For several years we have made our own soft spreadable butter to use on our sandwiches in place for margarine. Even though we keep it in our refrigerator, it stays soft, unlike regular hard butter. It is ready for use at any time. This homemade “margarine” is very convenient to use, and has also saved us money by stretching our butter to last twice as long.
If you do try this recipe, I would really appreciate a quick comment with a star rating (option found immediately under each recipe). It helps me out tremendously! Thanks in advance!
I grew up using margarine to spread on my sandwiches. It was nice and convenient to be able to grab the tub of soft spread right from the fridge and use it without crumbling my slice of bread. It was also believed that margarine was better for us than real butter. After I grew up, I have come to believe that it’s the opposite way, butter being the healthier alternative as it is a natural product, unlike the heavily processed margarine. That doesn’t mean every natural product is good for you, but being that margarine ingredients after processing are altered, and in my opinion not natural in any way, I can’t see how margarine can possibly be better for the body than butter, or even equal to it.
When we first started using butter for our sandwiches in place for margarine, we would keep some on the counter top in order to keep it soft. Hard butter could be such a frustration, as the bread would crumble in the effort of spreading. We then found that we could easily make our own homemade soft-to-spread butter to keep in the refrigerator. It really is quite simple; we use equal amounts of butter and vegetable oil, and add a little salt to it. So, first I’ll show you how to make the homemade margarine alternative, then I’ll also show you a way to keep pure butter soft, clean, and fresh right on the counter.
NOTE: Since writing this blog article my husband and I have again changed our view on this subject, and we have decided to go over to using straight butter without mixing it with anything. After everything we’ve read about it, it seems that most vegetable oils and seed oils are pretty bad for you, so we have mostly stopped using them. Without being able to say so with certainty, we get the impression that avocado oil and olive oil is good for you, so we could perhaps switch over to those. And we use those in cooking or baking, but as far as butter on our sanwiches we just use straight butter now. We keep it in a butter crock with a lid on the counter and we have not had it go bad even if it sits for several days. So we are comfortable doing this for ourselves, although others would have to make their own judgement on what they believe is safe and good for them. We are no experts on the matter and cannot say whether it’s safe for you or not. But it’s been fine for us.
How to Make Soft, Spreadable Butter Quickly and Easily:
I like to make a fairly large amount of this great tasting butter for our family, so I double the recipe and use 4 cups of butter, and leave that to soften in a bowl for several hours or overnight. I add an equal amount of canola oil or light tasting olive oil. I have found regular olive oil to flavor the butter too much, so we prefer to use light tasting oil. Editing to say that we no longer recommend using canola oil since there seem to be some health concerns connected with using vegetable and seed oils. Perhaps avocado oil is a better choice? The flavor would certainly work for this recipe.
We like salted butter, so that’s what I use in this recipe. Since oil does not contain any salt, I also add an additional 1 1/2 tsp of Diamond Crystal Kosher salt to keep the end product tasty. I prefer to use kosher salt because it dissolves better than regular table salt, but you can also use table salt of the salt of your choice. If using table salt or sea salt, use just half the amount since the crystals are smaller than in Diamond Crystal, so you pack in more per teaspoon. The sodium level in kosher salt also differ from one brand to the next, so it is a good idea to try a little bit at a time until you have found what works for you. You can, of course, use unsalted butter and omit salt altogether if you prefer, but it might taste pretty bland if you do.
When the butter is completely soft, I whip these ingredients together, using a stick blender, until completely smooth.
After mixing, I simply pour the butter blend into containers and refrigerate. I love these Rubbermaid Lunchbox Containers from Amazon for this purpose; they are nicely stackable and look pretty, too.
This butter will firm up when refrigerated, but is quite soft when you cut into it. It spreads easily, especially if left in room temperature for a minute or two. It will continue to soften until runny, but firms up again once you place it back into the refrigerator. This recipe is quick and easy, and allows you to make homemade spreadable butter similar to margarine, but using more natural ingredients in the process.
