Easy Garlic Butter Sauce Recipe

At its simplest, garlic butter sauce is just butter, fresh garlic and a pinch of salt. The butter is melted and the garlic is gently cooked in it until fragrant and golden. From there you can add extras like lemon juice, herbs, white wine or cream, but the base recipe is as simple as it gets. The key is using good quality butter and fresh garlic rather than garlic powder or jarred garlic.

I always do as it’s what I have on hand most often. Unsalted butter is good because it gives you full control over the seasoning. Garlic butter sauce reduces slightly as it cooks, which concentrates the flavors including the salt. If you start with salted butter and then season to taste, you can easily end up with a sauce that’s too salty. If salted is all you have, just hold off on adding any extra salt until you’ve tasted the finished sauce.

Keep the heat on medium-low and watch it carefully. Garlic goes from golden and fragrant to burnt and bitter in a matter of seconds. Slice the garlic rather than mincing it, as minced garlic burns faster due to the smaller pieces. If your garlic does burn, the bitter flavor will carry through the entire sauce and there’s no fixing it. Start over with fresh butter and garlic. It only takes a couple of minutes.

Fresh garlic is strongly recommended for this recipe. It gives you a fuller, more complex garlic flavor and those beautiful golden slices or pieces throughout the sauce. Garlic powder dissolves into the butter and gives a more uniform but flatter flavor. If fresh garlic isn’t available, garlic powder will work in a pinch (about half a teaspoon per tablespoon of butter) but the result won’t be the same.

They’re closely related but not identical. Garlic butter is softened butter mixed with minced garlic and often herbs, used as a spread or compound butter. Garlic butter sauce is a warm, pourable sauce made by melting butter and cooking garlic in it, often with added liquid like lemon juice, wine or stock. Garlic butter is solid and spreadable. Garlic butter sauce is liquid and drizzleable.

The simplest way is to let it reduce a little longer on the heat so some of the moisture evaporates and the sauce concentrates. Adding a splash of cream thickens it naturally and gives it a more velvety texture. You can also swirl in a small knob of cold butter at the end (off the heat), which emulsifies and thickens the sauce while making it glossy. Avoid using flour or cornstarch as they change the texture and dull the clean butter flavor.

Yes. The basic recipe contains only butter, garlic and seasonings, all of which are naturally gluten-free. Just make sure any additions you make (like soy sauce or stock) are also gluten-free if that’s a concern.

You can substitute the butter with a good quality vegan butter or use olive oil for a dairy-free garlic oil sauce. The flavor will be different since butter has a richness and nuttiness that’s hard to replicate, but a garlic olive oil sauce is delicious in its own right, especially over pasta and fish.

Stored in an airtight container in the fridge, garlic butter sauce keeps for up to 5 days. It solidifies as it cools, which is normal. Reheat gently in a pan over low heat until melted and smooth. It also freezes well for up to 3 months. Pour it into ice cube trays for easy portioning.

A good starting point is 3 to 4 cloves of garlic per 4 tablespoons (half a stick) of butter. This gives you a well-balanced sauce where the garlic flavor is present but not overwhelming. If you love garlic, go up to 6 cloves. For a milder sauce, use 2 cloves. The beauty of making it yourself is you can adjust to your taste.