How to make butter at home – Pure butter without any additives, coloring agents or preservatives in it. Many north indian families make butter at home and it taste better than the butter you get outside.
I know making butter at home sounds cumbersome. But trust me it is not. Making butter at home is very simple and does not take much of your time. Thanks to electronic mixers or food processors:-)
I make butter from the malai or cream that we get from whole milk. This is how i make the butter or makhan (as we call it in India) at home. I learnt this from my mom and mom-in-law. Back home, butter is served with parathas like Paneer paratha, Gobi Paratha or Aloo Paratha. In fact it can be served with almost all kind of stuffed parathas. In punjab butter is liberally used while serving the famous combo of Makki di roti with Sarson ka saag.
Some people also make butter from curd, but I have always made both butter and ghee (clarified butter) from whole milk cream.
How to make Butter
1. To make butter at home you need 2 or 3 cups of cream. You can buy ready-made full cream from the grocery store. Or else you can use cream from the milk that you use everyday. However, this fresh cream or malai from the milk has to be collected every day for 10-15 days. You could also collect it for a month.
Remember to store this collected cream in the freezer. This cream is collected every day and stored in a container in the freezer.
After you have collected 2 or 3 cups of cream, then you can easily convert it into butter. Defrost the cream. You can defrost it in microwave or keep it out till it comes to room temperature.
2. In a mixer jar, or in a food processor add the cream. Add 1/2 to 1 cup of water. Turn on the mixer or food processor.
3. Initially, the cream will begin to smoothen and you will get smooth whipped cream. Continue the mixer, until you see buttermilk and the thick butter getting separated. You will see lumps of butter floating in the buttermilk or whey as I call it.
4. The beautiful homemade white butter is ready. With a spoon or spatula collect the white butter in an air-tight container and store the butter in the refrigerator.
5. You could also strain the butter from the buttermilk through a fine strainer. Some people use hands to completely squeeze out the buttermilk from the butter and then store it. I do not press or squeeze the butter with hands as I find that too untidy. Keep the butter in the freezer or in the refrigerator.
As a variation, you could also add salt or pepper powder to the butter and mix it well with the butter. I just prefer to store the butter unsalted in the refrigerator.
This white butter also called Makhan in India can be used on Breads, Rotis, Parathas, Sandwiches.
This Butter can also be used in making biscuits and cakes. If you are not on any calorie control diet, then you can also use the butter in dals, vegetables etc. You could also use this fresh butter to make ghee (clarified butter) at home.
And yes….. i also apply the makhan on bread just to get the simple bliss of having bread butter with tea or coffee. My most simple and beautiful breakfast.
The only trouble after making butter at home are the greasy mixer or food processors jars and spoons and spatula. especially if you wash your own dishes and utensils. But nevertheless you get the joy of making fresh butter at home and cleaning the dishes look very small as compared to this joy…… 🙂
More How to Recipes:
white butter recipe
INGREDIENTS FOR white butter recipe
- 2 or 3 cups of fresh cream/malai (You can buy ready made full cream from the grocery store. Or else you can use cream from the milk that you use everyday)
- ½ to 1 cup of water
- salt or pepper powder (optional)
HOW TO MAKE white butter recipe
- If you are collecting fresh cream or malai at home from milk then store this collected cream in the freezer. This cream is collected everyday and stored in a container in the freezer.
- After you have collected 2 or 3 cups of cream, then you can easily convert it into butter. Defrost the cream. You can defrost it in microwave or keep it out till it comes to room temperature.
- In a mixer jar, or in a food processor add the cream. Add 1/2 to 1 cup of water. Turn on the mixer or food processor.
- Initially, the cream will begun to smoothen and you will get smooth whipped cream. Continue the mixer, until you see buttermilk and the thick butter getting separated. You will see lumps of butter floating in the buttermilk or whey as I call it.
- Homemade white butter is ready. With a spoon or spatula collect the white butter in an air-tight container and store the butter in the refrigerator.
- You could also strain the butter from the buttermilk through a fine strainer. Some people use hands to completely squeeze out the buttermilk from the butter and then store it. I do not press or squeeze the butter with hands as I find that too untidy. Keep the butter in the refrigerator.
- As a variation, you could also add salt or pepper powder to the butter and mix it well with the butter. I just prefer to store the butter unsalted in the freezer or refrigerator.
I love the recipe❤♥
I made it. It came out superb. But how long can we store it in fridge? Because already the cream is 15days old. If we prepare ghee then its boiling but for butter we are just churning the cream and that’s it
thanks urmi. keep in the freezer and not in the fridge.