A Butter Crock Alternative
Even though the rest of my family prefers my homemade, spreadable butter, I still prefer to use it pure and unmixed. As a solution for keeping my pure butter soft, I have purchased a beautiful butter crock that allows me to keep it soft and fresh on the counter top for a week or more, as the crock uses a water-seal to protect it. Softened butter is scooped into the crock itself, which is inverted into the outer bowl, which holds a small amount of water. The water creates a seal around the outside of the butter crock without touching the butter itself, keeping it fresh. I use mine all the time, and I’m very happy with this particular crock as it holds almost 2 sticks of butter, unlike the majority of other butter crocks which only hold one. It also looks beautiful and comes in several different colors. Here’s another very pretty one
All in all, keeping butter soft and spreadable while still in the refrigerator is easy when you mix it with oil and a little salt, and it can be a great money saver as well. Please comment and rate this recipe if you try it; option is found immediately under the recipe. Thank you!!
- 2 c butter, salted or unsalted
- 2 c avocado oil or other light tasting oil
- 1½ tsp Diamond Crystal Kosher salt or to taste
- Leave butter to soften for several hours or overnight.
- Blend together butter, oil, and salt.
- Pour into containers and refrigerate.
Thank you Terese,
yes it truly is a on going issue in the winter to spread the butter so will try this!!!
Hope it works for you, Michelle! Thanks for commenting!
Can you freeze the spredable butter/
Yes, you certainly could freeze it, should not be a problem at all. It will, however, last you a while in the refrigerator as well; look at the expiration date on the butter you use, and use that date to know how long your spreadable butter will last.
You can also purchase butter crocks that you keep on your counter for butter and it is soft and spreadable.
Thanks for the suggestion! I do like to keep some on the counter as well; otherwise, this recipe helps to stretch the butter further, which can be helpful.
Thanks so much for this recipe! For any who think margarine is still healthier, my cholesterol dropped nearly 50% when I went back to butter. I use the butter + olive oil spead, but would prefer to make my own with organic sources. I now make my own bread, peanut butter, and yogurt to remove processed foods from our diet. With all the wonderful small appliances now available, none are time-consuming.
Good for you Jane, I’m so happy to hear you are also baking bread and making other foods from scratch. You are right, it is so easy and fast once you’ve learned what to do. I bake breads on a regular basis, anything from sandwich breads to Italian, baguettes, rolls and more. I absolutely love bread baking! If only I had the time, I would blog about that as well.
Hey,
Can you use this for baking in recipes calling for butter?
Probably not, unless the recipe will be OK with using oil instead of butter. Since this mix is half butter and half oil, it might work in some recipes, but oil and butter are very different from each other and will not give the same results. In cookies, for example, butter stays firm for a little while before it melts, while oil is a liquid right from the start, so it will affect how the cookies spread.
As a note about butter versus margarine… margarine is far better for you than butter. The carbon chains are different from each other, with butter being saturated and straight, whereas margarine is unsaturated and has a kink in its carbon chain (which is where the body breaks it apart to digest it; since butter doesn’t have that, it’s very difficult for the body to process, which is why it can stick to artery walls easier and build up at a high rate). This video explains carbohydrates, lipids, and protein very simply so you can see why on a molecular level: http://youtu.be/H8WJ2KENlK0?t=7m2s The lipid part starts just after the 7 minute mark. As as a note BOTH butter and margarine can be potent with artificial chemicals… consumer beware. Just because it’s more “natural”, doesn’t mean it can’t have unnatural additives or be very very bad for you in general. Lower blood pressure for the win!
Thank you for your reply; personally I have read too much of the opposite, so it will take an awful lot to convince me at this point that margarine is better for you than butter. Margarine is extremely processed, and while I understand that a natural product isn’t always good for you, I do believe that butter all in all is more good for you in moderate amounts than margarine is. But I do appreciate your input, I just respectfully disagree. 🙂
me too, don’t like margarine but it can be used in cooking. not a lot cheaper these days!
My husband’s doctor and his dietitian just urged him to go to butter instead of margarine! My husband is in stage 4 renal disease, high blood pressure, and diabetis. I have been pleading with him for years that natural is better than processed and finally he hears it from another source. Of course, I omit the salt when making spreadable butter and we like it with EVOO.
