How to Make Pistachio Buttercream Frosting (video)
The most delicious pistachio buttercream frosting recipe ever! I love this creamy and nutty flavored frosting for cakes, cupcakes, macarons and other desserts! It’s made with butter, salted pistachios, cream, vanilla extract and confectioner’s sugar. Plus, it’s super easy to make! This recipe is part of my ‘Back to Cake Basics’ series. Use these basic recipes for creating your own cakes and desserts! I use this pistachio frosting for my ‘Pistachio Honey Baklava Cake’, made with honey cake layers and loads of pistachios!
My Pistachio Buttercream Video Tutorial
Watch my YouTube video tutorial for step-by-step instructions for making this pistachio buttercream! Want to stay up to date on new recipes? Make sure to subscribe to my website emailing list and my YouTube channel and turn on notifications!
Ingredients for Pistachio Frosting
I love how easy and delicious this pistachio frosting is to make! You’ll need just a few ingredients to make this nutty frosting!
- Unsalted Butter: I recommend using unsalted butter since you’ll be able to adjust the amount of salt much easier. Most salted butters are quite salty and this will affect the flavor of the frosting.
- Pistachios: use roasted salted or unsalted butter for this recipe.
- Vanilla Extract: adding a few teaspoons of vanilla makes this frosting taste incredible!
- Heavy Cream: I add a little bit of cream to the pistachio paste to make it easier to mix it into the butter.
- Confectioner’s Sugar: sift the powdered sugar before using it to ensure the frosting is smooth and creamy. I also recommend using a fresh bag of sugar since it absorbs moisture very quickly. Old powdered sugar can cause the frosting to be grainy and sandy in texture.
Using Salted or Unsalted Pistachios
This pistachio buttercream frosting can be made with both salted and unsalted pistachios. I personally really like it with roasted and lightly salted pistachios. Having a little bit of salt in the recipe helps balance the sweetness from the powdered sugar. It creates a really delicious frosting that’s not overwhelming sweet!
Softening the Butter Properly
The most important step to making any buttercream is softening the butter properly! If you’ve ever had a flat and greasy frosting, that means the butter was too soft or melted.
- The butter should be just barely soft to touch! Not melted or too soft!
- Soften the butter at room temperature for best results.
- If you forgot to soften the butter, use this microwave trick to quickly soften butter. Place the butter sticks right side up and microwave in 10 second intervals, rotating and turning the butter each time. Make sure you don’t overheat the butter!
How to Make Pistachio Buttercream Frosting
You’ll love how easy it is to make this incredible pistachio frosting! It’s a perfect option for cakes, cupcakes, desserts and even for filling macarons! Here’s how to make it:
- Prepare the pistachio paste first. Place the shelled pistachios into a food processor, or a blender, and pulse until the pistachios are very well ground. Add in the heavy cream and pulse again until a thick paste forms. Set this paste aside.
- Soften the butter at room temperature until it’s lightly softened. Place the butter into a mixer bowl and attach a flat beater. Beat the butter on medium to high speed for 7 to 9 minutes, until the butter is fluffy and white in color. Scrap down the sides of the mixing bowl often to ensure all the butter is well mixed.
- Add in the pistachio paste and vanilla extract next. Beat for a few minutes, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl, until the butter and pistachio paste are well combined.
- Add the confectioner’s sugar next. Mix on low speed for, until the sugar is incorporated. Continue to beat on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until the buttercream is light and fluffy.
- If your buttercream is flat and doesn’t become fluffy, place it into the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. Once chilled, beat the frosting again until it’s fluffy.
- Keep the frosting refrigerated until you’re ready to use it.
How to Store Buttercream
If you’re not going to be using the frosting immediately to frost your cake or cupcakes, I recommend keeping it refrigerated. The pistachio buttercream will start to soften at room temperature when it’s kept out for a long time.
- Keep the frosting well covered with plastic wrap. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. When you’re ready to use it, allow the buttercream to soften at room temperature.
- For freezing the buttercream, place it into plastic container and seal it well. This frosting can be frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, then at room temperature.
Try It With These Recipes!
This delicious pistachio buttercream frosting is delicious with many different cakes and cupcakes! Here are a few different recipe ideas for you to try!
- Pistachio Honey Baklava Cake– if you love baklava, you’ll love this incredible honey cake with pistachio buttercream and crunchy pistachio filling!
- Chocolate Pistachio Cake – I love this rich, decadent chocolate cake with pistachio buttercream and chocolate ganache!
- Pistachio Pomegranate Cake – use this pistachio buttercream in place of the whipped cream frosting in the original recipe to add even more pistachio flavor!
- Pistachio Carrot Cake – replace the cream cheese frosting in my original cake recipe with this frosting for more pistachio flavor!
More Recipes!
Enjoyed this amazing buttercream frosting? Check out my ‘Back to Cake Basics’ series for more simple and basic recipes you can mix and match!
