Clarified butter is just melted butter with the milk solids removed. It gives things a more intense buttery flavour and has a higher smoke point, so it won’t burn when you pan fry or roast things in it like regular butter does. It makes potato rosti crispy, is used for hollandaise sauce, and makes Movie Popcorn extra buttery – and it won’t got soggy!
This is a “quick flick” recipe – a posts I do for easy sauces, sides and cooking essentials. These are simple, handy recipes that don’t need the full bells and whistles of my usual posts – no detailed step-by-steps, process photos, or videos – just the essentials so you can flick through, make it fast, and get on with cooking and eating!
Clarified butter
Clarified butter is one of those useful kitchen basics that can elevate food with very little effort. It behaves better at high heat (regular butter burns so easily!), adds richer buttery flavour, and keeps far longer than regular butter, which is why it pops up in so many of my recipes. So I figured it deserved its own dedicated recipe instead of hiding in the notes all the time!
How to make Clarified Butter
You can melt the butter either in a saucepan or in the microwave (do it in increments so it doesn’t explode!),
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Once it’s fully melted, pour it into a heatproof jug and let it sit for 5 minutes so the milk solids sink to the bottom and the foam settles on top.
Gently scrape off the foamy bits on top and discard.
Slowly pour the butter into another jug through a small sieve, making sure the milk solids stay behind.
Discard the milk solids left at the bottom.
And that’s it, you’ve made clarified butter!
What to use clarified butter for
You can use it as melted butter without worrying about it burning when pan frying, roasting etc like regular butter. Pour it over things instead of regular melted butter and know that it will have more intense buttery flavour. And clarified butter is the secret for buttery popcorn that doesn’t go soggy! If you pour regular melted butter on it, the water content in the butter will make the popcorn soggy within minutes. 🙂
Here are some recipes I’ve shared that call for clarified butter:
Hope you found this useful! – Nagi x
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How to make clarified butter
Ingredients
- 250g or 2 US sticks 16 (tbsp) unsalted butter , cut into 1cm / 1" cubes
Instructions
- Gently melt – Place butter in a jug and microwave in increments until melted (1 – 1½ minutes on high, but watch it carefully so it doesn't explode!). You could also do this in a saucepan, then pour it into a clear jug.
- Stand for a couple of minutes until the milky whites settle at the bottom (this is the milk solids) and clarified butter (golden part) sits above it. Scrape off and discard any foamy scum.
- Pour off the golden clarified butter, taking care to avoid the milky whites remaining. You should get an 80% yield – 250g butter = 195g clarified 2 US sticks (1 cup) = just over 3/4 cup.
- Use per recipe or keep for later. It will solidify like regular butter and can be re-melted.
Looks great, will give it a go tonight.
Does anyone use the milk solids in anything? Seems a shame to throw them out.
Hi Dorothy, we love to use it on toasts to add extra free flavours!