Once I managed the basics of the BBQ pit – steaks, ribs, pork shoulder, burgers and even brisket – I found myself looking to augment those basics with different flavor profiles. Whether a non traditional sauce on beef, or a unique but addictive sauce for wings, or an unusual BBQ sauce on an even more unusual cut of meat (at least for those not in the Midwest) or using coffee in a rub that works on both seafood and beef or coffee in a brine for ribs. This is one of those recipes. A finishing butter is one of those things to apply to something you already know how to cook. This compound butter would go great on steaks, burgers and even some bread to make an amazing garlic bread or crostini. So grill your preferred steak recipe and grab this garlic and herb compound butter from the fridge that you made ahead of time to finish that steak off:. 

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter Ingredients

  • 1 stick salted butter
  • 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, finely minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
  • 1 sheet parchment or wax paper (plastic wrap works too)

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

***Here’s are a couple other compound butters – Chipotle and Chive and Sweet Chili Compound Butter***

How to Make Compound Butter

Begin by setting the butter out on the counter for a few hours or nuke it in the microwave for about 10 seconds to soften it up. Place the stick of butter in a large mixing bowl and then tackle those herbs.

Grab a sprig of rosemary at the skinny end and use your other fingers to strip the rosemary leaves off the sprig. Then mince the the leaves very fine:

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

As a general rule, go with 1 teaspoon of rosemary to a tablespoon for other herbs because rosemary is pretty potent. Also, chop it really fine so it will soften when applied to a hot steak. If the bits are too big the rosemary will be really potent. 

Repeat the stripping of the leaves from the thyme but you don’t have to chop this herb as fine as the rosemary since the leaves are already pretty tiny:

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

Now throw into the bowl the rosemary, thyme and garlic and grab a spoon and work the ingredients through:

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

As for the garlic, truth be told, it was jarred minced garlic. Go fresh if you have the time. With a couple small companies to run and a wife and four kids at home, I need to save time where I can.

If the butter is too hard to stir the ingredients into, drop it into the microwave for another 10 seconds. When it’s all mixed through we are ready:

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

Lay down that sheet of wax or parchment paper. A sheet of plastic wrap will work too. Spoon the garlic and herb compound butter over the paper or plastic wrap:

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

Then roll up the parchment paper like a tootsie roll:

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

Drop this in the fridge and it will keep for weeks or put it in the freezer and it will keep for months. 

Grill your steak:

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

This steak was maybe the best steak I’ve ever had that didn’t have an A4 or A5 designation – Reverse Seared Beef Tallow Steak

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

And just because, a gratuitous sliced steak shot:

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

And one more!

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

You can also slice the steak and then add the compound butter (or both):

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

Garlic and Herb Compound Butter Run Down

This brings a certain freshness to the heavy beef flavor of a great steak. I love the dichotomy of those two things converging in every bite. 

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or send me an email.

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Garlic and Herb Compound Butter

We combine minced garlic and fresh herbs into a stick of butter to form what resembles a large piece of candy full of Garlic and Herb Compound Butter
Prep Time10 minutes
Course: Butter, Compound Butter, Finishing Butter
Cuisine: American, American Fare, Philly Cheese Steak, Steak Topper
Keyword: Butter, Compound Butter, Finishing Butter, Fresh Herbs, Fresh Rosemary, Fresh Thyme, Garlic, Rosemary, Thyme
Servings: 12 People

Equipment

  • 1 Sheet of parchment paper OR
  • 1 Sheet of wax paper OR
  • 1 Sheet of plastic wrap

Ingredients

  • 1 stick Salted butter
  • 1 teaspoon Fresh rosemary Finely minced
  • 1 tablespoon Fresh thyme Minced
  • 1 teaspoon Garlic Minced

Instructions

  • Soften the butter for 10 seconds in the microwave
  • Remove the rosemary leaves from the spring and finely mince until there is a teaspoon of finely minced rosemary
  • Remove the thyme leaves from the spring and mince until there is a tablespoon of minced thyme
  • Scoop a teaspoon of minced garlic from the jar
  • Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine with a spoon until all ingredients are blended thoroughly
  • Scoop the garlic and herb compound butter onto a sheet of wax/parchment/plastic wrap/paper and form into a giant tootsie roll
  • Place in the fridge to keep for weeks or in the freezer for months
  • Remove as needed and slice off a small medallion of butter
  • Reform the wrapper into a giant tootsie roll and refrigerate until next use
Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas, the Original Grillin’ Fool, was sent off to college with a suitcase and a grill where he overcooked, undercooked and burned every piece of meat he could find. After thousands of failures, and quite a few successes, nearly two decades later he started a website to show step by step, picture by picture, foolproof instructions on how to make great things out of doors so that others don’t have to repeat the mistakes he’s made on the grill.
Scott Thomas

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