Can You Freeze Butter?

An essential ingredient in baked goods, savory spreads, and frostings, butter is an important, albeit expensive, ingredient to keep on hand. Can you freeze butter? Yes! Stock up when you see a sale and freeze the extra for future use.

Knowing you can freeze butter allows you to mix up batches of Homemade Buttercream Frosting or Garlic Bread without worrying about paying the current price at the store. When you make that next batch of Irish Soda Bread, you’ll have plenty of butter for slathering on top.

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• How to Freeze Butter

I don’t know about you, but I love butter. It’s one of those comforting things.

Delicious on a slice of Sourdough Rye Bread, a key component in making Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting or Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits, butter is a regular Grocery Staple that I like to keep around.

However, I don’t like paying regular market price when I need butter for a recipe. In my neck of the woods, this can reach $5 to 6/pound. No thank you, ma’am.

Instead stock up whenever you see a sale and freeze butter for later, saving yourself lots of money. But not only that, you’ll buy yourself other benefits as well.

Why Do This

You can avoid food waste. Going out of town? Not sure you’ll use the whole package of butter you bought? No problem. You can freeze butter to preserve it and extend its life a little longer.

You can stock up on sales. As mentioned previously, knowing you can freeze butter for a later use means you can load up next time you see a sale. My target price is $2/pound.

You’ll run out less frequently. When you keep a stash on ice, you’re less likely to run out which means you’re less likely to make last minute trips to the store. We know those trips always cost more than you expect them to.

You can prep specialty butters to use later. Honey butter, garlic butter, and Herb Butter for Fish or Chicken all add a special touch to your recipes. Feel free to make a large batch, knowing you can freeze the extra compound butter for a later date.

Ingredients

You can freeze dairy butter, margarine, or plant-based spreads. It doesn’t matter what kind, whipped or stick, both freeze the same.

Keep in mind that if a stick or tub is too large to use after freezing, you may want to slice or portion it into smaller sizes prior to freezing. This is really up to you. Thawed butter is good for several weeks under refrigeration.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here’s how to do it:

Butter to Use for Recipes

If you’re freezing butter to use in recipes later, simply tuck the pound box into the freezer. Yep, really.

Some manufacturers recommend wrapping the box in foil or placing it in a freezer bag prior to freezing, but I’ve never had an issue with odors. Your mileage may vary.

Compound Butter

If you’re freezing compound butter, prepare it according to the recipe and then either:

• Mound the soft butter onto a sheet of plastic wrap and roll up in a log shape. Place this in a labeled ziptop bag in the freezer.
• Spoon the softened butter into a small freezer-safe container with a lid, seal well, and freeze.

FAQs

Recommended Recipes