Cannabutter is butter that has been infused with cannabis. It’s the most common base ingredient for homemade edibles like brownies, cookies, and candy. The name is simply a combination of “cannabis” and “butter,” and the product can contain THC (the compound that produces a high), CBD (which does not), or both, depending on the cannabis used to make it.
Why Butter Specifically
The active compounds in cannabis, THC and CBD, don’t dissolve well in water. They are highly fat-soluble, meaning they bind to lipids and are absorbed much more effectively when consumed with fat. Butter is a convenient, widely available source of long-chain fatty acids, which are particularly good at carrying cannabinoids into your bloodstream. Research on CBD bioavailability has shown that consuming cannabinoids with high-fat foods or lipid solutions significantly increases how much actually enters your system. One study found that pairing CBD with long-chain fatty acids allowed 80 to 85% of the compound to reach the bloodstream within 90 minutes.
This is why cannabis is infused into fats like butter, coconut oil, or ghee rather than simply mixed into water-based liquids. The fat acts as a vehicle that your body can actually absorb.
How Cannabutter Is Made
Making cannabutter involves two main steps: activating the cannabis, then infusing it into melted butter.
Raw cannabis doesn’t contain much active THC or CBD. Instead, it contains inactive precursor compounds that need heat to convert into their active forms. This process is called decarboxylation. You spread ground cannabis on a baking sheet and bake it at around 245°F (118°C) for 30 to 40 minutes. Without this step, the finished butter will have little to no psychoactive or therapeutic effect.
Once the cannabis is activated, you melt butter in a pot with water on very low heat, stir in the decarboxylated cannabis, and let the mixture simmer with a lid on for 3 to 4 hours. The low, slow heat allows the THC and CBD to bind to the fat in the butter. After simmering, the mixture is strained through cheesecloth to remove plant material, then refrigerated. The butter solidifies on top of the water, which can be drained off.
Common Ratios and Potency
A typical recipe calls for half an ounce (14 grams) of cannabis flower to 3 cups (6 sticks) of butter, which yields roughly 4 sticks of finished cannabutter. Some recipes use a 1:1 ratio of one ounce of flower to one pound of butter, but because some butter is inevitably lost during straining, starting with extra butter helps compensate.
Potency depends on the THC percentage of the flower you start with. The basic formula is straightforward: multiply the THC percentage (as a decimal) by the total milligrams of cannabis used. For example, using flower with 17% THC and 1,000 milligrams of cannabutter in a batch of brownies gives you about 170 milligrams of THC in the entire batch. Divided across servings, a single teaspoon of cannabutter made with moderately potent flower can contain roughly 29 milligrams of THC, which is a significant dose for most people. For context, a standard beginner dose for commercial edibles is typically 5 to 10 milligrams.
How the Effects Differ From Smoking
When you eat cannabutter in food, the experience is noticeably different from inhaling cannabis. The onset is much slower: effects typically begin 30 minutes to 2 hours after eating, and full effects can take up to 4 hours to peak. This delayed onset is one of the most common reasons people accidentally consume too much. They eat a portion, feel nothing after an hour, eat more, and then feel the combined effects hit all at once.
The effects also last significantly longer. While smoking cannabis produces a high that fades within a couple of hours, edibles made with cannabutter can produce effects lasting 4 to 12 hours, with some residual effects persisting up to 24 hours. This is because THC consumed orally is processed through the liver, which converts it into a metabolite that crosses into the brain more effectively and lingers longer than inhaled THC.
Storage and Shelf Life
Cannabutter behaves like regular butter when it comes to spoilage, with one added concern: THC and CBD degrade over time with exposure to light, heat, and air. Stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, cannabutter stays fresh for 2 to 3 weeks. In the freezer, it can last more than six months without significant loss of potency. Wrapping it tightly in parchment paper before placing it in a sealed container or freezer bag helps prevent freezer burn and keeps the flavor intact.