Ingredient

Unsalted butter Recipes

70 recipes with unsalted butter for weeknights, meal prep, and quick ingredient searches. Choose by time, cuisine, and what is in your kitchen.

70 recipes

🇺🇸USAMedium

Sauces and Dips

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Buffalo chicken dip is everything a chicken wing delivers — hot sauce, butter richness, cooling dairy, sharp cheese — in a scoopable baked format that works for a crowd without the mess. Rotisserie chicken goes in shredded, cream cheese and ranch hold it together, cheddar seals the top, and the oven does the rest. Ready in 35 minutes. Scales easily. Disappears faster than you expect.

35 min290 kcal8 serves

💪High protein🌶️Spicy🌾Gluten-free

Esquites (Mexican Street Corn Salad with Cotija, Lime, and Chili)

🇲🇽MexicoMedium

Salads

Esquites (Mexican Street Corn Salad with Cotija, Lime, and Chili)

Esquites is a Mexican street food salad of charred corn kernels mixed with mayo, Mexican crema, lime juice, jalapeño, red onion, cilantro, and crumbled cotija cheese, all dusted with chili powder or Tajín. It is the off-the-cob version of elote — same flavours, easier to eat with a spoon. Street vendors across Mexico City and Oaxaca sell it in small clear cups for snacking on the go. The technique rests on one move: properly charring the corn until 50 percent of the kernels show black spots — the Maillard reaction is what turns this from boiled corn with mayonnaise into the smoky, layered street-food classic. Ready in 20 minutes, serves 6 as a snack or 4 as a side dish for grilled meats and tacos.

20 min220 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

Sauce Mornay (Classic French Béchamel Cheese Sauce)

🇫🇷FranceMedium

Sauces and Dips

Sauce Mornay (Classic French Béchamel Cheese Sauce)

Sauce Mornay is the classic French cheese sauce — a béchamel enriched with grated Gruyère and Parmigiano-Reggiano. The name traces to either a 19th-century Parisian restaurant (Le Grand Véfour) or the Marquis de Mornay, the exact attribution still debated. Mornay is the workhorse of French haute cuisine: the base for cauliflower au gratin, eggs Mornay, sole Mornay, endives au jambon, fish gratins, cheese soufflé, and the cheesier version of croque monsieur. Silky, glossy, pale-cream — never bright yellow (that means the cheese broke). Vegetarian, ready in 20 minutes. Yields about 500 ml of sauce, serves 6 with vegetables, fish, eggs, or pasta.

20 min180 kcal6 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick

Italian Bagna Cauda (Piedmontese Hot Anchovy and Garlic Dip)

🇮🇹ItalyMedium

Sauces and Dips

Italian Bagna Cauda (Piedmontese Hot Anchovy and Garlic Dip)

Bagna cauda — Piedmontese dialect for 'hot bath' — is the ancient warm dip of olive oil, garlic, and anchovies that defines Northern Italian conviviality. Slowly melted into a single silky emulsion, kept warm at the centre of the table in a terracotta fujòt over a candle, surrounded by raw and cooked seasonal vegetables and crusty bread for dipping. Origins trace to medieval Piedmont and the Strada Salis (the salt road) that brought anchovies and salt from Provence and Nice into landlocked Piedmontese valleys, fueling a cuisine built on cured fish far from the sea. In 2005 the Asti Delegation of the Italian Academy of Cuisine officially registered the recipe with a notary in Costigliole d'Asti. Every November-December Asti celebrates Bagna Cauda Day. This domestic balanced version uses milk-poached garlic for elegance, salt-packed anchovies for depth, and a finishing knob of butter for silky texture. Active 25 minutes plus 15 minutes milk-poach. Yields about 300 ml, serves 6 as a centerpiece dip.

40 min350 kcal6 serves

🌾Gluten-free🥑Keto

French Oeufs en Cocotte (Classic Baked Eggs in Ramekins)

🇫🇷FranceMedium

Breakfast and Brunch

French Oeufs en Cocotte (Classic Baked Eggs in Ramekins)

Oeufs en cocotte (literally 'eggs in a little pot' in French) is the classic French dish of eggs baked individually in ceramic ramekins on a water bath (bain-marie) with cream, often topped with cheese, herbs, or other add-ins. The result: delicately set whites and runny custardy yolks, perfect for dipping thin strips of toasted baguette known as mouillettes or soldiers. Also called shirred eggs in English-language kitchens. The dish was codified by Julia Child in 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' (Vol 1, 1961) as one of foundational French egg techniques. Not regional — it's a pan-French home and bistro classic, served as breakfast, brunch, or light dinner. Naturally gluten-free, keto-friendly, and quick to make. Active 20 minutes. Serves 4 (one ramekin per person). Cocotte means a small casserole / ramekin in French — also slang for 'hen' and 'sweetheart', an etymology fun fact.

20 min250 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian🌾Gluten-free⚡Quick

French Pain Perdu (Classic French Toast — The Original Lost Bread)

🇫🇷FranceMedium

Breakfast and Brunch

French Pain Perdu (Classic French Toast — The Original Lost Bread)

Pain perdu — literally 'lost bread' in French — is the classic French dish that turns stale bread into a custardy, golden treat: thick slices of day-old brioche or country bread soaked in a rich custard of eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla, then pan-fried in butter to a crisp caramelized exterior with a soft jiggly interior. This is the French original behind what Americans know as French toast. Origins go back to Ancient Rome (Apicius's 'De re coquinaria', ~25 BC, known then as pain romain), with the modern French form codified by the 17th century under King Henry IV (1589-1610), a known fan who elevated the frugal peasant dish into aristocratic territory. In France today, pain perdu is typically served as dessert or afternoon snack (goûter), not breakfast — that's an American convention. Authentic toppings are powdered sugar, fresh berries, sautéed apples with Calvados, or crème anglaise. Cinnamon and maple syrup are American additions. Active 20 minutes. Serves 4 (two slices each).

