Vanilla Bean Ghee

This homemade Vanilla Bean Ghee with sea salt is a budget-friendly way to incorporate ghee into your diet. Vanilla bean ghee is delightful in coffee, great in baked goods and suitable for Whole30 and keto diets.

I’m so excited to share my vanilla bean ghee recipe. I love making homemade ghee. I refuse to let it be a fleeting food trend, so I knew I needed to share this recipe with the Internet.

So what is Ghee?

It’s pretty simple. When the milk proteins and solids are extracted from butter it becomes ghee. It’s a vitamin-rich fat that tastes amazing.

Unfortunately, it’s pricey -especially if you want one of the fancy flavored ones. While I love supporting small business, I also really love vanilla bean ghee in my coffee so I prefer making it myself.

Adding a spoonful of vanilla bean ghee and my favorite collagen to a cup of coffee is a great way to start the day. I love flavoring my coffee with this stuff even when I’m not eating keto foods or doing a Whole30.

It’s also great in baked goods and on toast, pancakes and waffles!

💗 Why You’ll Love this Recipe

It’s affordable. I love the convenience of store-bought condiments but I’d much rather make ghee myself and save a few dollars.

More than one cooking option. Vanilla bean ghee can be made on the stove, in an Instapot or in a slow cooker.

Vanilla bean ghee is delicious spread on bake goods!

🧈 Ingredients You’ll Need

Grass Fed Butter (unsalted) – For the best tasting ghee, use a high-quality grass fed butter.

Vanilla Bean Powder – is pure, ground up vanilla bean. It’s much stronger than vanilla extract. A little bit goes a very long way.

Pink Sea Salt – Just a pinch of sea salt in this ghee enhances the sweet, caramel-y flavors of ghee.

📖 How to Make Homemade Vanilla Ghee

1️⃣ In a sauce pan, over medium heat, melt butter completely. Continue cooking until the liquid reaches a slow boil. Lower heat if the butter is boiling too fast.

2️⃣ Continue cooking. You will start to see a layer of foam rise to the surface. With a spoon, remove as much as you can. You’ll notice the milk solids are falling to the bottom. Continue scooping away foam until there’s not much left.

3️⃣ When most of the foam has been skimmed away, the milk solids have sunk to the bottom and the butter is a yellow color, it’s clarified and ready to be strained.

4️⃣ To strain, place a sieve over a glass jar. Place folded cheese cloth over the sieve. Pour clarified butter over cheesecloth to strain into the jar. Discard milk solids.

5️⃣ Once strained completely, stir in vanilla bean powder and sea salt. Enjoy.

✨ Instant Pot Vanilla Bean Ghee

For a more hands off approach, vanilla bean ghee can be in the Instant Pot using the SLOW COOK function. This can also be done in a standard slow cooker.

1️⃣ Make sure your Instant Pot is completely dry before adding butter. Program to SLOW COOK at normal heat. Add butter and cook for 2 hours (uncovered).

2️⃣ Once the milk solids have settled at the bottom, turn on the SAUTE function. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes with the splatter guard attached.

3️⃣ As soon as 5 minutes are up, remove the sleeve and let the residual heat continue cooking off the milk solids. If the solids brown, that’s okay. You just don’t want them to be burnt. 

4️⃣ Once the ghee has cooled place a cheesecloth or nut milk bag on top of a mesh strainer and strain completely. Stir in vanilla bean powder and salt. Store in glass jars.

💡Recipe Tips

Using grass fed ghee is important. The milk content in cheaper butters are often higher. Grass fed ghee is higher in vitamin D, E and K which contributes to its rich taste!

Buy butter in bulk! I like purchasing Kerry Gold Irish Butter from Costco to make ghee. It’s great-tasting and you can’t beat the wholesale price.

When left out at room temperature or stored in the fridge, ghee solidifies. So be sure to stir in the vanilla bean powder and salt before that happens.

The longer the milk solids are left to caramelize, the better -just watch that they don’t burn. You’ll know when the solids are caramelizing because your house will start to smell like butterscotch!

More Ways to Make Flavored Ghee

Flavoring ghee isn’t limited to just vanilla. Mix-ins like cocoa powder, cinnamon and nutmeg are great options.

You could even make a savory ghee. For garlic-infused ghee, add a few garlic cloves to the saucepan and strain away from the milk solids before they caramelize. Check out the variations below:

• Indian Spiced Ghee – Stir in cinnamon, cardamon and ginger.
• Herbed Ghee – Add toasted herbs like rosemary, sage and thyme.

🔁 Storing & Freezing

Storing: Homemade ghee can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 months. Sealed jars of ghee can be stored unopened at room temperature for up to 9 months. 

Freezing: Store cooled ghee in freezer-safe containers in the freezer for up to a year. Be sure to thaw and bring back to room temperature before using for cooking

More Healthy Sauces & Condiments

Dairy Free Caramel Sauce
Instant Pot Apple Sauce
Spicy Almond Butter Sauce

❔FAQ

Vanilla Bean Sea Salt Ghee

This vanilla bean sea salt ghee is a perfect subsittute for buying expensive brands. It is also great in coffee, on baked goods and suitable for Whole30. #keto #whole30

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Servings: 1 cup

Author: Valerie Skinner

Ingredients

• 8 oz Grass Fed Butter unsalted
• ⅛ tsp Vanilla Bean Powder
• ⅛ tsp Pink Sea Salt

EQUIPMENT

• 1 Glass Jar
• 1 Nutmilk bag or Cheesecloth
• 1 Strainer

Instructions

• Melt butter over medium heat, in a sauce pan until butter is fully melted and a slow boil is reached. Turn down heat if boiling too fast.
• Over time, foam will rise to the top. Scoop out as much foam as you can. The milk solids will continue to fall to the bottom. Repeat this process until foam begins to dissapate.
• Once the bubbles get bigger, the milk solids have sunk to the bottom and the butter is golden yellow in color, its time to strain.
• Using a sieve, fold over cheese cloth so there is 2-4 layers and place it over the sieve and over your glass jar.
• Pour butter over the cheesecloth to strain into the jar. Milk solids can be discarded.
• Let cool for 1 hour then place in fridge or freezer until ghee starts to solidify. Timing is VERY important here. You want to make sure the ghee is about 1/2 solidified so that you can stir in vanilla without it falling to the bottom.
• Once your ghee reaches desired consistency, add in vanilla bean powder and sea salt. Stir until fully combined and vanilla is evenly distrubuted throughout.
• Ghee will keep for one month without refridgeration or 3-4 months in fridge.

Notes

*using grass fed ghee is important as the milk content in cheap butters are often higher. grass fed ghee is higher in vitamin D, E and K which contributes to its rich taste!