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!
* * *
I don’t 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 you’re just not quite ready to say goodbye to a season yet because you don’t feel like you really got to enjoy it in all its glory.
That’s the thing about this homesteading life: summers seem to just fly by because we’re so busy gardening and harvesting that it’s 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, it’s not such a bad way to spend a summer, but still, I’m not quite ready to say goodbye just yet!
Even so, the reality is that the rains came early this year, and now we’re 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. I’ve 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 “compound butter,” 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, it’s 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 butter… YUM!) We even like to roll our corn in herb butter when it’s 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 I’ll give you a few suggestions below, as well as full recipes for my favourite blends. But just know that you’re free to get creative with your ingredients and with the amounts of herbs/ingredients that you use in your blends. There really aren’t 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 you’re not quite sure where to start, here are the recipes I make regularly and that our family loves…
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 family’s favourite recipes with you, first I’ll share the directions, since the directions are the same no matter what herbs you use…
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 you’ve 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 I’ve 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 family’s 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)
- ¼ cup finely chopped garlic
- ½ 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 can’t go wrong basting with this compound herb butter.
- 1 cup salted butter (room temperature)
- ¼ cup finely chopped garlic
- ¼ cup finely chopped rosemary
- ¼ 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)
- ¼ cup finely chopped mint
- ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
- ¼ cup finely chopped chives
Other herb butter flavour combinations
Here are some other flavour combinations to try out when making your compound butter…
- 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 summer’s 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? What’s your favourite combo? Let me know in the comments below!
- 1 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
- ¾ 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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First of all, I just want to say a huge THANK YOU for all of the support during this difficult time.
(See my last post from yesterday if you're not sure what I'm talking about).
Second, despite the lows of the past week, it does bring me joy to announce that I've opened up the doors to my Yes, You CAN! home canning course once again, and for a limited time only, I'm offering an additional $20 discount off the total cost of the course.
(Just use code TAKE20 at checkout).
Over the course of 12 video lessons, I'll walk you through everything you need to get started canning food (safely) at home.
You'll learn about canning safety and equipment, how to operate a water bath canner and a pressure canner, and I'll show you in detail how to can everything from jams and pickles to stocks and vegetables.
You'll also get some pretty awesome bonuses, including my Jams and Jellies 4-Part Mini-Series, my brand new Home Canning Handbook (complete with 30 of my favourite canning recipes), and access to our private Facebook group, where you can ask questions and get ongoing support.
Plus, if you enroll before midnight tomorrow night, you'll also get a free copy of my Herbal Infusions Masterclass and eBook, so you can preserve your herbs by making your own extracts, tinctures, oils and herbal medicines.
I hope you'll join me in putting up the harvest this preserving season.
While we may not have control over most things in life, this is one area where we have complete control, and that's a good and comforting feeling.
Click the link in my bio @thehouseandhomestead or go to https://thehouseandhomestead.com/yesyoucan to learn more.
(Remember to use code TAKE20 at checkout to get your discount)
I hope you’ll join me in putting up the harvest this canning season.
While we may not have control over most things in life, this is one area where we have complete control, and that's a good and comforting feeling.
We lost a baby last week.
We’ve now lost 4 pregnancies in a row, and every loss is heart-wrenching.
I still don’t have the words to describe what we’re going through, nor the heart to share everything right now. It’s tough to be a content creator whose job revolves around sharing your life with the world when your own world comes crashing down, over and over again.
While I’m in the very unlucky 1% of women who lose three or more pregnancies in a row, I know I’m not alone and that there are many more grieving mamas with broken hearts and unconditional love for their unborn babies.
We don’t talk enough about pregnancy loss and its impact on families. I hope to change that in my own small way as our own family continues to navigate this journey together, but right now we’re healing.
And today we’re celebrating our beautiful Earth Angel’s 5th birthday. I truly don’t know how or if I’d be able to cope with all of the losses without her, and for that I’m eternally grateful.
I’ll be back with more “regularly scheduled content” tomorrow as I’m opening the doors to my home canning course this week, but if I’m otherwise a bit scarce right now, you know why.
Thanks for being here and for your ongoing support through all of the ups and downs 🙏
I get a lot of questions about how to know if a canning recipe or method is safe.
