Easy Homemade Ghee Recipe

This easy recipe will show you how to stock your kitchen with your own homemade ghee. Ghee is a healthy cooking fat with a high smoke point and tons of nutty flavor. It is a wonderful ingredient to add to your cooking arsenal.

What Is Ghee?

Ghee is made from butter by slowly cooking down the milk solids. When the milk solids are browned & eventually removed, what’s left is ghee. It’s important to use high quality butter. I use organic, grass-fed butter. The flavor of ghee is warm & nutty, but mild enough to be used in almost any cooking application. Cooking ghee takes a bit of time, but most if it is not hands on.

Why Should I Make This Easy Homemade Ghee Recipe?

My discovery of ghee came from trying to find healthier swaps in my kitchen. When we began our whole food cooking journey, I had a hard time finding a substitute for vegetable oil. My family was not on board with pig fat for cooking at first, so thankfully I found ghee. If your family is nervous about trying new ingredients, this one is an easy, delicious recipe swap!

Ghee’s high smoke point makes it a favorite in my kitchen. I love crispy edges on fried eggs, golden brown potatoes, and seared vegetables. Because of the mild flavor, I love using it for savory OR sweet recipes – just like butter! Unlike butter, though, ghee’s smoke point is 485 degrees! Butter’s smoke point is only 350 degrees which makes it less versatile.

How Can I Use Homemade Ghee?

Ghee can be used in place of butter in many recipes. Now, you probably wouldn’t want to spread it on a slice of sourdough toast, however, you can cook with it in many applications.

Add to your veggies before adding them to soups or roasting them in the oven.

You can sear your meats in them for that lovely butter flavor, without fear of it burning.

You can even substitute it in my Herb Butter Roasted Turkey Breast recipe!

Tips for making this Easy Homemade Ghee Recipe

• Use the best quality butter available to you. Organic and grass fed butter will provide the highest nutrients and lowest toxic load.
• The less fussing the better to allow the ghee to fully separate leaving you with the best result. 
• For a milder flavor cook for less time, which will yield slightly less ghee and more milk solids to discard. For a nuttier, fuller flavor, cook longer to yield the most ghee and least amount of milk solids to discard.
• Skim the top only when there is a distinct film covering the entirety of the pot of ghee. This is the first layer of milk solids to remove. Underneath should be the ghee, followed by the last layer of milk solids that have sunk to the bottom and are toasting. 
• Store in a jar that a spoon can fit into so that as the ghee solidifies you can extract it easily for each use. 
• The recipe can be made with any amount of butter, but use an amount that makes your time feel worthwhile. If you have a need for it, use more butter to make more ghee at once.

What You’ll Need for Homemade Ghee

• 16 oz butter
• Small sauce pan for cooking the ghee
• Large spoon for skimming the top of the ghee
• Jar for storing with a lid
• Funnel
• Strainer
• Cheese cloth for straining

How to Make Homemade Ghee

1. Cut butter into chunks and add to a heavy-bottom sauce pot. 
2. Turn the heat to low and allow the butter to melt.
3. After the butter has melted, wait until a foam or layer builds on top of the liquid and gently skim from the top using a large spoon.
4. Check the ghee as it cooks looking at the layer of milk solids on the bottom of the pot. The lighter the layer on the bottom, the milder the ghee. The darker, the nuttier the flavor. 
5. When the milk solids look cooked to your preference, put your cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer into your funnel and carefully pour your ghee through, leaving as much of the milk solids behind in the pot as possible. The milk solids that make it though should be caught by your cheesecloth/strainer.
6. Label your jar and allow it to cool. When cool, refrigerate until needed.

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