Roasted Garlic Compound Butter
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A simple compound butter can elevate any number of dishes, from cooked chicken and steak to roasted vegetables. Make a batch of roasted garlic compound butter and use it to amp up flavor for your recipes all week.
Even though I’m a fan of intricate recipes that involve a lot of technique, there’s also plenty of days where I simply salt and pepper a chicken breast or steak and sear it in a pan. While even that’s delicious, it’s also the perfect opportunity to dress it up with a nice compound butter.
This roasted garlic compound butter is one of our favorites. I make it in the beginning of the week, and throughout the next few days we slice of little butter coins and let it melt lovingly over pretty much anything that sounds good. It’s really easy, and really delicious, so I highly recommend it for an easy ‘gourmet’ pop of flavor.
What is a compound Butter?
What you’re about to discover if you’ve never made a compound butter, is that they’re addictive, easy, and fun to make. All a compound butter involves is combining a set of flavorful ingredients in softened butter. Then you simply let if firm back up in the fridge to create a solid, flavored butter.
I’m a fan of this roasted garlic version but you really can do a lot, from herbs, spices, citrus, sweeteners, and so much more.
Ingredients
This couldn’t be much simpler, the way I make this is by using these simple ingredients:
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- Salt
- 1 whole head of garlic
- Olive oil
Pro Tip: Use unsalted butter to ensure you can control the level of salt in the finished butter.
How to Make Roasted garlic Compound Butter
There a lots of ways to make compound butter, this one involves the largely hands off process of roasting a bulb of garlic and then mixing it all together. Here are my best tips!
- Pull your butter out before you start roasting your garlic, this will ensure your butter is soft and ready to go when your garlic is!
- Find the best method for roasting your garlic, I found that placing it in a mini loaf pan and covering that with foil then roasting it at 350°F for 1 hour most evenly cooked it for me. A popular one is simply wrapping the whole head in foil, but here is a great article on roasted garlic methods if you want to try another!
- Expose every clove of garlic before roasting by trimming off the tips.
- Coat the entire bulb with olive oil, making sure each clove gets some.
- Mush up the roasted garlic before adding it to the butter. It’ll turn into a paste very easily!
Pro Tip: Once your garlic is roasted and cool enough to handle, the roasted cloves will squeeze right out of the skin, it does get sticky, so wear gloves if that bothers you!
Once your garlic is all squeezed out of the bulb, mush it with a spoon and scoop it straight into the butter. Then just add salt and stir the softened butter around until its smoothly incorporated. Next, dollop it onto a piece of parchment or wax paper and roll it up into a log. Twist off the ends and pop it into the fridge to set up.
FAQ’S
There really is no substitute for slow roasted, creamy garlic when that’s the flavor you’re aiming for. However, if you’re pinched for time, I would instead suggest carefully sauteing minced garlic for a brief period. Raw garlic is too intense. Take care not to burn it.
Never fear! You can either microwave it for 10 to 20 second intervals on half power, or you can heat a glass bowl or cup with very hot water, drain the water, then flip the bowl or glass over the butter. The radiant heat should soften the butter. This won’t be instant, but it’s faster than waiting!
Of course! I love fresh rosemary or thyme chopped very finely, or even just some chopped parsley is a lovely addition.
I’ll be honest, you don’t even have to roll it all up! All that matters is the mixing part of it, then you can store it in a bowl with lid and scoop out what you need when you need it. I like it rolled up for easy slicing, then usually store it in an airtight container after it solidifies.
All that matters is that you keep it wrapped up or stored well to prevent any odors from getting at it, and prevent the butter from drying out.
I would keep this no longer than a week in the fridge, but you can also freeze it if you prefer to make a larger batch and make it once!
Now of course, the most important question of all – what to serve this one! There’s nothing better than a pan seared steak, but for more ideas, try it on homemade Asiago bread, freshly grilled summer squash, oven roasted potatoes, or homemade biscuits for a savory side. Whatever you serve it with, it’s addictive, you’ve been warned!
If you like this recipe, you may also enjoy these other sauces and toppings…
- Asiago Cream Sauce
- Maple Mustard Vinaigrette
- Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Chimichurri Sauce
- Chipotle Peach BBQ Sauce
Roasted Garlic Compound Butter
Ingredients
- 4 ounces unsalted butter 1 stick or 1/2 cup
- 1 medium head of garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon oil
Instructions
- Pull your butter from the fridge to soften while the garlic roasts. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Start by peeling as much paper from the garlic as you can, leaving the cloves intact to the root.
- Trim off the tip of every clove of garlic to expose the clove.
- Place in a small oven safe dish like a ramekin* and drizzle on the oil. Use your hands to make sure the garlic bulb is completely coated.
- Cover with foil and roast for 1 hour, or until cloves are browned and soft. Allow to cool slightly.
- When bulb is cool enough to handle, squeeze each clove from the bulb into a small bowl and use the back of a spoon to smash into a creamy paste.
- Add the butter and salt to the garlic and stir until completely blended.
- Place butter on a sheet of parchment or wax paper and roll into a log. Twist off the ends and store in the fridge to let it solidify.
- Serve as needed. Store up to a week in the fridge or freeze.
Notes
Nutrition
I’d love to hear what you think, feel free to tag me on Instagram @theflourhandprint so I can see how it went! Until next time, Happy Eating!
Nutrition information and cooking times are provided as a best estimate. Values may vary based upon ingredients and equipment.
Delicious! I made this for some steaks and it was perfect. The garlic flavor was the perfect touch. Using the leftovers for bread now!
Love it Kim, we used our last night on Salmon and vegetables.
Wow! I made this recipe and it was so easy. Such a delicious spread for my bread!
Great to hear Jamie. I bet you would enjoy it on vegetables as well.
I made this roasted garlic butter compound to go with steaks the other night and it was so good. My husband loves compound butter, and this is now one of his favorites because it uses real garlic that’s been roasted in the oven and not garlic powder.
Krysten that makes me so happy to hear. We too love compound butter and I make this all the time, so I make a bunch of roasted garlic ahead for this and other recipes. How to Roast Garlic In the Oven
Made this garlic butter couple of days ago, and almost the whole batch is already gone! Added some fresh rosemary to mine, and it turned out delicious!
Anna, what a great idea to elevate the flavor to your liking.
I always use your compound butter as a finishing touch to grilled steaks. It elevates the dish and gives so much flavor. Thanks so much!
Jenny, you have made me smile, I love hearing someone ‘always’ uses a recipe of mine.