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This Cafe de Paris butter is a rich, flavour-packed compound butter made with garlic, parsley, chives, tarragon, anchovies, and a hint of lemon. It’s perfect with steak, chicken, seafood, and grilled vegetables, and when it hits the hot food, it melts into a silky, aromatic sauce. It is so good.
Traditionally served with steak, it’s also delicious with roast chicken, grilled fish, and charred vegetables. Whether you’re hosting a dinner party or elevating a weeknight meal, this butter adds an instant flavour boost with minimal effort.
Table of Contents
Why you will love this recipe:
- Cafe de Paris butter goes with so many different recipes, from steak, chicken, fish and more.
- It’s very easy to make, as you just need a food processor or you can do it easily by hand.
- The recipe can be adapted to personal tastes.
Ingredients:
Full recipe can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post, just scroll down!
Unsalted butter – Try to buy a good quality block of butter, rather than spread. I tend to use unsalted and add the salt myself, but salted works too.
Worcestershire sauce – I always use the classic Lea & Perrins brand. It has the best flavour.
Herbs – I used fresh parsley and chives, along with dried tarragon. You could use fresh tarragon but it is more potent. You could use basil or coriander, or other herbs too, if you prefer.
Substitutions and Variations:
Texture: I like to make this butter in a food processor. I just use softened butter and blitz it together but you can also make it by hand. Or with an electric whisk too, you just need to make sure everything is very finely chopped first.
Maple Cafe de Paris butter: for a sweet, salty twist, add 1 tbsp maple syrup. Or honey! (If you want a sweet butter, try my salted honey butter)
Herbs: add more herbs that you really love, or less of others if you don’t love parsley or chives, for example. Basil, coriander, fresh tarragon would all be delicious.
Here’s how to make Cafe de Paris butter:
Here’s a step by step guide for what you need to do, but you can find the full recipe at the bottom of the page for detailed instructions.
ONE: Chop all the ingredients you need and have them ready to go.
TWO: Place the softened butter in a food processor. Add the shallot, anchovies, parsley, chives, garlic, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, paprika, dried tarragon, Worcestershire sauce, chilli flakes, salt, and black pepper.
THREE: Blend in the food processor until everything is well combined and the butter is mixed evenly with the herbs.
FOUR: Check the seasoning, adding a little more salt, pepper, or lemon juice if needed. Serve however you like – I love it with steak!
Cooking Tips:
Softened butter: it is really important that the butter is softened to begin with. Otherwise, it won’t mix together smoothly.
Finely chopping: make sure the herbs are at least roughly chopped before then blitzing it all together. Otherwise, you end up with long, straggly bits of chive that don’t get chopped up well.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, just go slowly when adding more salt. Taste it and see first then adjust.
Use a good quality plant butter such as a block butter (Flora Unsalted Block is a good one) or you could use an olive oil spread in place of the unsalted butter.
It lasts around 2 weeks in the fridge, wrapped in parchment paper or in a butter dish. You can also freeze it for 3-6 months, but I find it is best fresh. I like to thaw it overnight in the fridge before using.
Other recipes you might enjoy:
If you like this cafe de Paris butter recipe, you may want ideas on how to serve it. It’s excellent on a sirloin steak or rump steak, but also in place of garlic butter in this recipe for garlic steak bites.
Side Dishes
Whipped Brown Butter with Roasted Garlic
Side Dishes
Tomato Butter: Good On Everything!
Breakfast & Brunch
Whipped Honey Butter
Side Dishes
Easy Cowboy Butter
If you tried this Cafe de Paris Butter or any other recipe on the site, please do leave a rating or comment and let us know how it went!
Easy Cafe de Paris Butter
Ingredients
- 120 g unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, very finely chopped
- 3 anchovies, chopped
- 1 small shallot, very finely chopped
- 8 chives, very finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 heaped tsp dried tarragon, or a few sprigs of fresh but they have a stronger flavour
- ¾ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- Pinch of flaky sea salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place the softened butter in a food processor. (Alternatively, use a mixing bowl and a fork or spatula for a more rustic texture.)
- Add the shallot, anchovies, parsley, chives, garlic, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, paprika, dried tarragon, Worcestershire sauce, chilli flakes, salt, and black pepper.
- Blend in the food processor until everything is well combined and the butter is mixed evenly with herbs. If mixing by hand, work the ingredients together until fully incorporated.
- Check the seasoning, adding a little more salt, pepper, or lemon juice if needed.
- Spoon the butter onto a piece of parchment paper, pinch the egdes of the paper, and roll into a log. Place in the fridge until firm to make it easy to slice. Or, keep it in a ramekin, covered, in the fridge.
- I love to serve with a medium-rare steak, fries and a little side salad (image above – scroll for inspiration!)
Notes
- Gently melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the shallot and anchovies whilst melting.
- Remove from heat and whisk in lemon juice, Dijon mustard, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, herbs and chilli flakes.
- Serve warm as a sauce, dip or basting butter.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This easy Cafe de Paris butter will be your new go to for steaks, seafood and more. I make it in a food processor for ease.