Have you ever browned butter?
It’s an easy way to take a recipe that relies on butter up a notch in flavor. Just by cooking the butter a little past the melting point results in the milk solids in the butter browning, and creating a wonderfully nutty aroma.
It’s fun to do with butter-based sauces (check out these scallops in a browned butter caper sauce), baked goods that call for melted butter (like these brown butter chocolate chunk cookies), or with vegetables such as winter squash that you sauté in butter.
Just be sure to keep your eye on it while cooking; it’s pretty easy to go from browned to burnt!
What do you like to make with browned butter? Let us know in the comments.
How to brown butter
How to Make Brown Butter
PrintIngredients
- Unsalted butter
Method
1 Heat a thick-bottomed skillet on medium heat. Add the butter (if you slice it, it will melt more evenly) whisking frequently. Continue to cook the butter.
2 Once melted the butter will foam up a bit, then subside. Watch carefully as lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan. Smell the butter; it should have a nutty aroma.
3 Remove from heat and pour into a bowl to stop the butter from cooking further and perhaps burning.
It's pretty easy to overcook browned butter and go from brown to burnt. If the butter starts to blacken, I suggest dumping it and starting over (something I've had to do on occasion), unless you want beurre noir which has a different taste than nutty brown butter.
If you want to make sage brown butter sauce, add some fresh sage leaves to the butter once it has melted. Allow the butter to brown and remove from heat.
Use browned butter immediately or store covered in the refrigerator for future use.
Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. If you wish to republish this recipe, please rewrite the recipe in your own unique words and link back to How to Make Brown Butter on Simply Recipes. Thank you!
PrintThis post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Simply Recipes. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.
If you make this recipe, snap a pic and hashtag it #simplyrecipes — We love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter!
Elise Bauer is the founder of Simply Recipes. Elise launched Simply Recipes in 2003 as a way to keep track of her family's recipes, and along the way grew it into one of the most popular cooking websites in the world. Elise is dedicated to helping home cooks be successful in the kitchen. Elise is a graduate of Stanford University, and lives in Sacramento, California.
How to Make Brown Butter
Works great. I suggest putting it over noddles and adding some saffron. Deliciousness!!
I accidentally made brown butter this morning while making syrup for french toast. Rather than throwing it out, I added it to the french toast batter.
BEST FRENCH TOAST EVER!
xxxxxyyyyy
Kitchen accidents are so much fun! Wow. I’ll have to try this! Thanks for your comment, Joe!
Brown butter makes everything better!
made it by mistake, also and used it to saute shrimp with, maybe redundant but turned out great.
xxxxxyyyyy
I made brown butter by accident while making rice krispie treats one time because i wasn’t paying attention to the butter. I thought i ruined the butter but was too lazy to start over and just used it brown and it was the best “mistake” I ever made! Everybody raves about my rice krispie treats because they have this depth of flavor and they honestly do taste better than most. I totally concur with the magic of browning butter!
I put this on baked haddock (cod or any mild, white fish). Makes a world of difference and adds a ton of flavor to a fairly bland baked fish. Highly recommend it.
xxxxxyyyyy