Shea butter is a slightly yellowish or ivory-colored fat extracted from the nut of the African shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa). It is widely used in cosmetics as a moisturizer, salve or lotion. Shea butter is edible and may be used in food preparation. Occasionally the chocolate industry uses shea butter mixed with other oils, as a substitute for cocoa butter, although the taste is different.

The English word "shea" comes from s'í, the tree's name in the Bamana language of Mali. The French name karité comes from ghariti, its equivalent in the Wolof language of Senegal.

The traditional method of preparing unrefined shea butter consists of the following steps:

Industrially, a mechanical sheller such as the Universal Nut Sheller may be used, although controversy over its usability with shea nuts is reported in that article. The refined butter may be extracted with chemicals such as hexane, or by clay filtering.

Shea butter extract is a complex fat that contains, besides many nonsaponifiable components (substances that cannot be fully converted into soap by treatment with alkali), the following fatty acids:oleic acid (40-60%), stearic acid (20-50%), linoleic acid (3-11%), palmitic acid (2-9%), linolenic acid(<1%) and arachidic acid(<1%).