How to Make Chive Blossom Butter (Chive Flower Butter)
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If you’re lucky enough to have excess chives in your garden, you’ve got to make this oniony chive blossom butter! It’s the perfect way to use those edible flowers and this easy compound butter is sure to please. Plus, it freezes great so you can enjoy it any time of the year!
One of my favorite signs of spring is the beautiful bright purple flowers from chive plants! If you’ve never tasted them, these delicate blooms have a mild onion flavor in the best way possible. They’re absolutely delicious and should be enjoyed as a seasonal delicacy in this delicious compound butter!
What is chive blossom butter?
Chive blossom butter is a compound butter made by mixing fresh chive blossoms into high-quality butter. The chive flavor infuses into the butter, which you can serve on toast or an English muffin, melted over fresh pasta, and more.
Since chive flowers are only available in the early summer, this lemon chive butter is a highly seasonal dish that can only be made around early May! Plus, since this chive blossom butter recipe can be frozen, this is a great way to preserve your harvest for later!
Equipment
To make this chive flower butter recipe, you’ll need a medium-sized bowl, a spoon, a spatula, and a jar. You’ll also need a few pieces of parchment paper to freeze logs.
Ingredients
- Whole chive blossoms: These delicate, purple flowers have a subtle onion-like flavor, which is the star of this recipe. Be sure to wash and dry the flowers first.
- Butter: Use high-quality salted butter like Kerrygold or Rumiano to be the base for the compound butter. Let your butter soften at room temperature before mixing.
- Fresh chives: Finely chopped chive leaves add a pop of color and a lovely fresh chive flavor.
- Lemon zest: A little bright lemon flavor balances the stronger taste of the chives really well and takes this recipe to the next level!
How do you harvest chive blossoms?
If this is your first time working with chive flowers, it’s so easy to harvest the blossoms! Since the chive stalks are already becoming firm by the time they flower, I prefer to harvest the whole chive stalk and not just the flower. Be sure to trim at least two inches above the soil.
- Choose chive blossoms that are fully open. Avoid any flowers that are starting to droop or dry out. Use only the freshest flowers and avoid flowers with any bugs.
- Gently rinse the flowers by running them under cool water. Allow them to air dry on a kitchen towel for a couple of hours. You can also use a salad spinner.
- If you are making chive blossom vinegar, you’ll want to separate the entire flower head from the top of the stalk.
How to Make Chive Blossom Butter
- Place the room temperature butter in a medium bowl.
- Add the chive blossoms, chopped chives, and lemon zest to the bowl. Stir well.
- Fill a jar with the finished herb butter or roll logs of butter in parchment paper. To do this, place half of the butter mixture onto a square piece of parchment paper or wax paper in a log shape. Gently roll one side of the parchment over the opposite side, trying to tuck it under the butter. Continue working until you make a log shape. Twist the ends like a piece of candy. Refrigerate or freeze until later.
- Let the herb compound butter sit for a couple of hours for the flavors to mingle. Enjoy!
Storing
Store leftover herb butter in an airtight container in the fridge for approximately one week. To enjoy it for longer, you can freeze your excess butter in freezer-safe containers or roll it in logs then place them in freezer-safe bags. Freeze your compound butter for 1-3 months. Let it thaw in the fridge before serving.
How to Use Chive Flower Butter
Not sure how to use this herb butter? Honestly, it’s so refreshing on it’s own that I like to serve it on a piece of toast, but chive butter is a great addition to any savory dish!
- Serve with warm, fresh bread
- Spread it on some fresh scones or savory muffins
- Melt it over baked or mashed potatoes
- Use it to fry eggs or home-fries
- Add a pat of butter on top of steak or fish before serving
- Serve over fresh pasta with a sprinkle of parmesan
Be sure to let your chive blossom butter come to room temperature before serving.
Tips & Variations
- Instead of butter, try adding these ingredients to goat cheese for an aromatic herb goat cheese for the best salads.
- If using unsalted butter, be sure to season it to taste with your favorite kosher salt or sea salt.
- For added freshness, look for a couple of tender chive leaves. They will have a softer, more flexible texture. You don’t need much to get a pop of green and fresh flavor.
