Homemade Tomato Butter and Tomato Spreads

Using sun-dried tomatoes in a butter or a spread is the perfect way to get concentrated tomato flavor in the depths of Winter. Dry your own tomatoes with a dehydrator or use store-bought. For a tomato butter just mince the sun-dried tomatoes and stir them into softened butter. Easy and delish!

Jump to: RECIPE | How to Use Tomato Butter | Other Ways to Use Sun-Dried Tomatoes

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What is Tomato Butter?

Butters that have herbs or grated citrus whipped into them are referred to as compound butters. Most of these are herbal compound butters, but combining finely minced “sun-dried” tomatoes with softened butter is another delicious form of a compound butter.

The beauty of this tomato butter is that it is easily frozen and can be used all Winter to enhance just about any recipe or dish.

How to Use Sun-Dried Tomato Butter

The basic way to make this is to whip softened butter until smooth and fluffy and then to add minced or pureed sun-dried tomatoes (see recipe below). Often cooks will add minced garlic, fresh herbs, lemon juice, pepper and salt. See recipe below for my version.

If you want to make your own “sun-dried tomatoes”, this guide takes you through the “how-to” on drying tomatoes, whether you want to dry them in the oven or in a dehydrator. After drying you can use them in so many ways!

Here are some further ideas for using this flavorful compound butter:

• A topping on salmon (smothered salmon)
• A dipping sauce for crab cakes
• Stirred into any Italian pasta sauce
• Melted over Romano beans or any other vegetable for that matter
• As a spread on crackers or rustic breads
• Stirred into scrambled eggs
• As a spread on a sandwich
• As a condiment on a cheese tray
• Mixed into low carb spaghetti squash

Other Ways to Use Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Spreads Using Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Once sun-dried tomatoes are rehydrated they can be blended with a number of different bases to form delicious spreads. If you are drying your own tomatoes the key to flavor is to use a variety that is meaty with a good sugar-to-acid balance.

The Italian variety, Principe Borghese is considered the best tomato for drying as it is small, meaty and balanced in flavor. They are perfect to cut in half and dry in a food dehydrator!

More ideas for using sun-dried tomatoes

• Rehydrate and mince the tomatoes and add capers, garlic and herbs with a little vinegar and olive oil (perfect with goat cheese and crackers)
• Blend rehydrated, minced tomatoes into a white bean puree with a bit of rosemary, olive oil and lemon juice and serve with pita bread
• Blend with hummus and serve with fresh vegetables.

More Methods for Preserving Summer’s Produce:

• Easy Green Tomato Pickles
• Freezing Summer Tomatoes (plus freezer tomato sauce recipe)
• Preserving Fresh Herbs as Herbal Infused Salts
• Freezing Compound Butters made with Fresh Herbs
• Red Pepper & Eggplant Spread for Cheese Trays & Sandwiches
• Homemade Dandelion Jelly
• Salt & Vinegar Cucumber Chips
• Quick & Easy Pickled Onions
• How to Make Shrub Syrups (cold process vs. hot)

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Sun-Dried Tomato Butter

Softened butter blended with rehydrated, minced sun-dried tomatoes has a ton of delicious uses. Try it in a veggie dip, a sandwich spread, a pasta sauce or with a cheese tray. An easy way to get concentrated heirloom tomato flavor in the Winter!

5 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 0 minutes mins

Servings 8

Calories 217

Author Dorothy Stainbrook

Ingredients

1x2x3x

• 2 Sticks Butter Salted or unsalted (add your own amount of salt if using unsalted); softened
• ⅓ Cup Sun-dried tomatoes rehydrated and minced
• 1 Tablespoon Thyme Or your favorite herb (basil, oregano, dill, etc.)
• 1 Tablespoon Garlic Mined
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon juice Fresh

Instructions

 

• Unwrap butter and leave butter on counter until softened to room temperature.
  2 Sticks Butter
• Rehydrated dried tomatoes in warm water until soft and then mince with knife.
  1/3 Cup Sun-dried tomatoes
• Mince herbs and garlic
  1 Tablespoon Thyme, 1 Tablespoon Garlic
• Blend (or whip) all ingredients together (butter through lemon juice) and add salt if using unsalted butter.

  At this point you can either refrigerate and use as you go, or you can roll into logs, wrap in wax paper and freeze. Then slice off “coins” to use throughout the Winter to enhance dishes.
  1 Tablespoon Lemon juice

Notes

Tomato butter is also good with spices added rather than herbs. One of my favorites is to toast the following spices whole and then grind them before adding to the butter.

• 1-2 Tablespoons coriander seeds
• 1-2 Tablespoons fennel seeds
• 1-2 Tablespoons caraway seeds
• 1-2 teaspoons black peppercorns

Nutrition

Calories: 217kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 1gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 213mgPotassium: 175mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 788IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 17mgIron: 1mg

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