How To Make Garlic Butter

Looking for something new to add to your favorite recipes? Try making your own garlic butter by following the steps listed below.

Making Garlic Butter at Home

Garlic butter is definitely a gourmet topping, but that doesn’t mean it’s difficult to make. You only need a few ingredients to make your own batch in the kitchen at home. 

In terms of tools, all you need to have handy is a sharp knife, a cutting board, a baking sheet, tin foil, and a mixing bowl. 

What Ingredients Are in Garlic Butter? 

Our garlic butter recipe calls for: 

• Two or three fresh garlic cloves. We always prefer using fresh herbs and spices in our recipes, as these get you the best flavor. Garlic is no exception to this rule! However, if you can’t find fresh garlic at your local grocery store, a jar of minced garlic will suffice.

• A cooking oil of your choice. Olive oil or another vegetable oil is perfect for making your own garlic butter. However, we recommend avoiding coconut oil for this recipe, as it has its own distinct flavor that may affect how your garlic butter tastes. 

• Soft salted butter. You saw this one coming. You’ll need about eight ounces of salted butter to make a batch of garlic butter, as well as some extra salt for flavor.

Making Garlic Butter Step by Step

Follow these simple steps to make a batch of mouth-watering garlic butter.

• Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees. You’ll need the oven to get the garlic cooked and golden brown.

• While the oven preheats, it’s time to prepare your garlic. Start by cutting the tips off each garlic clove, then coat the unchopped garlic in oil. Season the garlic cloves with salt and pepper and wrap them in tin foil.

• Once the oven is fully heated, transfer the foil-wrapped garlic onto the top rack. Let the garlic cook for 45 minutes. In the meantime, put away the salt, pepper, and oil – you won’t need them for the rest of the cooking process.

• When the garlic looks golden-brown on the outside, let it cool off before handling. Once the garlic cloves are cool, you should be able to easily squeeze the pulp out of them into your mixing bowl. 

• Add your butter to the mixing bowl with the garlic pulp and mix the two ingredients together with a spoon or whisk. 

• After the butter and garlic are mixed, let the mixture harden in the refrigerator until it reaches your desired texture and consistency. After that, it’s ready to use.

Using Garlic Butter in Recipes

There are plenty of ways to add garlic butter to your favorite foods, and it’s easier than ever to get inspired in the kitchen when you know how to make your own. Below are some of our favorite ways to cook with your homemade garlic butter.

Add Garlic Butter to Rice

When you think about main courses and side dishes that are full of excitement and favor, rice might not be the first food that comes to mind. However, as any seasoned chef will tell you, rice cooked with creativity and flair can be mind-blowing. If you’re looking for ways to make your rice taste better than ever, adding homemade garlic butter while the rice is hot is the way to go.

Rice absorbs the flavors of herbs, spices, and sauces that you add to it. That’s one of the grain’s almost magical attributes – it acts as a blank canvas that takes on any flavor profile you want. Adding garlic butter makes rice taste rich, zesty, and savory, and it’s one of our favorite ways to use this versatile topping.

Add Flavor to Pasta With Garlic Butter

Like rice, pasta is something of a blank slate when it comes to flavor. However, no fan of Italian cooking would ever tell you that pasta is bland. When it comes to making pasta taste incredible, it’s all about what you add – and garlic butter is one of the best pasta toppings we’ve found.

Adding garlic butter to pasta gives each bite extra richness and a lot of flavor. In addition, topping your pasta with garlic butter doesn’t have to be the only step that you take in making the dish more lively and exciting. Combining garlic butter with other toppings like parmesan cheese, tomato sauce, and capers can really take things to the next level. 

Give Your Veggies Some Extra Appeal With Garlic Butter

If you’re having trouble getting your kids to eat their veggies – or convincing yourself to do the same – topping a serving of vegetables with garlic butter should do the trick. 

Vegetables are delicious when prepared properly, and one of the keys to success with cooking veggies is the toppings you add. Herbs, spices, a pinch of salt and pepper are all helpful in bringing cooked vegetables to life. 

However, if you really want a veggie-based dish to stand out in a meal, adding something with a little bit of natural richness – butter, for example – makes the biggest difference.

Conclusion

Garlic butter is a unique combination of simple ingredients that can really breathe new life into savory dishes. Add it to just about anything, and you’ll see why it’s one of our favorite toppings for pasta, rice, vegetables, and beyond.