Homemade Herb Butter (aka. Compound Butter)
This homemade herb butter is versatile and easy to make. Plus, it’s a fantastic way to preserve your fresh summer herbs to enjoy all year long!
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I donโt know about you, but where we live, summer ended pretty abruptly this year. One minute the sun was still shining, and BAM, rainstorms and thunder showers moved in and summer officially came to a very sudden, very sad end; The kind when youโre just not quite ready to say goodbye to a season yet because you donโt feel like you really got to enjoy it in all its glory.
Thatโs the thing about this homesteading life: summers seem to just fly by because weโre so busy gardening and harvesting that itโs hard to justify taking a moment to just sit back and enjoy it all.
Luckily we did squeeze in some camping this year and a few solid days at the beach and waterpark, but we really did spend most of the summer working. Between all of that gardening and preserving, launching a brand new website and a brand new magazine too, I feel like I spent most of the summer either in front of a computer, in the kitchen or with my nose just inches away from the dirt! And hey, itโs not such a bad way to spend a summer, but still, Iโm not quite ready to say goodbye just yet!
Even so, the reality is that the rains came early this year, and now weโre scrambling to get the rest of our summer crops harvested and put up before they rot out there:(
But as much as the tomatoes and peppers really need my attention right now, I wanted to make sure to get a bunch of my herbs preserved before it gets too cold. Iโve already dried a bunch and made some infusions, but I really wanted to preserve the taste and freshness of my summer herbs just as they are right now but to enjoy all winter long.
Related: The Easy Way to Grow, Harvest & Preserve Basil
My favourite way to do this is by making herb butter, otherwise known as โcompound butter,โ which essentially just means butter mixed with other ingredients (in this case, herbs:)
The great thing about making compound butter with herbs from your garden is that you can use fresh herbs and preserve them at their peak, so that when it comes time to enjoy them, itโs almost as if you just cut them fresh from your garden!
You can enjoy the finished herb butter on everything from bread and biscuits to meat (think steak, roast, roasted chicken, turkey, etc.), to vegetables (carrots, potatoes or even mushrooms fried in herb butterโฆ YUM!) We even like to roll our corn in herb butter when itโs fresh and soft in the summer time!
How delicious does this herby butter look? (Pay no attention to the girl who’s hands clearly need a fresh manicure!)
You can use pretty much any herbs you like to make herb butter at home, and Iโll give you a few suggestions below, as well as full recipes for my favourite blends. But just know that youโre free to get creative with your ingredients and with the amounts of herbs/ingredients that you use in your blends. There really arenโt any hard and fast rules about ratios or ingredients when it comes to making compound butter. Do it according to your tastes and how much of each ingredients you have on hand:)
That being said, there are definitely certain flavour profiles that go together better than others, so if youโre not quite sure where to start, here are the recipes I make regularly and that our family lovesโฆ
How to make herb butter at home (3 ways)
There are many different herbs and ingredients you can combine to make herb butters (aka. compound butters) at home. But before I share our familyโs favourite recipes with you, first Iโll share the directions, since the directions are the same no matter what herbs you useโฆ
Related: 13 Culinary & Medicinal Herbs for your Summer Herb Garden
Directions:
- Combine butter and herbs together in a mixing bowl. If you have a hand mixer, you can use that to wipe all ingredients together. Otherwise just use a mixing spoon. Mix well to combine all ingredients together.
- Transfer herb butter into a container (if storing in the fridge) or scoop herb butter onto a piece of plastic wrap and roll in plastic to freeze.
If youโve got lots of herbs you want to preserve, you can mix them up in a batch of compound butter and freeze them. The easiest way Iโve found is to roll the herb butter into a log in some plastic wrap, label it and store it in the freezer.
Here’s what that looks like:
Then when ready to use, just slice off however much you need to use and allow it to come to room temperature.
Alright, now that you know how to make herb butter, here are my familyโs three favourite recipes, along with some other suggested flour combinations.
Garlic & Chive Butter
A Classic! Use this garlic and chive butter on toasted garlic bread, whipped into mashed potatoes or on top of baked potatoes.
- 1 cup salted butter (room temperature)
- ยผ cup finely chopped garlic
- ยฝ cup chopped chives
Garlic, Rosemary & Thyme Butter
This garlic, rosemary and thyme butter is perfect rubbed all over a roast. Whether roast beef, roast chicken or roast turkey, you canโt go wrong basting with this compound herb butter.
- 1 cup salted butter (room temperature)
- ยผ cup finely chopped garlic
- ยผ cup finely chopped rosemary
- ยผ cup finely chopped thyme
Mint, Parsley & Chive Butter
The combination of mint, parsley and chives in this compound butter will take you back to summer no matter what time of year you enjoy it. Add it to scrabbled eggs for, smear it on biscuits or roll your corn on the cob in it.
- 1 cup salted butter (room temperature)
- ยผ cup finely chopped mint
- ยผ cup finely chopped parsley
- ยผ cup finely chopped chives
Other herb butter flavour combinations
Here are some other flavour combinations to try out when making your compound butterโฆ
- Basil & lemon zest
- Lavender & honey
- Rosemary & orange zest
- Sage, rosemary & garlic
- Parsley, chives & dill
- Basil, oregano, rosemary & thyme
You can also make single-herb compound butters. Try tarragon butter on chicken, sage butter on roast turkey, lemon balm butter on seafood or pasta, mint butter on roast lamb or rosemary butter on roast beef.
Whatever flavour combinations you choose, be sure to add compound butter to your list of preserves this summer (before the summerโs gone for good!)
