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How to Make Ghee

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How to make ghee
Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Condiment Recipes » How to Make Ghee

Ever used ghee? It has the benefits of butter without the casein and proteins that some people react to in butter. so it’s basically the best of both worlds!

What Is Ghee?

In technical terms, ghee is a clarified, unsalted butter with the milk proteins removed. It has a high smoke point, making it perfect for cooking, and an incredible flavor. Many people who cannot tolerate dairy can handle ghee and it is a revered food in Indian cuisine.

The Benefits of Ghee

I’m a big believer that traditional cultures knew things about food that science is still catching up to, and ghee is one of these foods! From fermenting sauerkraut to soaking nuts and seed to release their phytic acid, learning how to make traditional foods is an important step when it comes to improving nutrition and gut health.

Ghee is considered “liquid gold” and very important in Indian culture (and has been for centuries). When made from high quality butter from grass fed cows, it is a great source of fat soluble vitamins like vitamin K and is great for teeth, hair, skin, and nails.

How Does it Taste?
How to Make Ghee - Simple home recipe

Let’s be honest… ghee is like butter on crack! It has more intense flavor and more nutrients, so a little bit goes a really long way. The flavor is great in many different recipes and dishes and you can use it pretty much as you would butter.

If you’re buying store-bought, I do find the flavor really varies by brand and definitely recommend this one over all others just based on flavor.

How to Use Ghee

I like using ghee for making stir frys in a wok since it has such a high smoke point. Also, with wok cooking, only a tiny amount of ghee is needed. Ghee is also incredible on a baked sweet potato, in eggs, or on steamed or roasted vegetables.

Ghee is expensive to buy, but simple to make, so this is one traditional food I keep in our meal prep rotation. Unlike butter, it does not need to be refrigerated and is softer for spreading when kept at room temperature. This makes it great for traveling or packing for the beach or camping.

If you’ve never tried it, I highly suggest making ghee and trying it in your cooking, especially if you are sensitive to dairy!

How to make ghee

Homemade Ghee Recipe

This form of clarified butter is a flavorful and delicious fat for cooking or on vegetables, without the milk solids that are hard for some people to digest.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 28 minutes
Calories 43kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

2 cups

Ingredients

  • 1 pound butter preferably unsalted, organic, and grass-fed

Instructions

  • Cut the butter into cubes and place in a medium-size saucepan.
  • Heat the butter over medium heat until completely melted.
  • Reduce to a simmer.
  • Cook for about 10-15 minutes. During this time, the butter will go through several stages. It will foam, then bubble, then seem to almost stop bubbling and then foam again. When the second foam occurs, the ghee is done. At this point, the melted butter should be bright gold in color and there should be reddish-brown pieces of milk solids at the bottom of the pan.
  • Let the ghee cool slightly for 2-3 minutes and then slowly pour through a wire mesh strainer lined with several layers of cheesecloth. The small bits of milk protein are usually discarded, though a friend told me that her grandmother used to mix those with flour (or almond flour) and a small amount of honey to make a flavorful fudge-like treat.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Homemade Ghee Recipe
Amount Per Serving (1 tsp)
Calories 43 Calories from Fat 42
% Daily Value*
Fat 4.7g7%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Cholesterol 13mg4%
Carbohydrates 0.3g0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

  • Ghee will last up to a month at room temperature or even longer in the fridge.
  • I use this brand when I don’t have time to make homemade.

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

If you’re a visual learner, here’s a photo walk-through of all the steps to make it.

Ghee is a clarified butter made from removing the milk proteins from butter. It is a traditional sacred food in many cultures and has incredible flavor.

Ever made ghee at home? Ever tried it? Share your experience below!

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Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

107 responses to “How to Make Ghee”

  1. Denise Avatar

    5 stars
    Butter needs to be refrigerated? We have never refrigerated it. It sits on the counter soft and ready to be used.

  2. Rebecca Yaguda Avatar
    Rebecca Yaguda

    5 stars
    Thank you for this awesome recipe. Your mentioning “During this time, the butter will go through several stages. It will foam, then bubble, then seem to almost stop bubbling and then foam again. When the second foam occurs, the ghee is done” was SO helpful. I’ve tried making ghee before, and was never sure when to stop simmering the butter. When the second foaming happened, the butter did indeed turn a warm reddish color, and was done, which took a bit longer than I had expected.

