How to Make Homemade Butter
When you picture making homemade butter, maybe you imagine a woman in a long dress and bonnet standing at a butter churner for hours on end. her arms ache and there’s sweet on her brow. In the modern era, those butter-making days seem to be over for most of us. But what if we want to make our own butter? Where would you even get a butter churner?
Making your own butter makes it possible for you to flavor your butter however you want, and don’t worry, you do not need a butter churner! In Victorian times, having herb-infused butter was very popular, but today, most people just buy regular old salted or unsalted butter from the supermarket and call it a day.
Herb-infused butter can add a great punch of flavor to your cooking, or to a simple piece of toast in the morning. So how can you make your own? Making butter is actually way easier than you might think.
Homemade Butter Recipe
Homemade butter is super easy to make, and with modern appliances, it doesn’t take long to make either.
You Will Need…
- Heavy cream
- Salt and herbs if you want
- a food processor or something similar (you can use a stand mixer or hand mixer too)
Step 1 – Pour your heavy cream into a food processor. Let the food processor run for about 10 minutes or until the cream thickens to a sort of clumpy paste. This is your butter.
Step 2 – Strain your butter. Using a tightly-strung strainer or cheesecloth, strain the extra liquid out of your butter. You may need to use a spoon or the bottom of a cup or plate to fully strain the butter. (The liquid coming off the butter is buttermilk, so you can use this for baking if you want.)
Step 3 – Wash your butter. This step is optional, but you can pour water over your strained butter and stir it around with your hands to get any excess cream off of your butter, then strain the butter one last time.
Step 4 – Shape your butter. Press your butter either with your hands or with utensils, into whatever shape you want, whether that be a traditional square or rectangle, a circle, or even a pyramid if you’re up for the challenge.
If you have any freezer-safe molds you want to use, now is your chance! Pack your butter into the mold firmly, then wrap the filled mold in plastic wrap and freeze it until the butter is firm.
Step 5 – Enjoy!
If you want to make salted butter or herb butter, make sure to add salt or herbs during step 4. Make sure you taste the butter as you add in more ingredients because taking out ingredients once you’ve mixed them in is pretty impossible.

You can even color your butter with food coloring. Butter does not always turn yellow, believe it or not. Sometimes it will stay a pale white color. A tiny drop of yellow food coloring should do the trick, or pick a more shocking color like green or blue. It’s up to you.

There you have it — the easy modern way to make butter. No churning or stirring or aching arms required. With modern appliances, making butter can be super easy. You will surely impress your guests when you bring out your homemade molded butter to the table.
Butter making can also be a fun activity for children if it’s a rainy day. Besides waiting for the butter to solidify while in the food processor, cleaning, straining, and shaping the butter can be fun.
I hope you enjoy the art of butter making. The more you do it, the better you’ll get at it.