What Is Unsalted butter and How Can I Use It?

Unsalted butter is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 1,866 recipes to get you started.

What is unsalted butter?

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying. Butter consists of butterfat, water and milk proteins.

Most frequently made from cows' milk, butter can also be manufactured from the milk of other mammals, including sheep, goats, buffalo, and yaks. Salt, flavorings and preservatives are sometimes added to butter. Rendering butter produces clarified butter or ghee, which is almost entirely butterfat.

Butter generally has a pale yellow color, but varies from deep yellow to nearly white. Its unmodified color is dependent on the animals' feed and is commonly manipulated with food colorings in the commercial manufacturing process, most commonly annatto or carotene.

Baking

Unsalted butter fills several roles in baking, where it is used in a similar manner as other solid fats like lard, suet, or shortening, but has a flavor that may better complement sweet baked goods. Many cookie doughs and some cakebatters are leavened, at least in part, by creaming butter and sugar together, which introduces air bubbles into the butter.

The tiny bubbles locked within the butter expand in the heat of baking and aerate the cookie or cake. Some cookies like shortbread may have no other source of moisture but the water in the butter.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 cup (227g)

Amount per Serving

Calories 1627Calories from Fat 1657

% Daily Value *

Total Fat 184.1g 283%

Saturated Fat 116.6g 583%

Trans Fat ~

Cholesterol 488mg 163%

Sodium 24mg 1%

Total Carbohydrate 0.1g 0%

Dietary Fiber 0g 0%

Sugars 0.1

Protein 1.9g

Vitamin A 113% Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 5% • Iron 0%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your caloric needs.

recipeland.com/nutrition

Quick facts

Where to find unsalted butter: Unsalted butter is usually found in the dairy section or aisle of the grocery store or supermarket.

Food group: Butter, unsalted is a member of the Dairy and Egg Products US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.

In Chinese: 牛油，无盐
British (UK) term: Butter, unsalted
en français: beurre non salé
en español: de mantequilla sin sal

How much does unsalted butter weigh?

Amount	Weight
1 cup	227 grams
1 tbsp	14 grams
1 pat (1" sq, 1/3" high)	5 grams
1 stick	113 grams

Dairy and Egg Products

Butter 14585 Ghee (clarified butter) 240 Blue cheese 95 Havarti cheese 6 Cheddar cheese 1679 Cheese 557 Cheddar cheese, very old, sharp 334 Cheddar cheese, medium 23 Cheddar cheese, mild 32 Colby cheese 26

Recipes using unsalted butter

There are 1866 recipes that contain this ingredient.

Easy Christmas Cutout Cookies

These Christmas cutout cookies are so easy for you and your kids to make together, and they taste so yummy too!

Eggs Baked in Peppers

Eggs, simply baked in sweet red bell pepper served with tomato sauce. Just 3 ingredients create a delightfully creative breakfast or brunch that even kids like.

Graham Wafers

These homemade graham wafers are crisp, lightly sweet, and perfect for snacking, crushing into crumbs for pie crusts, or pairing with spreads. Made with wholesome graham flour and a touch of vanilla, they bake up golden and delicious in just minutes.

Very Yummy Brownies

Fudgy chocolate brownies: dense, rich brownies built on six squares of unsweetened baking chocolate and real butter. The bake-sale champion that crackles on top and stays gooey inside.

Super Chocolate Truffles

Super chocolate truffles use semi-sweet and unsweetened chocolate, butter, and orange liqueur for a rich, boozy ganache cut into squares and rolled in cocoa. Classic French confection, dressed up with Cointreau.

Blueberry Muffins with Nutmeg Topping

Bakery-style blueberry muffins with nutmeg sugar topping. Three flours, butter, and buttermilk give a tender crumb and tall domed tops crowned with crackly spiced sugar.

Turkey Bacon Burgers

Juicy turkey burgers with raw bacon ground into the patty, sage, and sautéed mushrooms on top. Pan-cooked in butter, the leanness of turkey paired with the richness of bacon.

Newbest Pecan Pie

Chocolate pecan pie spiked with Kahlua and molasses, loaded with toasted pecans and semi-sweet chocolate chips. A grown-up Thanksgiving pie with deep coffee-bourbon undertones.

Supernatural Brownies

Supernatural brownies are Nick Malgieri's legendary fudge bricks: a full pound each of butter and semisweet chocolate, eight eggs, two sugars, and a shiny crackled top. Bakes a full half-sheet, rests overnight for perfect texture.

Robert's Baking Powder Biscuits

Robert's classic baking powder buttermilk biscuits with just five ingredients. Tall, flaky, and tender with a golden crust. The Sunday breakfast biscuit done right.