20 min450 kcal4 serves

🌿Vegetarian⚡Quick

Italian Cornetto (Sweet Laminated Breakfast Pastry)

🇮🇹ItalyMedium

Breakfast and Brunch

Italian Cornetto (Sweet Laminated Breakfast Pastry)

Cornetto (literally 'little horn' in Italian) is the iconic Italian breakfast pastry: a crescent of yeasted laminated dough enriched with eggs, sugar, and citrus zest, baked until deep gold and glazed with sugar syrup. Often confused with the French croissant, but distinctly different — softer, sweeter, more brioche-like, with eggs in the dough that the croissant never has. History: descended from the Austrian kipferl, which arrived in Italy through the Venetian Republic in the late 17th century and spread across the peninsula. Italian bakers transformed it with eggs, more sugar, vanilla, and citrus, creating a pastry fundamentally different from its French cousin. Naming varies by region: cornetto in central and southern Italy (Rome, Naples), brioche in the north (Milan, Venice, Turin) — though true brioche is a different pastry. Never called 'croissant' in Italy. Active prep 60 minutes, total 18-24 hours with overnight cold ferment and 3-hour final proof. Makes 10 pastries. Served warm at Italian bars with cappuccino or espresso, standing at the counter — the iconic 'cornetto e cappuccino al bar' ritual.

60 min320 kcal10 serves

🌿Vegetarian

Crostata di Marmellata (Italian Jam Tart with Buttery Pasta Frolla Crust)

🇮🇹ItalyAdvanced

Breakfast and Brunch

Crostata di Marmellata (Italian Jam Tart with Buttery Pasta Frolla Crust)

Crostata di marmellata is the iconic Italian jam tart — a rustic open pie made with pasta frolla (sweet shortcrust pastry) filled with a thick layer of fruit jam and topped with the characteristic lattice (called mandorlato by Pellegrino Artusi in his 1891 cookbook). One of the oldest Italian desserts, with pasta frolla dating back to the 10th century after Arab traders introduced sugar cane to Sicily. The word crostata first appeared in Italian dictionaries in 1612, from the Latin crustāta — 'crust'. Pellegrino Artusi codified the canonical recipe in his legendary book La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiar bene (1891), the cornerstone of Italian home cooking. He gave three pasta frolla recipes (A, B, C) and specifically recommended C for crostate. The crucial proportion: flour to butter to sugar = 3 : 1.5 : 1. Apricot jam (albicocca) is the most traditional filling, though cherry, fig, raspberry, or wild berry preserves are common regional alternatives. September 9 is Italy's National Crostata Day. Served at breakfast with espresso or cappuccino, as afternoon merenda with coffee, or as dessert after a meal. Artusi notes: 'Migliora dopo un giorno o due' — improves after a day or two, one of the rare baked goods that gets better with time. Active prep 30 minutes, total around 1.5 hours with dough resting. Yields 8 generous slices from a 24 cm tart pan.

90 min350 kcal8 serves

🌿Vegetarian

French Pain au Chocolat (Authentic Yeasted Laminated Chocolate Pastry)

🇫🇷FranceMedium

Breakfast and Brunch

French Pain au Chocolat (Authentic Yeasted Laminated Chocolate Pastry)

Pain au chocolat (literally 'chocolate bread' in French) is the classic French viennoiserie: a rectangle of yeasted laminated dough wrapped around two dark chocolate batons, baked until deep golden with a flaky exterior and soft bread-like interior with visible honeycomb structure. One of the most iconic French pastries, alongside the croissant — same dough, different shape. History: Austrian officer August Zang and aristocrat Ernest Schwarzer opened Boulangerie Viennoise at 92 rue de Richelieu in Paris in 1839, introducing Viennese pastries to France. The pastry started life on brioche dough, evolving to today's pâte feuilletée levée (yeasted laminated dough) by the late 19th century. Naming controversy: pain au chocolat (north and central France) versus chocolatine (southwestern France — Bordeaux, Toulouse, Pays Basque, also Quebec). Never called 'chocolate croissant' in France — that's an English misnomer. Active prep 60 minutes, total timeline 24-48 hours with overnight rests. Makes 8 pastries. Best eaten warm, the same morning, with café au lait or espresso.

60 min340 kcal8 serves

🌿Vegetarian

🇪🇸SpainMedium

Appetizers and Sandwiches

Croquetas de Jamón

Spanish ham croquetas are made from a thick bechamel enriched with finely diced jamón serrano, chilled until it can be shaped, then breaded and deep-fried. Unlike the French croquette, which is built on potato, the Spanish version has no starch filler at all: the interior is meant to be liquid at eating temperature and held together only by the crust. The dish came out of home kitchens as a way to use the last shreds of ham from the bone, and it survives in almost every bar in Spain as the standard measure of a kitchen. The two things that decide the result are the flour-to-milk ratio and how long the flour is cooked before the milk goes in. Active work is about an hour, but the dough must chill for several hours before shaping.

60 min430 kcal4 serves

Ingredients

Goes well with

Other ingredients that appear most often alongside unsalted butter across the archive. Pick one to drill deeper.

butter eggs flour sugar garlic lemon egg chocolate milk onion cream yeast