Out of Butter, one case
Can you substitute salted butter for unsalted?
5 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Salted butter
1 cup for every cup of butter
Yes: use salted butter in the same amount and cut the recipe's added salt by about ¼ teaspoon for each stick (½ cup) of butter. Going the other way, add about ¼ teaspoon of salt for each stick of unsalted butter. The swap breaks where there is no added salt to take out, such as buttercream, and where butter is most of the recipe, because brands salt their butter differently.
- Verdict —
- Tweak it
- The tweak —
- Cut the added salt by ¼ tsp per stick (½ cup) of butter: 1/8 tsp for 4 tbsp, ½ tsp for 1 cup.
- Best for —
- cookies, brownies, muffins and quick breads
- Pantry —
- Likely in your cupboard
One casethe full butter card
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 cup butter | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salted buttercookies, brownies, muffins and quick breads | 1 cupTweak it | Tweak it |
| 2 | Unsalted butter + saltrecipes written for salted butter | 1 stick butter + ¼ tsp salt per stickWorks | Works |
| 3 | Stick margarinecreamed cakes and cookies when there is no butter of either kind | 1 cupTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Vegan butter blockdairy-free baking that creams the butter | 1 cupTweak it | Tweak it |
| 5 | Shorteningpie crust and biscuits | 1 cup + 2 tbsp waterTweak it | Tweak it |
Salted butter
the same once the added salt is reduced
The same butter with salt worked in, about ¼ teaspoon per stick. It creams, melts, browns and bakes exactly as unsalted butter does, so the only thing to change is the salt you add.
- Best for
- cookies, brownies, muffins and quick breads, cakes that list salt in the ingredients, pan sauces, mashed potatoes and other cooking, salted at the end
- Prep
- Cut the added salt by ¼ tsp per stick (½ cup) of butter: 1/8 tsp for 4 tbsp, ½ tsp for 1 cup.
- Suits
- vegetarian
- Contains
- dairy
- Where it fails
- Buttercream and other frostings with no added salt, where 2 sticks of salted butter put about ½ tsp of salt into something meant to be sweet. Shortbread, puff pastry and croissant dough, where butter is so much of the recipe that brand-to-brand differences in salt show.
If the recipe lists less salt than you need to remove, leave the salt out entirely and expect the result to be slightly saltier than written.
Unsalted butter + salt
the same
The reverse case: the recipe calls for salted butter and you have unsalted. Add back the salt the butter would have carried.
- Best for
- recipes written for salted butter, older and family recipes that say only butter and list little or no salt, garlic bread, corn on the cob and compound butter
- Prep
- Add ¼ tsp fine salt per stick (½ cup) to the dry ingredients, or beat it into the softened butter.
- Suits
- vegetarian
- Contains
- dairy
- Where it fails
- On the table: unsalted butter spread on bread tastes flat. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over it instead of trying to mix salt into cold butter.
Stick margarine
cleaner and a little saltier, without the dairy flavor
The firm, foil-wrapped stick is made to about the same 80% fat as butter, so it stands in for unsalted butter cup for cup. Nearly all of it is salted.
- Best for
- creamed cakes and cookies when there is no butter of either kind, melted-butter recipes
- Prep
- Use the stick, never a tub spread, and cut the added salt by about ¼ tsp per stick as you would for salted butter.
- Where it fails
- Shortbread, buttercream and anything else where butter is the flavor. Many margarines contain whey, so read the label for a dairy-free bake.
Vegan butter block
close, with a faint oily or coconut background that varies by brand
A plant-based block made to behave like butter in a mixer. Most are salted, so treat it as salted butter.
- Best for
- dairy-free baking that creams the butter, dairy-free frosting
- Prep
- Chill it 20 minutes before creaming and cut the added salt by about ¼ tsp per ½ cup.
- Suits
- vegan, dairy-free
- Where it fails
- A warm block gives a greasy dough and cookies that spread. Tub versions are softer and wetter and do not bake the same way.
Shortening
blank; the butter flavor is gone
A solid fat with no salt at all, for when the point of unsalted butter is control of the salt. It is all fat, so it needs the water that butter would have brought.
- Best for
- pie crust and biscuits, cookies that should stay tall
- Prep
- Add 2 tbsp water or milk per cup and leave the recipe's salt as written.
- Suits
- vegan, dairy-free
- Where it fails
- Anything where you taste the butter. It will not brown, so there is no brown-butter flavor.
Tips for substituting butter
5 tips- The arithmetic: 1 stick = ½ cup = 8 tbsp of butter carries about ¼ tsp of salt. Remove 1/8 tsp for half a stick, ¼ tsp for one stick, ½ tsp for two.
- The ¼ tsp figure is for table salt or fine sea salt. Diamond Crystal kosher salt is about half as salty by volume, so if the recipe measures that, cut about ½ tsp per stick.
- Check the label if you want to be closer. US salted butter usually lists about 90 mg sodium per tablespoon, which is a little over ¼ tsp of salt per stick; a brand that lists more is saltier.
- In cooking, add no salt until the end. Melt the salted butter into the sauce, soup or mashed potatoes, taste, then season.
- Watch the other salty ingredients. With salted butter and salted nuts, pretzels, bacon or soy sauce in the same recipe, leave the added salt out and taste before you add any back.
Questions
5 questionsHow much salt is in a stick of salted butter?
About ¼ teaspoon per stick (½ cup, 8 tablespoons), which is the figure most recipes and butter makers work from. It varies by brand, from roughly ¼ to a little over 1/3 teaspoon, which is why recipes that need exact control name unsalted butter.
How do I substitute unsalted butter for salted?
Use the same amount of butter and add about ¼ teaspoon of fine salt per stick (½ cup). In baking, stir it in with the flour. For a recipe that says only butter and lists no salt at all, it was probably written for salted butter, so add the ¼ teaspoon per stick.
What if the recipe has no added salt to reduce?
Then the salt in the butter stays in the dish. In cookies or a cake that is usually welcome. In buttercream it is noticeable: 1 cup of salted butter adds about ½ teaspoon of salt to the frosting. If you have some unsalted butter, use it for the frosting and put the salted butter in the cake.
Does salted butter change how cookies or cake bake?
No. The fat and water are close enough that creaming, spread, rise and browning are the same. The only difference you can taste is salt, so a cookie recipe with 2 sticks of butter and 1 teaspoon of salt needs ½ teaspoon when the butter is salted.
Can I use salted butter in bread dough?
Yes. Reduce the dough's salt by about ¼ teaspoon per stick of butter. Do not take out more than that: salt controls how fast yeast works, and a dough with far too little salt rises quickly and tastes flat.