Simply Refreshing Summer Lime Tart

You can decorate this easy tart to look so elegant, your guests will be impressed.

Buttermilk Waffles with Cherry-Almond Sauce

Buttermilk Waffles with Cherry-Almond Sauce recipe

Oreo Cookie & Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches

Store-bought chocolate ice cream mixed with toasted walnuts and dried cherries, with homemade oreo cookies make these addictively delicious ice cream sandwiches that will for sure please your sweetest tooth :)

Turkey Scallopini & Squash Ravioli with Cranberry Brown Butter

Turkey Scallopini and Squash Ravioli with Cranberry Brown Butter recipe

Moghul Style Mixed Vegetables with Paneer

Mughlai-style mixed vegetable curry with paneer, cream, pineapple, and golden raisins. A rich, mildly spiced North Indian dish that finishes with a sprinkle of fried nuts for royal-court flair.

Gruyère Whole Wheat Biscuits with Herbs

Gruyere whole wheat biscuits, flaky buttermilk biscuits laced with nutty Gruyere, fresh thyme, and marjoram. Cold butter and whole wheat pastry flour give them tender, savory layers with a wholesome edge.

Baker's Truffles

Baker's truffles roll melted semi-sweet chocolate with creamed butter, egg yolk, powdered sugar, and vanilla into 1-inch chilled candy balls coated in chopped nuts or coconut. Old-school no-cream truffles with deep cocoa richness.

Mini Roasted Leek, Onion & Navy Bean Galettes

These rustic pie like galettes were so delicious. Buttery crust and a delicious filling made with roasted leek and onion, and creamy navy beans. It didn't last long. Yum.

Pancake Waffles

Pancake waffles turn a box of pancake mix into fluffy, light waffles by separating eggs and folding in beaten whites. Four ingredients, 30 minutes, weekend breakfast staple.

Buttery Pecan Pie

Rich pecan pie with homemade butter crust and dark corn syrup filling studded with chopped pecans and topped with perfect halves. This from-scratch version rewards the extra effort with flaky pastry and deeply caramelized flavor.

Charles Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Banana chocolate chip muffins loaded two ways with banana, mashed for moisture and diced for fruity chunks, plus chocolate chips and walnuts. Brown sugar makes them rich, bakery-style, and tender.

Rolled Baklava with Honey Syrup

Rolled baklava swaps the usual diamonds for crisp phyllo logs filled with spiced walnuts, baked golden then dipped in honey-lemon syrup. The cold-syrup dip keeps every flaky roll crisp, not soggy.

Buttery Chocolate Chip Cookies

Simple chocolate chip cookies made with unsalted butter for pure, buttery flavor. Quick 25-minute recipe yields 24 tender cookies with crispy edges and soft centers.

Madelaine's Tomato Basil Soup

Madelaine's tomato basil soup with fresh tomatoes, fragrant basil, heavy cream, and butter. A classic creamy bistro-style soup made with just 6 ingredients in 60 minutes.

Orange-Currant Scones

Orange-currant scones with a tender flaky crumb thanks to a butter-shortening combination, brightened with fresh orange zest and studded with sweet dried currants.

Deep Dark Chocolate Fudge Cookies

Deep dark chocolate fudge cookies loaded with three forms of chocolate: cocoa, semisweet, and unsweetened. Dense, fudgy interior with optional powdered sugar coating for crackle-top contrast.

Hazelnut Chunk Brownies*

Fudgy hazelnut chunk brownies loaded with toasted hazelnuts and chopped semisweet chocolate in a cocoa-rich, butter-heavy batter. Barely set centers, dense and deeply chocolatey.

Cusine D'Or Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crisp outsides and chewy centers, are often achieved by undercooking. In this recipe a small amount of corn syrup is substituted for some of the granualted sugar, for a chewy texture without being soft or undercooked.

Super Chocolaty Brownies

Super chocolaty brownies baked sheet-pan style with a pound each of bittersweet chocolate and butter, eight eggs, and a 24-hour rest before slicing into 2-inch squares.

Fresh Tomato Soup Ala Terri

Fresh tomato soup with a bouquet garni of parsley, bay leaf, celery, thyme, and marjoram, pureed smooth with caramelized onion and a butter roux. Topped with sour cream and fresh dill.

Plum Ice Cream Souffles with Spiced-Plum Sauce

A great summer time dessert, lots of ripe and sweet plum give the souffles delicious flavor!

No Bake Caramel Oatmeal Cookies

These no-bake caramel oatmeal cookies combine the rich, buttery flavor of butterscotch with hearty oats for a quick, chewy treat. No oven required, making them ideal for warm days or when you need a fast dessert. The recipe is straightforward but requires careful attention to boiling and mixing to achieve the perfect texture.