What Is Ghee? The Clarified Butter That’s Healthier Than Butter
Ghee is butter with the water and milk solids cooked off until only the golden, nutty butterfat remains. It is the cooking fat of choice in Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, and Nepali kitchens, and has been for over 4,000 years. Western cooks have only recently caught on. The texture is closer to coconut oil, the flavor is butter turned up to eleven, and the smoke point makes it the most versatile fat in the pantry.
Quick Reference
- What it is: clarified butter cooked further until the milk solids brown and caramelize, then strained out.
- Origin: South Asian kitchens, where ghee has been a staple for 4,000+ years.
- Smoke point: about 485°F. Higher than butter (350°F) and olive oil (375°F). Safer for high-heat cooking.
- Lactose-free: the milk solids (where lactose and casein live) are removed, so most people with mild dairy sensitivity can tolerate ghee.
- Flavor: deeply nutty, almost caramel-like; smells like butter but more.
- Shelf life: up to 6 months at room temperature in a sealed jar, 1 year refrigerated.
What Is Ghee?
Ghee is clarified butter taken one step further. Standard clarified butter is butter that has been melted and skimmed to remove the milk solids. Ghee is the same butter, melted, then cooked gently until the milk solids settle, brown, and caramelize at the bottom of the pan before being strained out. The result is amber-gold butterfat with a slight nutty edge.
How Is Ghee Made?
Start with unsalted butter (cultured European-style butter works best for flavor). Melt over low heat. The butter foams as the water evaporates; do not stir. Keep low heat and watch. After 10 to 15 minutes, the foam settles and the milk solids drop to the bottom. Keep going gently. The milk solids will turn light brown, then deep brown, releasing a nutty aroma. Strain immediately through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth into a clean jar. Cool, lid, store.
What Are the Advantages of Cooking With Ghee?
Three big ones. First, the high smoke point (about 485°F) makes ghee safe for high-heat sautéing, deep-frying, and roasting. Butter starts to burn well before that. Second, the deep flavor. Where butter is gentle, ghee is loud. A teaspoon of ghee in a popcorn bowl tastes like a full tablespoon of butter. Third, the shelf stability. Without the milk solids, there is nothing left to spoil. Ghee keeps months at room temperature, properly stored.
What About Saturated Fat?
Ghee is mostly saturated fat. The conventional advice has long been to limit it. Recent research is more nuanced; saturated fat in moderation, especially from dairy sources, does not appear as harmful as once believed. Healthline’s ghee vs. butter comparison gives a useful summary. The honest answer: ghee is a cooking fat. Use it the way you would use butter, in reasonable amounts, and balance with vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains.
What If I’m Lactose Intolerant?
Ghee is essentially lactose- and casein-free because the milk solids (which contain both) are removed during cooking. Most people with mild to moderate dairy sensitivity can tolerate ghee comfortably. If you have a confirmed dairy allergy (as opposed to lactose intolerance), check with your doctor; trace amounts of milk protein can remain.
Where Can You Buy Ghee?
Any Indian or South Asian grocery carries multiple brands. Mainstream U.S. supermarkets now stock ghee in the cooking-oil aisle; common brands include 4th & Heart, Pure Indian Foods, and Organic Valley. Home-made ghee is easy and 30 percent cheaper than store-bought; see the recipe below.
Ghee Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 pound unsalted butter (European-style cultured butter, if available)
Instructions:
- Cut butter into pieces and melt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat.
- Once melted, do not stir. The butter will foam as water evaporates. After 5 to 8 minutes the foam will subside and milk solids will collect on the bottom.
- Keep low heat. Watch closely as the milk solids on the bottom turn golden brown, then deeper brown. You will smell a nutty, caramel aroma. This takes another 5 to 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat immediately when the solids are deep amber-brown but not burnt.
- Pour through a fine-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth into a clean glass jar. Discard solids.
- Cool to room temperature, lid the jar, store at room temperature for up to 6 months or refrigerate for up to a year.
One pound of butter yields about 1½ cups of ghee.
Chicken Tikka Masala Recipe
A British-Indian classic that puts ghee at the center of a creamy, deeply spiced tomato sauce.
Ingredients (serves 4):
- 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup full-fat yogurt
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 cloves garlic, grated
- 2-inch piece ginger, grated
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3 tablespoons ghee
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 can (14 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Salt to taste
- Fresh cilantro to garnish
Instructions:
- Marinate chicken in yogurt, lemon juice, half the garlic and ginger, 1 tsp garam masala, turmeric, cumin, paprika, and 1 tsp salt for at least 1 hour (overnight is better).
- Heat 2 tablespoons ghee in a large skillet over medium-high. Sear marinated chicken in batches until lightly charred but not cooked through. Set aside.
- Add remaining ghee to the pan with onion. Cook 5-7 minutes until softened.