So, I tried making butter from malai using whipping blade of my food processor. I don’t see the butter floating on buttermilk. Instead it’s very fine and mixes up and then getting it out is very very difficult and time consuming. I had a similar problem with hand blender too. What am I doing wrong?
did you add water. try to add some warm water. should work.
Hi… is the wet blade grinder useful for this task? Or will I have to buy a specific blade for making butter?
don’t use wet blade. use the whipping blade or flat blade that is used to churn curd or whip cream.
Hai ….from my experience….there is an easy way to remove water from home made. butter. Just keep it in refrigerator ( not freezer) for a few minutes . After it becomes a bit hard, tilt the bowl and water will flow out.
Thanks Jolly for the suggestion. I am sure it will help the readers.
Who is using full fat milk he can collect cream (Sai) from that milk and keep in refrigerator adding one spoon of curd in it so that taste and quality not disturbs. After 10 to 15 days depending upon quantity of cream you can blend it in food processor with plastic blade. You have to add some ice or cold water while churning so that Makhan solids become separated easily. After removing Makhan you can freeze it max 2-3 days After that you have to heat it in the Kadhai till the Color changes to slightly red. Then remove from the gas and add one leaf of pan or 2to3 loung in it.
thank for this detailed info. what is the purpose of heating makhan after 2 to 3 days. we generally don’t do it and use the makhan from the fridge.
ही अमित
व्हाट्स थे दिफर्न्स बेटविन अमूल बटर अँड ठिस होमेमेद बटर?
amul butter is salted and has preservatives, additives in it. the homemade butter is not salted and without preservatives. moreover it more soft than amul butter.
Hi just came across this recipe. Thanks for the detailed post. I somehow unknowingly kept the collected cream from milk in my refrigerator department rather than keeping in freezer. It’s been around six days since I collected the cream from milk. So now will I be able to use the cream or is it spoilt and of no use now? Kindly. Help… Thanks in advance
if the cream does not smell bad, then you can use. i guess you can use this cream. it won’t get spoiled.
I do use the malai kept for 7-8 days in the fridge not freezer, going with the above procedure, my white butter turns out completely fine. It takes less then 5 mins to make butter after putting the water and malai in the bowl and using hand blender to get the yummy deliciousness home made butter.
I use this butter on my kids’ paranthas, for the lovely bread and butter breakfast and also for cooking. Instead of making ghee, I simply use this white butter for frying the onions to make tadka for the ghee dishes.
thanks for sharing your suggestions. it will definitely help the readers. i liked the idea of using white butter for tadka instead of making ghee. simply superb.
For how long the home made white butter can be stored in fridge?
Richa, It stays good for a month.
I tried to make ghee out the malai that was churned in the mixi. It turned out to be like lassie inspite of using the mixi long time. So I.put the whole lssi thing in Kadai. It turned out to be like khava and not ghee, not sure what is wrong. Kindly suggest.
Peace, when you blend always use the whipper blade. if you use the dry grinding or wet grinding blade the malai/cream will not turn into butter. the butter was not formed and hence after heating it ghee could not be made.
Hi Dassana,
Hope you are doing well. I have lost my whipping blade. If I plan to buy something new, I need a hand blender or mixer for churning butter? If I buy a mixer, can it be used for making bread too?
bhavana, hand blender will be difficult and take a lot of time. better to buy a mixer. you can even buy a stand mixer. i have a kitchen aid stand mixer and i use it to make chapati dough as well as bread dough. even butter can be made in it using the whisk attachment. you can buy even other stand mixers by reading reviews online.
Hi .while i was boiling milk ,it got slightly burnt.now its cream also has burnt odor .can i make butter from this cream or it will also smell bad?
the butter will have a burnt odour, if you make from this cream.
Can i make butter from curd and what is the recipe to make it. With malai it didn’t turned out correct. Kindly help
huzefa, you can make butter from curd. here you will need to whip the curd in a blender or mixer with some water, till you see butter floating on top. add water as required. water can be at room temp or cold. make sure the curd is chilled before you blend.
Hi
Today I tried and make butter,but it not thick.looks like creamy, I blend it with my mixies juice jar, I keep the frozen cream out with one day, please tell me if any suggestions?
Please tell me the uses of butter milk?
looks like the butter has not got churned. when using a mixer jar, always use the whipped blade. its a flat blade only meant for whipping cream or butter. if you use the dry grinding or wet grinding blade, no butter will get churned. the frozen cream can be kept outside for a day or for some hours.
