This 2-ingredient miso butter is rich, nutty, and packed with umami flavor. It instantly upgrades baked potatoes, roasted vegetables, pasta, and more!
This miso butter recipe is 2-ingredient magic. A simple mixture of softened butter and white miso paste, it’s rich, creamy, and bursting with umami. I love keeping it on hand (or whipping it up at the last minute) to give simple meals an instant flavor upgrade. I’m currently obsessed with miso butter on a baked sweet potato, but it’s also wonderful on roasted vegetables, noodles, and more.
If you’re used to eating miso in miso soup, the combination of miso and butter might surprise you. But trust me—once you try this recipe, it’ll make perfect sense. The lightly sweet, savory miso and velvety butter are a match made in heaven.
Types of Miso Paste
Miso is a Japanese fermented soybean paste. Look for it in the refrigerated section of your grocery store. Though countless varieties of miso exist in Japan, in the US, you’ll likely find these three types:
- White miso (shiro miso) – Fermented with rice for less time than darker varieties, it has a mild, slightly sweet, and salty flavor.
- Yellow miso – Yellow miso is made by fermenting soybeans with barley. It’s bolder than white miso but still has a little sweetness.
- Red miso – Red miso is the most pungent—and least sweet—of these three types of miso. It’s fermented with barley or other grains for longer than the paler types.
I recommend using white miso in this recipe. Its sweeter, milder flavor pairs wonderfully with the butter! If you need to substitute another type of miso, start with half the amount and add more to taste.
How to Make Miso Butter
Making this compound butter couldn’t be easier: just mix 1 part white miso paste with 2 parts unsalted butter! You’ll end up with a creamy, thick paste.
Two tips:
- Make sure the butter is at room temperature so that the two ingredients are easy to combine. You can mix them with a spatula or mash with a fork if you have pockets of miso or butter that are difficult to break up.
- Use unsalted butter. Miso has a fairly high salt content on its own. Make sure to use unsalted butter for a balanced flavor. Salted butter will be too salty here.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Use Miso Butter
The options are endless! Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Slather it on toast, dinner rolls, or homemade cornbread.
- Use it instead of the regular butter in this garlic bread recipe.
- Toss it with veggies like roasted carrots, roasted asparagus, turnips, or steamed broccoli.
- Serve a knob on a baked sweet potato or regular baked potato.
- Top it onto a dish of polenta or grits.
- Stir a spoonful of miso butter into cooked grains like rice or farro.
- Toss it with pasta for the ultimate bowl of buttered noodles.
How do you like to use this seasoned butter? Let me know in the comments!
Storage Tips
If you’re not using the butter right away, dollop it onto a sheet of parchment paper, then roll it into a log.
Store in the refrigerator for up to a week, slicing off pats as needed.
For longer storage, freeze for up to 3 months.
More Compound Butter Recipes
If you love this recipe, try one of these compound butters next:
I think you’ll love my lemon butter sauce too!
Miso Butter
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons white miso paste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the softened butter and miso paste.
- Serve immediately, or scoop the miso butter onto a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap and roll into a log. Twist the ends to close. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze for up to 3 months. Find serving suggestions in the blog post above.
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