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.
Jump to:
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
Yes, it’s safe to freeze butter. Butter is good in the refrigerator for up to 3 months. You can extend the life of your purchase by freezing butter for later use.
It’s recommended to freeze butter for five to nine months, the shorter time being for unsalted butter. Compound butters should be used within 2-3 months of freezing.
Transfer the butter to the refrigerator to thaw.
Recommended Recipes
How to Freeze Butter
Ingredients
- 1 pound your favorite butter
- optional seasonings for making compound butters
Instructions
For freezing whole sticks of butter:
- Place the entire box of butter in the freezer, as is.1 pound your favorite butter
For freezing compound butter:
- Prepare the compound butter according to the recipe. Place it in a log shape in plastic wrap and seal tightly within a ziptop bag.1 pound your favorite butter, optional seasonings for making compound butters
- Alternatively, place the prepared compound butter in a freezer-safe container with a lid.
To use:
- Remove what you need from the freezer and allow to thaw in the refrigerator.
andrea
one question – i’m eating mostly vegan – would that work for non-dairy butters? (Miyoko’s, etc.)???
Jessica Fisher
My daughter ate vegan for two years and this is how we stocked up on sales so she had what she wanted. It seems the refrigerator shelf-life of plant butters is shorter than dairy butter, so it was necessary to do. We saw no difference in the thawed plant butter..
andrea
oh thank you!
Julie
ATK recommends storing butter in the freezer and only refrigerating what you’ll use quite soon. Preserves flavor better.