Black Garlic Butter
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This Black Garlic Butter is an easy compound butter that is rich, sweet, and packed with umami flavor. Delicious on vegetables, meat, fish, bread, and more!
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Why Make This Recipe
- Complex Flavor: Black garlic has a malty and savory flavor that is lightly garlicky without garlic’s bite.
- So Easy: A quick blitz in the food processor is all you need.
- Delicious on Everything: You’re going to want to smear this on all the foods. And run, don't walk, to make this Black Garlic Pasta recipe!
🥗 Ingredients
- Black Garlic: To make black garlic, fresh garlic is aged by heating it slowly over a period of several weeks. At the end of the process, the cloves turn soft and black. See the FAQs for where to buy!
- Butter: We prefer to use unsalted butter so that we can adjust the salt content as we like, but you could use salted butter and add kosher salt just to taste.
- Kosher Salt: Try to use kosher salt, or sea salt if you can. Kosher salt is more coarse and less "salty" than table salt. If you need to use table salt, use less, then season to taste.
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
Combine all ingredients in food processor.
Process until well mixed, scraping down the sides frequently. Season to taste with more salt.
Scrape into a ramekin and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to allow flavors to fully meld.
The black garlic butter will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator, or freeze for later use.
The easiest way to freeze black garlic butter is to scrape the butter into a log on a piece of parchment or plastic wrap, then roll up and twist the edges to tighten the wrapper around the butter tube.
Freeze, then when you want to use the butter, just remove the tube from the freezer and slice off a chunk.
🧐 Recipe FAQs for Black Garlic Butter
Some well-stocked supermarkets, like Whole Foods, carry black garlic in jars (not refrigerated). But if you can’t find it in the store, you can order black garlic online.
We have ordered black garlic from Amazon before, and were happy with it! If you have several weeks to dedicate to the project, you can even make black garlic yourself using a slow cooker, rice cooker, or dehydrator.
Check the package of the black garlic you purchase, but most black garlic can stay out at room temperature if it is unopened. Once you have opened the package or jar though, move it into the refrigerator. Once in the refrigerator, black garlic will last for about a month.
Black garlic has similar health benefits as regular garlic, for example in helping to regulate blood sugar levels and help lower cholesterol. Other studies found that black garlic may help combat cancer, reduce inflammation, and boost your immune system.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
If you don’t have a food processor, mash the black garlic cloves by hand in a small bowl. Then put the softened butter in a larger bowl and stir in the mashed garlic. The butter may not be as uniform as when you use a food processor, but it will be plenty delicious!
Also, note that if your food processor is large, you will need to start and stop several times to push the butter down to the bottom. Use a mini food processor if you have one!
You can easily double this recipe. See above for our favorite trick for freezing compound butter. Easy to do, and then you’ll always have black garlic butter on-hand for last-minute meals.
There are so many uses for this black garlic compound butter, because black garlic goes well with so many different foods. Our favorite use is to make seasonal vegetables shine. Try it over steamed green beans, asparagus, or broccoli.
Fold into a potato salad. Stir it in at the end of this Roasted Red Onions recipe. Smear it on some Crispy Parmesan Potatoes. Toss with pasta and sautéed shiitake mushrooms with this Black Garlic Pasta recipe for an easy, elegant dinner.
Or, make a Grilled Ribeye Steak and add a pat of garlic butter over the top right before serving. Use it as a substitute for the red wine sauce in our Pan-Seared Filet Mignon recipe. Of course, you can always use it like regular butter, and spread on bread or rolls.
And of course there are so many other ways you can flavor butter. Check out this list of compound butter recipes, featuring everything from herbs to sundried tomatoes to cinnamon and maple. My favorite is probably this Garlic and Herb Compound Butter.
If you have extra black garlic cloves, keep them in mind for making two of my other favorite recipes, this Black Garlic Aioli and this Black Garlic Chicken. You can also use them to flavor salad dressing—purée the liquid to equally distribute the black garlic flavor. And try mincing them and adding into risotto, pasta, or even a stir-fry. I've got even more ideas for you in my roundup of the Top Black Garlic Recipes.
Other Delicious Condiments
The right condiment can make all the difference in making a dish sing. Even the simplest vegetable dish is something special when served with this black garlic butter, or with one of these delicious aiolis.
If you try this Black Garlic Butter recipe, I would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to me.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
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Black Garlic Butter
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 4-ounce stick unsalted butter softened
- 1 ounce of black garlic cloves (8-9 cloves)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in food processor.
- Process until well mixed, scraping down the sides frequently.
- Season to taste with more salt, if necessary.
- Scrape into a ramekin and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to allow flavors to fully meld.
Notes
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this Black Garlic Butter recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Please consider that the web is global and that the majority of the world don't use ounces as a measure. Yes it's easy to do a conversion online but irritating.
You are totally right. I had to take out most of my gram references because my recipe card was only doubling the ounces measurement when you adjusted the number of servings. I am working on a solution though!
If I don’t have unsalted butter can I use salted and leave out the 1/4 tsp of salt?
Absolutely! You probably would still want to put in a pinch of salt, but not the full 1/4 teaspoon.
I recently dined at a fine restaurant that served broccoli with a black garlic butter. It was amazing! I found your recipe and made it tonight, and also happen to have black garlic salt that I incorporated. It was spectacular!
I'm so excited about this butter! And I'm so glad your recipe convinced me to buy black garlic. It's pretty amazing! Can't wait to make the butter. It would be so good on a filet.
https://www.chefmimiblog.com
Yes, really delicious on steak and fish as well!
Great post! I found your insights really valuable and thought-provoking.
Thanks so much, Ajay! I appreciate that!