I tried and could make the makhan successfully. However it is not white. How does one get that.
Kanwal, cow’s milk will give yellow butter and buffalo milk will give white butter.
you said white butter but it turned out yellow. i like yellow butter which milk you had used for it. is it cow’s milk? please suggest i always make butter at home it’s always white butter.
harqulis, cow’s milk will give yellow butter and buffalo milk will give white butter. i had used cow’s milk.
I like the recipe too much
Hi, i was trying to make butter from cream as you suggested, but it turned into ghee. What should i do?
butter when heated turns into ghee. did your mixer or grinder get heated up too much while blending. if actually some of the butter has turned into ghee, then what you can do is pour everything in a heavy kadai. then heat it on a lowest flame. some of the butter will melt and slowly turn into ghee. then strain and use the ghee.
I hv tried today for the first time really thanks a lot
welcome richa 🙂
Hi.. my mil mixes a spoon of curd too with the cream and keeps it fr 5-6 hours before churning it. I guess she does it for extracting butter milk..
yes we also do this at times. this gives fermented butter which tastes very good and different from what i have shared here.
Hii there. I have one question. I stay away from home and have limited sources. I do not have a blender. I have a normal mixer grinder with just one blade type. Is it ok to use that?
the normal mixer grinder with one blade will be a multipurpose wet grinding & dry grinding blade. avoid using. as you will keep on mixing and the cream won’t turn to butter. if you have a hand held electronic beater, then you can use that.
Have been blending the milk cream(cow’s milk) for more than half an hour & mixer heating up tremendously but butter not forming-what to do?????
which blade you used while blending cream. the whipper blade needs to be used. if not the blade, then this issue could also be due to the quality of cream.
Hi
I tried making butter but every time I did d butter didn’t come.it was v smooth like a batter. Can U pls tell where I went wrong? Did I ever churn d cream..
Waiting for d reply
when churning or blending, you have to do it a high speed till you see the butter separating from the cream. first the malai will become smooth, but you have to continue further till butter can be seen. it also depends on the quality of malai/cream.
Can we store butter in fridge ,as it tastes bitter the next day,after storing in the fridge also…
i always store in the fridge. never had any issues with regards to taste.
Wow it was super quick n easy! Thank u so much 🙂
welcome and thankyou so much shivani 🙂
Hi,
I am a very regular reader of your site..
I have a quick question,
I have 300ml of thickened cream lying in my fridge.
can I use that to make this white butter?
is white butter same as LONI?
or is it just same like Amul butter which is yellow in color?
I am a bit confused, as Loni is different from butter which we spread on bread slices..
amruta, you can use the cream which you have to make butter. amul butter is different from loni. loni is white butter. you can make butter from this cream.
Hi D,
As a single man forced into the kitchen I had nowhere to go but the internet and look up recipes. I came across your blog and started following it… and what a relief it was. I like how precise you are and reasoning behind using certain ingredients or methods when cooking. My aunts always praise my cooking (haven’t told them the secret though) and both mom and dad love the food too. You’ve made my life in the kitchen much easier… bless you and thank you 🙂
welcome girish. thanks a lot for your best wishes as well as for this positive feedback. knowing that the recipes are helping people in cooking good food at home, motivate us to keep on sharing more recipes. wish you all the best in your cooking journey.
I used the grinder in my mixie for this. Alternately I used the chopper. I couldn’t make it. Pls tell about the time taken – roughly how long does it take before butter separates from the cream. Really need help 🙂
for blending, always use the whipper blade. with a chopper blade, it becomes difficult to get the butter. with a whipper blade it does take 8 to 10 minutes on high speed. you can run the blender at intervals also.
Hello Dassana Dee,
Both me and my husband are your fans. Whenever I try new dishes his quickest query would be if its from your blog… Ha ha… N when I say ‘yes’ he’s the happiest person on the table.
I have a 1 year old baby…. I wanted to make her home made groundnut chikki. Please make her happy too by posting the recipe… With love and prayers shai
we are quite pleased to know this shai 🙂 surely would take your request for groundnut chikki on our file thankyou and god bless you all.
Hi am your fan for your recipes…Am following U a lot….
One doubt is there any chance I can use mixer for taking the butter. Plz relieve my doubt.
Thank u
yes you can use mixer. thanks.
Dear Dassana..
U have become my mentor.. as i am quite helpless in the kitchen.. n i look for ur recipes n they have always helped me immensely.
Thanks a tonn
glad to know this sumi 🙂 our blog’s goal was to help people learn cooking and make them enjoyable. thankyou for your kind words.