Ever since Monash introduced a low FODMAP threshold for pickled garlic, I have been keeping myself very busy. I’ve made homemade pickled garlic, low FODMAP aioli and low FODMAP garlic chips, and today we’re making low FODMAP garlic butter.

Low FODMAP garlic butter

Name: Low FODMAP garlic butter
Prep time: 10 min
Ingredients: 100 g softened butter (I like salted but either works well); 12-50 g pickled garlic (see notes); 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, to your tastes ((optional but delicious)); Seasoning, to your tastes

This low FODMAP garlic butter is made with a few very simple ingredients. First (of course) we need some pickled garlic. Monash recently designated pickled garlic as low FODMAP in 3g serves. It can remain low FODMAP in serves of up to 29g, pending your own personal tolerance.

Next, of course, we need butter! Personally, I am forever and always a salted butter girl. However, this garlic butter will work with either salted or unsalted butter.

We can stop here, or add some finely chopped parsley. This is completely optional but it does add flavour and visual interest.

And that’s it! A simple and easy garlic butter that you can use wherever you would use regular garlic. With the right pickled garlic, you won’t be able to taste the difference.

An aerial image of kipfler potatoes covered in low FODMAP garlic butter and parsley. The potatoes sit on a white speckled ceramic serving plate atop a dark green backdrop

What sort of pickled garlic should I use?

Before I got the confidence to make my own pickled garlic, I used store bought extensively.

Having used both on a regular basis now, I can confidently say that homemade pickled garlic is a thousand times better than store bought. Because prepared garlic can have food safety implications, jarred garlic has to be treated in a certain way to preserve it. As a result, it tastes tinny and bland.

Homemade pickled garlic, on the other hand, is bursting with real garlic flavour. It essentially tastes like garlic but with a vinegar twang when you bite into it.

I highly recommend using home-made pickled garlic for this recipe. This isn’t just because I have a recipe for it – you can use whatever recipe you prefer. The fact is that it tastes like garlic whereas store bought pickled garlic tastes like a distant cousin of the real thing.

A brightly lit image of a jar of pickled garlic on a white bench top against a white tiled backdrop

How is pickled garlic low FODMAP?

Pickled garlic has recently been added to the Monash FODMAP app. Monash theorises that pickled garlic has a low FODMAP threshold because the FODMAPs leech out into the pickling brine. This is the same as canned beans and pickled onion – the canning and pickling process helps in minimising FODMAP content.

How much pickled garlic should I add?

This depends! Take into consideration how many serves the garlic butter will be divided into, what you’re serving it with and what your tolerance for pickled garlic is. Monash has specified that pickled garlic is low FODMAP in 3g serves and up to 29g serves. Beyond this, it contains moderate levels of fructose.

So, if you are serving the garlic butter without any other fructose containing ingredients and have a high tolerance for pickled garlic, you can use up to 29g per person. That is more than the total weight of the butter, but it is technically viable from a FODMAP standpoint.

If you have a lower tolerance for fructose or you are serving the butter with a fructose containing ingredient, use less. An absolute minimum serve is 12g (3g X 4 serves).

The recipe card uses 50g pickled garlic which equates to 12.5g garlic per serve. 4 serves is quite a generous amount and it will likely serve more unless you are making something like garlic bread.

A side on image of a log of low FODMAP garlic butter that has been unwrapped and sits atop the baking paper. The log has been sliced, revealing the garlic and parsley pieces inside

Tips for your low FODMAP garlic butter

Make sure your butter is room temperature. You need to be able to mash the garlic with ease to combine all the ingredients. Cold butter won’t incorporate the garlic as well as room temperature butter.
I find it helpful to mix up my garlic butter in a microwave safe bowl. This is just in case I need to soften the butter slightly – 10 seconds is perfect.
Personally, I love salted butter. It has inbuilt saltiness that lends a great level of even salty flavour. Some people swear by unsalted butter and this will work too. Just make sure you add enough salt (to taste) to evenly salt the butter and add flavour.

A close up aerial image of boiled kipfler potatoes smothered in low FODMAP garlic butter and finished with parsley

Where can I use this low FODMAP garlic butter?

I mean, anywhere and everywhere (savoury, of course). You can use it to make omelettes, with a protein of choice, on potatoes; anything savoury that needs a bit of oomph.

Some more ideas:

On or in pasta for an easy flavour boost
As the basis for low FODMAP garlic bread
A base for fried rice or stir fried vegetables
Use it in mashed potatoes
Use it to make garlic butter mushrooms
Smear it on bread (or whip it and then smear it on bread)

An aerial image of roasted baby potatoes smothered in low FODMAP garlic butter. The potatoes sit atop a white speckled ceramic plate in bright light.

More low FODMAP garlic recipes