Miso Butter

A few months ago we came across a delightful condiment at a local restaurant: miso butter! It was mixed with rice and our 6-year-old son gobbled it up immediately and asked for more. So we knew we had to try it for ourselves. Here’s how to make miso butter at home: it’s just 2 ingredients and takes minutes to make! It adds a rich, savory umami flavor to everything it touches: from rice to pasta to salmon and more!

Ingredients in miso butter

The best recipes have all the ingredients in the title, right? Such is the case with miso and butter: you’ll need just these two items to make a condiment that makes everything sparkle! Here’s what you’ll need:

Unsalted butter: 1 stick White or yellow miso paste: 2 to 3 tablespoons

Types of miso

Miso is a Japanese fermented soybean paste that’s full of nutrients and savory flavor. It’s known for its intense savory flavor, otherwise known as umami: the fifth flavor. You can find miso in the international foods aisle near the Japanese ingredients. There are many different types of miso, and they all taste different. We recommend using white or yellow miso for this miso butter recipe: sometimes they’re labeled as “light miso”.

White miso (Shiro miso): This variety has a mild, more delicate flavor and less salt than darker miso. Yellow miso: This type is fermented a little longer than white miso and has a mild, lightly sweet flavor. Red or dark miso: This variety is fermented longer than white or yellow miso. It has a very strong flavor and can overwhelm the flavors in a dish, so we don’t recommend using it here.

Tips for mixing it up

This miso butter is as simple as mixing the two ingredients! Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Use room temperature butter. To do so, you can let the butter sit out for 20 minutes. (You can also microwave it for a few seconds, but you’ll run the risk of going too far and melting the butter.) Adjust the miso to taste. Want more of a pronounced miso flavor? Use a bit more miso. This is a very forgiving recipe: you can easily adjust it to taste.

Ways to use miso butter

This savory condiment adds an incredible pop of savory flavor to everything it touches! Here are a few ways to use it in your cooking:

Rice: Swirl it into white rice after cooking. Noodles: Make a pot of spaghetti and add miso butter to taste. Salmon: Melt it to make a butter sauce for pan seared salmon or use it for cooking Shrimp: Make a garlic butter sauce with miso butter for dipping Chicken: Make this garlic chicken with miso butter

More with butter

Want more recipes with butter? Here are a few more ways to use this creamy ingredient:

Learn How to Make Butter from cream Understand How to Brown Butter Discover How to Make Clarified Butter and How to Make Ghee Understand How to Freeze Butter Make Garlic Butter, Garlic Herb Butter, or Compound Butter