Recipe: Herb Butter

Sara Kate Gillingham
Sara Kate Gillingham
Sara Kate is the founding editor of The Kitchn. She co-founded the site in 2005 and has since written three cookbooks. She is most recently the co-author of The Kitchn Cookbook, published in October 2014 by Clarkson Potter.
updated Jun 6, 2019
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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.