I’m so sorry your husband is so ill! I sure hope he’s getting good help.
Margarines, oleos, spreads, etc.. all taste awful there is no comparison to real butter
Amen!!!
Margarine is exactly one molecule from being PVC. The choice is strictly yours but in my opinion butter is kuch healthier!
I made this with 1 cup of vegetable oil and 1 cup of coconut oil. It is rich, creamy and delicious! Thank you for this recipe.
That does sound very good!
Love your recipe, might I recommend that you switch the canola oil to say…… macademia, that is a light tasting oil, I’ve been recommended to use a olive oil (not cold pressed cos that will make it green), this way you avoid all of the trans fats and omega 6’s that cause inflammation in the body… with “vegetable” oils such as canola. there is a lot of data to back that up and I recommend you read up on it if you weren’t aware already 🙂
All the best and thank you for posting this 🙂
Thank you for your comment and for the great information! That’s always appreciated!
I am intrigued by this recipe. I use the Land****ke products and I am quite happy with it. I want to see if I can not only make it but make a better product. I also appreciate the comments. I am glad we can freeze this. Also the empty containers we have left over, can be washed and re used. As I take my first step to being a happy homemaker, l look forward to see how this turns out. Gary
I sure hope you like it! Thanks for your comments!
Awesome! Thanks!
I use half Olive oil and half canola oil. I always make two batches, one regular and one using garlic salt instead of regular salt, or for special occasions I use garlic infused oil. The garlic butter is great on garlic bread, or my family’s favorite, garlic cheddar biscuits.
Sounds yummy! Thank you for sharing your ideas!
EASY! Thank you for sharing. I will try it tommorrow.
After a church dinner I “inherited a lot of stick margarine.” A lot I will use for baking but the rest is partly used and off the tables and I want to make it spreadable for toast etc. I feel if I use your recipe I should perhaps only use 1 cup oil so it doesn’t get runny. How does that sound to you??
Well, when it comes to margarine, this is already a very processed product that contains a lot of hardened oil, so I am not sure how well you can mix in more oil. You can probably mix in some, but I honestly don’t know how it will do and how much you would want to add. In my post I am specifically referring to real butter, and margarine is different. You may be able to just leave it on the counter to soften without adding anything. I’m sure it will keep pretty well, I don’t think it is as perishable as butter since it’s mostly oil and little or no dairy. Hope that helps!
Many years ago I was a stay @ home mother of 2 sons. I joined a food co-op. At that time I got a recipe for a “better butter” spread, much healthier than a processed margarine product & easier to use for spreading on toast, muffins etc. **I had difficulty getting the balance of butter to oil for the desired consistency for spreading. **I am delighted to find this recipe with ratios, preparation instructions & storage suggestions. I AM DELIGHTED!! Thank you so much. ?
That’s wonderful to hear! I am so glad that I could help you, and I hope this recipe will work great for you!
I have always wanted a butter keeper but all the ones I’ve seen were too pricey. Just found this one from Walmart for $6.99, which I plan to purchase:
Stoneware Butter Keeper – Walmart.com
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Norpro284Stoneware-Butter-Keeper-STONEWARE-BUTTER-KEEPER/38479731
However I also plan to make your spreadable butter recipe, which should save money as well. We’re in a real financial bind right now, so I have to use butter sparingly, and only when what I’ve cooked requires that real butter taste!
Thanks for this recipe, I found several, but yours seems simpler than others, and makes me want to give it a try!
I’m glad I could simplify things for you! And thank you for that butter keeper link, that’s a very good price! I wonder how much it holds? Thank you for your comment!
Hi I’ve never been a fan of margarine, so was looking up how to make your own spreadable butter and came across your post. How easy and the result is a lovely, creamy spread. I used my kitchen mixer so only took about 10 seconds to combine. It’s great to be able to make this product at home with minimum effort – especially as the semisoft butter I was buying was expensive!
