Wild Garlic Butter: The Foraging Recipe You Need to Know
If you want the most bang for your buck (wild garlic is free if foraged, but you get my drift), this wild garlic butter is the recipe for you. Add the delicious compound butter to mushrooms, bread, potatoes — the list is endless — to instantly elevate.
These days, I’ve been trotting off to the woods every weekend to pick a whole basketful of wild garlic. It’s ripe for the picking — literally! — after all.
The moment I bring my little harvest home, I get to work making this wild garlic butter. I say “work,” but it’s a quick task and so gratifyingly worthwhile.
Unlike other recipes on the web, I’ll show you how to make wild garlic butter from scratch — it adds just a few minutes to your “in-the-kitchen” time and makes a massive difference to the end product.
The result is unbelievably creamy, rich, and full of aromatic, delicate garlicky flavour. Not to mention the fact that it looks beautiful (you can make it more rustic or more smooth and green; I include both variations)
As a bonus, it’s freezeable, which undoubtedly makes wild garlic butter one of the best ways to preserve the flavour of these greens beyond its short season (along with wild garlic salt and wild garlic pesto). You could be having soft jacket potatoes swimming in a pool of delicious wild garlic butter in October … now doesn’t that sound tempting?
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
❓ What is Wild Garlic?
Wild garlic is in the allium family, meaning it’s related to plants such as leeks, garlic, onions, shallots, and chives. It shares the same pungent, sweet flavour, although it leans on the milder side — somewhere between delicate garlic and spring onions.
As the name suggests, wild garlic — which is also known as ramsons — grows wild throughout most of Europe.
The entire plant is edible, from the bulbs, stems, leaves, buds, and flowers.
However, most recipes, like this one (and my wild garlic pesto, wild garlic falafels, and wild garlic soup), use the leaves, which lend a vivid green to dishes.
🌳 Where to Find Wild Garlic
Wild garlic grows wild across Europe. If you’ve taken a stroll in the woods and scented garlic in the air, you’ve probably unwittingly stumbled across a patch!
The tasty plant likes to grow in shaded woodland areas near running water, such as streams or rivers.
I find it’s helpful to join local foraging groups (Facebook and Reddit are both excellent resources), which will likely be happy to share information on where you can forage for wild garlic locally.
Don’t despair if you live in an urban area — I do too! I’ve spotted wild garlic in local parks, such as the crop found in the pictures above.
Alternatively, you can buy wild garlic bulbs or wild garlic seeds to grow at home in a balcony box, patio garden, or vegetable plot. That way, you can have a reliable source of wild garlic year on year, without having to travel a mile!
How to Forage for Wild Garlic
First, find a patch away from road pollution or public paths (dog urine is a concern here). Going off the beaten path is encouraged!
To identify wild garlic, rub the leaves between your fingers; they should impart a strong garlicky smell. Use all of your senses in the identification process — your eyes are just as important as your nose.
As with all foraging, it’s crucial to avoid poisonous lookalikes such as daffodils, bluebells, and lily of the valley. When you get home, comb through your hoard again to weed out any unwanted outliers.
Picking wild garlic is simple. The leaves are soft and supple, meaning they can be plucked without effort. In the U.K., it’s illegal to uproot wild garlic without the landowner’s permission.
In general, it’s good practice to take only two leaves per plant, and leave plenty for the local wildlife and other foragers.
🧈 Ingredient Notes
You can count the ingredients you need for this wild garlic butter on one hand.
Technically, you only need two ingredients — the other two are for added flavour (which is never a bad thing!):
- Double cream (heavy cream in the U.S.) is all you need to make gorgeous, gourmet homemade butter. If you’d prefer not to make the butter from scratch, you can replace this ingredient with a block of your favourite high-quality unsalted butter.
- Wild garlic lends this compound butter a mildly garlicky, luscious aroma and flavour. It’s free to forage across most of the U.K. from March to May, and is an excellent introduction to foraging for beginners.
- Lemon zest brightens the wild garlic butter in an imperceptible yet impactful way.
- Sea salt seasons the butter — I always prefer salted butter, and this is no exception! I’m partial to smoked sea salt flakes, which boost the complexity of flavour, but any sea salt will do.
Adapting for Allergies and Dietary Requirements
This wild garlic butter recipe is gluten-free, nut-free, and soy-free.
Unfortunately, it’s not vegan or dairy-free by nature — but there’s no reason you couldn’t make vegan butter (I’ve had success with this recipe for cultured vegan butter by Full of Plants), then work in finely chopped wild garlic!
🧑🍳 How to Make Wild Garlic Butter from Scratch
Making wild garlic butter from scratch is easier than you’d ever expect.
There’s no cooking required — just a few minutes of your time. In my opinion, like many other foods, it’s worth making from scratch and is so rewarding.
It’s a fantastic recipe for children to get involved with, too. There’s a near-instant reward. I remember making butter with my Grandma by shaking a mason jar for nearly 30 minutes — luckily, this version is faster!
One: First, pour double (heavy) cream into a large mixing bowl.
Two: Use a hand or stand mixer to whip the cream.
Three: Continue whipping the cream. You’ll notice it starts to turn yellow.
Four: Eventually, buttermilk will separate from the butter. You can stop whipping.
Five: Squeeze all the buttermilk from the butter. Save the buttermilk for other recipes, like wild garlic scones!
Six: Wash the butter to remove all traces of buttermilk. You may have to do this several times.
Seven: You’ll be left with pure homemade butter. Yum! How easy was that?
