Wild garlic season brings one of the most anticipated flavours of the year—vibrant, aromatic, and beautifully green. When blended into creamy, high-quality softened butter, it creates an irresistible condiment that elevates everything it touches. Learning how to make wild garlic butter is incredibly simple, taking only 5 minutes and a quick blitz in a food processor. To truly bring out the punchy, earthy flavours of the foraged leaves, we season this compound butter with our signature Maldon Garlic Sea Salt flakes, adding the perfect savoury crunch and an extra layer of roasted garlic depth.
Why You’ll Love This Wild Garlic Butter Recipe
- Lightning Fast: With zero cooking required, this impressive, vibrant green butter comes together in just 5 minutes of prep time.
- The Ultimate Flavour Enhancer: It is incredibly versatile. Melt it over a hot steak, stir it through freshly cooked pasta, or simply spread it thickly onto warm sourdough.
- Preserve the Season: Wild garlic has a notoriously short season. Making a batch of this compound butter and rolling it into a log allows you to freeze it and enjoy the taste of spring all year round.
How to Make Wild Garlic Butter (Step-by-Step)
Step 1 – Blitz the garlic and salt
- Start by placing the thoroughly washed and dried wild garlic leaves and the Maldon Garlic Sea Salt flakes into a food processor. Pulse the machine a few times to break up the wild garlic until it is very finely chopped.
Step 2 – Add the butter
- Add the room-temperature, softened butter to the food processor. Pulse again until the finely chopped wild garlic is evenly dispersed throughout the butter, turning the entire mixture a stunning, vibrant green colour.
Step 3 – Shape the butter
- Place a large, rectangular piece of baking parchment onto your kitchen surface. Spoon the bright green butter directly into the centre of the paper.
Step 4 – Roll and chill
- Fold the parchment paper over the butter and roll it to shape the mixture into a neat, tight sausage shape. Twist the ends of the parchment paper tightly to seal it (like a Christmas cracker). You can either serve the butter immediately while soft, or place it into the fridge for 1 hour to firm up into a sliceable log.
Tips for the Perfect Compound Butter
- Use Softened Butter: This is the most important step! If your butter is straight from the fridge and too cold, it will not blend smoothly with the wild garlic, leaving you with unpleasant, chunky lumps. Leave the butter out on the counter for a few hours before starting.
- Dry the Leaves Thoroughly: If you have washed your foraged wild garlic, ensure every drop of water is dried off (using a salad spinner or kitchen towel) before adding it to the food processor. Excess water will cause the butter to split.
- Don’t Over-Process: Pulse the butter just until it turns green and is combined. If you leave the food processor running on high for too long, the friction will melt the butter completely.
What to Serve with Wild Garlic Butter
The simplest and often best way to enjoy this is sliced thickly and smeared over a warm, crusty sourdough baguette. However, it also makes an incredible “melt” for hot food. Try placing a disc of chilled wild garlic butter on top of a resting steak, stirring a spoonful into a pan of sautéed mushrooms, or tossing it through freshly boiled new potatoes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to make garlic butter wild wild garlic without a food processor?
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can easily make butter by hand. Simply use a sharp knife to mince the wild garlic leaves as finely as humanly possible. Add the minced leaves and the Maldon Garlic Sea Salt to a mixing bowl with your softened butter and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until fully incorporated.
Can you freeze wild garlic butter?
- Yes, you can absolutely freeze wild garlic butter! Freezing is the best way to extend the short wild garlic season. Keep the butter wrapped tightly in its parchment paper sausage, place it in an airtight freezer bag, and freeze for up to 3 months. You can slice off individual discs straight from frozen whenever you need them.
Where can I find wild garlic?
- Wild garlic typically grows in damp, ancient woodlands across the UK from late winter until the end of spring. If you aren’t keen on foraging, you can often find bunches of it at local farmers’ markets or premium greengrocers during the peak season (March to May).
