Food Shopping and Storing Food Shopping & Storing The 9 Most Common Types of Butter—Plus the Best Ways to Use Them Here, we answer all your burning butter questions. By Betty Gold Betty Gold Betty Gold is the former senior digital food editor at Real Simple. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Updated on December 14, 2022 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Getty Images From ghee and clarified butter to delicious plant-based options, there's more to "real butter" than simply diary or non-dairy. We've created a handy glossary of your best butter options for cooking and baking. Plus, we'll teach you all about Irish butter and Amish butter. I Tried Making Homemade Butter—Here's What Happened Common Types of Butter Yeji Kim 01 of 09 Unsalted Butter Simply Recipes / Alison Bickel Sometimes called "sweet cream butter," this is the most versatile type of butter. It will see you through every cooking job, from baking to sautéing. Made from only milk or cream (or sometimes both), it contains at least 80 percent milkfat—the fatty particles in milk that are separated out to make cream. 02 of 09 Salted Butter Tomas_Mina/Getty Images Just like the original, but with added salt. Many people reach for this when buttering bread, but use caution when you're cooking or baking—most recipes call for unsalted butter. 03 of 09 Clarified Butter Kritsada Panichgul Butter is an emulsion made from fat, water, and milk solids. When you heat butter slowly, you'll notice that it starts to separate into these three components: white milk solids, foam (which is the water evaporating), and bright yellow clarified butter fat. Basically, clarified butter is pure fat without milk solids or water—it's richer and more shelf-stable than traditional butter. It has its own delicious toasty flavor and a higher smoke point, too, which make it ideal for high-heat searing and roasting, or for finishing dishes. Ghee is one well-known type of clarified butter. What's the Difference Between Ghee and Butter? 04 of 09 Organic Butter Aleksandr Zubkov/Getty This type comes from cream that's cattle raised without antibiotics or growth hormones and given 100 percent organic feed grown without toxic pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. It is available unsalted and salted, and can be used like conventional butter. 05 of 09 Whipped Butter The Spruce / Tracy Wilk This variety has air or some other gas, such as nitrogen, added to it to make it less dense than standard butter, so a little goes a long way. The increased volume results in fewer calories per tablespoon (often half) and a lighter texture. Best for spreading on toast and finishing dishes, whipped butter is not recommended for baking or cooking. 06 of 09 European-Style Butter Fresh Direct This is the reason French croissants are so utterly irresistible: Loaded with extra milkfat—82 to 85 percent for most brands—European-style butter has less moisture than standard butter and so produces extra-flaky pastries and tender, fluffy cakes. Because it is made with fermented (also called cultured) cream, it has a slight tang. European-style butter can be used for all cooking tasks. 07 of 09 Plant-Based Butter Earth Balance These are a game changer for those with dairy allergies or anyone following a vegan diet. Plant-based butters, made with ingredients like avocado, almond, or olive oil, taste like butter and can be swapped one-for-one for dairy butter in all your favorite recipes. You can find them in both tubs and sticks, so it's just as easy to bake and cook with, as well as spread on toast or bagels. 08 of 09 Spreadable Butter surreal studios/Getty Images A combination of regular butter and vegetable oil (and sometimes other flavorings and fillers), this product maintains a soft texture even when refrigerated. It is not recommended for baking or cooking. 09 of 09 Light Butter Mackeyszar.com This option has half the calories of standard butter because it contains less milkfat—40 percent at most. The rest is made up of water, lactic acid, and other fillers. It is not recommended for baking or cooking. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit