Experience the Magic of Homemade Ghee at Your Fingertips

Ghee is excellent to use to sauté vegetables or as a fat in making desserts. Additionally, you can shallow fry or deep fry certain snacks in ghee because it has a high smoke point. Of course, you can add a dollop of ghee over bread, lentils, or veggies for some more flavor! Think of it similar to coconut oil!

The brand of ghee I purchase is Amul ghee. Somehow, it landed in Canada at my local Indian grocer, however, I know a lot of them don’t carry this brand of ghee. For example, my uncle can’t find it, so when I see him, I’m happy to gift him a tin! Whenever I’m asked what brand of ghee I recommend, my first recommendation will always be Amul. I’m so lucky I can find it here, because that is truly the ghee I used to use in India!

I find other store-bought ghees don’t have the same quality as Amul. However, I have found one organic brand that is quite delicious. Regardless, the best quality ghee is extremely expensive. Amul ghee costs over $20 CAD and I remember the other ghee I enjoyed was about $15 CAD for a very small jar.

That’s why you may want to see how to make ghee at home! To be honest, before now, I had only made ghee once before, and it was quite recently! It was New Year’s Day, and I was going to make puris (deep-fried puffy breads made with atta flour). I opened my pantry and realized I didn’t have enough ghee to deep fry! Oh no, what was I going to do?

Well, I was silly and walked all the way to the Indian store and saw that it was closed. Yeah, who am I kidding, why did I think it would be open on the holiday? I don’t know, on some holidays it actually has been open!

Anyway, everything was closed and I didn’t want to ruin my dinner. I had some butter in the fridge, so what was the answer? Make ghee!

It’s not hard to do but it does take a bit of time and effort. I describe the level of difficulty of making ghee similar to that of a risotto. You let the butter do its thing, but when it’s time to strain the solids out, then you gotta keep whisking away! So it’s quite an arm workout!

Trust me, if you want the tastiest ghee that’s budget-friendly, then you need to try this out! I find the ghee made from scratch is the best ghee I’ve had apart from the Amul ghee! I’ll admit that this ghee tastes a bit different from the Amul ghee, but I’ll get into the reason why shortly.

Regardless, this homemade ghee made at home saved my dinner, and I couldn’t have been happier! Maybe next time I’ll gift my uncle some ghee from scratch instead!

Don’t forget to watch the video to see exactly how to make ghee from butter. If you’re not already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell button so you’re notified when all my video recipes go live! I love to record my recipes to complement the blog posts so you’re set up for success! Let’s get to making some delicious ghee at home!

Benefits of Ghee

Ghee is a source of fat that’s excellent for you! The back of the Amul ghee tin literally states the benefits of having one spoon of ghee per day, which include:

• Providing your body with energy
• Adding flavor to your food
• Adding a rich aroma and nuttiness to your food

Yes, ghee is absolutely delicious, so that’s a huge benefit! However, let’s also review the nutritional benefits of ghee.

Ghee is a saturated fat - it is stable at room temperature. While ghee is a type of butter, it is more concentrated in fat per gram than butter because all of the water and milk is removed. The fats contained in ghee have the following health benefits:

• The potential to reduce gut inflammation and improve digestion
• High in Vitamin A
• Omega-3 fatty acids support heart health
• High in conjugated linoleic acid, which can help prevent conditions including cancer, high cholesterol, and obesity.

Of course you don’t want to have too much since it is high in calories and saturated fats, which could increase your LDL cholesterol. However, a little really will go a long way for your health and your tastebuds!

For more information about the health benefits of ghee, check out this article by Healthline.

Clarified Butter vs. Ghee

The two terms tend to be used interchangeably. While the concept behind making the two is similar, there is a slight difference between clarified butter and ghee.

Clarified butter has the butter brought up to a boil and then you skim off the foam, then pour off the remaining butter fat. However, with ghee, you need to heat the butter (or cream) until all the water boils off. The solids will go brown and sink, and then you will strain out those solids. In essence, ghee is a type of clarified butter, so it’s not incorrect to describe ghee as clarified butter!

