3-Ingredient Garlic Scape Compound Butter Recipe
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This garlic scape butter recipe is an excellent way to add delicious garlic scape flavor to steaks, bread, eggs, warm pasta, and more!
For those few weeks in late spring, local gardeners and farmer’s market visitors will get the chance to eat fresh garlic scapes. These delicious, tender stalks have the texture of green beans or asparagus but with a mild garlicky flavor.
This garlic scape butter is one of the best ways to preserve this special harvest as it really lets the scape flavor shine. I like to make a big batch every year and freeze the extras for later!
Learn all about preserving garlic scapes to make the most of your harvest!
What are garlic scapes?
The first thing people usually ask me about garlic scapes is, “what are those things?!”
These curly green stalks come from hardneck garlic plants. These garlic plants want to flower and go to seed in early summer. So, they send up these long skinny flower stalks to form a flower bud.
However, if the garlic scapes are allowed to flower, the plant will direct all its energy to the flower. Since we want the bulb of the garlic plant, we need to remove the scapes to make the plant focus on just growing the bulb.
The farmer will snap the curly scapes off the plant to use in recipes. Fortunately, this bonus harvest is absolutely delicious and an easy way to make use of the whole plant!
You’ll likely find some at your local farmers market, but it’s a short-season item, so don’t expect to see it for more than a couple of weeks.
Once you have garlic scapes, you can use them in so many different ways! I’m especially partial to garlic scape pesto and this garlic scape compound butter, but you can also pickle them or even dehydrate them for later!
Love garlic? Don’t miss this spicy garlic sauerkraut that adds a dose of garlicky goodness to every bite! This chive blossom butter is another great way to infuse butter with fresh herbs and lots of flavor!
What you’ll love this garlic scape butter
- Delicious garlic flavor: Garlic scapes have a mild garlic flavor and are much less pungent than garlic cloves. I often compare them to garlicky green beans or garlicky asparagus. In this recipe, they give the butter an herby, garlicky flavor that tastes so good. You’ll end up going back for more and more!
- Quick & easy: This is one of those simple recipes that taste way better than they should! It has just a handful of ingredients but is loaded with flavor.
- Versatile: This delicious butter can be used in place of garlic butter, so think toast, garlic bread, scrambled eggs, melting over steak and more. So good!
Equipment
To make this homemade butter, you will need:
- Food processor
- Knife
- Stand mixer or a medium bowl with a hand mixer
- Parchment or wax paper
Ingredients
- Salted butter – You’ll need 1/2 pound of softened salted butter. I recommend using a higher-quality butter, like Kerrygold, Plugra, etc. I used the grass-fed butter from Costco.
- Raw garlic scapes – For this scape butter, you’ll need about 3-4 garlic scapes. This is about half of a bunch from the farmers market.
- Lemon zest (optional) – Lemon zest brings forward so many flavors. In this garlic scape butter, a little zest really brightens it up!
How to Trim Garlic Scapes
If your scapes are fresh from the garden, chances are that they’re tender in both the stem and the flower bulb. In this situation, you can eat the entire scape – no trimming necessary.
These scapes were about a week old by the time I got to them, and I noticed that the stalks were becoming really firm and the flowers were drying out.
Neither of those would be pleasant to eat in the butter, so I trimmed them off.
You can see that I trimmed the flowers just under the bulb, and I removed several inches of the stem until I reached a tender, juicy section.
How to Make Garlic Scape Butter
1. Set out your butter at room temperature until completely soft.
2. Rinse and dry your whole garlic scapes. Then, rough chop them into 2-3 inch pieces directly into the bowl of a food processor.
3. Pulse the scapes until they are small pieces. It may take a moment; keep going.
4. Add the garlic scapes to the bowl of your stand mixer or bowl.
5. Using a paddle attachment, run the mixer on low to fully integrate the scapes and herbs.
6. If you’re using unsalted butter, add 1/2 tsp sea salt while the butter is mixing. If you’re using salted butter, skip this step.
7. Once the butter is fully mixed, place it on a wax paper or parchment. Carefully tuck the edge closest to you over the log. Roll the log of butter up until you’ve used the whole sheet of parchment paper. Twist the ends of the roll of butter like candy. Follow this step again with the remaining butter.
8. Allow to firm up in the fridge. Eat fresh within a week or store in the freezer in an airtight container like a freezer bag for 6 months or longer.
Storing
Fridge: To preserve this garlic scape compound butter recipe for later, be sure to store it in the fridge in an airtight container, like a small jar. It will last for 1-2 weeks.
Freezer: For longer term storage, store it in the freezer for 2-3 months or longer.
