Compound Butter for Steak (2024)

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Top off steaks with a slice of decadence using Compound Butter for Steak! With only four easy ingredients and barely any prep time, there’s no easier way to add tons of rich, delicious flavor to your meal. Perfect for steak, corn, chicken, vegetables, and more!

Steak Butter Recipe

If there’s one recipe that feels like a real life cheat code, it’s garlic herb butter. Seriously, how is it this easy to make a condiment that tastes this good? It’s ready to use in less than five minutes, and trust me: everything is better with herb butter. Not just steak!

There’s nothing better than steak with herb butter, though. Combining rich, flavorful beef with savory, garlicky herb butter- let me tell you, you’ll never find me serving steak without it. My herb butter steak will take any steak from good to amazing; it always does!

It’s convenient, too. By using fresh or dried herbs, you can make this butter for steak in minutes and have it ready for everything. Personally, I love it on grilled corn on the cob, but read on: I’ll give you all of my serving suggestions below!

Ingredients in Compound Butter

• Salted butter: You can also use unsalted butter and add your own salt. I find salted butter easier, as it’s harder to taste-test compound butter!
• Garlic: Fresh minced garlic cloves are a must; powdered won’t have the same flavor. I recommend using a garlic press.
• Fresh rosemary: Fresh rosemary will have a softer texture and brighter color that’s ideal for compound butter, but you can use dried, too.
• Fresh thyme: Like rosemary, fresh thyme will have a better texture and color than dried. But in a pinch, dried will still taste great.
• Optional: Fresh parsley, basil, fresh chives, lemon zest, black pepper

How to Make Compound Butter

1. Let the butter come to room temperature. I don’t recommend softening the butter in the microwave as it just doesn’t reach the same consistency. If you need to quickly soften the butter, run a bowl under hot water and then place the bowl upside-down over the butter to help soften it. Then, place the softened butter in a bowl and add minced thyme, rosemary, and crushed garlic.
   
2. Mix the softened butter and herbs well with a fork to combine completely. You want to really get the herbs mixed into the butter.
   
3. Scrape the butter out of the bowl and on to a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper, then roll it into a log shape. Holding the ends of the wrap, roll it repeatedly to seal the ends. When you refrigerate it it will retain this log shape, so you can slice off pats of butter to use for steak and more! It freezes well, too. Scroll down to the storage section below for tips on freezing butter.
   
4. To serve: Slice a disk of butter from the log and place it on top of a freshly cooked steak. Let it melt through and enjoy! You can also place the butter in the pan while searing to baste the steak in deliciously seasoned butter. Plus, use it for veggies, pork chops, chicken, and more – really, anything you want!
   

And remember, don’t forget my signature Steak Rub to boost the flavor of your next steak dinner to whole new levels!

Tips

• Fresh herbs, garlic, and high quality butter make all the difference in compound butter recipes.
• Making this butter ahead of time will give the oils in the herbs more time to flavor the butter!
• If you use unsalted butter, just add in 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Avoid table salt – it can have a metallic taste when cooked!
• Thyme and rosemary will make for a deliciously herbal, aromatic butter, but you can swap them out for any herbs you like! I also like adding parsley, fresh basil, or even marjoram, savory, and dill!

Love flavored butters? Try my classic Garlic Butter recipe for easy, quick flavor with only 3 ingredients!

Compound Butter with Dried Herbs

If you can’t get your hands on fresh herbs, don’t worry! You can make compound butter with dried herbs, too. Add 1 teaspoon of each in place of the fresh herbs. Let the butter rest for longer so it can soak up the flavor!

FAQ

Storing Compound Butter

• Refrigerator: Wrap the mixed butter in parchment paper or plastic, then roll it repeatedly holding the ends of the plastic to seal it tightly. Place it in the fridge and store for 4-5 days.
• Freezer: Steak butter freezes beautifully, and it’s my favorite way of storing leftovers! Store it in an ice cube tray or by slicing the log into slabs to freeze individually on a wax-paper lined sheet pan before placing the slices or cubes in a freezer safe bag. Store for 4-5 months.

Steak Recipes

• Grilled Chuck Steak
• Brazillian Picanha Steak
• Smoked or Reverse Seared Wagyu Steak
• Reverse Sear Ribeye Steak – One of my favorite steaks I’ve ever eaten with this butter!
• Grilled New York Strip Steak

If you enjoyed the recipe, leave a comment and a rating below!

Recipe