Of course, be sure to dry some too to add to sauces, soups and stews throughout the winter months, or to infuse or enjoy as tea.
What about you? Have you made compound butter before? Whatโs your favourite combo? Let me know in the comments below!
- 1 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
- ยพ cup fresh herbs (see recipe suggestions above)
- Combine butter and herbs together in a mixing bowl. If you have a hand mixer, you can use that to wipe all ingredients together. Otherwise just use a mixing spoon. Mix well to combine all ingredients together.
- Transfer herb butter into a container (if storing in the fridge) or scoop herb butter onto a piece of plastic wrap and roll in plastic to freeze.
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โNot eating mushrooms is like not eating an entire food groupโฆ And a healthy one.โ
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So while I still struggle with this daily, and I donโt have any easy answers for how to overcome this, I wanted to share that today Iโm choosing slow; Today Iโm choosing to be present in the here and now rather than worrying about yesterday or tomorrow; Today Iโm choosing snuggles with my baby boy over emails and deadlines, and while I still feel that guilt rising up inside me, Iโm making a conscious effort to remind myself that the world wonโt end because I chose to slow down today, and at the end of my life I wonโt regret taking this time with my son, but I might regret NOT slowing down to enjoy it.
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In the dark, bitter cold days of midwinter when weโve been deprived of quality time in the sunshine and the trees are all bare, it can be easy for almost anyone to feel depressed and to overlook the tiny miracles that are happening all around us.โฃ
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While most people run to the store every time they need something, you and I are not most people. Oh no friendโฆ We are modern homesteaders.โฃ
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๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐'๐ ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ: โฃ
Breakfastsโฃ
Soupsโฃ
Homemade Breadsโฃ
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Snacks & Sidesโฃ
Sweets & Treatsโฃ
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So whether youโre trying to save a little extra money on your grocery bill, or prioritizing rest this season these 35 frugal recipes will help you get good, wholesome, delicious homemade food on the table every day, which means you have one less thing to stress about. โฃ
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Check out the full list at https://thehouseandhomestead.com/frugal-recipes-roundup/ or visit the link in my bio. โฃ
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Eat well friends:)
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In our Winter Issue of Modern Homesteading Magazine, my friend and fellow homesteader, Ashley Constance of @alittleselfreliant wrote "Breaking Your Cabin Fever" a list of ideas for staying productive over the winter months. โฃ
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If you're feeling a bit restless and up to it, this list of ideas is a perfect way to get back into a daily routine. โฃ
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From making and creating, to preparing, planning and organizing you'll be feeling ready for Spring in no time. โฃ
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To see the full list, subscribe to Modern Homesteading Magazine here at https://modernhomesteadingmagazine.com/subscribe/ or visit the link in my bio.
Homesteading is a year-round lifestyle, andโฃ
for whatever reason, homesteading is most often thought of as a three-season โactivity.โ โฃ
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1. ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. โฃ
2. ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ.โฃ
3. ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ถ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ญ. โฃ
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So much of homesteading centers around preparing for winter. But what happens when winter finally arrives?โฃ
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Sure, we could just hunker down and relax, enjoy the fruits of our labour and rest until spring returns and the really busy seasons begin again. But the very nature of most homesteaders is that we tend to enjoy keeping busy. In other words, we tend to go a bit stir crazy sitting around on the couch for too long.โฃ
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Now, let me just make this clear before we continue: I think itโs VERY important to take time to rest whenever possible so that you can feel rejuvenated and be more productive when you really need to be, but if youโre looking for some (mostly relaxing) homesteading activities that you can do throughout the winter months to help keep you occupied, Iโve got a few suggestions for you:) โฃ
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My full list of winter homesteading activities can be found here https://thehouseandhomestead.com/winter-homesteading-activities/ โฃ
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Happy homesteading!
Hi Anna, again, this question has nothing to do with compound butter. However, I need an answer about baking. Are you a baker of breads and/or a maker of yogurt?
I am using stevia as a sweetener in liquid refreshments. My question is this; can you use the bulk sweetener in making yogurt and baking breads. Thanks in advance
I am a baker/maker of both:) As for using Stevia, you should be able to use it in place of sugar in both bread and yogurt. For homemade yogurt, I don’t use any sugar/sweetener unless I’m looking to sweeten it afterward. In this case, you could of course use Stevie to sweeten to your liking. Here’s my recipe for homemade yogurt.
With bread, it depends on the bread, but most breads only call for a small amount of added sugar, or even none at all. I’m sure you could substitute sugar for Stevia or omit it altogether in most recipes and you would probably be fine. The only time I know you really should use real sugar is when making a ferment like kombucha. Even for sourdough starter, all you need is flour and water.
Hi Anna, Hope that you are well. Thanks for all of your wonderful posts. I usually make ‘Tarragon” butter. I absolutely LOVE Tarragon.
On a different subject, I was unable to download the latest magazine. Have never had that problem before. Is there a way that I can still get it?
Again, thaks
Hi Suzanne,
I love tarragon too, and I happen to have some fresh right now. I hadn’t actually thought of making tarragon butter with it but I think I’ll have to try it:) As for the magazine, I double checked and you’re definitely subscribed. Was it the April issue you were after?
If I had to sub a dried herb in place of one of the fresh herbs, how much would I use in place of 1/4c?
Hi Christine,
If using dried herbs, I would probably do about one tablespoon for every 1/4 cup of fresh herbs. If possible, using fresh herbs is preferable with this recipe as it preserves the flavour and texture of fresh herbs really nicely:) However dried herbs will still add flavour and will work in a pinch.