Learn how to make ghee with this Homemade Instant Pot Ghee recipe, perfect every time. Using the Instant Pot, you can make ghee with very little hands-on time.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
It seems that the world has discovered ghee, something that Indians have used for thousands of years for everyday cooking, medicinal purposes, and religious ceremonies. I never imagined there would be a day when ghee would become a staple in Western kitchens, and I think that’s terrific!
I’m going to show you how to make homemade ghee, so you never have to buy it in the store again. It can get quite expensive buying good quality ghee!
So, what is ghee? Ghee is essentially clarified butter. This means that butter is heated, melted, and removed of all milk solids and impurities.
However, unlike regular clarified butter, ghee is cooked for a bit longer, to the point that the milk solids have a caramelized color. What’s remaining has an intense flavor, aroma, and color.
Ghee has a high smoke point, much higher than butter, and that means it can be heated to high temperatures. It also tastes great unheated, used in place of butter.
Ghee doesn’t spoil at room temperature like butter can and it has a longer shelf life than clarified butter.
So how do you make traditional ghee? You don’t use butter; you use milk skin (lactoderm), which is the sticky film that forms on top of hot milk. My mom has been making ghee this way for years. She boils milk every day for tea and coffee. She collects the milk film that builds up when she boils milk and freezes it.
Over time, she gets enough lactoderm to make ghee. She processes the milk fat in a food processor to make butter and then melts it and makes ghee in a similar way to how you’ll be making ghee with this recipe. I use store-bought butter as the base ingredient.
This Instant Pot Ghee recipe is simple and easy, but not “instant”! You’ll need a couple of hours, of which hands-on time is about 10 minutes. There are ghee recipes out there that cook the ghee on Saute mode and it’s done in 20 minutes. I find that the low and slow method yields better-tasting nutty-flavored ghee.
And no, it’s not a typo – you set the Instant Pot on Slow Cook with the lid off so condensation doesn’t drip back into the butter. It’s fine to keep the lid on during the Slow Cook stage, but you may have some splatter in the second stage of cooking (Saute mode).
Here are some delicious recipes using ghee:
– Chicken Curry Soup
– Ethiopian Lentil Stew (Misir Wot)
– Rogan Josh
– Chicken Curry
– Cashew Butter Chicken
– Vegetarian Risotto
Tips and Substitutions
Equipment
There are a few kitchen items that I recommed for this recipe:
- Splatter screen to protect your countertop and floor in case the melted butter bubbles up. This can happen during the Slow Cook phase and the Saute phase.
- Fine mesh strainer to strain the ghee from the milk solids.
- Large mason jar or a few smaller jars.
Butter
I use butter made from grass-fed cows. I like to use Kerry Gold or Trader Joe’s butter for making ghee.
Although grass-fed butter is more expensive, I feel it’s worth it because good-quality ghee makes good quality recipes! I also find that there’s less foaming with the grass-fed butter.
The color of Kerrygold butter gives the ghee a wonderful golden color, as you see in my photographs. The choice of butter is entirely up to you; use what you like. Even regular supermarket butter works well.
I prefer to make ghee from unsalted butter. Salt is a preservative and therefore unsalted butter is fresher. It tastes more authentic and the leftover milk solids are not salty and can be used in desserts.
Also if you use unsalted butter, you won’t need to adjust your recipes to account for the salt.
But can you make ghee with salted butter? Yes, you can. If it’s all you can find, then go ahead and make ghee from salted butter.
Slow Cook vs. Saute
There are many Instant Pot ghee recipes that go directly into the Saute mode and skip the Slow Cook part of the recipe. And that’s fine, but you have a greater chance of burning the butter and that’s why I prefer this recipe. You melt the butter on Slow Cook mode and although it takes more time, it requires no babysitting.
That being said, you can skip the Slow Cook stage and melt the butter in Saute mode. Keep a very close eye on the butter to make sure it doesn’t brown too fast.
