
What would Be a honey to date paste ratio?
1:1 ratio!
I couldn’t get mine as smooth as yours appears to be. Do you buy your dates pitted? Mine Costco only had ones with puts so I pitted them myself- I wonder if that makes a difference? Do you ever have to add more water? I put mine in my vita mix but the blades kept stopping like they do when there isn’t enough liquid?
I get the medjool dates at Costco too! Were the dates dry? You can soak them in super hot water to really soften them and help them blend super easy. And you can always adjust and add a little more water if it seems it needs it. If they’re sticking to the edge and not getting to the blade they’d definitely need another tablespoon or so of water. Hope you have better luck!
Thank you! I am excited to try this for some of my favorite Asian recipes, ie Korean Beef and Firecracker Chicken! ? My husband will be ecstatic!
Hope you love it! Thanks Alys!
What ratio of date paste to sugar do you use in a recipe? E.g. if the recipe calls for 100gms sugar how much date paste do you use?
It’s a 1:1 ratio. You can always taste and add more if needed, but I do 1:1