How to Make Compound Butter

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Compound Butter is an easy-to-make mixture of butter infused with your favorite ingredients. Compound Butter is great for elevating things like pasta sauces, steaks, or even bread. There's an endless amount of variations, but here are a few of our favorites.

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Start with room-temperature butter

Starting with soft, room-temperature butter will make the prep much easier when making compound butter. You can soften butter by microwaving it for just a few seconds, but it is best not to completely melt it because this will force the trapped air in the butter to escape.

Forming

After mixing the ingredients, forming it into a log makes serving and portioning very convenient; a sheet of plastic food wrap is great for this. Transfer the compound butter to a large sheet of plastic wrap and then fold the wrap over the butter to completely enclose it. Then use a bench scraper to form the butter into a log about 1.5-2 inches in diameter. Roll the log of butter, and pull the ends of the plastic wrap outward as you twist them to tightly compact the butter log. Then tie a knot in each end to prevent loosening.

Refrigerate

Once your butter log is formed, transfer the compound butter to the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to firm up.

Storage

Fresh compound butter will be best if refrigerated for up to about a week. If making a bigger batch, freeze the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

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RECIPES

Learn how to make a steak like a fancy steakhouse here.

Check out a few of our most popular compound butters:

Hot Honey Ranch Butter

Macha Fire Butter

GARLIC PEPPER BUTTER

• 1/2 C butter, unsalted and softened

• 1/2 medium lemon, juiced

• 1 TBSP black peppercorns, coarsely crushed

• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced

• 1 TBSP Fresh parsley, minced

• Salt to taste

CHIPOTLE BUTTER

• 1 chipotle pepper (in adobo)

• 1/2 C Butter, unsalted and softened

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/2 TBSP crushed red pepper

• Salt to taste

TUSCAN BUTTER (full details here)

• 1/2 C butter, unsalted and softened

• 1/4 C sun-dried tomatoes, minced

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1/4 C Parmigiano Reggiano, grated (about 20g)

• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, powder

• 1/4 tsp oregano, dried

• Salt to taste

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