Making your own herb butter from scratch is easy and delicious and always a great way to use your homegrown herbs and edible flowers. This herb butter is made with fresh herbs from the garden like parsley, thyme, dill, chives and rosemary as well as nasturtium flowers, fresh garlic, pink peppercorns and a little bit of lemon zest. It’s delicious on grilled vegetables, potatoes, meat and fish and of course on a piece of your favourite freshly toasted bread.

One of my favourite things to do in summer is growing my own herbs and edible flowers and using them in the kitchen. I love to add them into every home cooked meal I can and into my drinks. They are easy to grow and even if you don’t have a big garden, most herbs and edible flowers don’t need a lot of space. You can plant them in smaller spaces, utilizing window boxes, pots, grow bags and raised beds.

I think it’s just the best to be able to draw from an abundance of fresh herbs and edible flowers during the summer months and the beautiful trumpet shaped nasturtium blooms that come in an array of yellow, orange and red shades are always a great addition to salads, soups, pesto, and herb butters. They have a peppery and spicy taste and are packed with Vitamin C. Nasturtiums kind of grow like weeds and make a delicious little snack on their own or you can add some gentle peppery heat and beautiful colour into your fresh herb butter.

Enjoy your homemade fresh herb butter with nasturtium flowers right away on a piece of toasted bread or, once refrigerated and firm, as a slice on some grilled fish, meat or vegetables. If you want to preserve some of your garden’s summer treasures freeze some of the herb butter to enjoy during the colder months.

For more inspiration on herbs and edible flowers please make sure to also check out MY FAVOURITE 7 HERBS TO HARVEST AND DRY FOR HERBAL TEAS ALL WINTER LONG, MY FAVOURITE EDIBLE FLOWERS AND HOW TO USE THEM, and my ICED LEMON BALM LEMONADE WITH HONEY AND GINGER RECIPE, featuring lemon balm- one of my favourite herbs.

TIPS TO MAKE THE PERFECT FRESH
HERB BUTTER WITH NASTURTIUMS

Wash and make sure to dry your nasturtium flowers to avoid too much water in your herb butter.

Plan ahead and take your butter out of the fridge and leave it to soften on the counter. I don’t recommend melting it.

Chop your herbs and flowers really finely so they will blend well in your herb butter.

Store your fresh herb butter in the fridge for 3-5 days.

To freeze the butter in small portions, pipe it with a piping bag fitted with a star tip onto a small baking pan with parchment paper. Freeze them on the baking pan and add them to a freezer container once frozen.

INGREDIENTS

Butter - use unsalted butter for this recipe.

Salt - you can use any fine or ground salt you like to use. I like to use Celtic Sea salt or Himalayan salt.

Pepper - add some freshly ground pepper to your herb butter.

Pink peppercorns - use whole pink peppercorns for this recipe.

Garlic - finely grate or mince your fresh garlic.

Fresh herbs - you can use a mix of your favourite herbs like parsley, dill, chives, thyme and rosemary.

Nasturtium flowers - use clean nasturtium flowers whole or just the petals for a milder butter.

Lemon zest - only use fresh lemon zest and avoid adding juice to your herb butter.

The full ingredient list with exact measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED

cutting board
sharp knife
fine metal grater or lemon zester
plastic wrap or piping bag with star tip and parchment paper

INSTRUCTIONS STEP BY STEP

Wash and dry your herbs and take any hard stems out.

Finely chop your herbs and flowers with a sharp knife.

Place the softened butter on a plate, add olive oil and mix with a fork or small spatula.

Add garlic, lemon zest, salt, pepper, pink peppercorns and chopped herbs and nasturtium flowers.

Mix all the ingredients until everything is nicely combined.

Add the herb butter onto a piece of plastic wrap and roll it into a tight log by twisting the ends or use a piping bag with a star tip to pipe small portions onto parchment paper.

Refrigerate until firm for 2 hours or freeze as a log or in portions on a tray and once frozen, transfer to a freezer container.

Cut in slices or use portioned herb butter on grilled vegetables, fish, meat or bread and enjoy!