Make-Ahead Brown Butter Is My New Favorite Cooking Hack

Bowl of brown butter

Is there anything brown butter can't do? It doesn't seem as if browning butter in a pan should be that transformative, but it sure is. Those brown bits add a nutty richness that gives the butter a delicious depth that improves so many things: chocolate chip cookies, carrot cake, pasta, broccoli, a piece of toast and even a viral Whole Foods iced latte.

Although brown butter isn't hard to make (more on that below), it does take a little time and attention. Wouldn't it be great if you could just have some browned butter in the fridge or freezer so it was ready whenever you wanted it? Believe it or not, it really is as easy as that.

In my social media scrolling, I've seen plenty of brown butter tutorials, but every once in a while I'll see one where they casually mention that you can make it ahead of time and stash it in the fridge or freezer. To me, that's more than a casual aside, it's the headline!

With such a simple hack, there is no reason not to have brown butter in your house all the time. With less than 10 minutes of prep, you can have this delicious staple on hand in your fridge or freezer so you can easily add a layer of delicious complexity to your meals that’s nothing short of magical. Here's what you need to know to create your own brown butter stash at home.

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What Is Brown Butter?

If you're going to be making a big batch of the stuff, it probably makes sense to start at the beginning. Brown butter is simply butter that's melted down and simmered until it's just short of darkening enough that it would be considered burnt. You stop cooking it just short of that stage, much like making caramel from granulated sugar. And just like making caramel, you have to watch this meticulously as it can go from perfectly golden to burned in seconds. What you end up with is a caramelized, lightly browned liquid gold that can be used nearly anywhere you would use regular butter.

Related: The Viral Whole Foods Iced Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Latte Doesn't Exist

How Do You Make Brown Butter?

In a heavy-bottomed pot, melt down one stick of butter, swirling the pot and stirring over low heat until it becomes bubbly and starts to smell nutty. This is where some of the water starts to evaporate. Once you get a foam on top, keep stirring until it smells toasty and you see tiny flecks of the browned butter start to form on the bottom of the pot (these are the milk solids that are beginning to caramelize). Remove from the heat immediately and pour into a Pyrex measuring cup or glass bowl. Some recipes advocate adding in an ice cube to make up for the lost water content and to help with the halting of the cooking process (I didn't do this, however).

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Related: ‘I Tried the Viral French Butter That’s Taking Over TikTok and I’ll Never Buy Basic Butter Again’

What Is Make-Ahead Brown Butter?

This is where the brilliant hack comes into play. You will literally never have to worry about not having brown butter on hand because it keeps so well. Brown butter will keep in the fridge in a sealed container for up to two weeks (it'll solidify again) or can be stored in the freezer for a few months. To freeze it, pour the brown butter into ice cube trays, stirring the butter a bit as you go to make sure that each cube has some tasty browned bits in it. Once the cubes are frozen, pop them out of the ice cube tray and into a resealable freezer bag. That's it. Now you have brown butter whenever you want it!

And you can make as much or as little as you'd like. The process is the same no matter the amount of butter you use. With holiday cooking and baking on the horizon, you might want to consider making a big batch. To make sure this worked, I made a batch big enough so I could have some in the fridge and some in the freezer. It was super easy to pop them out of my silicone ice cube tray and use them in place of regular butter when I needed some.

What Can You Use Brown Butter For?

This is by no means a complete list but the short answer is that brown butter can be used almost anywhere regular butter is called for. It'll deepen the flavor and leave your guests wondering what your secret ingredient is. Drizzle it over popcorn, waffles, or savory stuff like chicken, fish, or steak; use it for baking cookies and brownies or replacing the regular butter in banana bread. You can even infuse your brown butter with herbs like sage or thyme while you're cooking it down. To wow a crowd for the holidays, use it in everything from mashed potatoes to roasted vegetables to stuffing.

What I Thought of the Brown Butter Hack

I made this recipe twice this week, once with Vermont Creamery's unsalted butter and once with Aldi's unsalted butter. I made both batches in the same heavy-bottomed pot using the same technique. Perhaps it was my imagination, but the higher-quality butter tasted better than the store brand. However, I think the technique elevated both butters, so use what you have—after all, butter is pricey these days!

I tried the brown butter this week three ways: on toast, pasta, and a granola recipe (although there are countless other ways to use it). I really forgot how amazing brown butter was until this week. The caramel-y, toasty, warm aroma coming out of my little kitchen was outstanding. Here are my notes on each brown butter test.

Brown Butter Toast
First up was drizzling the freshly browned butter on a thick slice of sourdough. I sprinkled it with a bit of flaky salt since the butter itself was unsalted. It was a comforting bedtime snack and I savored every buttery bite. How can something so simple be so incredibly delicious?

Brown Butter Linguine
The next day, I pulled a little cube of brown butter out of the freezer and started to make a simple linguine with brown butter, lemon, freshly ground black pepper and Parmesan. After boiling and draining my pasta, I added the little cube—still frozen—to my pasta pot and popped the lid back on. When I came back a few minutes later, the residual heat from the linguine had melted the cube of brown butter into a beautiful silky sauce that coated the long strands of linguine in an almost laughably delicious way.

Brown Butter Granola
The most impressive of the three was the granola, which I used my refrigerated butter for. This one takes the prize for permeating your house in the most delicious way. The toasted butter oat aroma was strong and was way better than any fancy candle on the market. To make the brown butter granola, I toasted 1/2 cup of pecans and 1/2 cup of walnuts and set them aside. I added 1 tablespoon of vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, 1/4 cup of light brown sugar and a 1/4 cup of honey to 4 tablespoons of browned butter. I spread 2 cups of oats on a baking sheet and tossed to coat with the wet ingredients. I baked at 350° for 30 minutes, pausing to stir every five minutes or so. When the granola came out of the oven, I added the toasted nuts and tossed to combine before letting it cool completely.

The flavor of the brown butter in the granola was unmistakable. I was shaking my head in disbelief at how good it was.

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