Often times these messages come from people who have been handed down old canning recipes and cookbooks from their parents and grandparents, or have fond memories of old recipes but want to know if they’re safe to can according to today’s standards.
The fact is, many of the canning recipes and methods that our grandparents and even our parents used are no longer considered safe. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to make them safe!
Join me this Saturday, July 24th for my free live training, How to Stock Your Pantry Like A Pro: 6 Simple Rules for Safe Home Canning.
I’ll teach you what you absolutely MUST know and do to ensure your home canned food is safe to eat, as well as how to safely adapt canning recipes and even how to take favourite recipes and make them safe for canning!
Plus I’ll be answering your canning questions live at the end of the training!
Click the link in my bio @thehouseandhomestead or go to thehouseandhomestead.com/safecanning to save your seat!
In the meantime, leave your canning questions below👇 in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them all on Saturday!
I hope to see you there 😊
Sometimes when I look at our pantry full of home-canned food, even I find it hard to believe that I started canning just six years ago.
But while I’m 100% confident when it comes to canning food nowadays, I definitely didn’t start out that way.
When I canned my first batch of applesauce, I was so afraid that it would make my baby daughter sick that I refused to feed her a single spoonful, and I ate the rest with my fingers crossed that I’d live to tell the tale!
Then came my first batch of green beans. I hid around the corner as the pressure canner hissed and rattled, afraid it would blow up my kitchen. And after all was said and done, I was so scared to eat the beans that I had lovingly grown from seed and preserved that I ended up tossing every single jar in the garbage. Talk about a waste of food! (Not to mention time and effort).
After A LOT of time spent researching, learning and honing my canning skills, I now can HUNDREDS of jars of food each year, and I do so with absolute confidence knowing that each and every jar is safe to eat.
Nowadays I cringe when I see bad and even downright DANGEROUS canning advice floating around on the Internet (and sadly there’s A LOT of it out there). Because the last thing you want when you’re canning homegrown and/or homemade food for your family is to make them sick… or worse!
Luckily, canning food is 100% safe so long as you know the few simple rules you need to follow.
If you’re ready to start canning your own food at home so that you always have a pantry stocked with healthy, delicious and SAFE home-canned food to feed your family, ai’m hosting a free webinar this Saturday, July 24th where I’ll be teaching you the 6 simple rules for safe home canning, as well as how to safely tweak and adapt canning recipes, and even how you can take a favourite family recipe and make it safe to can.
Click the link in my bio @thehouseandhomestead to save your seat and bring any canning questions you have! I hope to see you there 🙂
You may know him from his popular YouTube channel, @thejustinrhodesshow or like me, you may have first discovered him from his 2018 feature-length documentary, The Great American Farm Tour. Or maybe you’ve been lucky enough to have met him in person at one of the Homesteaders Of America conferences. Either way, odds are if you’ve been part of the modern homesteading world for any length of time, you’ve probably come across Justin Rhodes and his family before. And if you haven’t, then I'm thrilled to be the one to introduce you to the man of the hour!
A self-proclaimed "apron-wearing, permaculture chicken ninja-master," Justin opens up his permaculture homestead to almost one million people every week through his YouTube channel and inspires people to live a more sustainable and abundant life through homesteading, and specifically, through implementing permaculture principles and practices to their own homesteads in order to work smarter, not harder and produce more with less input.
He sat down with me for the permaculture issue of Modern Homesteading Magazine to talk more about his own personal philosophy and approach to homesteading, work and life in general, and to help break down the principles of permaculture into practical steps and concrete examples that anybody can understand and use to lessen their own workload while increasing their yields, and to bring a little bit of permaculture to their own homesteads, no matter how big or small.
Check out the video version of my interview with Justin on YouTube (link in bio @thehouseandhomestead or go to https://youtu.be/Ip2ymf9q_J8 to watch), OR read the full print interview with Justin, plus get access to even more exclusive content by subscribing to Modern Homesteading Magazine! Link in bio or go to thehouseandhomestead.com/magazine to subscribe for free and get the latest issue delivered straight to your inbox!
Have you ever gleaned food before??