How to Use Garlic Scape Compound Butter
Think of this as garlic herb butter. Where would you like a kick of garlicky herby deliciousness?
- Serve over a perfectly grilled steak
- Melt on top of a delicious baked potato
- Spread on fresh bread, top with parmesan cheese, and bake for the best garlic bread
- Melt in your skillet before making scrambled eggs
- Rub on the outside of your grilled cheese sandwich before griddling
- Serve over your next fresh pasta dish with wilted greens
- Place under the skin of your next roast chicken
My favorite way to use this is to spread it on the sides of a slice of honey wheat sourdough and toast it up until brown! Top with an over-easy egg and a sprinkle of goat cheese. Absolutely delicious!
Tips & Variations
- Want more? Double the recipe and freeze the extra for later!
- You can make this recipe in a bowl or a mixer. If you use a mixer, you’ll have a smoother, fluffier butter.
- This recipe would be wonderful with fresh herbs, like fresh basil or parsley! Feel free to add some chopped green onion if you have some around.
- Think of this butter as a treat or a luxury item. It’s a very simple recipe, so you want each component to be the best it can be. Those delicious garlic scapes deserve the best butter you can find.
- Freeze little dollops of butter. Scoop the butter onto your silicone baking sheet and place it in the fridge or freezer to firm up. Once firm, remove to your silicone bag to store in the freezer or store in a glass storage container in the fridge.
Compound butters are easier to spread and tastier at room temperature, so let your butter come to room temperature before serving!
FAQs
Garlic scapes look like long, curly green beans that suddenly bulb out and then come to a pointy tip on one end. They are hard to find at a grocery store, so look for their vibrant green color at local farmer’s markets!
Garlic scapes come from growing hard-neck varieties of garlic, so the flavor is distinctly garlicky. However, they are much more mild, delicate, and fresh tasting than the pungent bulbs. They are an excellent addition or substitution to dishes where you want to use garlic, green onions, scallions, and other herbs. Savory and fresh!
My favorite butter is this one from Azure Standard. It is the butteriest butter I have ever had! Some other good alternatives would be locally sourced pastured butter or salted Kerrygold grass-fed butter from Costco.
You certainly can, but you don’t need to! Raw scapes will have a stronger flavor so if you prefer a mild garlic flavor, you can sautee the scapes for a few minutes to soften them up. Be sure to let them cool to room temperature before mixing them with your butter.
More Scape Recipes
Can’t get enough garlic scapes? Me neither! Here are some of my favorite recipes:
Related Recipes
- Chive Blossom Butter (Chive Flower Butter)
- Spicy Garlic Sauerkraut
- Air Fryer Roasted Garlic
- Roasted Garlic Herb Butter
- Green Onion Salt
Garlic Scape Compound Butter Recipe
Equipment
- Knife
- Stand mixer or bowl with hand mixer
- Parchment or wax paper
Ingredients
- 8 ounces salted butter, high quality; fully softened
- 3-4 garlic scapes
- 1 lemon, zested
Instructions
- Set out your butter at room temperature until completely soft.
- Rinse and dry your garlic scapes. Then, cut them into 2-3 inch pieces directly into the bowl of a food processor.
- Pulse the scapes until they are small pieces. It may take a moment; just keep going.
- Add the scapes, butter, and lemon zest to the bowl of your stand mixer or a bowl. Using a paddle attachment, run the mixer on low to fully integrate the ingredients.
- If you're using unsalted butter, add 1/2 tsp sea salt while the butter is mixing. If you're using salted butter, skip this step.
- Once the butter is fully mixed, portion out half of the mixture onto a piece of wax paper or parchment. Carefully tuck the edge closest to you over the log. Roll the log of butter up until you've used the whole sheet of parchment paper. Twist the ends of the roll of butter like candy. Follow this step again with the remaining butter.
- Allow to chill in the fridge. Eat fresh within a week or store in the freezer in an airtight container like freezer bag for 6 months or longer.
Notes
- Want more? Double the recipe and freeze the extra for later!
- You can make this recipe in a bowl or a mixer. If you use a mixer, you’ll have a smoother, fluffier butter.
- This recipe would be wonderful with fresh herbs, like fresh basil or parsley! Feel free to add some chopped green onion if you have some around.
- Think of this butter as a treat or a luxury item. It’s a very simple recipe, so you want each component to be the best it can be. Those delicious garlic scapes deserve the best butter you can find.
- For easy freezing, use a small cookie scoop to portion balls of garlic scape butter on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Freeze until firm then transfer to a freezer-safe bag for longer storage.
Nutrition
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What’d you think? I love making this recipe every year during scape season and hope it becomes a new favorite food preservation project for you, too!
