Published December 18, 2024. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This bone marrow butter loaded with herbs, garlic, and sherry wine complements all your steak, chicken, and pork cuts. The flavor of this butter is incredible and will immediately take a bland meal to extraordinary.
I am big into flavored butter and feel it is a quick and easy way to add more flavor and balance to a dish. If you’re the same, you must try my roasted garlic butter or Maître D’ butter.
Bone Marrow Butter
Bone marrow butter combines an herb compound butter and roasted and cooled bone marrow. The main reason to add bone marrow to the butter is for the incredible beefy, umami flavor it adds. This is an excellent accompaniment to steak, chicken, or pork, but it’s also wonderful to finish sauces with or spread it on a crostini. You can never have enough roasted bone marrow in the butter if you ask me.
You can make the herb butter as loaded or plain as you’d like. If you use few ingredients, the bone marrow will come through more. However, I believe the marrow is enhanced with garlic, lemon, and herbs, making it much more delicious.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Butter – I always prefer unsalted butter to control the sodium content instead of the butte company.
- Herbs – This is subjective, but the herbs I love in the herb butter are fresh parsley, chives, thyme, and rosemary. You can substitute it with dry herbs using half the amount of fresh herbs.
- Lemon – Some zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice add a hint of clean acid to the beef for a smooth finish.
- Wine – I added some dry sherry to the butter because it’s such a compliment to beef. Another option here would be using cognac because it also pairs well with meat.
- Marrow – This is optional, but I roasted beef shank bones and blended the marrow with the herb butter to give it a beefier, umami flavor.
- Oil – Olive or avocado oil is suitable for coating the bones.
- Seasonings – Only coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper are used when seasoning the butter and beef bones.
How to Make Bone Marrow Butter
Add 4 sticks of unsalted butter to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on high for 5 to 7 minutes or until it becomes light and fluffy.
Stop the mixer and add parsley, thyme, rosemary, chives, garlic, lemon zest juice, salt, pepper, and sherry. Mix on low speed to combine. Set it to the side.
Preheat the oven to 500°.
Place the bone marrow bones onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper
Coat the bones on both sides in oil.
Next, gently season both sides with salt and pepper.
Roast the bones in the oven on a middle rack for 20 to 25 minutes or until the marrow is 145° internally.
Let the bones cool slightly.
Add the marrow to a food processor along with the herb butter.
Pulse it until the marrow is finely minced and combined with the butter.
Try serving it on my New York strip roast, smoked prime rib, or beef tenderloin roast.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this up to 5 days ahead for freshness. Keep it in the refrigerator or freezer until you can use it.
How to Store: Cover and keep the bone marrow butter in the refrigerator for 7 days. Cover and freeze for up to 6 months. This can be kept in a plain container with a lid or rolled up in a sheet of parchment paper, and you can slice it when you need it.
Chef Notes + Tips
- You can use this butter directly from the freezer in whatever you want to use it in.
- Feel free to finely mince bone marrow and fold it into the whipped herb butter.
- Double or triple the number of bones and marrow for extra umami beef bomb flavors.
- You can use other fresh herbs such as oregano, basil, sage, or chervil.
- Feel free to add some roasted garlic or shallots for enhanced flavors.
- You can also make this recipe using electric hand beaters
- Compound butter is creamed with other ingredients, such as spices and herbs. In France, it’s known as beurre compose.
- The butter should be intensely flavorful as it enhances the flavor of whatever you add it to. You aren’t eating it by itself.
More Butter Recipes
Bone Marrow Butter Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 sticks softened unsalted butter
- 1 ½ tablespoons finely minced fresh rosemary
- 1 ½ tablespoons finely minced thyme
- 2 tablespoons finely minced parsley
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced chives
- 2 finely minced garlic cloves
- zest and juice of 1 lemon, about 2 to 3 tablespoons
- 2 tablespoons dry sherry wine, optional
- 2-6 beef shank bones
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- coarse salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add 4 sticks of unsalted butter to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on high for 5 to 7 minutes or until it becomes light and fluffy.
- Stop the mixer and add parsley, thyme, rosemary, chives, garlic, lemon zest, juice, salt, pepper, and sherry. Mix on low speed to combine. Set it to the side.
- Preheat the oven to 500°.
- Place the bone marrow bones onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper
- Coat the bones on both sides in oil.
- Next, gently season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Roast the bones in the oven on the middle rack for 20 to 25 minutes or until the marrow is 145° internally.
- Let the bones cool slightly.
- Add the marrow to a food processor along with the herb butter.
- Pulse it until the marrow is finely minced and combined with the butter.
Bone Marrow Butter Recipe