Temperature
When you’re programming Saute mode, it’s very important the temperature isn’t too high. Make sure it’s on Normal or Medium (Level 3 on some models) temperature.
Please note that the Instant Pot models vary and so the amount of time it takes for the milk solids to turn color may be different for you. For me, it takes about 9 minutes. You need to keep a close eye on the ghee and take it off heat when it’s a golden color.
To a certain extent, this recipe takes a little practice and experience. Maybe you’ll have darker ghee the first time, that’s okay! As long as it’s fragrant and not burned, it’s usable.
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, you might find it helpful to first read one of the following guides and then come back here to learn how to make this recipe.
- General Instant Pot Instructions for Beginners
- Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO EVO PLUS Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO NOVA Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO GOURMET Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot DUO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot PRO Beginner’s Manual
- Instant Pot PRO CRISP Beginner’s Manual
Instant Pot Ghee – Ingredients
- Butter
More details in the recipe card at the bottom of this post
How to Make Ghee in Instant Pot (Step by Step Instructions)
- Slow cook the butter.
- Turn on Saute mode.
- Allow the milk solids to darken.
- Strain the ghee.
Slow Cook Butter
- Place sticks of butter in Instant Pot.
- Leave the lid off. This will keep condensation from dripping into the melting butter.
- Press Slow Cook, press Adjust to set the temperature to Normal then press + or – till time shows 2 hours (2:00)
- The timer will count down to 0:00. After 2 hours, the timer will beep. Press Cancel.
Pro Tip
It’s possible that your butter may bubble up initially, while it’s melting. A splatter screen is really handy to make sure you don’t have butter splatter on your countertop.
Turn on Saute Mode
- The milk solids will have settled to the bottom and will still be pale yellow in color.
- Press Saute and press Adjust to set the temperature to Normal (medium heat level).
Allow Milk Solids to Darken
- Cover the pot with a splatter screen, because there may be some bubbling and splatter.
- While stirring often, cook till the milk solids turn a golden color, about 8-10 minutes.
- Be careful to keep your face away from the Instant Pot in case the ghee bubbles up.
- Press Cancel and let the ghee cool down. The milk solids will darken to a caramel color in the residual heat.
- If the milk solids start to darken too much, remove the inner pot from the Instant Pot, to cut off the heat source.
Milk Solid Colors at Each Stage
- If the milk solids are too light, the ghee will spoil quicker.
- Make sure the milk solids are a golden yellow color when you press Cancel.
- When they cool down in the residual heat of the Instant Pot they will become a caramel color.
Strain the Ghee
- Allow the ghee to cool completely.
- Strain the ghee through a fine-mesh strainer into mason jars.
- Store in a cabinet away from sunlight. Ghee will last for months at room temperature because all the milk solids have been removed. Storing in the refrigerator will make it last even longer.
Homemade Instant Pot Ghee
Ingredients
- 24 oz. butter (1 ½ lbs), preferably grass-fed
Instructions
- Place sticks of butter in Instant Pot.
- Leave the lid off. This will keep condensation from dripping into the melting butter. *
- Cook in Slow Cook mode for 2 hours at Normal temperature. Use a splatter screen if necessary.
- The milk solids will have settled to the bottom and will still be pale yellow in color. Turn off Instant Pot.
- Cover the pot with a splatter screen because there may be some bubbling and splatter.
- Select Saute mode and make sure the temperature level is at Normal, Medium or Level 3 (depending on the model). Cook in Saute mode for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often till the milk solids turn to a GOLDEN color. Don't be tempted to cook for longer to make them darker; the milk solids will darken more after the heat is turned off. (Be careful to keep your face away from the Instant Pot in case the ghee bubbles up.)
- Press Cancel and let the ghee cool down. The milk solids will darken to a CARAMEL color in the residual heat. If the color changes too quickly, remove the inner pot from the Instant Pot and place the inner pot on a heatproof surface.
- Allow to cool completely.
- Strain the ghee through a fine mesh strainer into mason jars or glass bottles that can be closed tightly.
- