Try this amped up miso butter recipe next time you want to bring delicious umami flavour to your cooking! Includes loads of uses and recipes ideas too.
In This Post You’ll Learn
Why We Love This
This amazing miso butter recipe is packed with umami flavour and you can use it with just about anything!
It’s perfect for cooking or seasoning when you want creamy buttery flavour with that extra savoury zing of miso.
This recipe is all about experimenting to find what you like, so don’t be afraid to tweak the listed quantities to get it just how you like it.
Related: Peanut Hoisin Sauce / Umami Sauce / Miso Soup
Quick Tip
The next time something calls for butter, experiment by using miso butter instead!
As this mix uses white miso paste which is salty and a little sweet, you can use this in both savoury AND sweet dishes.
Why not try it on top of spicy miso ramen or in Strawberry Muffins for an almost caramelised touch?
If you love Vegemite, you could up the umami and have it on your toast for breakfast!
What is Miso Butter?
Miso butter is a condiment made from two ingredients: miso paste (a popular Japanese seasoning made from soybeans fermented with koji mould) and butter (made from churned cream or milk).
It’s a type of compound butter, where the miso paste is mashed or creamed together with softened butter until evenly mixed.
Miso adds a savoury umami flavour to the butter, making it great for seasoning a wide variety of meats, fish, pasta and vegetables.
Keep some in the fridge as a quick way to add extra flavour and depth to your cooking.
What You’ll Need
- Miso Paste – Different types of miso will lend quite a different flavour to your finished miso butter. We generally like to use white miso (also known as shiro miso) as it is a little sweeter and milder than red miso. But if you know you love the depth and intensity of red miso (also known as aka miso), feel free to use that instead.
- Butter – It’s best to use unsalted butter since miso paste is already quite salty in flavour. However, if you have salted butter on hand you can still use that too. You just might need to use less butter or tweak the ratio of ingredients to get the flavour just how you like it. You can also use vegan butter for a dairy-free alternative.
How to Make Miso Butter
- Place the white miso paste (or red miso paste if substituting) and softened butter in a small mixing bowl.
- Cut through with the edge of a spoon to roughly mix together.
- Then use the back of the spoon to mash the butter and miso together. Keep mixing for a minute or two until well combined. It should look like smooth peanut butter once done.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Mixing – Always use room temperature butter and miso paste as this will make it much easier to mix them evenly.
- Taste Test – Like all homemade condiments, it’s a good idea to taste your miso butter and add more miso or butter to get it just how you like it. We prefer a ratio of 3:1 (3 tbsp butter to 1 tbsp miso). You might like to tone yours up or down by using more or less miso depending on what you want to pair it with.
- Storage – Store your miso butter in an airtight container or rolled up in parchment paper in the fridge. Keep for around two weeks or up to the original expiry date on the butter (whichever comes first).
FAQs
There are two ways to quickly soften butter from the fridge, and the goal with both is to soften it just enough without causing it to melt.Â
Option 1 – Heat it for 1-2 short 10 second bursts in the microwave.Â
Option 2 – Place boiling water in a small bowl or dish and let it sit for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Drain the water and quickly place the bowl or dish over the butter. The residual heat will soften the butter.Â
Always err on the side of caution if you’re trying to soften butter quickly – it’s better to keep it slightly firm rather than overheating and causing it to melt.
Melt it down and use a cooking butter for scrambled eggs, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots or sautéed greens. Or brush it over roast chicken or tteokkochi rice cake skewers part way through cooking. You can even use it in place of regular butter on sandwiches or grilled toasties!
As a seasoning, add a knob of miso butter on top of baked potatoes (it’s divine with sweet potatoes!), roasted vegetables, salmon, steak, barbecued corn, freshly cooked pasta, noodles or rice dishes like risotto.Â
While we haven’t tested this yet, we think it could be an amazing replacement for regular butter in baking recipes like cauliflower cheese or strawberry muffins (with a lower ratio of miso added).
Yes, you can freeze your homemade miso butter for around 3 months as long as your butter was in date when you made it. Store in an airtight container to prevent the butter from taking on unwanted flavours or aromas from your freezer.Â
It’s a good idea to slice the butter into small disks or cubes before freezing to make it easier to take out just what you need for your upcoming recipe.Â
You can, though we find this just makes for more dishes (and time!) at the end. Using a small bowl and a fork or spoon is enough as long as your ingredients are at room temperature.
Recipes To Try With Miso Butter
Variations
- Add Herbs & Spices – Blend in your favourite fresh or dried herbs and spices when mashing the miso and butter, such as chives, rosemary, oregano, cracked black pepper etc.
- Add Garlic – Add one to two small cloves of finely chopped garlic into the butter. It’s especially good with mushrooms!
- Add Heat – Mix in your choice of rayu chilli oil, shichimi togarashi, gochujang sauce or gochugaru chilli flakes. Freshly grated ginger would also bring a refreshing, peppery burst!
- Add Acidity – Try mixing in a splash of lemon juice, lime juice or vinegar.with pancakes or waffles.
- Nutty Flavour – Add some tahini, sesame oil or toasted sesame seeds.
- Add Sweetness – Mix in a small amount of honey or maple syrup. The sweetness and saltiness are amazing and would be great
- Mediterranean Flavours – Add in finely chopped marinated kalamata olives, garlic or sundried tomatoes.
Try these amazing recipes next:
- Japanese Curry Roux – Never buy store-bought curry roux again!
- Tonkatsu Sauce – Our favourite sauce infused with ground toasted sesame seeds for extra flavour.
- Gomashio – Japanese sesame salt is the perfect quick and easy condiment.
- Matcha Salt – An epic blend of Japanese green tea powder and sea salt.
- Toasted Sesame Seeds – So much flavour you’ll want to keep some ready to go in your spice collection!
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp white miso paste room temperature, sub red miso for a more intense flavour, 15 g / 0.5 oz
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter softened / room temperature, 42 g / 1.5 oz
Instructions
- Place the white miso paste and softened butter in a small mixing bowl.1 tbsp white miso paste, 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- Cut through with the edge of a spoon to roughly mix together.
- Then use the back of the spoon to mash the butter and miso together. Keep mixing for a minute or two until well combined. It should look like smooth peanut butter once done.
Recipe Notes
- Mixing – Always use room temperature butter and miso paste as this will make it much easier to combine them.
- Taste Test – Like all homemade condiments, it’s a good idea to taste your miso butter and add more miso or butter to get it just how you like it. We prefer a ratio of 3:1 (3 tbsp butter to 1 tbsp miso). You might like to tone yours up or down by using more or less miso depending on what you want to pair it with.Â
- Storage – Store your miso butter in an airtight container or rolled up in parchment paper in the fridge. Keep for around two weeks or up to the original expiry date on the butter (whichever comes first).
- Add Herbs & Spices – Blend in your favourite fresh or dried herbs and spices when mashing the miso butter, such as chives, rosemary, oregano, cracked black pepper etc.
- Add Heat – Mix in your choice of rayu chilli oil, shichimi togarashi, gochujang paste or gochugaru chilli flakes. Freshly grated ginger would also bring a refreshing, peppery burst!
- Add Acidity – Try mixing in a splash of lemon juice, lime juice or vinegar.with pancakes or waffles.
- Nutty Flavour – Add some tahini, sesame oil or toasted sesame seeds.Â
- Add Sweetness – Mix in a small amount of honey or maple syrup. The sweetness and saltiness are amazing and would be great
- Mediterranean Flavours – Add in finely chopped marinated kalamata olives, garlic or sundried tomatoes.
Nutrition
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