How to Make Clarified Butter: Clarify Butter in 2 Easy Steps

Clarified butter is shelf-stable butter with the milk solids and water removed, leaving just the milk fat behind. When slowly heated, the melted butter forms three layers: white foamy whey at the top, pure butterfat (aka liquid gold) in the middle, and white milk solids (casein) at the bottom, allowing you to easily separate out the fat. Removing the dairy gives butter a nutty flavor, higher smoke point, and longer shelf life.

Ghee was developed in semitropical India as a way to extend the shelf life of butter: regular butter only lasts about a week in warm climates, much shorter than ghee’s six month-plus shelf life. Traditionally ghee is made from whole milk that has been fermented into dahi, a yogurt-like substance, which is then churned into butter, but a less flavorful version of ghee can be made from cream. Ghee comes from the Sanskrit word for “bright,” and in India, it’s not only used in cooking but also religious ceremonies.

Unlike clarified butter, ghee is heated to two different temperatures: first, 190°F, to evaporate the water, and then 250°F, to brown the milk solids, which are then removed. This second heating produces antioxidants that extend ghee’s shelf life and give it a deeper flavor and lower water content than clarified butter. Although clarified butter and ghee are slightly different, they can be used interchangeably in most recipes.

Clarified butter is better for frying than regular butter, since its smoke point is higher than regular butter by about 100°F. (The milk solids in butter burn easily.) Use clarified butter anywhere you would cooking fat or oil: it’s especially great for frying pancakes, meat, or vegetables and popping popcorn. Clarified butter is also ideal for recipes that require a high amount of butterfat, such as rich hollandaise sauce.