Garlic Chive Butter

Garlic with herb and butter on a chopping board

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Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 5 mins
Servings: 8 servings
Yield: 1/2 cup

Snipped chives are mainly used as a garnish and sprinkled on dishes. They are most commonly added to salads and soups. But there are many more ways to incorporate fresh chives into dishes. Chives are perfect when you want to add just a hint of onion flavor and raw onion would be too harsh and pungent.

One way to make a bunch of chives go a long way is to this garlic chive butter for breakfast, lunch, or dinner dishes. It's a great condiment for making toasted garlic bread; it can also be used to fry hash browns or top a big mountain of mashed potatoes

Chives are very easy to grow and, once established in your garden, you will find yourself searching for ways to keep up with the growth. You can grow chives in the ground or in a large planter. 

The plants look ornamental and, in the summer, they will grow large, edible flowers that you can harvest and use to dress up a salad or make chive blossom vinegar. For a colorful variation of this butter, chop up a few chives and add them together with the chives. 

Harvest the chives whenever you need them using kitchen scissors to clip the chives off of the main plant. Give the blades a quick rinse under cold water, dab them dry with a paper towel, and then either cut them into small bits with a knife or scissors. 

If you have an abundance of homegrown chives, this chive butter is a great way to preserve your harvest. The butter can be frozen for up to three months in an airtight container or in freezer bags. Double-bagging the chive butter is recommended because the garlic in the butter tends to give off an intense garlic smell to the other contents of your freezer. 

If you won’t use the entire amount at once, freeze it in smaller portions. An ice cube tray comes in handy for portioning the butter into tablespoons.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

  • 1 small clove garlic, minced

  • 1 tablespoon chopped chives

Steps to Make It

  1. Cream the butter, garlic, and chives together in a bowl or container you will be storing the butter in.

  2. Cover the herb butter and store in the refrigerator for 3 hours before use.

  3. The butter will keep for several days, but it is doubtful it will last that long.

Tips

  • If you are vegan or have allergies to dairy products, you can replace the dairy butter with vegan butter.
  • The butter can be used for a wide variety of cooking. Use it to fry pork chops or chicken. Put a glob of it on your baked potato or use it on vegetables.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
102 Calories
12g Fat
0g Carbs
0g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 102
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g 15%
Saturated Fat 7g 36%
Cholesterol 31mg 10%
Sodium 91mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 0g 0%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Total Sugars 0g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 0mg 2%
Calcium 4mg 0%
Iron 0mg 0%
Potassium 6mg 0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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