How to Make Date Paste (Healthy Sugar Substitute)

Homemade date paste needs just 2 ingredients and takes 15 minutes to make (5 if you have a high speed blender!). This healthy substitute for sugar works well in drinks, desserts and baking.

Prep time: PT5M

Total time: PT15M

Rating

4.92 stars (35 reviews)

Keywords

easy recipe, healthy sweetener, natural sweetener, quick, sweetener

Ingredients

1 tightly packed cup dates, pitted (about 5oz or 150g)
¾ cup hot, recently boiled water

Cuisine

gluten-free
healthy
Oil-free
vegan
vegetarian

Steps

Add dates to a bowl. Cover with hot water and soak for 10 minutes.
Place dates AND soaking water in high speed blender. (NOTE: If your blender's instructions say not to blend hot liquids, wait until hot water has cooled before transferring contents.)
Blend for about one minute (turn power to high as soon as possible - dates will break down faster and get less stuck in blender). Scrape down sides of jug as needed.
Stop blending when you have a smooth paste. Pour into glass jar and refrigerate until needed.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 tbsp
Calories: 59 kcal
Carbohydrates: 15.6 g
Protein: 0.5 g
Fat: 0.1 g
Sodium: 1 mg
Sugar: 13.2 g

Reviews

Jocelyne on 2025-11-29 (5 stars):
I use dried dates (1kg block) . I chopped 1 cup of dates and let them soak in 3/4 cup of warm water. After a couple hours, I can just use a fork to mix it as a paste and use this mixture to replace sugar in many recipes. I never have to use my immersion blender but I could if I wanted it extra smooth. I love this as a topping for my mini pancakes. I was not sure of the water to date ratio and I ended up on your site. Thanks
Monique on 2025-05-27 (5 stars):
I used deglet noor dates. Delicious and not too sweet. Perfect recipe!
Jim Petrarca on 2024-10-22 (3 stars):
If you're using a Nutribullet blender, the safety instructions are very clear. DO NOT blend hot ingredients! So your instructions should be modified. Soak dates in hot water, and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature before blending. The alternative is to use room temperature water to start with and blend immediately. Otherwise, I like the simplicity of your recipe, and appreciate the shelf-life notes (store for up to two months). Now I know I can make a decent size batch and store most of it.
JumpinJack on 2024-04-23 (4 stars):
Great recipe. Just be aware that if increasing the quantity of dates , the hot water increases under the ingredient list BUT NOT on the directions as written. Use ALL the hot water per ingredients, not just the 3/4 Cup that is used for a single serving; ie: 4.5 times = 3 C dates & 2.25 C hot water.