How to Make Homemade Ghee

I’ve always known ghee as this somewhat obscure, beautiful, rich fat that pairs beautifully with vegetables and roasted meats, along with being a delicious addition to a stir-fry or soup.  Nowadays, it seems to be everywhere and you can even buy it premade.

Many people confuse clarified butter with ghee, though they do have one thing in common: the milk solids are removed from both. The difference between clarified butter and ghee is that ghee is taken one step further in the cooking process, toasting the fat solids to a nutty, flavorful richness.

The beauty of both is that, because the milk solids have been removed, they have a high smoke point which means you can cook with them at high heat, unlike regular butter. Removing the milk solids also make ghee an alternative to butter for anyone with a sensitivity to dairy products.

I don’t cook with ghee a lot because it is a saturated fat, just like plain butter. There are a lot of arguments out there surrounding good fats vs. bad fats and though I’ll always recommend real butter over all those shady substitutes, I think all saturated fats should be consumed with mindfulness and in moderation.

You’ll also see ghee touted as quite the miracle food but to this I personally attribute to the fact that it’s still a real, whole food and not one packed full of artificial ingredients. I don’t believe it’s going to solve all your health problems but I do believe, when given the option, you should eat real food.

Making ghee is not overly difficult to make nor is it time-consuming but it does require 2 things:

• High-quality unsalted butter
• Constant attention to the cooking process, which only takes about 20-25 minutes but it does require your attention

I’m also going to state first and foremost that my “low” heat and “medium” heat can vary widely from yours. This is where your attention – and sense of smell – is required. The times I give here are approximate so pay close attention to what your ghee is doing and what it smells like. You don’t want it to burn but you do want it to toast to a caramelly-goodness.

You can certainly make this with 2 lbs. or more of butter but if you’ve never made ghee before, I recommend starting with 1 lb. until you have the hang of it.

You can also play around with salted butter or making a batch half unsalted and half salted but again, I recommend starting with unsalted.

Homemade Ghee Recipe

• 1 lb. high-quality, unsalted butter – thnk Irish butter or grass-fed
• 1 clean and very dry 1/2 pint jar

Directions:

• Cut butter into pieces and place in a small, heavy-duty saucepan.
• Melt butter over medium heat – you can stir it at this point, to hasten the melting process. Once it’s completely melted, stop stirring.
• When butter begins to pop and boil (about 8-10 minutes) reduce heat to a medium simmer. Don’t stir it and just let it do its thing.
• Cook for 12-15 minutes without stirring  – you’ll see the butter eventually go from foamy to not foamy and it will begin to smell like toasted butter. Be careful not to burn it. You’ll see some browning at the edges of your pan and almost all of the solids will have sunk to the bottom.
• Carefully remove the pan from heat, being careful not to shake up the solids from the bottom of the pan, and let cool about 15 minutes.
• Using a small strainer lined with a paper towel or coffee filter, strain the ghee into a glass container,
• Let cool, uncovered, at room temperature until completely cooled.
• Cover and refrigerate.

Here’s what ghee looks like before the refrigeration process:

And this is what it looks like 24 hours after being refrigerated:

Ghee is really wonderful used in small quantities. As I said earlier, it’s especially delicious on roasted veggies and meats. You can use it in baking, poaching, and stir-frying – the flavor is a concentrated nutty one that doesn’t take much to highlight its flavor.

Do you make or love ghee? How do you use it? I’d love to hear about it!

Enjoy!