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Roasted Tomato Butter (Dairy Free)

Jars of homemade tomato butter on a cutting board next to fresh thyme sprigs.
Tomato butter is made with blistered ripe tomatoes whipped with fresh herbs, butter, and a few other simple ingredients to create the most delicious tomato compound butter. Enjoy with pasta, toast, veggies, and more!
Author: Lindsey Jenkins
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients
 

  • 12 ounces cherry tomatoes about 2 cups or 341 grams
  • 2 garlic cloves peeled
  • 1 cup room temperature dairy free butter or unsalted butter cut into cubes
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
  • 1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar or substitute, see notes below
  • ½ teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt, plus more to taste start with ¼ teaspoon if using any other kind
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven. Arrange an oven rack about 6 inches from the broiler and preheat your oven to the broil setting.
  • Broil tomatoes. Place the cherry tomatoes and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Broil the tomatoes for 6-8 minutes, shaking the pan every 2 minutes for even blistering. Let the tomatoes and garlic cool to room temperature.
  • Whip together. Add the cooled blistered tomatoes and garlic to a food processor fitted with the S-blade with the cubed butter, fresh herbs, sherry vinegar, kosher salt, and pepper (along with any additional add-ins if using). Process until well combined.
  • Season to taste. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. The butter can be used right away or if it melted in the food processor, store in the fridge for about an hour to firm up.

Notes

Makes about 2 cups of tomato butter.
If your mixture turns to liquid in the food processor (this can happen with dairy free butter or if the blistered tomatoes aren't cool enough), refrigerate the tomato butter to firm up before using.
See the blog post for more helpful tips, storage instructions, and ideas on how to use it.

Make It Your Way: Substitutions & Variations

Not dairy free? ​- use unsalted butter.
No sherry vinegar? - you can also use fresh lemon juice, white wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, or red wine vinegar.
Add-ins - a pinch of brown sugar to bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes, lemon zest, use a mix of blistered cherry tomatoes and oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, red pepper flakes for a bit of heat, etc.

Variations

Tomato brown butter - add more dimension of flavor by browning the butter first until nutty then remove from the heat and let cool to firm up before processing with the rest of the ingredients.
Green tomato butter - make this recipe with green tomatoes for a different flavor profile, but you'll need to add a bit of sugar to balance out the bitterness of the tomatoes.