This addictive wild garlic butter is bursting with spring flavors, and it's a must during the season! Freeze it, and you can enjoy it for much longer.
This wild garlic butter is the most flavorful, incredible herb butter you could possibly make. The season is short, and every year, I try to make the most of it. From the usual wild garlic pesto to bread or risotto, ramsons are super versatile, and they add flavor to anything you add them to.
If you are not familiar with this wonderful plant, make sure you read What to Do with Wild Garlic?
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Recipe ingredients
Wild garlic: Also known as ramsons, bear’s garlic or leek, or buckrams, this is one of the most flavorful wild plants you can find. Bear’s garlic has a short season. Depending on where you live, you can go foraging between April and June.
Just make sure you are picking the right plant; confusing it with the Lily of the Valley or other plants is extremely dangerous! As always, when foraging, be 100% sure that you are picking the right plant and that what you pick is safe to eat. Read the article mentioned above for more on that.
Butter: Best quality butter; it’s all about the butter and the plant. You can use either salted or unsalted butter and adjust the amount of salt you add accordingly.
Spices: Only salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice.
How to make the herb butter?
You can make the spread by mixing it in a bowl or in a food processor. Both ways are fine; the main difference is the color of the mixture. If you mix it in a bowl with a spoon, the mixture will remain white with streaks of green. If you mix it in the food processor, the leaves will be finer chopped, and the spread will be vibrantly green. Either way, it will taste amazing!
Make sure the butter is at room temperature; otherwise, you will not be able to mix it properly with the chopped ramsons. Place it in a bowl and leave it at room temperature for several hours.
Clean the leaves very well. Rinse them individually under hot running water, especially if you have picked them yourself in the woods.
Mixer or hand:
- Chop the leaves very finely.
- Beat the softened butter until creamy. Add the leaves, salt, and pepper to taste, and about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Stir very well to combine.
- Taste and add more salt and freshly squeezed lemon juice. The amount of salt you need depends on whether you are using salted or unsalted butter. I usually add 1 extra tablespoon of lemon juice, but make sure you add to your taste.
- If you don’t want to use a mixer is fine as well. Mix all the ingredients with a spoon in a bowl and adjust the taste.
Food processor:
- I use the Thermomix to make the wild garlic butter.
- Roughly chop the leaves, place them in the food processor, and process for a few seconds until they are rather fine. Scrape down the walls of the machine.
- Add the softened butter, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice.
- Process for a few seconds again until well combined. Scrape the mixture down the walls of the machine again and make sure everything is properly mixed.
- Adjust the taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Transfer to a bowl.
Alternative recipe:
- If you don’t have fresh ramsons leaves anymore, but you happened to make the Wild Garlic Paste, mix unsalted butter with a couple of teaspoons of the paste. Use the paste carefully as it is very salty. Start with a little and add more accordingly.
- This recipe is also perfectly suitable for any other herbs as well. Or see this Herbed Garlic Butter recipe.
How to store and freeze?
I always divide the mixture in two. I keep the half in a small jar in the fridge, it keeps well for at least one week, probably longer, but we never had it for much longer.
Freeze the rest; it will be fine for at least 3-4 months. It will still be ok after that, but it will lose some of the flavors over time. Either form a log, wrap it well in plastic wrap/cling film and then in foil. Using both helps to retain the flavor; butter can pick up other odors easily. Keep it away from other strongly flavored foods, like onions.
Or freeze it in smaller portions in small silicone molds. Once the butter is frozen, you can transfer it to freezer bags. This way it will be properly packed and won’t pick other freezer odors.
The logs can be defrosted slowly (overnight) in the fridge. The smaller portions can be added frozen or partially frozen on top of steaks or other hot foods.
How to use wild garlic butter?
- We eat it generously slathered on bread most of the time… it is incredible; you will not need anything else!
- Otherwise, herb butter is used to enhance the flavor of many other dishes:
- Serve on top of a steak, like this tagliata or any other steak.
- Great for pork chops, chicken, or fish as well.
- Toss through your greens.
- Mix with steamed or boiled vegetables. Try these Buttered Vegetables or Buttered Peas and use this butter instead of regular.
- Boil potatoes, peel them, crush them roughly with the fork, and top generously with the spread. Your kids will say you are the best cook in the world!
- Use it to top Air Fryer Baked Potatoes or to make Herb-Stuffed Mushrooms or Pistachio Crusted Pork Tenderloin.
- Mix with any kind of cooked pasta or stir into rice.
Wild Garlic Butter
Equipment
- Food processor optional
Ingredients
- 250 g butter 2 sticks, Note
- 100 g wild garlic 3.5 oz
- 1 to 1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Soften butter: Place the butter in a bowl and let it soften at room temperature for several hours; it should be easy to stir.250 g butter/ 9 oz/ 2 sticks
- Wash and dry the wild garlic very well.100 g wild garlic/ 3.5 oz
With the mixer or spoon:
- Chop the leaves very finely. Set aside.
- Beat the butter until creamy.
- Add chopped leaves, salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste.1 to 1 ½ teaspoon fine sea salt + ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper + 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Alternatively, mix everything with a spoon in a bowl.
Food processor:
- Process wild garlic: Roughly chop the leaves. Process for a few seconds until very finely chopped, scrape them down the walls of the machine.
- Add butter, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Process shortly to combine. Adjust the taste.
- Store: Keep refrigerated for up to one week or freeze for up to 3-4 months. See instructions regarding freezing in the blog post.
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