If you're not familiar with gleaning, it's basically the act of harvesting and collecting excess or unwanted crops so that they don’t go to waste. Historically, gleaning was actually considered a human right in parts of Europe and the middle east. In fact, the right to glean was even written into the Old Testament!
It was common practice to leave the excess crops in the field for the poor and peasant class to come glean, and in 18th century England it was the legal right of those without enough land of their own to grow food, to glean the fields of local farms after the majority of the crops were harvested. Similar laws existed in France too at the time.
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I remember being so nervous when I canned my very first batch of applesauce...
It was the first thing I ever canned at home, and I was sure I was going to get botulism and die if I ate it, or worse, that I would feed it to my 6-month old daughter and she would get botulism and die and my life would be over.
This might sound a little crazy for a seasoned canner who knows what they’re doing, but it’s a legitimate fear for new home canners who don’t yet understand the process.
In the end I did eat it myself, and lived to tell the tale! But I was too scared to feed it to Evelyn until about a year later when I was confident in what I was doing.
Nowadays we can hundreds of jars of food every year, both with our water bath canner and our pressure canner. But if you're just starting out, water bath canning is the way to go. It's easy, it doesn't require a lot of special equipment, and there are sooo many foods that can be water bath canned and preserved for the winter!
Jams, jellies, pickles, pie fillings, sauces and salsas, fruits and fruit butters... The possibilities aren't exactly endless, but there are enough recipes to keep you going for a long time without ever getting bored.
Now is the time to learn how to can if you haven't yet! I'll be opening the doors to my canning course next week, but in the meantime, click the ink in my bio @thehouseandhomestead or go to https://thehouseandhomestead.com/water-bath-canning-beginners/ to get started!
🧺 I've heard some horror stories about homemade laundry detergent.
Many people claim that homemade laundry detergents are either bad for your clothes, bad for your washing machine, or both. I’ve read many articles that claim homemade laundry soaps and detergents either don’t work (ie. leave clothes looking and smelling dirty), have discoloured people’s clothes (leaving whites yellow and colours looking dull), or left soap residue in the fibres of clothes. Some say it even ruined their washing machines, specifically front loaders and HE washing machines.
Not to mention the many online sources that claim that if your washing machine goes on the fritz during your warranty period and you’ve been using homemade laundry detergent, your warranty will be void.
On top of all of that, borax -a common ingredient used in homemade laundry detergent- has been called into question for safety reasons, as it can be toxic and even deadly if ingested or used indicated on skin.
It's enough to scare you away from ever trying to make your own laundry detergent at home 😱
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I've been getting requests from readers for a homemade laundry detergent recipe for years now, but I wanted to find one that I was happy with before sharing. I can say with full confidence that I am very happy with the recipe I'm sharing with you today, but I can only say what has worked for me and my family. I implore you to do some research on the pros and cons of homemade detergent before making your own.
That being said, if you do decide to make your own, this is a great recipe! Link in bio @thehouseandhomestead or go to https://thehouseandhomestead.com/homemade-laundry-detergent-recipe/
I sent a pretty vulnerable email out to my readers last weekend…
(Post 1/2)
I admitted that I spent my Sunday morning “crying in my coffee” because I feel like I’m really struggling in the garden this year; Moreso than any other year.
Our beans have been decimated multiple times by pill bugs (they even outsmarted my Diatomaceous Earth AND peppermint oil applications by resorting to eating the bean sprouts underground before they even had a chance to sprout!). Our cucumbers and squash are growing at a snail’s pace, and I’m still troubleshooting to figure out why. We’ve just overcome blossom end rot on our zucchinis and have yet to even taste one (normally they’re big enough to beat someone over the head with already). And I suspect the heatwave put a stop to our broccoli production, because we’ve got big leafy plants with no offshoots, and heads that were smaller than my fist this year.
We’ve had more plants eaten and ravaged by soil problems, disease and extreme temperature fluctuations than we’ve ever had before. The weeds were worse than they’ve ever been this spring (we finally got those under control with a lot of cardboard and mulch), and we’ve yet to really see a decent harvest from any of our vegetable crops.
