How to Make Brown Butter
If you’ve ever wondered “How to Make Brown Butter,” it’s much easier than you think! It only requires 1 ingredient and about 15 minutes of your time. The moniker beurre noisette – French for “nutty butter” – sums up why you should try your hand at it. You’ll want to use this golden wonder on everything!
Servings: 10
Calories: 163kcal
Equipment
- Heatproof Glass Container
Ingredients
Brown Butter
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter
Instructions
Brown Butter
- Start by melting your butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Use a pan with a light-colored bottom so you can keep track of the color while the butter starts to brown.1 Cup Unsalted Butter
- Swirl the pan occasionally to make sure that the butter is cooking evenly
- As the butter melts, it will begin to foam, sputter and the coloring will get darker
- Once the butter has developed a deep golden brown color and has stopped sputtering, pour into a heatproof glass container and set aside
Video
Notes
Expert Tips
- Feel free to scale the recipe up as needed. Once you’ve made brown butter and witnessed all its steps, you’ll know when you’re getting close enough to jump in and start *really* paying attention.
- Make browned butter in advance, and always keep it on hand. It will keep in the fridge for up to a month, so even if you don’t have a plan for it, make it! I can promise it’ll be a lifesaver on a busy weeknight when you forgot about dinner; combined with pasta, you don’t need much else!
- REMEMBER: All it takes to make brown butter is butter, a pan, patience, time, and a bit of babysitting. Watch the color develop, smell the nutty aroma, agitate the butter, listen to the sputtering sizzles that come from your pan, and you will succeed!
- What does brown butter taste like? The French sum it up best by calling it beurre noisette, which roughly translates to “hazelnut butter”; the end product does taste rather nutty.
- Is brown butter better? Can you say that 10 times fast?? LOL. All jokes aside, the nuanced flavor of brown butter does something quite wonderful to an already outstanding ingredient. While browned butter isn’t necessarily ideal for *all* applications, I’d venture to say that it is a delightful upgrade over regular butter in many situations.
- How long do I need to brown butter? It all depends on your quantity. If you’re just doing a stick, it might only take 5 minutes, whereas if you’re doing a couple of pounds, it’ll take quite a bit longer. I encourage you to use your senses here – my step-by-step photos make it easier to gauge which step you’re in, but remember that you’re not done until the butter smells quite nutty!
Nutrition
Calories: 163kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 5mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 567IU | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 1mg
