After one meal with my Garlic Herb Butter for Steak your family will never want to use another butter again. Fresh herbs, minced garlic, and your favorite salted butter come together in minutes to create the perfect topping in this easy-to-make recipe.
Let’s not deny it: as the house cook, we all love butter and we all use it a lot. Kids, especially, seem to slather it on everything you put in front of them! My kids will eat slices of freshly baked bread with copious amounts of butter on top if I let them.
I think that might just be one of the many reasons why they love going to Grandma’s house so much. Unlimited bread and butter at dinner. Unsalted butter can taste bland and add little to a meal, though. If you want to kick things up a notch at the dinner table, creating my garlic herb butter is the quickest, simplest way maximize flavor.
My garlic herb butter is what’s called a compound butter—basically, a butter with add-ins. In just a few minutes, you’ll take a stick of salted butter, mix in some parsley and garlic, and have something brand-new for your loved ones. Throw this garlic herb butter on everything: seafood, veggies, toast…in my opinion, it’s also the very best compound butter for steak you’ll ever have. It’s also the same garlic herb compound butter I use to finish off my swordfish steaks.
I also include a recipe on how to make fresh butter from scratch below. I remember the first time I made homemade butter. I believe I was in preschool, and it was around Thanksgiving. My teacher, Mrs Maghinity, poured heavy cream into a well sealed Tupperware. All of my classmates, and I sat in a circle in her classroom and we each took turns, one by one, “churning the butter”.
We shook the butter until we could not shake it any longer. I would imagine that this was a teachable moment about how the pilgrims made their feast for Thanksgiving. At the same time a great way to waste the bountifulness of energy coming from 10+ four year olds.
I hope you find my complete guide on Garlic Herb Butter for Steak super helpful.
Jump to:
Garlic Herb Butter: Ingredients & Tools
About the ingredients used:
- Salted butter: I have seen versions of this recipe that use unsalted butter plus salt, rather than pre-salted butter. It’s really to your taste in the end (unsalted + salt won’t ruin it or anything!) but I find the store-bought salted stuff perfect for the recipe.
- Minced garlic, fresh parsley: These provide the flavor you’re looking for. Get fresh herbs, not dry ones! Feel free to add other herbs you know you’ll love, too…but if you want the basics, you can’t go wrong with parsley and garlic.
About the tools used:
Compound butter like this is best stored in plastic wrap, shaped a little like a log, so grab that off your shelf to make your life easier.
How To Make Homemade Garlic Butter
Follow these easy steps and you’ll have the best compound butter for steak (and other goodies) right at your fingertips.
In a bowl, mix together the salted butter, minced garlic, and parsley until well-blended.
Lay a piece of plastic wrap flat on the counter. Scoop butter into the middle of the plastic wrap.
Fold the plastic wrap over and begin to form into a log. Wrap the butter like a package (folding the longer sides over each other, then wrapping the ends).
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until the butter hardens.
Once the butter is hard, slice and use on proteins like seafood, steak, or chicken. You can also slather it on bread or use it to sauté vegetables!
Roasted Garlic Butter
If you love a deeper roasted garlic flavor to your butter I have another variation for you.
Before you start your butter making you’ll want to roast 2 heads of garlic for 30-45 minutes at 400 degrees. Simply, cut the top off the garlic so the garlic can breathe and it will be easier to remove the roasted garlic once it’s cooked.
Once the garlic is finished roasting take it out to cool. Then, simply squeeze the garlic out of the bulb into the softened butter. Or add it to fresh homemade whipped butter (see below for instructions). I know that squeezing the butter out of the bulb might seem wasteful, and you won’t yield as much garlic but this is what I find most easiest.
How to Make Butter from Cream
Using a KitchenAid Stand Mixer and a whisk attachment place 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and ¼ teaspoon salt in your mixer. Start on medium speed. As it begins to thicken– gradually increase the speed.
PRO TIP: I like to place a tea towel over my mixer to reduce splashes outside of the bowl.
