Nothing elevates a recipe like adding a pad of homemade roasted garlic butter before serving. You can add this compound butter on top of grilled ribeye steaks or chicken, roasted vegetables, seared seafood or freshly toasted bread to add a nice mellow garlic-y flavor to your favorite dish. This homemade garlic butter also makes the best garlic bread and it's so much better than just regular butter.
This is one of those delicious recipes you'll want to make a big batch of ahead of time and keep in the freezer to have on hand. This easy homemade roasted garlic butter can make any weeknight dinner special by just a little work on the front end. I like to pre-slice the butter log before freezing, so I can just break off a chunk as I need it.
You can add even more flavor to your roasted garlic compound butter by adding fresh herbs such as rosemary, parsley, chives, oregano or thyme to make a garlic herb butter. These little bundles of creamy butter would make a great gift too.
Reasons to love Roasted Garlic Butter
- It only uses three simple ingredients you probably already have on hand with a few simple steps.
- It's versatile and can be used to elevate the flavor of grilled or roasted meats, vegetables or seafood.
- You can store this delicious butter in an airtight container in the freezer to use at your convenience.
Ingredients
Garlic - Are you a garlic lover? Well you're in luck! This recipe uses a whole head of fresh garlic for maximum flavor. Don't worry though! When you roast the garlic head, the flavor mellows out and the roasted garlic cloves aren't as intense as raw garlic.
Olive Oil - Why would you need oil for a butter recipe? Well olive oil is used to roast the garlic and is a much needed fat, just like when you roast any vegetable.
Salted Butter - Since this is a finishing butter, I prefer using already salted butter. Feel free to use unsalted butter if you prefer to adjust the seasonings to your liking.
Fresh Herbs - An optional addition, but adds a nice freshness to the final product. Some of my favorite herbs to use are chives, fresh parsley, rosemary, thyme or other Italian seasoning blends. You could also add lemon zest to make a lemon garlic butter sauce, which would be delicious on fish.
Instructions
It's important to make sure your butter is room temperature so it's smooth when mixing all of the ingredients together. I like to place the cold stick of butter near or on the to stove while I roast the garlic to give it time to soften.
To roast the garlic, cut off the top of the whole heads of garlic, wrap it in aluminum foil making sure there aren't any exposed cloves, cover it with olive oil and bake in a 400 degree oven for 40 - 50 minutes. Let cool, then squeeze out the insides.
In a small bowl, whip together the softened butter and roasted garlic. If you are adding fresh herbs, go ahead and throw them in too.
Next, spoon the butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap or parchment paper, and roll up into a log, twisting the ends. Refrigerate for a couple of hours until it has firmed up then cut off a slice whenever you want to use it! This easy roasted garlic butter will last in the fridge up to three days.
To freeze, I like to pre-slice the butter to make it easier to break off pieces. That way you don't have to thaw the entire log of roasted garlic butter at one time.
Some of my favorite ways to use roasted garlic butter would be as a pasta sauce, on some fresh bread, on top of Pan Fried Gnocchi, or easy Gnocchi with Roasted Vegetables, Pasta with Peas, pan seared vegetables, Cajun Salmon or thinly sliced chicken breast.
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Roasted Garlic Butter
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Nothing elevates a recipe like adding pad of roasted garlic butter before serving. Serve this compound butter on top of grilled steak or chicken, roasted vegetables, seared seafood or freshly toasted bread.
Ingredients
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) salted* butter, room temperature
- 1 head garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut off the top of the head of garlic (not at the root) and toss with olive oil. Wrap in aluminum foil and roast for 40 - 50 minutes. Let cool completely.
- Squeeze out the guts of the roasted garlic and mix with the room temperature butter until well combined.
- Dump the garlic butter at the far end of a sheet of plastic wrap and tightly roll up into a log.
- Refrigerate for 3-4 hours until firm (or pop into the freezer for 30 minutes - 1 hour to firm up before using).
Notes
*If you are using unsalted be sure to add salt to the mixture to taste
Keep refrigerated for up to a week,.
My favorite way to store it is in the freezer, pre-sliced, so I can break off a piece whenever I need it. It will keep in the freezer up to 3 months.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Condiment
- Method: Mixing
- Cuisine: Italian
Frequently Asked Questions
My favorite way to eat this compound butter is on warm bread, but it's also makes a great finishing sauce for steamed vegetables, roast salmon, seared chicken or grilled steak. It adds wonderful flavor to just about everything.
This depends on who you ask. I like garlic in all forms, but roasting it is one of my favorite flavors. Roasting garlic mellows out the sharp, intense, kind of spicy bite raw garlic has and makes it luxurious and creamy.
Looking for another easy recipe? Check these out:
Liz says
SO yummy! Thank you
Nolan says