Make homemade pesto butter by folding vibrant pesto into creamy butter for an easy, flavor-packed spread. This savory compound butter comes together in minutes and is perfect for slathering on warm bread, tossing with pasta, or melting over roasted vegetables and grilled meat entrees. For more compound butter recipes, try hot honey butter.
What is Compound Butter?
Compound butter is simply butter blended with flavorful mix-ins like this homemade pesto butter to instantly elevate everyday meals. It’s an easy way to flavor pasta, steak, or boneless leg of lamb with very little effort. For more like this, try savory bone marrow butter, chimichurri butter, or caramelized onion butter.
Key Ingredients
This pesto butter is a great way to use up leftover pesto from recipes like pesto ricotta pasta or orzo pesto pasta salad. Here’s what you need to make it.
- Pesto: Use your favorite store-bought pesto, or make your own from scratch.
- Butter: Unsalted butter works best to control the saltiness of the spread.
- Garlic: Minced garlic adds the best flavor.
- Salt: Adjust to taste, depending on how salty your butter or pesto is, to keep the spread balanced.
Additions and Substitutions
- Don’t have enough fresh basil? Substitute some of the basil leaves for baby spinach leaves or arugula.
- Experiment with pesto flavors. Swap traditional basil pesto for pistachio pesto, walnut pesto, sun-dried tomato pesto, arugula pesto, or AIP pesto to meet your dietary needs.
- Spice things up. Add red pepper flakes or chopped peppers like jalapeños or serrano chiles for some heat.
Equipment
I combine the butter and pesto with a fork because I hate doing extra dishes. You can use a food processor, hand mixer, or stand mixer with a paddle attachment to whip the pesto butter into a velvety, smooth texture.
How to Make Pesto Butter
The full recipe with measurements is in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Pulse the garlic, pine nuts, and kosher salt in a food processor until coarse. Add the grated Parmesan and basil and process to combine. With the processor running, add the olive oil, then set the pesto aside.
Step 2: Add the softened butter, pesto, garlic cloves, and kosher salt (if using) to a bowl and use a fork to mash the ingredients together until well combined.
Tip
Combine the ingredients in a food processor, hand mixer, or stand mixer with a paddle attachment if you don’t want to do it by hand.
Step 3: Use the butter right away, or transfer it to plastic wrap or parchment paper. Shape it into a log, roll it tightly, and twist the ends to seal. Refrigerate until firm, then slice into rounds as needed.
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature butter. Leave the butter at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until soft and spreadable.
Whip up this easy pesto butter recipe and pair it with tasty dinner recipes!
How to Use Pesto Butter
Whether you throw together a quick dinner or want to make a dish pop, you can add pesto butter to just about anything! Spread it onto Dutch oven sourdough bread, pao de sal, or garlic bread for a quick, flavor-packed snack or side dish.
Melt it over ribeye or bison steak, grilled chicken drumsticks, or fish for a fresh-tasting finish. You can also stir a dollop into cooked pasta, mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower, or fluffy rice.
The easy-to-make compound butter is a tasty addition to vegetables, such as air fryer broccoli and cauliflower, crispy roasted potatoes, or air fryer zucchini and squash.
What To Do With Leftovers
- Refrigerate: Store the pesto compound butter in an airtight container for one week. You will have some leftover pesto sauce, so transfer what you don’t use to an airtight container or glass jar for one week.
- Freeze: Wrap the butter in plastic wrap or parchment paper and transfer it to a freezer-safe container or bag. Pesto butter freezes for 6 months.
- Thaw: Defrost the butter in the refrigerator overnight.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to soften the butter?
Leave butter on the counter at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour to soften so it’s easy to mix with the other ingredients.
More Pesto Recipes:
Pesto Butter
- Small Bowl or Plate
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup pesto, store-bought or homemade
- 2 clove garlic cloves, minced
- kosher salt, as needed
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Pulse the garlic, pine nuts, and kosher salt in a food processor until coarse. Add the grated Parmesan and basil and process to combine. With the processor running, add the olive oil, then set the pesto aside.
- Add the softened butter, pesto, garlic cloves, and kosher salt (if using) to a bowl and use a fork to mash the ingredients together until well combined.Tip: Combine the ingredients in a food processor, hand mixer, or stand mixer with a paddle attachment if you don’t want to do it by hand.
- Use the butter right away, or transfer it to plastic wrap or parchment paper. Shape it into a log, roll it tightly, and twist the ends to seal. Refrigerate until firm, then slice into rounds as needed.
- Use room temperature butter. Leave the butter at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until soft and spreadable.