I’m so glad to hear you liked my post and that you had great results! Thank you for letting me know!
i learned to make fresh butter with fresh cream….to make it softer i should just add the same amount or less of olive oil if i understood well….thanks so much for your tips
Same amount, yes, but if you want to use olive oil make sure to use light tasting. Virgin or extra virgin tastes too strong. Thank you for your comment and rating, I really appreciate it!
Thanks for sharing your recipe. I’ve been buying butter softened with olive oil and salt. Love the product but expensive.becaue I love butter on. everything. Your recipie is perfect!
Wonderful! Thank you!
Can I remix one day old home made butter to make it softer
Just use the same direction as for butter from the store, as explained above.
Can I use peanut oil I can’t have soy
I would think so, but I’m not very familiar with peanut oil and not sure if it will leave an after taste. Could you use canola oil? That works very well and has a neutral flavor.
So excited to try this!
I want to make a garlic parmesan spread. Would this work for that?
I would think so, I don’t see why not. I would love to hear how it goes, if you do try it.
A couple questions…. 1) do you think using pecan oil would work well? I love using it because it’s so light and just barely had the slightest nutty flavor. 2) if I wanted to make honey butter using raw, unfiltered honey how would this change the amount of oil used? Would it still work?
Thank you!
Hi Julie,
I am not experienced with pecan oil, so I don’t know how it would work. But since you say it’s light and only a slight nutty flavor, it sounds delicious to me! You could try mixing just a little bit and see how you like it before making a bigger batch. As for making honey butter, I haven’t tried that either, but I would be more concerned about that. I’m thinking you would get best results by using straight, pure butter. But for that too, you could always try mixing up just a tiny bit and see what you think. Please let us know if you do try it, I’m sure others would be interested in knowing what the results are.
thank you for this information…..I’ve just recently started making my own butter….and find it very difficult to spread when it’s been refrigerated….i do have a butter crock….but, it gets very hot where i live during the summer, and i just don’t feel comfortable leaving it out on the counter….for right now, it is ok, because it is winter…..but, this ‘spreadable’ version is great!!! i tried it last night with only 1/2 cup of butter, and just under 1/2 cup of canola oil….and it worked beautifully!!! thank you again!!!
That’s great! Wonderful to know! And I completely understand what you’re saying about hot weather and leaving it out. But now you have an alternative! Woo-hoo!!
Want to try this! Did you use salted or unsalted butter? And I use salted, should I hold the kosher salt?
Thanks in advance!
I use salted butter, and I add the additional kosher salt since oil does not contain any salt. I hope it works well for you! It’s a good question, and I will edit my post to clarify for others. Thank you for your comment!
Many years ago I was in a food co-op, Things were bought in bulk and divided among the members, a saving venture.
Better Butter is one of the very best things I learned to make for our family. I had lost the original recipe and am so happy to have the “original” recipe ~ which gave me the correct measurement of butter to oil.
Many thanks. I am at work right now but am anxious to make a batch of Better Butter when I get home.
I’m glad I could help! Thank you for leaving a comment and star review!
I switched to real butter a while back. I just hate that its so hard. I tried the butter with canola oil spread from the store, its still to hard to spread on soft bread. I’ve thought about just keeping butter on the counter, but that makes me kinda nervous… I don’t use a lot of soft butter, so it would probably go bad. So I’m going to try this before I give up and get the tub margerine again.
I’ve been making garlic butter for years. When I made it with butter, I knew I needed more oil, but I guess I just didn’t use enough. And garlic butter has to be spreadable! You can’t leave it out to soften or it will really spoil!
So I’ll try again with LOTS of oil next time!
I think I’ll make the plain butter with canola oil, but I’ll still use olive oil for the garlic butter. Or maybe half and half or something. I make it garlicky enough you mostly only taste the garlic and the herbs a little anyway.
Here’s the recipe if anyone wants it. Its not really exact because I rarely measure stuff unless I’m baking. Everyone’s tastes differ anyway.
Homemade Roasted Garlic Butter
1 bag Peeled Garlic Cloves (I’m lazy. Feel free to use bulbs of garlic if you want. I’m not sure how many bulbs is equivalent, maybe 4 or 5?)