Eight: Separate the stalks from the wild garlic leaves, then wash them. Dry.
Nine: Finely chop the wild garlic and add it to the butter along with lemon zest and smoked sea salt flakes.
Ten: Mix the add-ins into the butter using a spoon. If the butter is hard, wait for it to soften or use a hand-mixer.
This results in a rustic version of wild garlic butter (seen in the image further down this post). You can use a wooden butter pat to shape the butter, or roll it (as shown below).
Alternatively, if you’d prefer a smoother texture and more even green colour, follow these steps:
One: Add the wild garlic butter to a food processor or blender.
Two: Blend for a minute or so, until the wild garlic is more incorporated and the butter is mostly smooth.
Three: Place the wild garlic butter on parchment paper. Roll it up, then twist the ends.
Four: Leave it in the fridge to firm up. Once you unroll the parchment paper, you’ll have fresh, homemade wild garlic butter.
Remember, the complete recipe (with ingredient quantities and instructions) can be found at the bottom of this page. You can also print or save the recipe, adjust the servings, and more from there!
💡 Making Wild Garlic Butter from Warmed Butter
If you don’t fancy making butter from scratch, that’s fine. You can still make delicious wild garlic butter with butter from the grocery store and a bunch of foraged greens.
The method is straightforward and takes less than 5 minutes:
- Keep a block of unsalted butter on your countertop until softened. You can speed up the process by using a microwave, but keep a close eye on it to ensure it doesn’t melt!
- Thoroughly wash and dry your wild garlic.
- Add finely chopped wild garlic, lemon zest, and sea salt to the softened butter, then stir through. If you’d prefer a more uniform texture and look, whizz in a food processor.
- Place the wild garlic butter onto a piece of parchment paper. Roll into a log and twist the ends.
- Refrigerate until firm.
As a cheat’s version of vegan wild garlic butter, follow these steps with your favourite brand of vegan block butter. Personally, I enjoy Flora’s Vegan Plant Butter.
❄️ Storing Wild Garlic Butter
🡆 Fridge: Wild garlic butter can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Keep it well wrapped in parchment paper or wax paper.
🡆 Freezer: Wild garlic butter freezes excellently. Simply portion into individual pats or slices, freeze solid on a parchment paper-lined baking tray, then transfer to a freezer-safe bag. Label the bag with the recipe name and best-before date, then freeze for up 6 months.
🍄🟫 How to Use Wild Garlic Butter
There are COUNTLESS ways to use wild garlic butter, which is why I often call this recipe the one true wild garlic recipe you absolutely have to make this season.
- Melt wild garlic butter over steamed fresh vegetables, like broccoli, asparagus, green beans, carrots, or potatoes.
- Use it to fry mushrooms — it tastes best with forest mushrooms like morels, chanterelles, and chicken of the woods, although standard chestnut (cremini) or white button mushrooms are also tasty.
- Make wild garlic bread. Slather the butter over cut baguettes, or, if you’re feeling ambitious, make a tear-and-share affair. Perfect side for pasta.
- Stir through fresh pasta or gluten-free risotto for a simple dish children will love.
- Spread over fluffy coriander garlic naan and serve with your favourite curries.
- Whip through garlic and herb mashed potatoes to make them even more decadent.
- Pour over grilled proteins (tofu is my choice).
If you’ve tried this wild garlic butter recipe, please drop a comment ✍️ or a star rating 🌟 below to help fellow readers! Additionally, if you have a question, please drop a comment, and I’ll do my best to answer ASAP.
Wild Garlic Butter
Ingredients
- 300 millilitres double cream (heavy cream)
- 50 grams wild garlic
- ¼ teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon smoked sea salt flakes or to taste
Instructions
Make Homemade Butter 1
- Pour 300 millilitres double cream (heavy cream) into a large mixing bowl. Use a stand or hand mixer to whip the cream to stiff peaks. Continue whisking; you'll notice the colour changing from white to yellow.
- Continue to whisk. After a few minutes, you'll see liquid sloshing in the mixing bowl. This is the butter separating from the buttermilk.
- Pour the buttermilk into a small jar. Use this in other recipes (like scones or pancakes!). Squeeze the butter to get any excess buttermilk out.
- Fill the mixing bowl with cold water. "Wash" the butter to ensure there's no remaining buttermilk. Once washed, drain all the water. You've just made homemade butter from scratch!
Make the Wild Garlic Butter
- Take 50 grams wild garlic. Separate the stems from the leaves, then thoroughly wash the greens. Dry.
- Finely chop the wild garlic.
- Add the finely chopped wild garlic to a bowl along with the softened butter. Optionally, add ¼ teaspoon lemon zest and ¼ teaspoon smoked sea salt flakes. Stir through the butter until evenly incorporated. This makes a rustic wild garlic butter.
- If you'd prefer a smoother butter, add the wild garlic butter to a food processor or blender. Blend for a minute, until the butter is vivid green and smooth.
- To shape the wild garlic butter, either use a butter pat to shape it into a block, or place it on parchment paper (baking paper). Roll the parchment paper around the butter, making a cylinder. Twist the ends to secure.
- Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
really glad I found. this recipe, making it from scratch with cream instead of butter made all the difference. Perfect on toast and on baked potatoes, wish I’d made more!
It’s not too late to forage another bunch of wild garlic, Bob! Here, it’s just begun flowering, so the smaller leaves are still usable.
Thank you so much for the positive feedback — I’m so happy to hear you loved the wild garlic butter recipe! You really can use it for so many things. It’s delicious on pasta, too.