Ramp Butter
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In this ramp compound butter recipe I start with unsalted butter then add flake sea salt as I blend the mixture. This way I can control the level and type of salt added. If you can’t find ramps try substituting with another spring allium like spring onions or chives. The compound butter will help to extend the life of fresh ingredients, preserving them in fat. Make this recipe using store-bought butter or make your own butter in a stand mixer! Big fan of these flavors? Then you’ll love ramp pesto spaghetti with burrata!
What are ramps?
While it can be hard to describe them, it’s much easier to explain what they aren’t. They aren’t leeks or scallions, onions or shallots, but they are in the same allium family. Ramps are frequently referred to as wild onions, wild leeks or wild garlic. They look similar to green onions with long flat leaves.
They taste more like a combination of mild garlic and leeks. When shopping for ramps look for a pale pink or white bottom and two wide flat leaves. Slice the bottoms off before the ramps are blanched and ensure to wash them well before use!
Ramps are in season for about a month in early spring starting in mid-April. Since they’re hard to find and hyper-seasonal, most grocery stores don’t stock them. The best place to look for them are at farmer’s markets or by purchasing them online directly from farmers who focus in foraging.
What is compound butter?
Compound butter is basically butter mixed together with other ingredients. You can pretty much add whatever you want to flavor it and use it as a base to sauté vegetables, finish meats (especially on grilled steak), stir into pasta or just spread it on bread!
Mix the ingredients into the softened butter. Then either serve at room temperature or wrap it into a cylinder in parchment paper and chill it until it’s hardened and cut it into rounds.
Ideas for other compound butter flavors:
- Garlic + herb butter (such as parsley, thyme, chives, rosemary etc.)
- Cinnamon + maple butter
- Jalapeño + lime butter
- Truffle butter
- Chipotle + lime butter
- Garlic + parmesan butter
Serving suggestions
While ramp butter is incredible simply spread on bread, give these other pairings a try:
- Eggs. Use a bit of butter to cook your omelette.
- Pasta. Amp up a simple pasta by using a spoonful of ramp butter to cooked pasta paired with a bit of pasta cooking water and grated Parmesan cheese.
- Chicken. Use in place of regular butter under the chicken skin in roast chicken recipes like this one for a boost of flavor.
- Vegetables. Roast your vegetables like broccoli or carrots with a few pats of ramp butter over the top.
How to Make Ramp Compound Butter (Step-by-step)
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prep a bowl of water filled with ice water. Add the ramps to the boiling water and blanch until bright green and the leaves have wilted, about 30 seconds.
Add to the ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and squeeze as much water from the ramps as possible, drying with paper towels.
Roughly chop the ramps then add to a the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment along with the butter and 2 teaspoons of flake sea salt.
Puree until the ramps are finely diced and the butter is smooth.
Add to a serving dish and finish with the remaining salt. To store the butter, put it in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use, about 1 month, or the sell-by date on the package. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
How to Roll Compound Butter
For another serving option great for portioning out the butter like at restaurants or for dinner parties, roll the butter into a log and cut into portions.
Spread the softened butter on parchment paper or plastic wrap with a rubber spatula then roll into a log and twist the ends to seal. Chill until ready to use and slice into rounds.
You can also pipe the compound butter into shapes onto a parchment paper or wax paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until ready to use.
FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
Ramps (wild leeks or wild onions) are a seasonal spring vegetable in the allium family, related to onions, garlic, and leeks. They have slender white or pale pink stems with two broad green leaves and a flavor that blends mild garlic with sweet leek.
Available for only about a month starting in mid-April, ramps are considered a delicacy because of their short season and limited availability.
The best place to look for them are at farmer’s markets or by purchasing them online directly from farmers who focus in foraging.
Compound butter is basically butter mixed together with other ingredients.
You can pretty much add whatever you want to flavor it and use it as a base to sauté vegetables, finish meats (especially on grilled steak), stir into pasta, to cook eggs or just spread it on bread!
To store the ramp butter, put it in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use, about 1 month, or the sell-by date on the package. You can also portion it into ice cube trays and freeze them into small blocks for easy bursts of flavor.
Yes! While you can use store-bought butter as the base of this compound butter I love making my own butter in a stand mixer.
Other recipe ideas for ramps
If you love this ramp butter recipe, give these others a try:
Ramp Butter
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Ingredients:
- ½ pound ramps, (or another early spring allium), rinsed and trimmed
- 2 cups (1 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2¼ teaspoons flake sea salt, divided
Instructions:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Prep a bowl of water filled with ice water. Add the ramps and blanch until bright green and the leaves have wilted, about 30 seconds.
- Add to the ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and squeeze as much water from the ramps as possible, drying with paper towels.
- Roughly chop the ramps then add to a the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment along with the butter and 2 teaspoons of flake sea salt.
- Puree until the ramps are finely diced and the butter is smooth.
- Add to a serving dish and finish with the remaining salt. To store the butter, put it in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use, about 1 month, or the sell-by date on the package.
Notes:
Nutrition:
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I have been dying to try this recipe and ramps finally came into season. I love this on sourdough bread! So happy I finally got to try it.
A fantastic and easy recipe for the seasonal treasures! I enjoy it on a fresh slice of sourdough and it’s wonderful!
So happy to hear it! Thanks for sharing!!
Is the weight of the ramps just the leaves? It looks like you didn’t use the bulbs. So were they weighed before or after removing the bulb portion?
The ramps are weighed after trimming but note that only the very bottom part of the bulb is trimmed, where the root is. You want to leave as much of the bulb as possible!
About how many ramps is 1/2 a pound?
About 25-28 ramps should make about 1/2 pound