How to Make Garlic Butter

Co-authored by Jillian Fae Downing

Garlic and butter combine to make a delicious and creamy spread that you can put on bread, use in recipes, or just keep on hand to use in place of regular butter. You can also make garlic butter sauce to drizzle on meat, vegetables, and bread, or use in potato or gravy recipes and much more!

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter
½-1 teaspoon salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1-2 tablespoons fresh garlic (to taste)

Additional or Substitute Ingredients

Garlic powder
Other herbs (fresh or dried parsley, thyme, sage, basil, or rosemary)
Margarine, coconut oil, or olive oil
¼ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Chilies or hot peppers

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Making Spreadable Garlic Butter

1
Soften the butter. Let the butter sit, covered, at room temperature until it's soft and can be easily spread with a knife. Put the softened butter into a medium-sized bowl.
- For a dairy-free alternative, try margarine.
- Olive or coconut oil can also be used. Coconut oil has a very strong coconut taste, and olive oil is liquid so it will not become whipped and fluffy.
2
Mince the garlic. Press the garlic through a garlic press, or mince finely with a knife. Add the garlic to the butter.
- Garlic powder can be used instead of fresh garlic. Substitute one to two teaspoons of garlic powder.
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3
Add herbs and spices. Add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. You can substitute the seasoning with fresh herbs, but they will give the butter a different flavor than the dried herbs.
- Rosemary, parsley, and thyme all go well with butter. Basil or sage could also be used.
- For an extra decadent garlic butter with some zing, add one-quarter cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
- To add heat, add chili flakes or powder.
4
Beat ingredients together. Use a whisk or electric beaters to combine all the ingredients. This will help incorporate air into the mixture and make it light, fluffy, and whipped.
5
Use immediately or store for future use. Spreadable garlic butter can be used right away, or it can be covered and refrigerated for later use, though it will be harder to spread when it's cold.
- While butter can safely be stored on the counter, unused garlic butter should be refrigerated. Garlic-in-oil is best used immediately, but unused portions must be refrigerated and should be used within a week to prevent botulism.
- Garlic butter can be spread on bread, toast, corn on the cob, burgers, or anything else.
- Substitute garlic butter for any savory recipe that calls for plain butter to add some extra zip, such as scones or biscuits, cream sauces, or to cooked vegetables.
6
Freeze the garlic butter for extended shelf life. Put the garlic butter on wax paper and roll it into a log. Chill in the fridge until it has started to harden. With a knife, divide the butter log into disks that are one-half to one-inch thick. Once it's frozen, these can be pulled out individually and used without thawing the whole log. Cover the butter in the wax paper and freeze for two to three months.^{[1]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Making Garlic Butter Sauce

1
Clarify the butter. Clarified butter is butterfat that has been separated from the water and milk solids. It has a higher smoke point and longer shelf life than fresh butter.^{[2]
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- Put the butter in a heavy-bottom saucepan. Heat on medium until it's melted. Turn down the heat, and keep on a low boil until the top layer begins to froth and foam.
- Skim off the foamy layer with a spoon. What's left in the pan will be a liquid layer of butterfat in the middle, and the separated milk solids on the bottom.
- Continue heating on low until the milk solids begin to turn a light brown. Remove from the heat.
- Gently pour out the liquid into a separate saucepan, being sure the leave the milk solids in the bottom of the saucepan. If you have a strainer and cheesecloth, strain the liquid butterfat into the new saucepan.
- Discard the milk solids or keep them to add into gravy, mashed potatoes, or other recipes.
2
Add minced garlic, salt, herbs, and spices to the clarified butter. Heat on low for at least 20 minutes, so the garlic and herb flavors permeate the butter.
- You can use garlic powder instead of fresh garlic, and you can add any of the extra herbs or spices according to your taste.
- Cooking oils (like olive) can be substituted for the clarified butter at this stage, but be warned that different oils have different smoke points.
- Always start with less garlic than you need. You can always add more later if you need to!
3
Use immediately or store for future use. Although clarified butter has a longer shelf life than regular butter, adding garlic reduces the shelf life. Store unused portions in the refrigerator in a mason jar or covered container. Refrigerated clarified butter will not remain liquid, but can easily be melted into a sauce again.
- Strain out the herbs and garlic before use if you like, or leave them in for texture and additional flavor.
- The garlic butter sauce can be brushed on meat, fish, tofu, or vegetables, drizzled on bread, or used as a fondue sauce.

Community Q&A

Question

Approximately how many cloves of garlic equals a tablespoon?

Community Answer

About 3 cloves of garlic is roughly equal to a tablespoon. Make sure to finely mince or crush your garlic so you don't make your garlic butter too chunky.
Question

Should I bake the garlic first for 1 hour at 350 degrees?

Community Answer

You don't have to, but if you wanted to make a roasted garlic butter, you could.
Question

When the garlic butter made as described is refrigerated, is it suitable for use in a chicken breast?

Becca Atwood

Community Answer

Absolutely. There is no reason it wouldn't be suitable. Butter and garlic are both used extremely often when preparing chicken.