Elevate your Meals with Compound Butters!

What if I told you that all it took was some butter to make your next meal amazing? Well, if you are as big of a butter fan that I am, then you know that butter can make anything better.

Today we are talking compound butters! This is where we take butter, and we add some extra flavors to really take it to the next level. This simple step can make your corn on the cobb, baked potato, grilled steak, baked chicken, and so much more absolutely amazing.

The great thing about compound butters is that after you mix your flavorings in, you refrigerate or freeze the butter to use for later. So, a little work up front for tons of flavor later!

9 Compound Butters to Make Yourself

Before we get into the flavor combos, just know that even though they are called compound butters you can actually make these with margarine and or non-dairy butters as well.

1. Herb Butter

This is really an all-purpose butter that can be used on almost anything! When I worked in restaurants and catering, we made huge batches and just kept it in the freezer.

2. Garlic Butter

This is another butter that can be used on so many dishes. We even like to use this on just plain noodles!

3. Caramelized Onion Butter

This one is a great way to use up tons of onions that are about to go bad or just an easy way to add onion flavor later on without having to sauté onions for every dish. Make this and freeze it for later. It is fabulous on top of rice too!

4. Brown Sugar Cinnamon Butter

This is the perfect blend of creamy and sweet. It is amazing over almost any breakfast sweet and I love it over plain toast to get the more adult version of Cinnamon Toast!

5. Lemon Herb Butter

This is a classic butter as well that can be used for so many things. On a roasted chicken, lots of different fish and shrimp meals, and so good on garden veggies too!

6. Tuscan Butter

This is a favorite of mine that is unbelievably good on pasta! You can also add your own favorite flavors like pesto or feta to this to really kick it up. (When I was single, I would make this up and freeze it. On busy nights, I would boil a little pasta and put a couple of chunks of butter on top for the most amazing pasta dish that was super quick!)

7. Sweet & Spicy Butter

If you love the hot honey flavor, you are going to love this one!

8. Maple Butter

Even though this has pumpkin spice, it doesn’t actually have pumpkin flavor. But if you put this butter on top of pecan pie or pumpkin pie and microwave for 15 seconds, then you will definitely be thanking me later!

9. Bacon Butter

Even though I love bacon, I don’t always like frying it up for the bacon flavor to be included in some dishes. This is a fantastic one to make ahead and then slice off a chunk to add to items like baked potatoes, breakfast biscuits, or any other dish you want to add a kick of bacon!

Free Printable Recipes PDF

This will print on a standard printer in the 8.5 x 11 size, so please adjust if needed!

Compound Butter Ideas

I hope these compound butter ideas have inspired you to add a little extra flavor to your next meal. These can also be great ways to use up ends and bits of leftovers.

So next time you have some plain rice, or a baked potato, remember to go looking around for some ingredients that you can use to make an awesome compound butter!