  3. Danielle Avatar

    Im not sure if amazon is blocking your affiliate links or blocking me but it will not let me use any of your links. I do live in Canada but have an American friends address that I use when things dont ship to Canada and it still takes me in a loop asking if I would like to switch countries and no matter what I choose yes or no it wont let me see the product you are recommending it is very frustrating. Not sure if there is anything you can do but I almost feel as if I should just stop trying to use you site if not. 🙁

    1. Katie Wells Avatar

      Not sure what to do about that. First time I’ve heard of this issue and there are lots of Canadian readers. Make sure your browser is updated and see if that helps?

  4. Herman Avatar
    Herman

    Please research Dr. Mark Hyman and what he and others have to say about disease and food. Hint: we largely do it to ourselves by following old dietary guidelines. The food pyramid has been turned upside down and it’s all in the name of recent medical understandings of what has caused heart disease, diabetes, possibly dementia and incredible rise in America of obesity. He’s a “must read”.

    1. Lia Terry Avatar
      Lia Terry

      Funny how most of those diseases were widely unheard of and very rare untill recently in even just American history (wich is not very old comparatively) but cool story…

  5. Ib Avatar

    What about using a coffe filter instead of cheese cloth? Seems cheaper than buying cheese cloth for those that wouldn’t have any other uses for it.

  6. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    Why is it that ghee has more calories per tsp than regular butter?

  7. Jalani Avatar

    3 stars
    How long after you pour the ghee into jars can you eat it? Will the ghee harden a little bit at room temperature? I made ghee yesterday and woke up this morning to find my ghee was still liquid but had little lighter colored spots in it especially on the bottom, is that normal or did I ruin my ghee? I’ve been storing my ghee on my kitchen counter at room temperature.

  8. Shannon Avatar

    I have made this ghee recipe multiple times and I keep having a mold/ black growth problem. I make it and strain through cheese cloth and put into small 4oz mason jars. I see it usually in the bottom. Black/moldy looking. I always keep it refrigerated. Help! 🙂

  9. Deborah Avatar
    Deborah

    5 stars
    can I use a glass gravy separator instead of cheese cloth? Also can ghee be put in freezer for an extended period of time?

  10. Debbie Avatar

    1 star
    I thought that the difference between ghee and clarified butter is that ghee is cultured with yogurt after it is made. Am I off on this?

  11. Humaira Avatar
    Humaira

    Dear Katie, I love your posts but sometimes I feel you really overtry to sell something and aren’t being completely fair to the readers. First, ghee is not easy to travel with such as on a beach trip as you suggested because it gets to liquid form quite easily (the weather doesn’t even have to be too hot for it to melt). Second, ghee is not like butter on crack taste-wise. It’s more of an acquired taste, it can leave almost a pungent aftertaste in the back of the nose and mouth. Many people coming from ghee-using cultures don’t favor it as they don’t like it’s taste. That’s not to say that those who do love ghee will find that foods taste many times better when using it. But otherwise, good post to bring attention to this often neglected alternative to butter and oil.

    1. Lia Terry Avatar
      Lia Terry

      Did you know there’s beaches in cold climates? I grew up in Ny and my mother took us to the beach in Mass. Several times. And I was never warm there. It was actually colder at the beach than it would have been elsewhere.

  12. Diana Avatar

    Thank you for the visual aids!! I’m pretty verbal, but when it comes to DIY, visual is king.

  13. Carol L Avatar
    Carol L

    FOR Allison:
    I contacted a crock pot company and they said that both low and high on any crockpot is THE SAME! Crockpots should be called slow cookers, as they cook using the same degree of heat, it just takes LONGER to get to the temperature on low than it does on high. I believe the final temp. is around 250-280 for both low and high, I just wish I could remember exactly what temperature, but have forgotten. You could email the maker of your own particular crock pot and find out.

4.54 from 41 votes (7 ratings without comment)

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