Five basic ingredients and simple steps transform plain butter into delicious roasted garlic butter in no time in this easy recipe. With a variety of uses and make-ahead prep options, this compound butter can be frozen to preserve freshness.
Once you know how to roast garlic, there's no limit on the number of things you can make with an even deeper, more complex garlic flavor. As a certified garlic lover, sign me right up.
A straight-forward method like roasting garlic combines here with the simplicity of homemade compound butter, resulting in one seriously good roasted garlic butter.
I've long been a big fan of making compound butters for how easy, yet impressive they tend to be, and this one is no different. While it's just about the antithesis in flavor from the last one I shared (pumpkin spice butter), it's a perennial favorite in my house.
Reasons to Love This Recipe
- With super easy steps, this recipe has flexibility built right in. You can roast the garlic in advance to simplify day-of prep, and the whole thing can even be made days ahead of time.
- Have fresh roasted garlic butter now and later as it freezes beautifully.
- Beyond slathering on bread, this compound butter has lots of different uses, from topping steak and vegetables, making the ultimate garlic bread, etc.
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter: I prefer to make compound butter with unsalted butter so I can control the amount of salt in the recipe. That said, if you like to cook with salted butter, by all means use that and omit the added salt.
- Garlic: Look for firm garlic bulbs with smooth, not-too-withered skin. Avoid garlic that has green sprouts emerging from the top or darkened, softer spots in the cloves as these are indicators of older, less fresh garlic.
- Parsley: Chop finely to avoid any large chunks dominating a bite.
- Salt & Pepper: Add this to taste, but I've found one-quarter teaspoon to be the sweet spot.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Roast two heads of garlic, using the cloves from one-and-a-half heads for this recipe. Add those cloves to a bowl and mash with a fork or the back of a spoon. While it won't become super smooth, mash as many of the lumps as you can.
- As this roasted garlic mash to a mixing bowl, then add the softened butter, parsley, salt, and pepper. Beat everything well with an electric hand mixer until the butter reaches a light and creamy, whipped consistency.
- To shape compound butter into a log, transfer it to the center of a sheet of parchment paper. Roll up one side of the parchment to cover the butter, then use your hands to shape it into a rough cylinder. Roll all of the butter in the parchment until the log is smooth, then wrap snugly in plastic wrap to hold it all together.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- While you could use a food processor to make this butter, I much prefer sticking the mixing bowl and the two hand mixer whisk attachments in the dishwasher than hand-washing all of the food processor accoutrements.
- You can add additional seasonings as you like to this simple compound butter recipe, such as other fresh herbs, lemon juice, crushed red pepper, etc.
- Consider roasting more than two heads of garlic so you can prepare additional recipes with your leftover cloves. One of my favorites is homemade roasted garlic hummus (YUM).
Recipe FAQs
I believe you can, so long as it acts the same as regular butter, in that it softens at room temperature and firms up again once chilled. Note that I haven't tried it with this particular recipe.
A dollop served over grilled steak is *chef's kiss*. It can also be melted over vegetables, into mashed potatoes or pastas, on grilled shrimp, etc. It also provides a bold base when making garlic bread.
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Roasted Garlic Butter
Ingredients
- 1 ½ heads roasted garlic
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper or to taste
Instructions
Preparing the Butter:
- Roast two heads of garlic, then let them cool enough to handle. Remove the garlic cloves from one and a half heads and place these cloves in a bowl (ideally a mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer). Reserve the remaining cloves for another use.
- Use the tines of a fork or the back of a spoon to break up and smush the roasted garlic cloves into a mashed consistency. It won't become perfectly smooth, but try to mash up any of the bigger lumps.
- Add the softened butter, parsley, salt, and pepper to the mixing bowl with the mashed garlic. Using an electric mixer, beat the ingredients until they're well combined and the butter becomes light and whipped. Either transfer the butter to a bowl for serving, or shape it into a log.
Shaping into a Log:
- Transfer the whipped butter onto the center of a sheet of parchment paper.
- Loosely wrap one end of the parchment paper up over the butter and use it to shape the butter into a rough cylinder.
- Once a cylinder has formed, wrap the parchment closely around the log and roll it into a round, even log. Wrap the log snugly with plastic wrap (including the sides), then refrigerate until firm and sliceable.
Notes
- Butter: Salted butter can be used, though if doing so omit the added salt until you take a taste and see if you'd like more.
- Make-Ahead Prep: The garlic can be roasted and store in the refrigerator up to several days ahead of preparing this roasted garlic butter.
- Storage Instructions: Store butter in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze for longer.
- Freezer Instructions: To preserve this butter's freshness, consider slicing a log (once chilled) into several segments, wrapping them in plastic wrap, and freezing them individually. Transfer each mini log to the refrigerator to thaw before using. Compound butter will last for 3-4 months frozen.
- Prep Time: This includes one hour to roast the garlic and time to let it cool enough to be handled.
- Yield: This recipe yields 5 ounces (141 grams) of butter in total.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
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