3-4 sticks Butter, room temp. (Maybe more if you want it more buttery. I like it pretty garlicky.)
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Crushed Red Pepper
Herbs of choice. I get the mixed herbs from Zio’s, they’re $6 for a pint sized bowl. (If you don’t know, Zio’s is an italian restaurant. Instead of breadsticks, they give you a loaf of bread with olive oil and herbs to dip it in. I’m not really sure what all is in it. Oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage, and a little parm. cheese and crushed red pepper. Maybe basil… Its all minced up so its hard to tell.) Before I discovered “Zio’s Seasoning” I just used oregano and thyme. But you could just use Italian seasoning or herbs de provence (sp?) or whatever you like.
Wrap garlic in 2 layers of al. foil. Before sealing it drizzle with olive oil, at least enough to coat it. Seal tightly. (You could probably use a baking dish with a lid.)
Bake 400° for about 1 hr.
The cloves will be soft when its done. Be careful of the steam when you open it. I generally don’t bother checking it till it’s cooled enough not to burn me, and if its not quite done I’ll put it back in the oven. Its a hassle if you have to do that though. The foil almost always rips when you open it, and by the time its cooled that much the oven isn’t very hot anymore. But if its not done it won’t turn out right.
Let cool completely.
Mash garlic. I like it pretty smooth, I bought a ricer for the purpose. A food mill would work too. Or you can press it through a mesh sieve. If you don’t mind lumps, a potato masher would work or even just a fork. (Or a food processor or mixer.)
Keep all the oil it cooked in!
Mix garlic, the cooking oil, most of the butter. When that’s pretty smooth, add more oil (probably a lot more) and seasonings. I only use a little salt and just enough pepper and crushed red pepper to be able to sort of tell its in there.
**Deffinately start out with less butter and seasonings than you think you need. They’re easy to add more. You can’t take them out if you add to much though.**
Mix very well. I use a whisk if I’m not using a mixer or food processor.
Taste and add more butter or seasonings if needed. I use a piece of toast cut into bite size pieces to taste test it.
I don’t think it would need 1:1 butter and oil. The garlic is pretty liquid when its mashed, so it probably helps. Maybe 2:1 though…
I’ve also been thinking about mixing in parm. cheese. I mostly use it for garlic bread though. If it was going to be used for cooking IDK how well that would work.
Sorry this is so long…
Thank you very much for adding your recipe! Sounds delicious! For making spreadable butter, the recipe I posted can be a little bit firm when you take it straight out of the refrigerator, but within a few minutes it should be soft enough to spread on soft bread.
If you wish to use straight butter, which I do for myself (the rest of my family prefers it mixed), you could keep just a couple of tablespoons on the counter at a time instead of an entire stick. I have left butter on the counter for several days at a time for years now, and it’s never gone bad. It definitely is best to keep it covered though. I don’t know if leaving it out for several days is considered safe, so do it at your own risk, but I’ve never personally had a problem.
I know most posters commented quite a few years ago, but I just ran across this recipe. I experimented with making soft refrigerated butter without having a reliable, tested recipe several months ago, but it was still hard (very hard!) when I took it from the fridge. Now I know why…I used no where near the amount of oil needed. I was worried my mixture was getting too liquid-y and wouldn’t firm back up. Now I know the proper proportions, I’m going to have another go at. Thanks so much!
You are very welcome, I’m so glad you found this post helpful!
Thank you for this recipe.
I have been wondering whether to begin to buy spreadable butter for my family and suddenly thought, ‘maybe I could make my own?’.
It is very encouraging to see your recipe online and be encouraged that it can be easy and tasty to make. I will be giving your recipe a try.
You’re welcome, I hope this recipe will work out very well for you! Thank you very much for your 5 star rating, that’s very helpful!
I’m going to make this spreadable butter using grapeseed oil. I’m also going to make a honey cinnamon spreadable butter and a garlic parmesan spreadable butter.
Sounds like a great plan! I hope it all turns out wonderfully! Thank you very much for your comment and five star rating, it is much appreciated as it really helps my blog.