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Recipes · Diabetic Friendly

How to Make Ghee

Diabetic Friendly · Low Carb · Vegetarian

How to Make Ghee
Prep 5 mins
Cook 30 mins
Serves Servings: 32

Ingredients

  • 1 lb unsalted butter

Directions

  1. Slice the butter into cubes and place in a small pot on low heat.
  2. Melt the butter and bring to a simmer. After several minutes, foam will form on top and it may sputter a bit. Use a spoon to skim off the top foam. You’ll need to repeat this a few times.
  3. Continue cooking the ghee on low for another 20-25 minutes, or until the middle layer is translucent and the smell is fragrant. You should also start to see some milk solids at the bottom of the pan.
  4. When the ghee is done, turn off the heat and let it cool for a few minutes. Then strain the ghee through a nut milk bag, cheesecloth or coffee filter into a glass storage container.

Notes

Ghee (also known as clarified butter) is delicious with a nutty aroma.

Why do I love ghee? It’s shelf stable and has a high smoke point. That means it’s a great cooking fat and you can fry with it. It also has a distinctly sweet and nutty flavor that’s just delicious in so many different recipes.

A jar of ghee is like liquid gold and even if you don’t have any dietary sensitivity to dairy, I think you’ll simply love cooking with it.

What is Ghee?

Ghee is similar to clarified butter, where all the milk solids are removed, but it’s cooked just a tad bit longer. Those extra couple of minutes allow the milk solids on the bottom of the pan to begin to brown, which gives ghee a slightly different, more nutty flavor profile to clarified butter.

If you’ve ever burned butter on the stove before, you know that smoky frustration. And what you’ve actually done is burned the milk solids in butter. Ghee doesn’t have those, it’s just pure butterfat. This means it has a high smoke point (making it perfect for sautéing and frying) and its a stabilized cooking fat, similar to rendered bacon fat.

What Happens if you Cook Ghee Too Long?

Well, you’ll end up with brown butter. That just means those milk solids on the bottom became really caramelized and the butter starts to smell like toffee or butterscotch. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just different. The first time I made ghee I cooked it too long and thought I ruined it, but realized, “hmmm, this smells an awful lot like toffee.” Thankfully I didn’t toss it (I couldn’t bear to waste all that organic butter), so used it on veggies and cauliflower rice. Oh wow, it was delicious.

Nutrition

Calories: 124kcal, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Cholesterol: 36mg