- Salted Caramel Buttercream – I love this rich, caramel frosting made with dulce de leche and fine sea salt!
- The Best Raspberry Buttercream – amazing berry frosting with real raspberry flavor! Made with raspberry sauce for the best berry flavor!
- How to Make French Buttercream – one of my favorite frosting recipes! This egg yolk, sugar syrup and butter-based frosting is super smooth and silky!
- Rich Chocolate Buttercream – the best chocolate frosting made with cocoa powder and dark chocolate. The combination makes for a rich tasting buttercream!
Share it on Pinterest!
Supplies & Tools
Need some supplies to make this frosting recipe? You can get them here (Amazon affiliate links):
- Salted, Shelled Pistachios – get a large bag of these pistachios and use the rest of them to make my Baklava Cake!
- Green Food Coloring – I recommend using concentrated gel food coloring for the best results. Americolor is my favorite brand.
- Disposable Pastry Bags – never wash another pastry bag again with these disposable bags! They come in a bulk roll that will last you a while!
- Jumbo Cake Decorating Tips – this collection of large decorating tips contains most of my favorites!
How to Make Pistachio Buttercream Frosting (video)
Ingredients
- 1 cup shelled pistachios, salted or unsalted
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 3 cups unsalted butter, softened at room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups confectioner's sugar
- green food coloring
Instructions
- Prepare the pistachio paste first. Place the shelled pistachios into a food processor, or a blender, and pulse until the pistachios are very well ground. Add in the heavy cream and pulse again until a thick paste forms. Set this paste aside.
- Soften the butter at room temperature until it’s lightly softened. Place the butter into a mixer bowl and attach a flat beater. Beat the butter on medium to high speed for 7 to 9 minutes, until the butter is fluffy and white in color. Scrap down the sides of the mixing bowl often to ensure all the butter is well mixed.
- Add in the pistachio paste and vanilla extract next. Beat for a few minutes, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl, until the butter and pistachio paste are well combined.
- Add the confectioner’s sugar next. Mix on low speed for, until the sugar is incorporated. Continue to beat on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until the buttercream is light and fluffy. If desired, add a few drops of green food coloring to make the color more pleasant.
- If your buttercream is flat and doesn’t become fluffy, place it into the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. Once chilled, beat the frosting again until it’s fluffy.
- If you’re not going to be using the frosting immediately to frost your cake or cupcakes, I recommend keeping it refrigerated.
Storing Buttercream:
- Keep the frosting well covered with plastic wrap. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. When you’re ready to use it, allow the buttercream to soften at room temperature. For freezing the buttercream, place it into plastic container and seal it well. This frosting can be frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, then at room temperature.
Best
I’m so glad you enjoy the recipe!
I have Pistachio Paste. Can I use that? How much would I use?
Yes, that should work great, too! Start with 1/2 cup of the paste and then adjust if you need more flavor. Enjoy!
I want to use this to fill a Yule log. How much does this recipe make?
This recipe makes approximately 4 cups of frosting. I love your idea! Enjoy! 🙂
I noticed you softening butter in the microwave. I do this very often because I forget to take the butter out on a regular basis. I’ve found that a stick of butter softens perfectly if you use the defrost setting for about 35-45 seconds. (Microwave power varies) 2 sticks take about 15-20 seconds more after you flip them over. Much less likely to melt than using the regular cook setting on the microwave. Btw, this frosting is SO good! ☺️
Hi! I’m so glad you enjoyed the frosting! One of my favorites! 🙂
My sister used to work in a bakery and shared this trick with me. I flip mine every 10 seconds so that it softens very evenly! Works so well! 🙂
This is so fluffy and so smooth. Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved it! 🙂
Hi.
Would this recipe be enough for a 3x 6inch cake?
Thank you 🙂
Hi Becky! Yes, this recipe will be more than enough for a 6-inch cake. If you usually apply a thinner layer of frosting on your cakes, you can reduce the recipe down to 3 cups. If you go to my recipe card, you can toggle the ‘servings’ and the recipe card will automatically update for you. Enjoy!
Thank you. I have decided on a 8ich 3x cake x
Fantastic🥰
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Excited to try this recipe. Are the pistachios roasted or unroasted?
Hi Sona! It’s one of my favorites! I hope you love it, too. I used roasted pistachios.
Volevo la ricetta con i grami, quanto ha una tazza in grami di burro, zucchero, panna …?
Hi Ramo! Please head down to the printable recipe card at the bottom. Hit the ‘Metric’ button right above the ingredient list and you’ll have the metric measurements. Let me know if you have any trouble.
Just want to confirm 3cups of butter or 3 sticks.
That seems like alot of butter
Hi Marlene! It’s 3 cups of butter, that will be six, 1/2 cup sticks. This recipe makes a larger batch of frosting. You can reduce the recipe by toggling the ‘Servings’ amount and the recipe measurements will automatically update for you.
Hope you enjoy the recipe!