BUT, the challenges we’ve faced this year have forced me to grow as a gardener, try new and innovative ways of dealing with problems, learn more about soil health, how to fix the issues we’re dealing with now and how to hopefully prevent these issues from being a problem in the future.
They’ve also made me grateful for what is working and for the crops that have produced. Many nearby farmers and gardeners lost their berry crops in the heatwave this year, but miraculously our strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are doing better this year than even before. Our herbs have done great and will provide us with more than we need for the year. Our peas were slow to start but did well in the end, basil and greens are going strong and we’ve got the most beautiful echinacea flowers in bloom right now from seeds we planted last year.
We also have our own compost for the first time ever.
(Continued in comments).
*** CONTEST CLOSED ***
Congratulations to our winner @suzi.mayhem !!! Check your DMs for a message from me on how to claim your prize!
🍀Are you feeling lucky???
Because it’s time for a GIVEAWAY!!!
To celebrate Modern Homesteading Magazine’s upcoming two-year milestone, and in appreciation of our current sponsor @planttherapy (my favourite essential oils company in the world), we’re giving away a one-year membership level subscription to Modern Homesteading Magazine, which includes unlimited access to our entire digital library of issues, PLUS a 7&7 Set of essential oils from Plant Therapy.
To enter:
✨Like this post
✨Make sure you’re following @thehouseandhomestead and @planttherapy
✨Tag as many friends as you like below who might also be interested in this giveaway (every person you tag = an entry to win!)
✨Share this post to your IG Stories for a bonus entry!
You know the drill 😉
Contest ends Wednesday, July 14th at midnight PST. Winner will be announced on July 15th.
In the meantime, if you haven’t yet subscribed (for free) to receive new issues of Modern Homesteading Magazine straight to your inbox, head to the link in my bio to subscribe OR become a member and get access to all past issues right away! (If you win and you’re already a member, you can either choose to get your next year free once your membership is up for renewal, or you can gift your membership to a loved one:)
And if you wanna get your hands on the 7&7 Set (or any other Plant Therapy set), now is the time because right now you can save 20% on all Plant Therapy sets for a very limited time. Just enter code SETS20 at checkout OR enter code HOMESTEAD to get 10% off everything else site wide!
Links in bio @thehouseandhomestead to check out all of the above ☺️
Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour!
🍒 July is synonymous with cherries, and that means CHERRY PIE!!!
But there’s only so much cherry pie one can eat on hot summer days. So instead, why not preserve some cherry pie filling to enjoy all year long!
This recipe for cherry pie filling includes full waterbath canning instructions so you can have your pie and eat it too, at any time of year!
Recipe link in bio @thehouseandhomestead or go to https://thehouseandhomestead.com/can-homemade-cherry-pie-filling/
Summer pie season (and canning season) has officially arrived 😉
🍔 It took me 33 years to try making my own hamburgers from scratch.
I know, I know… I preach about making everything from scratch, and burger patties are like, entry level.
But if I’m being really honest, I never liked homemade burgers patties growing up. They were always dry and flavourless. My mom would bulk hers up with breads crumbs and huge chunks of onion, hardly any seasoning and then she’d cook them until they were charred and very well done. So when I grew up I found a grocery store brand that I liked and we always just bought those, along with some store-bought buns and called it good.
But as I started making my own mayo and BBQ sauce and pickles and relish and started topping our burgers with homegrown tomatoes and lettuce, I just couldn’t come to terms with the fact that I was using store-bought buns and patties.
Now, don’t get me wrong: we use store-bought burgers as they’re good in a pinch, but we’ve also perfected our homemade burger game, from the patties to the buns to the condiments and everything else in between!
The secret to our homemade patties is using grass fed beef and BACON. And no extra filler, other than seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and Worcestershire sauce).
But what really makes these next level are freshly made homemade hamburger buns! There is nothing like homemade bread of any kind, and hamburger buns are no exception. Plus they’re quicker and easier than you might think to whip together!
Click the link in my bio to get the full recipes for both my homemade Beef & Bacon Burger Patties AND my Homemade Hamburger Buns. You’ll also find links to my Homemade Mayo and Homemade Rhubarbecue Sauce to top your burgers with:)
To BBQ season! And to replacing store-bought everything, one simple recipe at a time;)
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.