Flavorful garlic herb butter is easy to make with only a few ingredients. Use it now or freeze for later to elevate delicious dishes including steak, bread, vegetables and more!
Homemade Garlic Herb Compound Butter
Garlic herb butter is the perfect compound butter to add to your Thanksgiving turkey. I also love adding a dollop on top of my steak in the oven, grilled corn or to spread on a slice of homemade French bread.
Not only is this fresh garlic herb butter easy to make, it looks fancy and can be prepped in less than 10 minutes with only 5 ingredients. It’s the perfect way to add extra flavor to meals! This is a savory version, but we love sweet versions like cinnamon butter or orange butter, too.
You can serve it right away, but I like to let the flavors marinate together in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
Recipe Ingredients
With so few ingredients, be sure to use the freshest and very best to get the most flavor.
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Butter: The base of this recipe starts out with unsalted, softened butter. You can use salted butter if you only have that type on hand, just don’t add any extra salt. To make this garlic herb butter recipe, dairy free just use your favorite vegan butter.
- Garlic: Fresh minced garlic adds the best flavor. I usually add in 2 cloves of garlic (about 2 teaspoons minced), but feel free to add more or less to taste.
- Salt: If using unsalted butter, mix in some sea salt for another layer of flavor. Don’t add any if using salted butter…you don’t want it to be overly salty.
- Pepper: Add in a dash of freshly ground black pepper to taste.
- Herbs: These really take the butter up a notch! Using fresh herbs (vs. dried) makes all the difference. Fresh rosemary, thyme, chives, fresh parsley or sage all taste amazing.
How to Make Garlic Herb Butter
Three simple steps to have a flavor-boosting butter on hand.
- Mix. Use an electric mixer to cream together all of the ingredients. You’ll want to mix it until the consistency is nice and fluffy, which usually takes around 1 to 2 minutes. Give it a taste and add any extra seasonings as needed.
- Chill. After you’ve mixed the butter, I’d recommend chilling it in the refrigerator for about an hour. It has more flavor this way, although you could always serve it right away too. I like to scoop the butter onto a piece of plastic wrap and then roll it into a log shape. Then let chill in the fridge.
- Serve. Remove the herb butter from the fridge about 10 minutes before serving. This gives it time to soften, so that it’s easy to spread.
Garlic Butter Tips
- Quality ingredients. Use a good quality butter when making this compound butter. The fresher your garlic and herbs the more flavorful your homemade garlic butter will turn out.
- Dried herbs. While I prefer the flavor fresh herbs offers, you can replace the 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh herbs with 1 to 2 teaspoons dried herbs.
- Lemon zest. Add a teaspoon of fresh lemon zest to the garlic butter recipe for a small burst of tangy citrus.
- Make extra. Double or triple the recipe for later! This compound butter freezes well so you can always have it on hand for garlic bread, steak or garlic butter sauce!
- Store. Keep homemade garlic herb butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks. You can also place plastic wrapped butter in a zip-top bag or a freezer-safe container up to 6 months.
Ways to Use Garlic and Herb Butter
- Mixed in with cooked pasta
- When making cast iron skillet potatoes
- To make cheesy pull apart bread or this French bread pizza recipe
- As a coating for roasted chicken
- When making garlic steak and potatoes
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Garlic Herb Butter
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter , softened
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt (omit if using salted butter)
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1-2 Tablespoons freshly chopped herbs (such as rosemary, thyme, chives, parsley, basil, oregano, tarragon, or sage)
Instructions
- Combine ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix 1/2 cup softened butter, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and 2 Tablespoons fresh herbs 1 to 2 minutes, or until nice and fluffy.
- Chill. Place the butter on a piece of plastic wrap and roll into a log or place in a small mason jar. Chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour, or until ready to serve. This recipe also can be stored in the freezer.
- Serve. When ready to serve, let sit on the counter 10 minutes to soften slightly.
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Categorized as: American, Condiments, Low Carb
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
Can I use dry herbs? Buying fresh herbs are on pause. If not, do you have another awesome recipe with measurements and instructions on using dry herbs?
Yes you can, use 1 teaspoon dried for every tablespoon of fresh and taste as you go :)
Unbelievably good! We put this on a loaf of french bread last night and everyone loved it! Today everyone has been putting it on anything they can find.
Delicious butter! It was perfect for making garlic bread…we do that by using garlic butter on Italian bread slices and then broiling them until they’re perfectly browned. This butter was perfect for our garlic bread!
Enjoyed this with our steak dinner last night and it did not disappoint! So delicious and easy too!