Garlic Chive Butter

Snipped chives are mainly used as a garnish and sprinkled on dishes. They are most commonly added to salads and soups. But there are many more ways to incorporate fresh chives into dishes. Chives are perfect when you want to add just a hint of onion flavor and raw onion would be too harsh and pungent.

One way to make a bunch of chives go a long way is to this garlic chive butter for breakfast, lunch, or dinner dishes. It's a great condiment for making toasted garlic bread; it can also be used to fry hash browns or top a big mountain of mashed potatoes. 

Chives are very easy to grow and, once established in your garden, you will find yourself searching for ways to keep up with the growth. You can grow chives in the ground or in a large planter. 

The plants look ornamental and, in the summer, they will grow large, edible flowers that you can harvest and use to dress up a salad or make chive blossom vinegar. For a colorful variation of this butter, chop up a few chives and add them together with the chives. 

Harvest the chives whenever you need them using kitchen scissors to clip the chives off of the main plant. Give the blades a quick rinse under cold water, dab them dry with a paper towel, and then either cut them into small bits with a knife or scissors. 

If you have an abundance of homegrown chives, this chive butter is a great way to preserve your harvest. The butter can be frozen for up to three months in an airtight container or in freezer bags. Double-bagging the chive butter is recommended because the garlic in the butter tends to give off an intense garlic smell to the other contents of your freezer. 

If you won’t use the entire amount at once, freeze it in smaller portions. An ice cube tray comes in handy for portioning the butter into tablespoons.