Equipment for Ghee From Scratch

Our ghee recipe will require a couple of tools to yield the best results:

• Saucepan
• Spatula
• cheesecloth
• Mason jar(for storing)

Ingredients for This Ghee Recipe From Butter

For this recipe, the only thing you need is butter! Some recipes make ghee from milk or cream, which I’ll discuss later in this post. I recommend the best quality of butter you can find, since that will give you the best tasting ghee! I also recommend you use unsalted butter or else your ghee will be very salty, and that won’t be pleasant!

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for the FULL PRINTABLE Recipe Card to save this post for later! You can adjust the quantity of butter you need based on how much ghee you want to make, and all the instructions are there!

How to Make Ghee

In a sauce pan, add all of the butter and turn the heat to medium. Heat the butter until it is molten.

Maintain the heat between medium-low and medium to keep the butter at a gentle simmer. Once the butter starts to simmer, it will separate into 3 layers, clear, cloudy in the middle and foam at the top. Using a spoon or a slotted spoon, skim off the foam from the top layer.

Continue repeating the same for around 20-25 minutes, or until most of the foam has been skimmed off. Prepare a mason jar/large bowl with a cheese cloth. Carefully pour the ghee through the cheese cloth.

Ghee is ready for you to enjoy.

Tips for Excellent Ghee

• It’s important to skim off any foam from the top layer as it develops. There is a chance for it to turn brown which will affect the flavor of the ghee.
• The butter should be gently simmering, maintain the heat to ensure the butter does not burn.
• Look for the butter to turn aromatic (different aroma than molten butter) and for most of the foam to disappear - this is the hint to a ghee that’s ready.

How to Use Homemade Ghee

Once you have a jar of golden ghee, it earns its place in almost every meal. Here are my favorite ways to use it:

• Tempering and dal: warm a spoonful of ghee for a tarka (tempering) of cumin and spices, or simply drizzle it over a hot bowl of dal.
• Rice and curries: stir ghee into plain steamed rice, jeera rice, or biryani, and use it as the cooking fat for rich, aromatic curries.
• Breads: brush warm parathas, roti, and naan with ghee for extra flavor and a beautiful shine.
• Everyday cooking: spread it on toast, spoon it over khichdi, or use it to fry and sauté — ghee's high smoke point makes it ideal for high-heat cooking.
• Sweets: ghee is the classic fat for Indian sweets and halwa, giving them their signature richness.

Desi Ghee, Makkhan and Malai: A Quick Note

Traditional desi ghee is made by gently simmering butter — often makkhan (white butter) churned from cultured cream or the malai skimmed off milk — until the milk solids toast to a golden brown and the fat turns clear and nutty. Whether you start with store-bought butter, as in this recipe, or homemade makkhan, the method is the same: low, steady heat on the stove, a heavy-bottomed pot, and a little patience. This homemade version is the real desi ghee that's a staple in Indian homes and Indian food — noticeably richer and more aromatic than most regular store-bought ghee, and easy to make in small or large batches.

Storing Homemade Ghee

A little care at the end keeps your ghee fresh for months:

• Strain it: pour the warm ghee through cheesecloth or a coffee filter to catch the toasted milk solids, leaving behind clear, golden liquid gold.
• Use unsalted butter: it gives the cleanest flavor and the prettiest golden hue.
• Store it right: keep the ghee in a clean, dry mason jar. With no water or milk solids left, it has a long shelf life at room temperature — just always dip in with clean, dry spoons to keep it from spoiling.

Salted vs. Unsalted Butter, and More Ways to Use Ghee

A few last notes to round things out:

• Salted vs. unsalted butter: unsalted butter gives the cleanest flavor and is what I recommend. You can make ghee from salted butter in a pinch, but it will taste saltier and tends to foam more, so skim carefully.
• Solid or liquid is normal: don't worry if your ghee firms up on the counter — ghee melts back into a clear golden liquid the moment it's warmed and re-solidifies as it cools. Both states are perfectly fine.
• Shelf-stable storage: because all the water and milk solids are gone, ghee is shelf-stable and keeps for months at room temperature in a clean, dry jar.
• Baking and beyond: ghee isn't just for Indian dishes — it's lovely in baking too. Swap it in for butter in cookies or shortbread for a nutty depth of flavor.

Other Indian Essential Recipes

• Homemade Paneer
• Ginger-Garlic Paste
• How to Make Chhenna
• Makhani Sauce - Butter Chicken Sauce
• Traditional Cucumber Raita
• Cilantro-Mint Chutneys - Restaurant & Homestyle Recipes!