Compound Butter Recipes

Pesto butter

I like to make compound butters when I have guests over.  It’s an easy way to add impact to a meal without spending a lot of money. Most of the time, I have some fresh herb or spice on hand to flavor butter. What you choose to add to the butter doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. Simply adding scallions and garlic or a bit of pesto can up the ante of any dish.

Herb butter with scallions, parsley, and garlic

Using flavored butter on bread is a no-brainer. Here are some additional ideas for using compound butter:

• Grilled chicken, meat, or seafood with chili-lime butter
• Hamburgers with bacon-chive butter
• Baked potatoes with parlsey, garlic, and scallion butter
• Cilantro-lime butter with Mexican dishes
• Pasta and warm bread with pesto butter
• Sweet corn with herbed butter
• Pancakes with maple butter
• Cornbread with honey butter
• Toast with cinnamon-sugar butter
• Banana bread with honey butter

There are a million different ways to flavor butters, and you really can’t screw it up – so why not give it a try? I would love to hear your ideas below!

Sweet corn with herb butter

Curry honey butter

Compound Butter Recipes

Start out neutral by using unsalted butter. You can always add salt later, but you can't take it away.

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter
Desired add-ins (herbs, spices, flavorings, etc.)

Directions:

To make compound butter, start with softened butter and add desired herbs, spices, flavorings, and add-ins. The butter can be shaped into a log and cut into individual-sized slabs, put into individual dishes, and even made into fun shapes using a pastry bag. Chill butter after preparing and before serving to harden.

Butter can be stored in the fridge for a few days (if using fresh herbs), up to a week (if using dried spices), or frozen for up to three months.

For pesto butter:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon pesto sauce

For herb butter:
1 stick unsalted butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped scallion
Pinch of salt
Pinch of garlic powder

For curry honey butter:
1 stick unsalted butter
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon yellow curry powder