Learn how to make garlic butter with just 4 ingredients! Creamy, savory, and rich, it's a delicious topping for potatoes, dinner rolls, noodles, and more.
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What’s better than regular butter? Garlic butter! This spread is rich and, well, buttery, brimming with savory garlic flavor. It’s quick to stir together, and it lasts for days in the fridge. Keep it on hand for slathering onto bagels and toast, tossing with noodles, dotting onto baked potatoes, and more. It’s such an easy way to amp up the flavor in simple, everyday meals.
How to Make Garlic Butter
This homemade garlic butter recipe has to be one of the simplest on the blog. It only calls for 4 basic ingredients:
- Unsalted butter,
- garlic,
- finely chopped fresh parsley or chives,
- and salt.
Big tip: In order for you to make this recipe, the butter will need to be at room temperature. Set it out on the counter at least an hour ahead so that it has time to soften.
When the butter is soft and spreadable, place all the ingredients in a small bowl, and stir until they are well-combined.
Enjoy the butter right away, or store it in the fridge for later use. So easy!
How to Use Garlic Butter
There are so many ways to use this garlic butter! Here are a few of my favorites:
- Spread it onto French bread or warm baguette for a yummy side dish, snack, or appetizer. You could even add the bread and butter to a cheese board or crudité platter!
- Use it to make garlic bread. That’s right! Making this easy garlic butter is the first step towards making homemade garlic bread. Find my recipe here.
- Let it melt over mashed potatoes. It’s fantastic on my regular mashed potatoes, Instant Pot mashed potatoes, and this garlic mashed cauliflower!
- Dot it into a baked potato. Or a baked sweet potato.
- Toss it with pasta to make a quick garlic butter sauce. Butter noodles don’t get better than this.
- Spoon it over simply cooked veggies, like sautéed mushrooms or steamed broccoli.
- Slather it onto homemade cornbread, jalapeño cornbread, or dinner rolls. The perfect side dish for almost any meal!
- Rub it over corn on the cob. Boiled or grilled!
- Or spread it onto a toasted bagel for a quick, delicious breakfast.
How do you like to use garlic butter? Let me know in the comments!
More Favorite Butters and Spreads
If you love this recipe, try one of these butters or spreads next:
- Herb Compound Butter
- Honey Butter
- Lemon Butter Sauce
- Homemade Labneh
- Romesco Sauce
- Classic Hummus
- Basil Pesto
Garlic Butter
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley or chives
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the softened butter, parsley, garlic, and salt.
- Serve on toasted baguette or bake onto garlic bread. Find more serving suggestions in the post above.
How long will it last in the fridge?
Hi Mary, it keeps well for about 2 weeks. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months.
How long can you keep it in the fridge?
I have no garlic on hand. Can you use garlic powder? If so how much? Thank you
Hi Renee, I would start with 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and add more to taste!
I looked for a recipe for garlic butter because the last time I hosted a meal, I had a stick of store bought that (although I just purchased it) had an old refrigerator type taste to it. I bought it again later thinking it was a fluke, but nope. I hosted Easter and made a double batch of this. I put a cute little carrot shaped dish of it next to the rolls and one next to the mashed potatoes. I always make even larger portions of food than I need at holidays so everyone can take a plate home, but guess what I didn’t have any leftovers in? The rolls or the mashed potatoes. Everyone loved the garlic butter. I saw the comment about not doubling the salt for a double batch. I used 3/4 tsp salt, and doubled everything else. Next time, I will probably just used 1/2 tsp of salt in the double batch. I used parsley, not chives. Either way, it was delicious.
Ha, I’m glad everyone enjoyed the butter! Your table sounds delightful 🙂
When I need to double or triple a recipe, I was told NOT to double or triple salt. Is that your understanding?
Hi Maureen, you could leave the salt as-is and then season to taste if you’re concerned a double batch would be overly salty.
Can I used dried parsley?
yep!
Can I use salted butter?
yes, but then add the salt to taste.
Hi! If I wanted to make this and store it for those days where noodles with butter would save my life; what else would you add? Would you suggest your compound butters?
This garlic butter would be great over noodles! You could add herbs to it if you wanted more flavor.
I made this recipe substituting garlic cloves for 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon of dried parsley and it was still wonderful. This will be my go-to from now on. Even my super picky eater loved it!
Good recipe. Next time I will cut the salt to 1/4 tsp. I did use unsalted butter.
Excellent combination of spices. I used this on my roasted chicken. Delicious!
So glad you loved it, Karl!
Delicious
I made this per recipe and, although I liked it, my family objected to the lemon zest flavor. I think I will make my next stuffed shells without it.
There isn’t any lemon in the recipe.
I know! Where did they get lemon zest from the recipe?
I am interested for your saurce recipe please
Perfect balance of salt! My son said it could be more garlic-y; maybe we’ll try a dash of garlic powder but all the bread disappeared – thank you!!
About how much does this make? In ounces or cups? Thank you!
How can i make this recipe lasts up to 3 months?
Hi, you can freeze the garlic butter for up to 3 months.
Deeeelicious!!!!
Made as written and it was perfect!
So glad you enjoyed it, Diane!
A little on a nicely seared steak is quite good.
I made this to put in my mashed potatoes. Delicious! Not too strong, not too mild. I used 2.5 cloves, salted butter (it was on sale) and left out the salt. Dried parsley worked fine. Can’t wait to try this on some fresh bread later on. Thank you!
Hi, Jeanine and Jack. This garlic butter is so delicious! I used it with grilled escargots. Yum!
https://magicskillet.com/recipe/oven-grilled-escargots/