Clarified Butter or Ghee

Clarified butter, called ghee in Indian cooking, is made by slowly heating butter to remove the water and milk solids. The resulting pure fat has a higher smoking point and lends food a rich, decadent flavor. It’s also 100% paleo.

Mason jar filled with Indian ghee or clarified butter on a wooden plank

Little-known fact from Jill Prescott, who wrote the recipe below: Butter is made up of three components: water, milk solids, and fat. The milk solids are what start to brown and burn when you heat butter over heat that’s a little too high. The process of clarifying butter removes the water and milk solids, explains Prescott, leaving behind pure fat that has a slightly purer, richer flavor and a higher smoke point. Keep in mind that you will lose one-fourth to one-third of the butter in the clarifying process, so check how much your recipe calls for, and decide how much whole butter to start with.Renee Schettler Rossi

Clarified Butter or Ghee

Mason jar filled with Indian ghee or clarified butter on a wooden plank
Clarified butter, called ghee in Indian cooking, is made by slowly heating butter to remove the water and milk solids. The resulting pure fat has a higher smoking point and lends food a rich, decadent flavor. It’s also 100% paleo.

Prep 5 minutes
Cook 10 minutes
Total 15 minutes
Condiments
Indian
16 tablespoons | 1 cup
131 kcal
5 from 1 vote
Print RecipeBuy the Jill Prescott's Ecole de Cuisine cookbook

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Ingredients 

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter

Directions
 

  • Cut the butter into cubes and place them in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat.
  • Let the butter simmer briskly, without stirring, until it separates. You'll see water and milk solids and golden butterfat. After the water evaporates, you will see clouds of milk solids begin to fry in the clear golden butterfat. The solids should just begin to turn golden, which ensures a clearer fat.
  • Remove from the heat and pass the butter through a fine-mesh strainer lined with damp cheesecloth into a heatproof container. (Dampening the cheesecloth allows every precious drop of fat to slide through the cloth, rather than being absorbed into it.) Cool before pouring into plastic storage containers, then refrigerate or freeze. Clarified butter will harden upon storage, so keep it in shallow, wide, covered containers so it's easy to scoop. The containers should in turn be placed in resealable plastic bags to prevent odor absorption in the refrigerator or freezer. Clarified butter can keep for 2 months in the refrigerator and 8 months in the freezer.
Print RecipeBuy the Jill Prescott's Ecole de Cuisine cookbook

Want it? Click it.

Show Nutrition

Serving: 1tablespoonCalories: 131kcal (7%)Protein: 0.04gFat: 15g (23%)Saturated Fat: 9g (56%)Polyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 38mg (13%)Sodium: 0.3mg

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Originally published April 27, 2018

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