How to Make Garlic Butter

Guide Note Garlic butter is creamy and spreadable, but it also provides a little flavor boost to all kinds of dishes. With a minimum of time and ingredients, you can learn How to Make Garlic Butter.

Table of Contents

Making Garlic Butter Tips

  1. Let children help you mix the ingredients for a fun family activity.
  2. Use spreadable butter to make it easier to put your garlic butter on bread.
  3. Season your garlic butter to taste.
  4. Think out of the box; garlic butter isn't just for bread.
  5. Use fresh garlic or garlic powder from your spice rack.

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Introduction

  • So you're looking at a big, beautiful bowl of spaghetti with tomato sauce and you wish you had something to put on the breadsticks in the middle of the table. If you use these tips, you'll know How to Make Garlic Butter to kick up all kinds of food.

What You'll Need

(Creative Commons photo by ulterior epicure)
(Creative Commons photo by ulterior epicure)

Ingredients

  • Butter
    • Feel free to experiment with different kinds of margarines and butter spreads.
  • Garlic
    • Chopped, diced, powdered; it's up to you!
  • Spices
    • Pepper and parsley are just starting points.

Equipment

Step 1: Garlic Butter Basics

  • One of the best parts of cooking is that you can combine just about any ingredients you like according to taste. Here, however, is what you should start out with when you make your first batch of garlic butter.1
  1. Butter is churned heavy cream. As such, it's filled with delicious fats. You have options when it comes to what kind of butter you will use:2
    1. Good, old-fashioned butter will be a little bit firmer and you'll have to warm it up for easy spreading.
    2. Margarine is made from vegetable oils and may or may not be a little healthier for you. It's also a little easier to spread on bread. 3
    3. Spreadable butter, such as Country Crock, is made from a mixture of oils and designed to be spreadable at room temperature. 4
  2. Garlic is a relative of the onion. It's extremely aromatic and adds a unique tang to all kinds of foods. 5
    1. You can purchase whole bulbs of fresh garlic and crush the cloves yourself, or you can purchase jars of pre-crushed garlic.
    2. In a pinch, you can even use garlic powder.
  3. Spices are used to tweak the flavor of foods. You can add whatever you like, but start with pepper and work from there.6

Step 2: Do Some Smooshing

  • This is the fun, messy part! Garlic butter is a breeze to make because the preparation is so easy.
  1. Combine the ingredients you've chosen in a large bowl.
  2. Smoosh them together with a spatula. (You can use your hands if no one is looking!)
    1. Okay, okay. If you want to do it the same way a chef would, mix the ingredients in a food processor.8
    2. As this requires no heat, making garlic butter is a great way to involve kids in cooking.9
  3. Transfer your garlic butter into a serving dish or a fridge-friendly storage container for later use.10
  4. This step is very important (and delicious). You should test the garlic butter you've made to make sure it tastes the way you want.
    • At this point, you can add spices if you feel it's necessary.


Step 3: Garlic Butter Uses

  • Now that you have a supply of garlic butter, it's time to put it to use.11
  1. Bread is a classic way to enjoy garlic butter.
    1. Make garlic bread by spreading garlic butter onto sliced Italian bread and covering it with cheese before baking it in the oven.12
  2. Add your garlic butter to lobster or steak to make savory meats even richer. 7
  3. Vegetables taste great when you add a little garlic butter.13
  4. Experiment by adding your garlic butter to different dishes to make your own creations.

Additional Garlic Butter Recipes

Conclusion

If you have garlic butter left, store it in a covered container in your refrigerator to keep it fresh. (You can even store it in the freezer if you like.)18 Bring it out whenever you want to add some flavor to your meal.

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References for How to Make Garlic Butter

  1. ↑ RecipeTips.com: Garlic Butter: Cooking Terms
  2. ↑ Recipezaar: Kitchen Dictionary: butter
  3. ↑ MayoClinic: Butter vs. margarine: Which is better for my heart?
  4. ↑ Country Crock: Spreadable Butter with Canola Oil
  5. ↑ Garlic Central: Garlic Central
  6. ↑ the epicenter: encyclopedia of spices  WARNING: Ad-Heavy
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Cooks.com: Recipe - Garlic Butter
  8. ↑ Consumersearch.com: Food Processor Reviews WARNING:Ad-Heavy
  9. ↑ FamilyFun.com: Teaching Kids to Cook
  10. ↑ About.com: Food Storage Containers: Freshness & Convenience
  11. ↑ AllRecipes: Garlic Butter
  12. ↑ Simply Recipes: Garlic Bread Recipe
  13. ↑ Food Network: Artichokes with Lemon-Garlic Butter WARNING: Pop-ups
  14. ↑ Food Reference Website: Garlic Butter Recipe WARNING: Ad-Heavy
  15. ↑ Open Source Food: Shrimp in Garlic Butter Recipe
  16. ↑ Grilled Vegetable Recipe: Roasted Garlic Butter Recipe | Herb Butter Recipe
  17. ↑ DVO: Japanese Garlic Butter
  18. ↑ Bella Online: Garlic Butter Spread Recipe - Hot & Spicy


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