How to Make Clarified Butter (and Ghee!)
Learn how to make clarified butter or ghee on the stovetop with just butter and a few kitchen tools.
Look, we all love butter. Butter does so much heavy lifting in both cooking and baking — giving biscuits their flaky layers, smothering our steaks in flavor, and being tossed with our pasta.
That said, cooking with butter can be tricky. It has a low smoke point that can make cooking with it, especially over high heat a tense affair. Enter: clarified butter and ghee. Here, we break down everything you need to know about these two cooking fats, plus how to make them.
What is Clarified Butter?
Butter is fundamentally different from most other cooking fats. Most fats you use in cooking — like vegetable oil and olive oil, for example — are just that. Fat. Butter, on the other hand is made up of butterfat, milk solids, and water. The milk solids bring a lot in terms of flavor, but they also contribute to butter’s low smoke point. Butter can go from delicious and melty to burnt mess over high heat very quickly. Clarified butter sorts that problem out by removing the milk solids.
What is Ghee?
Ghee is a type of clarified butter that has roots in Indian cooking. It goes one step further in the cooking process by simmering out most of the water in butter, in addition to the milk solids. Ghee is cooked just a bit longer than clarified butter, to the point that the milk solids are just beginning to brown. Ghee is useful for all kinds of kitchen projects, from curries and stir-fries to pastries and hollandaise sauce.
Whats the Difference Between Clarified Butter and Ghee?
The goal of clarifying butter is to remove the five percent or so of the butter that is not fat but is water and milk proteins. Ghee takes this one step further by allowing the milk solids to brown (and likely further driving out any water left in clarifying) adding both color and flavor to the finished ghee. Browned butter, while seemingly similar to these two, isn’t quite the same — browned butters only goal is toasted milk solids for flavor so it can be done quickly over moderate heat and can be left strained or unstained. It’s also worth noting: browned butter isn’t ideal for high-heat cooking as clarified butter and ghee are.
What Do Clarified Butter and Ghee Taste Like?
Clarified butter, and especially ghee, have a sweeter taste and creamier mouthfeel. You’re not going quite so far as making brown butter here, but you will start to get some of the same aromas and flavors.
What Are Clarified Butter and Ghee Used For?
Clarified butter and ghee have a higher smoke point that regular butter, so they can be used for cooking over high heat — like to sear meat or fry eggs — without burning. You can use it like you would any cooking fat. Try roasting vegetables or toasting grains with it.
When used in baking, these pure butterfats also helps baked goods brown more evenly. When used in butter-based sauces like hollandaise, clarified butter makes a more stable emulsion.
How to Store Clarified Butter and Ghee
These cooked butters have a longer shelf life than regular butter and stores well at room temperature, even in higher heat climates. You can store it in the fridge in an airtight container for about three months or freeze it for up to six months.
Clarified Butter and Ghee
Learn how to make clarified butter or ghee on the stovetop with just butter and a few kitchen tools.
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
At least 1/2 pound (2 sticks) of butter or as much as you'll use within a few months
Equipment
Small saucepan
Spoon or ladle for skimming foam
Heat-proof bowl
Strainer
Cheesecloth or coffee filter
Jar for storage
Instructions
Melt the butter. Melt the butter in the saucepan over medium-low heat. Once all the butter has melted, you want the butter at a very low and gentle simmer. Adjust the heat as needed.
Skim the foam. Continue simmering the butter over low heat. Skim the foam as it rises to the surface. Solid particles will also start dropping to the bottom of the pan; these can be strained out later. Don't worry about skimming every last bit of foam; the remaining foam can be strained out later.
Strain and store. Place the strainer over the heat-proof bowl and line it with the cheesecloth or filter. When no more foam forms on the surface, remove the butter from heat and pour it through the strainer, leaving the solids in the bottom of the pan. Once the butter has cooled a bit, pour it into a jar and store in the fridge for up to three months or freeze for up to six months.
To make ghee. Instead of straining the clarified butter right away, continue simmering it over very low heat until the butter changes color from light yellow to deep gold, turns clear, and the remaining foam clumps together and falls to the bottom. Keep a close eye on things so that the butter doesn't start to burn. Some lighter foamy bubbles may form after the solid white foam falls - that's ok! Strain and store as with clarified butter. If desired, add a few fenugreek seeds to the ghee.
Recipe Notes
• That foam skimmed off the top is actually pretty tasty! Use it on popcorn, toss it with steamed vegetables, or stir it into soups.
• If you don't feel like going to the trouble of skimming the foam or are clarifying a large amount of butter, just wait for the foam to drop to the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat immediately and strain as normal.