You’re going to want to eat this off the spoon before it ever sees a steak. Calabrian chili and lemon zest mashed into softened butter, rolled tight, and stashed in the freezer so it’s already there the second you need it. This has become the magic finishing touch I tell people to make first, before they’ve even picked a protein.
Red pepper flakes get you heat. Calabrian chili oil gets you heat with real fruit and vinegar riding underneath it, and that’s the difference that makes this one worth the extra trip to the Italian aisle. We tested it against flakes side by side. The flakes version was fine. Nobody put the fork down for this one. If you want the rest of the lineup, our guide to compound butters covers five more variations worth keeping in the freezer, including our Cowboy Butter.
Slice a medallion straight off the frozen log, drop it on anything hot, and watch it go from solid to saucy in under a minute. Double the batch, you’ll thank yourself in three weeks.
🔪 Ingredients for Chili Butter
- Unsalted butter: It needs to be soft enough to mash with a fork, not microwaved into a puddle.
- Calabrian chili oil: the chili-in-oil paste sold in small jars in the Italian aisle, not pickled whole Calabrian peppers. Crushed red pepper flakes work if that’s what’s stocked, though the heat reads sharper and less fruity.
- Garlic: grated fine on a microplane so it melts into the butter instead of showing up in bites.
- Lemon zest: zest only, avoid the white pith underneath or it turns bitter.
- Flaky salt.
📝 How to Make Chili Butter
- Mash everything together. In a bowl, mash the softened butter, chili oil, garlic, lemon zest, and salt with a fork until every streak of chili is worked in and the mixture turns one uniform reddish-gold color, no white butter showing.
- Roll into a log. Scrape the mixture onto a sheet of parchment or plastic wrap. Shape it into a rough log about 1.5 inches thick, then roll the parchment around it and twist both ends tight like a piece of candy to seal.
- Chill until firm. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, until the log holds its shape when you press a finger into it, or freeze for longer storage.
- Slice as needed. Cut into 1/2-inch medallions straight from the fridge or freezer. Frozen medallions keep for 3 months, so slice the whole log up front and pull only what you need.
🔄 Substitutions
- Crushed red pepper flakes for Calabrian chili oil: same amount, mash in with an extra teaspoon of olive oil so it still spreads smooth. Heat reads sharper and less fruity than the original.
- Chili crisp for Calabrian chili oil: swap 1:1, skip the added olive oil. You’ll get crunchy bits of fried garlic and shallot suspended in the butter instead of a smooth paste.
- Salted butter for unsalted: drop the added pinch of salt, or the log turns too salty against an already-seasoned steak.
💡 Meat Nerd Tips
- Slice the whole log the day you make it. Frozen medallions are easier to portion than hacking pieces off a rock-hard block mid-cook.
- Let medallions temper for 15-20 minutes before you need them. Cold butter takes too long to melt evenly over a hot steak, and you lose the drizzle effect entirely.
- Double the batch. This freezes for months, and there’s no version of dinner that doesn’t improve with a melting pat of it on top.
- No microplane? A garlic press works. It does the same job of keeping the pieces small enough to disappear into the butter.
🍽️ What to Serve with Chili Butter
- A thick-cut NY strip, like in our Chili Butter Steak and Burrata Salad
- Grilled or pan-seared chicken thighs
- Corn on the cob, straight off the grill
- Crusty bread, just for mopping up what melts onto the plate
- Shrimp or firm white fish, grilled or broiled
🧊 Leftovers and Storage
- Fridge: wrapped tight in the parchment log, up to 2 weeks.
- Freezer: up to 3 months, pre-sliced into medallions so you’re never thawing the whole log for one steak.
- Reheating: none needed. It melts on contact with anything hot, straight from the freezer.
A five-ingredient Calabrian chili compound butter, mashed together and rolled into a log for freezer-ready medallions.
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Mash Everything Together
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Mash softened butter, Calabrian chili paste, garlic, lemon zest, and flaky salt together in a bowl until fully combined.
- Freezes up to 3 months, pre-sliced into medallions.
- Sub crushed red pepper flakes 1:1 with an extra teaspoon of olive oil, or chili crisp 1:1 with no added oil.
- Using salted butter: skip the added pinch of flaky salt.
- The Calabrian chili oil has liquid in it; depending on the brand you buy, you may need to strain it to make sure the butter doesn’t get too soft and firms up properly.
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 84kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 14mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 0.2g | Vitamin A: 176IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 5mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Quick Summary
This is a five-ingredient compound butter built around Calabrian chili oil, garlic, and lemon zest, mashed together, rolled into a log, and frozen in pre-sliced medallions. Keep one in the freezer at all times and every grilled protein in the house gets an upgrade with zero extra cooking.
❓ FAQs
Up to 3 months when pre-sliced into medallions and wrapped tight. Slice the whole log before freezing so you’re never thawing more than you need.
Yes, just skip the added pinch of flaky salt in the mash. Unsalted lets you control the salt level; salted butter plus the full pinch turns the finished log too salty against an already-seasoned steak.
Crushed red pepper flakes mashed in with a teaspoon of olive oil, or chili crisp swapped in 1:1. Both work; the heat profile just shifts from fruity to straight-up sharp.