Making your own keto herb butter (compound butter) is a great way to add flavor and herbs to your meal.
These four herbed butter flavors are fun and easy to make. All you need is a stick of butter and some herbs!
If you want to impress your dinner guests, or simply want to add some extra flavor to your meal, then keep some of these herb butter recipes in your fridge or freezer!
Following keto diet or a low-carb diet? You're in luck, this homemade herb butter has absolutely zero carbs! Even if you aren't watching your carb count, you will want to make herb butter again and again.
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What is compound butter?
Compound butter (herb butter) is softened butter (usually salted butter) that has been mixed with fresh herbs and spices. The flavored herb butter quickly adds flavor to fresh bread, corn on the cob, baked chicken, barbecue meat, and steamed vegetables.
Once you learn how to make homemade herb butter, you can flavor almost any savory dish.
- Use garlic herb butter to make garlic bread
- Use tarragon butter on roast chicken
- Use fresh sage and honey butter on roast lamb
How to measure butter
Butter can be measured by cups, grams, ounces, or a stick of butter.
Using these quick butter conversion charts will show you the best way to measure butter, and how to convert recipes.
Ingredients
The ingredient list for this flavorful butter is short and sweet. All you need is softened butter and the herbs or add-ins of your choice! To get you started, here are 4 variations to try:
Which butter is best?
Because the butter itself is such a crucial part of this homemade herb butter recipe, I strongly suggest you purchase the best quality of butter you can afford. It makes a big difference!
Is salted ur unsalted butter best? It's up to your preferences. salted butter is the most commonly used butter but you can use unsalted butter and then season with salt to your liking
Garlic herb butter with chives
For the exact quantities, see the herb butter recipe card below.
- butter
- fresh chopped chives
- minced garlic
Rosemary and lemon butter
- butter
- lemon zest
- dried (or fresh) rosemary
Dill and lemon butter
- butter
- lemon zest
- dried dill
Blue cheese butter
- butter
- blue cheese
Blue cheese butter...can you imagine anything better melting over thick, juicy grilled steaks? or how about spread over keto crackers or keto breadsticks.
Instructions
To make fresh herb butter, start by softening a stick of butter or to room temperature. Then, add in your herbs of choice and mix well. I like to use a combination of fresh and dried herbs for the best flavor, but either works fine.
To mix the compound herb butter, I have found it easiest to just use a fork. Simply mash away until it's well mixed!
Once everything is mixed together, place the herb butter in a small dish and refrigerate for at least an hour so that the flavors have a chance to meld and infuse.
Storage
You can store the herbed butter in your fridge in a container wrapped in plastic wrap or rolled as a log shape in baking parchment paper for several days. I suggest plastic wrap to help keep the flavor fresh.
You can also freeze herb butter by placing it in an airtight container or an ice cube tray for individual portions. Freeze for up to a month and enjoy!
Variations
The beautiful thing about homemade herbed butter (compound butter) is you can easily change it up by switching out the finely chopped herbs you use. Here are a few ideas:
Homemade flavored butter ideas:
- sun-dried tomato butter
- butter made with fresh thyme
- tarragon butter
- swap out lime zest for lemon
- mint butter
- sage butter
- spicy butter with red pepper flakes
- cilantro lime butter
See what I mean? Choose an herb and mix it up - it's practically guaranteed to be better than regular butter.
How to serve flavored herb butter
Compound butter is incredibly versatile, and as you've seen, it's not difficult to make - easy peasy. Yet they look incredibly beautiful to serve and enjoy. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
Host a dinner party and lay out the fresh butter mixture options. Guests can pick their favorite option to flavor their food.
Want an easy way to get kids to eat their veggies? This is it! Children can lavish herbed butter on their vegetables (so can adults) and watch them empty their plates as quick as a flash.
Now we talk steaks - nothing, absolutely nothing, beats a beautifully cooked steak with blue cheese (IMHO). So if you're hosting a summer BBQ or a winter steak night, offer these herbed butters.
It's not just great on steak either! In fact, if you like a salmon steak, the dill and lemon are the perfect match. Perhaps the rosemary and lemon would be fabulous on a lamb steak while the garlic herb butter may be perfect for some vegetable kebabs.
Want even more ideas for serving this yummy herb butter?
- Serve with steamed vegetables
- Stir through mashed cauliflower (every bit as good as baked potatoes or mashed potatoes with none of the guilt)
- Add to scrambled eggs
- Serve with steaks - fish, lamb, beef, pork...
- Stir through zoodles
- Spread on FatHead crackers
FAQs about herb butter
That is completely up to you! I prefer a more flavorful butter, so I like to use salted butter. However, I know some people prefer using unsalted butter so they can control the amount of salt in the recipe.
If you do opt for unsalted butter, I'd recommend giving it a quick taste as you are mixing it up to make sure it's to your liking and you don't need to add salt.
Again, this is a matter of preference. I like to use both fresh and dried herbs when making herb butter because it results in the best flavor.
If you only have one or the other on hand, then don't worry – you can still make delicious herb butter!
Using fresh herbs? Just make sure to wash and dry them, then chop them finely for best results.
If you need to soften butter, there are a few methods you can use.
The first is to set the stick of butter out on the counter for an hour or so until it comes to room temperature. If you're in a hurry, though, you can also cut the stick of butter into small cubes and place them in a microwave-safe bowl.
Microwave the butter on low power for 5-10 seconds at a time, stirring in between until it's softened. You'll need to be careful with this method as the butter can easily melt if zapped for too long!
A third method is to place the stick of butter in a double boiler over a bowl of warm water for a few minutes until it softens. Again, just keep a close eye so it doesn't melt!
📖 Recipe
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Herbed Butter Recipe (4 Flavours)
Calculate ingredients
Ingredients
Rosemary And Lemon
- 110 g (1 stick) butter softened
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Dill And Lemon
- 110 g (1 stick) butter softened
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
Garlic And Chives
- 110 g (1 stick) butter softened
- 1 tablespoon fresh chives chopped finely
- 1 clove (1 clove) garlic minced crushed
Blue Cheese
- 110 g (1 stick) butter softened
- 50 g (1.76 oz) blue cheese
Equipment
Instructions
- With each herbed butter recipe, gently mix the softened butter with the herbs using a fork to mash and mix the butter well.
- Place each herbed butter in its own serving dish or platter as shown.
- Can be frozen in individual ice cube trays and kept for up to 1 month in the freezer. Cover with cling film or pop into an airtight container after they are frozen so you separate the aroma of the herbed butter from the contents of your freezer.
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Approximate nutrition information is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. For the most accurate nutritional data, use the actual ingredients and brands you used in your preferred nutrition calculator.
Nino
Vegeterians dont eat animals - salmon - fish. Just sayin 😉
Marla
It never says the recipes are vegetarian - just carb conscious and gluten free.
Isabel
Who doesn't love herbed butter? And indeed it really works with everything!
Thank you for the reminder, it's time to make some new to have ready I the freezer...