A rich ramp butter made from the leaves of the plant is one of the best ways to preserve ramps during the growing season. This is a classic recipe for foragers and many people make it every year. Read on and I'll explain the finer parts and how to make your own delicious ramp butter at home.
What is Ramp Butter ?
Ramp butter is a compound butter made from the leaves of ramps or other wild garlic plants that grow in the early Spring. A compound butter just means that the butter has been mixed with seasonings.
With ramp butter, the butter is pureed in a food processor with the ramp leaves, turning it bright green. It tastes like garlicky butter with a woodsy aroma. Warmed up it has notes of parmesan cheese and a special flavor you only get from using ramps.
Besides regular ramps (Allium tricocoum) you can also use bear garlic (Allium ursinum) three cornered leeks (Allium triquetrum) and the small ramp (Allium burdickii). Wild garlic and crow garlic (Allium vinneale) also work, as well as the greens of wild onions. Some people also sell ramp butter at farmers markets in the Spring during ramp season.
How to Make Ramp Butter
It's easy to make. First you'll blanch ramp leaves and cool them. The blanched leaves are finely chopped and mixed with fresh ones. Finally everything is pureed in a food processor with softened butter. The images below describe the process.
While some recipes use the whole plant, adding lots of chopped ramp bulbs is unnecessary and can make the flavor too strong.
Once all the butter is added the butter will be bright green and vibrant.
Forming the butter
After the butter is pureed, it's formed into a log using cling film or parchment.
How I use it
I use ramp butter on all kinds of things. Here's a few examples of ways I use it.
- Put some under the skin of roast chicken.
- Use it to top a mashed or baked potato.
- Warm it up and drizzle on any and all seafood.
- Spread it on toast and make garlic cheese bread.
- Toss it with hot pasta, cheese, and your favorite wilted greens.
There's a few other ideas on my site linked below.
Related Posts on Ramps
Classic Wild Ramp Butter Made with Leaves
Equipment
- Parchment or Cling Film
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 3 oz (Roughly 3 cups) lightly packed ramp leaves Use a scale for the best tasting result.
- 8 oz 2 sticks salted butter softened
- ½ tablespoon cold water
- A few cracks of the peppermill
- ½ Tablespoon chilled lemon juice or water plus a few scrapes of lemon zest, optional
Instructions
- Cut the butter into tablespoon sized pieces and bring to room temperature.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch half of the ramp leaves for a few seconds, just until they wilt, then refresh in cold water. Alternately, for a stronger flavor, steam the ramp leaves for a few seconds until just wilted.
- Squeeze the leaves dry, then chop roughly on a cutting board with the fresh ramp leaves.
- In the bowl of a food processor pulse the ramp leaf mash to smooth it out a bit, then gradually add the butter pieces 1 chunk at a time, along with the water, processing to make a smooth paste (it may take some time if your butter is cold-just be patient) continuing to process until the butter is light green and fluffy-make sure to watch the video as this is easier seen than explained.
- If the butter, or ambient temperature of the kitchen is very cold, add a spoonful or two of boiling water to help the mixture move in the food processor.
- Once the butter is emulsified, fluffy and brilliant green, add the pepper, and drizzle in the lemon juice, processing for a few seconds to lighten it.
- Double check the seasoning, adjust as needed (if you want it stronger you can spin in some extra chopped ramp leaves).
- Spread the butter onto a piece of parchment, roll into a log, tie the ends closed and refrigerate. From here you can cut the butter into portions and freeze.
- The butter will keep for a week or two in the fridge, and a couple months in the freezer. I prefer to vacuum seal it for the best long-term storage.
Video
Josephine
Great recipe. I made it last year- everyone loved it! When I made it this year, after a week in the fridge, the beautiful green dulled a lot and some of the specks of ramp browned a little. I'm assuming the pieces that weren't blanched. This didn't happen the first time I made it. Should I toss?
Alan Bergo
No you don't need to toss it, but freezing it will keep the color in the future. I also warm it up gently to drizzle on things, you won't notice the color then.
Mel
The recipe is amazing.
Dave Hedlund
I made this ramp butter yesterday and today I put it on cedar planked whitefish fillets. No leftovers! It’s amazing. I’m looking forward to using the rest for various things. Very good! I wish I could show you the photo of the planked fish on the grill.
Alan Bergo
Glad it worked for you Dave.
Julia Egan
Hey there Alan, after reading all the questions and your answers, I am still struggling with how many ramps to use!
I have a scale. Should I weigh them? Because I don't understand the 2 cup idea.
If using the cup measure, do I blanch them, THEN CHOP them up, THEN place them in a cup loosely? HELP! I really am unsure. Also, can I use the bulbs and if so can I blanch the bulbs, stems and leaves?
(Saving some leaves/stems to use raw).
I am a beginner/first timer! I have 40acres of ramps covering my forest floor! I just have to learn how to use them. Thanks for yr help. Ps love ur webcite, u have taught me how to sustainably care for my ramps!
Alan Bergo
Hi Julia, so the recipe says 2 oz of ramp leaves or two cups-either of these is referring to raw, uncooked leaves. Also the video is there for extra help-did you watch it? It is fine to use bulbs, but go easy on them as they're much stronger than the leaves. If you want to add some bulbs, I would slice them up, sweat on low heat with a spoonful of oil for a moment until they lose some of the raw flavor, then add them to the butter as it blends. I hope that's helpful, let me know if you have more questions. Don't over think it here-most chefs I know don't even use a recipe. If you want a stronger flavor, you can always add more as it blends, but you can't take them out. You got this!
lisa
Hi, does "2 oz 2 cups lightly packed ramp..." mean 2 ounces is about 2 cups? I'm stalking all your ramp recipes, I've got a big bag of leaves!
Thanks.
Alan Bergo
When you see a conversion it means either- or. So either 2 lightly packed cups of leaves or 2 oz. The metric system is better than cups for most things, but American home cooks are bent on using cups.
Eric Greiner
Can you add the bulb of the ramp or just the leaves
Alan Bergo
You can add bulbs too, I used to add them raw as a garnish at the end to add extra punch. Feel free to experiment.
Mitch
I made this for my first time this past spring. Following your instructions made it very easy with a prime result!
Alan Bergo
Hey thanks Mitch. Oldie but a goodie for sure.
Sonja Wieber
I am in love with this! I just found out our new cabin property on the north shore is filled with ramps! I'm having fun playing with all these recipes! Thanks for sharing this recipe and for all the advice, Alan!
Alan Bergo
Glad you liked it.
Susan Jansen
how would you use the butter? what goes well with the ramp butter?
Alan Bergo
Use ramp butter anywhere you would use garlic butter.
Elizabeth Logas-Lindstrom
What's the reasoning behind blanching or steaming half the leaves?
Alan Bergo
I used to have customers complain of garlic breath from butter using only raw leaves. If you want to make it with all raw leaves just chop them well before you start spinning the butter. I might start with 75 % of the leaves called for in the recipe.
David Harold
Thank you for posting this recipe! I just got a nice haul in the mountains by Mt. Mitchell (outside of Asheville. I would love to know your recipes for making the 2# and 5# batch. I have a Blendtec that could handle such a load. Thanks in advance and I thoroughly enjoy the many many posts of yours that I have read and used.
Wishing you a safe spring..
David
Alan Bergo
David, I took a look at them. It's the same proportions so just feel free to multiply. You may need a little less water. The only difference is when I do big batches I like to puree the leaves in a highspeed vitamix blender.
David Harold
Thanks Alan!
I assumed as much. Thanks for the tip about blending the larger batch.
Happy foraging!