This roasted garlic butter is the new-and-improved garlic butter, and there's no going back! With the soft, rich, almost sweet flavor of the roasted garlic, and some Italian herbs for more complex flavor, this is the perfect butter for steaks, garlic bread, or as an addition to your favorite cooked vegetables!
While roasting garlic is an additional step, it's very simple to do and crucial to this recipe.
How to Roast Garlic
First, preheat your oven to 425° Fahrenheit. Chop off the top ¼ inch of the garlic heads, or just enough to expose each of the cloves. Wrap each one separately in tin foil, leaving the top open. Pour a teaspoon of olive oil on each garlic head (on the side that was sliced open). Close off the tin foil, and place in the oven on the rack, right-side up.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the garlic heads are soft and the top is caramelized (as seen in the image above). Carefully open the tin foil (it'll be very hot), and allow the garlic to cool for 30 minutes, or until no longer hot to the touch.
Squeeze the softened garlic out of the cloves and into a large bowl, making sure that the outer peel isn't flaking into the bowl as well. Before mixing the roasted garlic into the butter, use a fork to mash the soft garlic. This will break up any large chunks so that the roasted garlic can evenly distribute throughout.
Which Herbs to Use
The great thing about garlic herb butter is that you can alter the herbs however you'd like and get very different flavors. As a base, I typically use parsley--it's versatile and will complement any dish that this roasted garlic butter is added to.
I also love to add rosemary and thyme, especially when I use this butter to make garlic bread. However, you can leave out any of these herbs. Feel free to add others as well! Basil would be a great add to bring out an Italian flavor, and chives would add a more onion-like taste.
In this recipe, I use dried herbs rather than fresh. This is only to simplify the recipe--fresh herbs are great in roasted garlic butter! Just remember that the ratios will be different. For every teaspoon of dried herbs, you'll need to replace it with a tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs.
Once you've chosen which herbs you'd like to use, add them to the softened butter, along with the mashed roasted garlic, and mix them together. Then add additional salt if necessary. Super simple!
How to Use Roasted Garlic Butter
There are so many different ways to use this roasted garlic herb butter! I always use it when making garlic bread, and you can check out how I do that in my roasted garlic bread recipe. This butter is also great tossed with some steamed or roasted vegetables! Try adding it to your grilled cheese, on top of steak or chicken, or tossed with some pasta to make a light sauce.
If you try out this roasted garlic butter, I’d LOVE to hear about it. You can leave a comment below the recipe, or if you post a picture on Instagram, be sure to tag me! Getting any feedback on my recipes is both rewarding AND helpful as I write and edit recipes in the future.
Now get cooking, and enjoy!
Roasted Garlic Butter
Print Pin RateIngredients
- 2 large garlic heads
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 cup salted butter room temperature
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley *fresh herbs are also a great option for this recipe, see notes
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary optional**
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme optional**
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt optional***
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425° F. Chop off the top ¼ inch of the garlic heads, exposing each of the cloves. Wrap each one separately in tin foil, leaving the top open.2 large garlic heads
- Pour a teaspoon of olive oil on each garlic head (on the side that was sliced open). Close off the tin foil, and place in the oven on the rack, right-side up.2 teaspoon olive oil
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the garlic heads are soft and the top is caramelized. Open the tin foil (carefully), and allow the garlic to cool for 30 minutes, or until no longer hot to the touch.
- Squeeze the softened garlic out of the cloves and into a large bowl, making sure that the outer peel isn't flaking into the bowl as well.
- Use a fork to mash the soft garlic, making sure to break up any large chunks. Then add the softened butter, dried parsley, along with the dried thyme and rosemary (optional). I like adding the thyme and rosemary because of the variety of flavor they add, but this is completely up to you.You are welcome to use fresh herbs--I don't in this recipe just to keep it quick and simple. As a replacement, the conversion would be 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh herbs for every 1 teaspoon of dried herbs.1 cup salted butter, 1 teaspoon dried parsley, ½ teaspoon dried rosemary, ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- Mix together, and then taste test to determine if the additional ¼ teaspoon of salt is necessary--I only add this because brands of salted butter have varying quantities of salt content.¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Use immediately, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This roasted garlic butter is perfect for garlic bread, tossing with vegetables, or just to add a little extra flavor when cooking.Enjoy!
Anonymous says
Love this for garlic bread!!
Maddie Saxey says
So glad you liked it! 🙂