Mix on high until you have one large ball of “butter” and liquid on the bottom of the bowl. They will separate over time. Once the butter has separated place the butter in a strainer and dump the water like mixture (aka buttermilk) from the bowl. Do not push the butter through the strainer. Gently move the butter ball around so that additional buttermilk releases from the butter ball.
Place the butterball back in the mixer and begin mixing again. You may notice over a minute or two time span that you have more buttermilk. Repeat the step from above if needed. Your butter should start “whipping” and becoming a softer consistency.
Add Seasoning to Homemade Butter
If you want to flavor your butter at this point you can add in roasted garlic (from above directions). Mix until well incorporated and then place your butter in a crock. Serve immediately and/or refrigerate covered for up to 5 days.
FAQs
Here I’ve compiled a few questions I’ve gotten when sharing this recipe for homemade garlic butter. Take a look.
It is gluten-free, but not dairy-free, since it is butter, after all. I have not tested this recipe with dairy-free butter, but I’m sure you can give it a try!
Yes, of course! For you, experimentation may be the key to unlocking the greatest compound butter ever. I just like the basics and this recipe, with garlic and parsley only, does the trick for me. (Plus it’s quick, it uses ingredients you probably have on hand, and it suits the tastes of everyone in my family.)
Try these out: Basil, Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Chives. As I said above, using fresh herbs over dried herbs will bring out a lot of flavor in this garlic herb butter recipe.
I have never measured exactly, but like regular butter, it should be fine for a few weeks.
Of course, it’s the best compound butter for steak you’ll ever try, but you can also slather it on… Pasta, Roasted or baked potatoes, Garlic bread or toasted bread sides, Corn on the cob, Roasted chicken, Shrimp (especially grilled shrimp), Seafood, like swordfish steaks!
It’s amazingly versatile.
If you like butter, you’ll love my other recipes!
Butter is a key ingredient in my household. Take a look at some recipes that use them:
Homemade Seasoning Recipes
- Homemade Montreal Steak Seasoning
- Homemade Cajun Seasoning
- Fajita Seasoning
- Paula Deen’s House Seasoning
If you make this Garlic Herb Butter for Steak recipe, I would be honored and love for you to take the time to leave a ⭐ star rating and comment! I spend hours developing and testing these recipes, and always love to hear feedback and user experience!
Don’t forget to FOLLOW ME on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram, and subscribe to my email list!
Garlic Herb Butter for Steak
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Refrigerator
Ingredients
- 1 stick Salted Butter softned
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic in water
- 2 tablespoon fresh parsley
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix together the salted butter, minced garlic, and parsley until well-blended.
- Lay a piece of plastic wrap flat on the counter. Scoop butter into the middle of the plastic wrap.
- Fold the plastic wrap over and begin to form into a log. Wrap the butter like a package (folding the longer sides over each other, then wrapping the ends).
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until the butter hardens.
Notes
- Homemade Butter Recipe –
- Using a KitchenAid Stand Mixer and a whisk attachment place 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and ¼ teaspoon salt in your mixer. Start on medium speed. As it begins to thicken– gradually increase the speed.
- Mix on high until you have one large ball of “butter” and liquid on the bottom of the bowl. They will separate over time. Once the butter has separated place the butter in a strainer and dump the water like mixture (aka buttermilk) from the bowl. Do not push the butter through the strainer. Gently move the butter ball around so that additional buttermilk releases from the butter ball.
- Place the butterball back in the mixer and begin mixing again. You may notice over a minute or two time span that you have more buttermilk. Repeat the step from above if needed. Your butter should start “whipping” and becoming a softer consistency.
- Mix in your favorite toppings like fresh parsley and garlic or a variety of fresh chopped herbs.
- Shape in a log like above or place in a container and store in the refrigerator.
sushiandsitups.com
I love roasted garlic. It's so flavorful and delicious, but it definitely ups my bread consumption!