Solvent‐free lipase‐catalyzed incorporation of stearic acid in palm olein by the 1,3‐regiospecific Novo Lipase Lipozyme IM20 resulted in the formation of a complex mixture of fatty acid glycerides and free fatty acids. The stearoyl incorporation in palm olein gave rise to the formation of 39.3% of the desired cocoa butter‐like triglycerides in the fatty acid glyceride portion, namely distearoyl‐oleoyl‐glycerol (SOS), palmitoyl‐oleoyl‐stearoyl‐glycerol (POS) and dipalmitoyl‐oleoyl‐glycerol (POP). A combination of fractionation steps involving initially the removal of free fatty acids (FFA) from the product mixture by steam distillation under vacuum, followed by fractional crystallization of the fatty acid‐free glycerides in hexane and/or acetone, gave a fat, whose triglyceride composition and melting profile were comparable to that of cocoa butter as adduced by reversed‐phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The yield of the cocoa butter‐like fat was approximately 25% of the weight of the original palm olein.