Can You Add Cannabis to Any Recipe?
Almost any recipe that uses butter, oil, or another fat can be turned into a cannabis edible by substituting an infused version of that fat. The key is understanding which recipes adapt well, how to substitute properly, and how to keep the dose consistent.
Have you ever wished you could turn your own favorite recipes into your own personal DIY cannabis cookbook? Perhaps you have thought about it but were unsure how to go about turning regular recipes into edibles. How fun would it be to take Grandma Sue’s apple pie recipe or Uncle Lou’s BBQ sauce and turn them into edibles?
With a little knowledge, you can add cannabis to almost ANY recipe. And have it taste good. And have it carry a dosage that meets your needs.
The main limitation is recipes with no fat at all — if there’s no butter, oil, cream, or other fat in the recipe, there’s nowhere for the cannabinoids to bind. But most of the recipes people actually want to make (cookies, brownies, sauces, pasta dishes, even salad dressings) have fat in them. Which means they’re fair game.
How Do You Substitute Cannabutter or Cannabis Oil in a Recipe?
The basic rule is simple: substitute cannabutter 1:1 for regular butter, or cannabis-infused oil 1:1 for regular oil. If your recipe calls for 1 cup of butter, use 1 cup of cannabutter. That’s it.
But here’s what most people figure out pretty quickly: using ALL cannabutter often makes the dose per serving way too strong. That’s why many home cooks use a half-and-half approach — part cannabutter, part regular butter — to dial in the dose they actually want.
For example, if your cookie recipe calls for 1 cup of butter and you want a milder dose, use ½ cup cannabutter and ½ cup regular butter. You’ve just cut the dose per cookie in half without changing the recipe at all. This is the simplest way to control strength, and it works with any recipe.
Cannabis-infused coconut oil is another great option, especially for savory cooking. It substitutes 1:1 anywhere you’d use regular oil. Some people actually prefer it because coconut oil is high in medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), which may improve how well your body absorbs the cannabinoids.
What’s the Easiest Way to Start Cooking With Cannabis?
If you’re brand new to cannabis cooking, start with recipes that are simple and forgiving. Rice Krispie treats, boxed brownie mixes, and no-bake recipes are the classic beginner choices because they require minimal skill and the cannabutter does all the work.
Rice Krispie treats are my go-to recommendation for first-timers. No baking, no complicated steps — just melt cannabutter with marshmallows, stir in cereal, and you’re done in 10 minutes. If you can melt butter, you can make them. (And honestly, they’re one of the most popular recipes on cannabischeri.com for a reason.)
Boxed brownie mix is the next step up — just swap the butter or oil in the box directions for your infused version. Brownies are forgiving because the rich chocolate flavor masks any cannabis taste, and the dense batter distributes the cannabutter evenly.
Once you’re comfortable with the basics, you can start adapting your own recipes. That’s where it gets really fun — and where a little more knowledge about infusion ratios and dosing goes a long way.
Does Cooking Destroy the THC in Your Edibles?
No — baking at standard temperatures (350°F and below) does not destroy the THC in your edibles. This is one of the most persistent myths in cannabis cooking, and it stops a lot of people from even trying.
Here’s what’s actually going on: your oven might be set to 350°F, but the internal temperature of your cookies or brownies stays much lower than that while they bake. THC doesn’t start breaking down significantly until around 245°F (118°C), and the inside of most baked goods never gets anywhere near that temperature. Your cannabinoids are safe.
Where you DO need to be careful is during the infusion process itself. If you overheat your butter or oil while infusing it with cannabis, you can degrade the THC before you even start cooking. Low and slow is the rule for making infusions — keep the temperature gentle and you’ll preserve the potency.
One more thing worth knowing: decarboxylation — the process of converting THCa and CBDa in raw cannabis into the active THC and CBD your body can use — requires heat. So heat isn’t the enemy. It’s essential. You just need the right amount at the right time. Learn more about proper decarboxylation here.
How Do You Control the Dose When Adapting Recipes?
Controlling dose in adapted recipes comes down to knowing two things: how potent your infused butter or oil is, and how much of it goes into each serving. Once you have those numbers, the math is straightforward.
This is honestly the trickiest part of cannabis cooking — and where most people either get frustrated or just wing it and hope for the best. The problem is that when you adapt a recipe, the amount of butter or oil it calls for might deliver a dose that’s way too strong (or too weak) for what you actually want.
The solution is working backward from your target dose. If you want each brownie to be 10mg THC and your recipe makes 12 brownies, you need 120mg THC total in the batter. If your cannabutter has 50mg per tablespoon, you need about 2.5 tablespoons of cannabutter — and you fill the rest of the butter measurement with regular butter.
Sound like a lot of math? It is — which is exactly why I created the dosing calculator that does all of it for you. You plug in your numbers, it tells you how much cannabutter to use. Done.
This is actually one of the things that makes Cannademy’s Cannabis Cooking Course unique — it doesn’t just teach you how to make cannabutter and a few standard recipes. It teaches you how to adapt ANY recipe for cannabis cooking. Proper dosing, proper cannabis cooking temperatures, making infusions, cooking with concentrates, and improving flavor — it’s all covered.
Once enrolled, you get lifetime access to the course on all your devices so that you can fit it in whenever you have time. The classes are modular and short so you can always go back and put your finger on the information you need when you need it. You also get access to me for questions or troubleshooting.
Ready to Go Deeper?
• Cannabis Cooking for Home Cooks — the complete system for adapting any recipe into an edible
• Dosing Calculator App ($5) — instant dose calculations for every batch
• FREE Dosing Class — learn the dosing basics before you start cooking
• Cannabis recipes on cannabischeri.com — hundreds of tested cannabis recipes to get you started