Dairy
Butter
Butter is churned cream concentrated into a plastic fat prized for flavour, baking structure, and finishing sauces. Milk solids, water content, and culture define whether it tastes sweet and mild or tangy and complex, while salt level and breed milk shape colour and aroma. From laminated pastry and brown butter to clarified ghee and compound butters, it is both a staple fat and a flavour vehicle. Regional specialities such as Beurre d'Isigny, Irish grass-fed butter, and cultured European styles show how pasture and process leave a clear culinary signature.
Also known as: Beurre, Smør, Boter, Makhan, Butter
Track this ingredient
Explore further
Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
Nutrition and pairings
Nutrition
Typical values per 100 g edible portion. Nutrient names open the reference page.
Nutrition Facts
Per 100 g edible portion
Amount per 100 g
- Total Fat 9.36 g
- Saturated Fat 6.09 g
- Trans Fat 0.3 g
- Monounsaturated Fat 3.2 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat 0.29 g
- Cholesterol 29.1 mg
- Sodium 84.2 mg
- Salt 0.19 g
- Total Carbohydrate 5.14 g
- Dietary Fibre 0 g
- Total Sugars 5.29 g
- Complex / starch 0 g
- Protein 7.71 g
- Water 75.3 g
- Energy 146 kcal
- Water 75.3 g
- Carbohydrates 5.14 g
- Sugars 5.29 g
- Monosaccharides 3.7 g
- Disaccharides 6.34 g
- Protein 7.71 g
- Animal Protein 7.32 g
- Fat 9.36 g
- Saturated Fat 6.09 g
- Monounsaturated Fat 3.2 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat 0.29 g
- Trans Fat 0.3 g
- Vitamins 378 mg
- Vitamin A 364 µg
- Vitamin B1 — Thiamine 0.04 mg
- Vitamin B2 — Riboflavin 0.17 mg
- Vitamin B3 — Niacin 0.09 mg
- Vitamin B5 — Pantothenic Acid 0.34 mg
- Vitamin B6 0.04 mg
- Vitamin B7 — Biotin 1.7 µg
- Vitamin B9 — Folate 6.6 µg
- Vitamin B12 — Cobalamin 1.9 µg
- Vitamin C 2 mg
- Vitamin D 0.6 µg
- Vitamin E 0.12 mg
- Vitamin K 0.6 µg
- Minerals 469 mg
- Major Minerals 462 mg
- Trace Minerals 6.3 mg
- Salt 0.19 g
- Sodium Chloride 0.19 g
- Cholesterol 29.1 mg
Vitamins
vitamin-c: 2 · vitamin-b12-cobalamin: 1.9 · vitamin-a: 364 · vitamin-b1-thiamine: 0.04 · vitamin-b2-riboflavin: 0.17 · vitamin-b3-niacin: 0.09 · vitamin-b5-pantothenic-acid: 0.34 · vitamin-b6: 0.04 · vitamin-b7-biotin: 1.7 · vitamin-b9-folate: 6.6 · vitamin-d: 0.6 · vitamin-e: 0.12 · vitamin-k: 0.6 ·
Minerals
Sodium: 84.21 · Potassium: 214 · Calcium: 164 · Iron: 0.9 · Zinc: 0.4 · Iodine: 5 ·
Dairy contributes complete protein, saturated fat, and lactose unless cultured or strained.
Grading systems
Grades are placed along a shared scale so systems can be compared side by side.
History
Pastoral communities churned surplus cream into butter for storage, cooking fat, and trade.
Clarified butter traditions developed in South Asia, giving rise to ghee as a shelf-stable sacred and culinary fat.
French dairy regions codified butter quality and cultured butter techniques that still define fine cookery.
Mechanical churns and cream separators industrialised butter production and standardised fat content.
Danish and other European cooperatives expanded export butter brands built on pasture dairy and consistency.
Artisan, cultured, and high-butterfat butters returned to prominence alongside industrial supermarket blocks.