- If you want to make this butter quickly, but your butter is still firm, microwave it carefully in 5-10 second bursts until it softens.
- The lemon zest is completely optional. You can make this butter with just butter and chive blossoms. However, the added chives and lemon zest really highlight the flavors and make it even more enticing.
- It’s so easy to scale this recipe! Just add twice as many ingredients. For larger batches, it can be helpful to mix everything together with the paddle attachment in your stand mixer.
FAQs
It’s easy to preserve chive blossoms to enjoy later. Those purple flowers taste wonderful preserved in a compound butter, soaked in vinegar to make the most refreshing vinaigrettes, or sprinkled fresh over eggs or greens.
Absolutely! Even you’re on the fence about eating flowers, make an exception for chive blossoms. They have a mild onion flavor that tastes amazing. They are wonderful sprinkled fresh over a salad, made into a chive flower vinegar, or enjoyed in this chive blossom butter recipe!
Yes! In fact if you do not harvest your beautiful chive blossoms, they’ll turn to seed. This is great if you want to grow more chives, but since chives are perennial, you don’t really need the seeds at all. Plus, harvesting the blossoms and trimming will help your plants keep growing and producing in the future.
Related Recipes
If you love cooking with fresh produce from the garden, don’t miss these recipes!
- Sour Cream and Chive Dip
- Garlic Scape Butter
- Lemon Balm Syrup
- Green Onion Salt
- How to Dry Green Onions
- Chive Salt
Chive Blossom Butter
Equipment
- 1 medium bowl
- 1 spoon
- 1 Spatula
- storage container (mason jar or parchment paper)
Ingredients
- 8 oz high quality salted butter, room temperature
- 4-6 chive blossoms
- 1 tbsp fresh chives, chopped
- 1 lemon, zested
Instructions
- Place the room temperature butter in a medium bowl.
- Add the chive blossoms, chopped chives, and lemon zest to the bowl. Stir well.
- Fill a jar with the finished herb butter or roll logs of butter in parchment paper.
- Let the herb compound butter sit for a couple of hours for the flavors to mingle. Enjoy!
Notes
How to Roll Logs of Compound Butter
- Place half of the butter mixture onto a square piece of parchment paper or wax paper in a log shape.
- Gently roll one side of the parchment over the opposite side, trying to tuck it under the butter.
- Continue tucking and shaping until you make a log shape. Twist the ends like a piece of candy.
- Refrigerate to firm up the butter or freeze for later.
Tips & Variations
- Instead of butter, try adding these ingredients to goat cheese for an aromatic herb goat cheese for the best salads.
- If using unsalted butter, be sure to season it to taste with your favorite kosher salt or sea salt.
- For added freshness, look for a couple of tender chive leaves. They will have a softer, more flexible texture. You don’t need much to get a pop of green and fresh flavor.
- If you want to make this butter quickly, but your butter is still firm, microwave it carefully in 5-10 second bursts until it softens.
- The lemon zest is completely optional. You can make this butter with just butter and chive blossoms. However, the added chives and lemon zest really highlight the flavors and make it even more enticing.
Nutrition
I loved this recipe. I didn’t have any blossoms, but a friend did and we split the butter!
Very easy and versatile too. Not too oniony flavor, just right!
I’ll bet this tastes soo good!! Attempting to grow chives in my garden but I don’t know yet if they’ll survive!
This sounds amazing! It seems simple enough to make. Thanks for sharing!
I love the addition of lemon zest – great idea!
Great recipe! I can’t wait to try this on bagels!
Rachel, I can’t wait to try this one! I started making flavored butters last year and sharing them with family. I can see (taste?) this one on several different foods. Yum! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your kind words, Carol! This is one of my all-time favorite flavored butters, and I hope you get a chance to try it sometime!
This recipe was DELICIOUS. Super easy to follow and recreate and adjust. The lemon zest brings the chive flavour out with a zing. I love this recipe and made multiple logs for friends. Currently on 3rd piece of toast.
Aw, I’m so glad you like it! I agree 100% about the lemon zest. It really brings all those flavors together! Thanks for your kind words and taking the time to leave a review. 🙂