Recipe: Herb Butter

When the herb garden starts going crazy, or you just couldn't control yourself at the market and ended up bringing home way more herbage than you needed for that one little recipe, it's time to make herb butter.

Keep it in the fridge and slather it on grilled fish, poultry, or red meat, veggies like corn on the cob, or put a nice pat of it on your favorite piping hot bread.

Herb Butter
makes about 1/2 cup (equivalent of 1 stick)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup finely chopped mixed herbs (such as basil, thyme, sage, parsley, dill, chives, tarragon, oregano, marjoram or rosemary)
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix well until herbs are distributed evenly. Dump onto a piece of waxed paper or parchment, shape into a cylinder or disk, and seal ends by twisting, or pack into a ramekin (however you prefer to store and serve it) and cover with plastic. Chill in refrigerator until firm, at least an hour.

Will keep in refrigerator for about 2 weeks, and in the freezer for a few months.

Comments (6)

I've been in love with strawberry butter at Fred's for years - do you have a recipe fruit based butters?

Also, you can freeze herb butter to use later. Wrap it in waxed paper.

yum, herbed butter is so good on seafood! i have some chives, parsley, and dill in the refrigerator that is going to go bad if i don't use it. thanks for the timely tip!

If you love those herbie butters you should try anchovy butter on a nice juciy Steak! Delicious!!

I also make sweet butter.

for eg mixing apple sauce with butter.
mango puree with butter

a little goes a long way in bringing in the flavor.

Good for making sandwiches - when one wants to make a sweet savoury type

I mix in herbs from the garden with cream cheese (I do the lite variety) - I mostly used dill & thyme - with a little salt and garlic powder.

It makes the most delicious open-faced tomato sandwich: toast a piece of yummy wheat bread, spread with the cream cheese, top with fresh sliced tomatoes (I use yellow b/c it looks gorgeous). Top with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and sprinkle with a little more dried or chopped fresh herb just for added color. Delish.