Fresh Garden Herb Butter: A Little Taste of Summer to Keep
There comes a point every summer when my herbs get ahead of me.
I step outside for a little parsley for supper and discover that the chives need cutting, the basil is threatening to flower, and the thyme has quietly spread itself well beyond the space I thought I'd given it.
This is not a bad problem to have.
From my garden: I harvest the lemon balm I want and let the rest flower. The bees are quite convinced this arrangement was their idea.
Fresh garden herb butter is one of my favorite ways to turn that little abundance into something useful. It takes only a few minutes to make, doesn't require canning jars or special equipment, and I can put whatever I don't need right away straight into the freezer.
Then, months from now when the garden is resting, I can slice off a round of butter flecked with herbs and have a little bit of summer back.
I Start With What I Have
There really isn't one correct recipe for herb butter, and that's one of the things I like about it.
I let the garden decide.
The herbs change through the season, but the basic recipe
stays the same.
Parsley and chives make a mild, fresh butter that goes with almost anything. Basil and oregano lean toward summer tomatoes and pasta. Rosemary and thyme are wonderful with potatoes or chicken. Dill is lovely with potatoes, vegetables, or salmon.
Mostly, though, I let the garden decide.
The basic proportions stay the same, but the herbs change throughout the season.
A handful of herbs. A cup of butter. Ten minutes at the kitchen counter. That’s enough.
Early on, I may have plenty of chives and parsley. Later, basil takes center stage. Toward the end of the season, the sturdier rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sage may be what I have in abundance.
I use what is growing well.
Fresh Garden Herb Butter
Yield: About 1 cup
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks / 227 g) butter, softened
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh herbs
1 small garlic clove, very finely minced or grated, optional
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, optional
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste if using unsalted butter
Freshly ground black pepper, optional
Instructions
I let the butter soften at room temperature until it's easily stirred but not melted.
If the herbs need washing, I wash them and then dry them very well. I don't want excess water in the butter, especially if I'm planning to store it.
I finely chop the herbs, then stir them into the softened butter along with the garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper, if I'm using them.
Then I taste it. This is not a place where I see much point in being timid. If it needs another pinch of herbs or salt, I add it. The flavors will become a little more pronounced as the butter rests.
If I'm using the butter right away, I spoon it into a small crock or covered container and refrigerate it.
If I'm saving it, I spoon the butter onto a piece of parchment paper, shape it into a log, wrap it tightly, and refrigerate it until firm.
I Put Some Away for Later
This is where such a simple little recipe really earns its keep.
Herb butter freezes beautifully.
I could simply put the whole parchment-wrapped log into the freezer, but I prefer to chill it until firm and slice it into rounds first. Then I freeze the individual pieces in a well-sealed container.
That way I don't have to thaw an entire batch when I only want a little.
FREEZER TIP
Chill the herb-butter log until firm, slice it into rounds, then freeze the rounds. I can take out exactly what I need without thawing the
whole log.
I can pull out one or two rounds and let them melt onto hot potatoes, vegetables, pasta, or freshly cooked chicken. And a piece melting over a thick slice of warm homemade bread is hardly a hardship.
I also label the container with the herb combination and the date. Rosemary-thyme and basil-oregano can look remarkably alike once they're frozen.
Every mysterious package in a freezer eventually becomes "probably soup," and I've learned not to trust myself to remember.
A Few Combinations I Like
I can certainly make herb butter with just one herb, but combinations are especially good.
Parsley + chives is fresh, mild, and useful on almost everything.
Parsley + dill + chives is wonderful with potatoes, eggs, vegetables, and salmon.
Basil + oregano + parsley makes a good summer butter for tomatoes, pasta, chicken, and bread.
Rosemary + thyme + parsley is especially good with roasted vegetables, potatoes, and chicken.
Sage + thyme has a deeper flavor that begins to feel like autumn even while the garden is still producing.
I don't bother measuring each herb separately. I just aim for about 1/4 cup of finely chopped fresh herbs altogether.
When I Only Have Dried Herbs
I can make herb butter with dried herbs, too.
As a general rule, I use about one-third as much dried herb as fresh. If I would use 3 tablespoons of fresh herbs, for example, I start with about 1 tablespoon dried.
There's one other difference: I give dried-herb butter some time.
Fresh herbs begin sharing their flavor with the butter almost immediately. Dried herbs need time to rehydrate and soften, so I make the butter several hours ahead—or even the day before—and refrigerate it until I'm ready to use it.
It Isn't Just for Bread
Although warm homemade bread may be reason enough to make herb butter, I don't stop there.
I let a round melt over a baked potato. I toss it with hot green beans or summer squash. I stir it into rice or pasta, melt it over corn on the cob, or use a little to finish scrambled eggs. A pat melting over chicken just after it comes off the grill is wonderful, too.
I can even use it to begin a simple pan sauce.
Once I have a little container of herb butter in the refrigerator, I find all sorts of uses for it.
Preserving the Season I Actually Have
I love putting food by, but I've learned that not everything from the garden needs to become a project.
Preserving the harvest doesn’t always have to become a project.
Sometimes preserving the harvest is simply noticing what I have too much of today and finding an easy way to carry a little of it forward.
A handful of herbs. A cup of butter. Ten minutes at the kitchen counter.
That's enough.
And sometime later, when the garden has gone quiet and I pull one of those green-flecked rounds from the freezer and drop it onto a hot potato, I get a little reminder of summer.
Free Printable: Fresh Garden Herb Butter Recipe Card + Herb Substitution Chart
I've put together a printable 4×6 recipe card for my basic herb butter along with a Garden Herb Butter Mix & Match Chart.
The chart makes it easy to choose herbs according to what's growing in the garden—or, for that matter, what's waiting in the refrigerator. I've also included fresh-to-dried substitutions and a simple formula for creating your own combinations.
Print the recipe card for your recipe box and keep the herb chart somewhere handy. This is one of those recipes I don't really want you to follow exactly.
I want you to make it yours.
