Ramp Butter Recipe (Wild Leek Butter)
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At the end of March I started taking a weekly foraging immersive course here in Western North Carolina. One of the plants I most looked forward to meeting was ramps, or wild leeks. I’d heard so much about them (including how over harvested they are, which I’ll talk more about in a bit)—but I had never been in an area where they grew.
A couple of weeks ago I met my first ramps and a couple of days later, I found a small patch in the forested area next to my house, and I made some insanely delicious ramp butter.
Before I get to the butter recipe, I want to mention that ramps are a threatened species, so sustainable harvesting is incredibly important, if we want this resource to be around in the future.
Ramps take a really long time to reach full maturity. I haven’t done it myself, but I’ve heard that ramps grown from seed aren’t harvestable for 5-7 years, and those that are grown from bulbs need two to three years to mature and spread.
So if you think about that, harvesting them in an unsustainable way can pretty easily wipe out a patch of a very precious and delicious natural food.
The way that I learned to harvest them is by taking only one leaf per plant, and never taking the bulb. The plant needs leaves for photosynthesis so it can continue to grow and reproduce. Harvesting this way can ensure that you’ll be able to harvest from that same patch for years to come.
Also, ramps have toxic lookalikes, so make sure you know what you’re harvesting before you eat it. I would suggest finding a foraging mentor, or looking for a class, before going out and eating random things from the forest.
Now for my ramp butter recipe!
Ingredients:
1 ounce raw ramp leaves
8 ounces salted butter (softened at room temperature)
Step 1:
Wash the leaves in cold water, using a colander under the tap.
Step 2:
Dry the leaves thoroughly, ensuring you get all the water droplets off.
Note:
At this point, most recipes call for parboiling, before chopping the ramps up, but since you’re only using 1 ounce, you’re gonna want all the flavor you can get in your butter, so use them raw.
Step 3:
Chop the leaves up into small pieces and then mix them into the softened butter. You can use a mixer for this or a wooden spoon.
Step 4:
Once the butter is mixed well, put it into a mold, or container of your choice and then pop it in the fridge or freezer (depending on how long you want to store it).
Then when you’re ready to use it, take it out for a bit so it can soften and then smear it on some bread, or throw it into a pan to saute some mushrooms or veggies.
It’s SOOOO good!
Thanks for taking the time to read my post! If you make the recipe, let me know in the comments below! I’d love to know what you think of it :)
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Hi, I’m Kristen!
I envision a world where you and I rediscover what it is to be human, through connection with ourselves, each other and the natural world around us.