- Add remaining garlic, ginger, and 1 tsp garam masala. Stir 30 seconds.
- Add crushed tomatoes. Simmer 10 minutes.
- Stir in cream. Return chicken to the pan. Simmer 10 more minutes until chicken is cooked through and sauce is thick.
- Adjust salt. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with basmati rice or naan.
Make your own garam masala for the freshest flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ghee healthier than butter?
It depends. Ghee has a higher smoke point and is essentially free of lactose and casein, making it gentler on sensitive stomachs. It is also mostly saturated fat. Use the way you would use butter, in moderation.
Can I cook ghee at high heat?
Yes. Ghee’s smoke point is around 485°F, well above butter (350°F) and olive oil (375°F). It is the safest dairy fat for high-heat cooking.
How long does ghee keep?
Up to 6 months at room temperature in a sealed glass jar away from light. Up to a year refrigerated. Because the water and milk solids are removed during cooking, ghee resists spoilage far better than butter.
Is ghee lactose-free?
Essentially yes. The milk solids (which hold the lactose and casein) are removed during cooking. Most people with lactose intolerance can tolerate ghee comfortably.
Can I make ghee from salted butter?
It is best to use unsalted butter. Salt does not cook off and concentrates as the water evaporates, which can over-salt your finished ghee.
Edward Higgins
Edward Higgins is a freelance writer, artist, home chef, and avid fly fisherman who lives outside of Portland, Maine. He studied at Skidmore College and Harvard University. His article 10 Best Edible Insects appears in the 2020 Farmers' Almanac.
- Edward Higgins
- Edward Higgins
- Edward Higgins
- Edward Higgins
Ghee is indeed a nourishing dairy oil but the process, how is ghee made regulates the quality of the ghee. It is wise to use grass-fed ghee made in a pollution-free place like New Zealand, where you can be sure that the ghee you are using does not contain any nasties like carbs, sugar, GMOs in your diet.
https://milkio.co.nz/how-is-ghee-made/
My grandchildren are Dutch kids and they love to eat ghee with cooked rice and lentils (moong dhal or thuvar dhal well cooked with a little turmeric powder) and then seasoned with cumin seeds and pepper powder. This is their favourite dish!
Seasoning is done by heating a tablespoon of ghee to which a 1/4 tsp of cumin seeds is added with a little pepper powder. When the cumin gets brown, it is tossed on the rice and lentil mixture. Salt is added to complete the dish. To enhance the taste we can add fresh coriander leaves too and 1 or 2 tablespoons of extra ghee. When cooking the moong lentil on the stove, it should be cooked on moderate heat with enough water and not be covered fully as it tends to froth and spillover. Cooking in a pressure cooker solves the problem. The lentils should be in a stainless steel vessel inside with a lid so that it does not spread all over the cooker. Even plain soft rice with ghee and salt tastes good. We give it to the babies too when they start on solids but without salt.
I use Ghee on my face for wrinkles and have nice smooth skin now.
We hadn’t heard of that! But I suppose it would keep skin nice and moisturized.
Thank you also for this article! Very educational and intriguing. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, can’t wait to try the recipe!
Thank you for the article. It “clarified” a lot of things for me. My relatives used to melt the store bought butter over the heat and add a handful of burghul or cracked wheat to it and leave until cool. During the time it is left to cool, the burghul would soak up all the impurities of the butter settling in the bottom of the pot. There you have it: ghee. You then remove the butter, now ghee by pouring it slowly into a jar and discard the soaked burghul. For a long time I had wondered what ghee was and all this time I have been using it by following what the elders of my family did for years. Thanks again. Marie
I use ghee and organic coconut oil to make “bulletproof coffee”. It energizes without giving jitters. I’ve seen recipes that say to put 1T of each in a cup of coffee, but I only use 1 tsp of each. Love it!
I had a large jar of ghee and had plans to use it in my healthy cooking. BUT I can not tolerate the smell…it smells rancid to me. I went back to the Indian store where I bought it from and he says this is the normal smell of ghee. He even opened another jar from off the shelf to prove it and said this is how it normally smells. My mom had always used ghee in her cooking so I gave it to her and she loves it. Any thoughts to this rancid smell or is it only me?
Hi Ali, I spoke with Ed Higgins and he says, “Anything that smells rancid to you is not acceptable, even if the store owner says it’s fine. Rancid is a very distinct smell and there’s no denying what it is. There are hundreds of brands of ghee out there, maybe try to find another jar or brand that’s made locally if you don’t want to make your own. Good luck!”
interesting article. thanks for the info. I have some ghee in my refrigerator that my husband bought and I have no idea what to do with it.
Very informative article and what a wonderful recipe! I learned to prepare ghee from a lovely Austrailian-Indian lady whilst at University of Texas and we were all living at Married Student Housing. It was very useful and tasty in those never ending summers!
Jenn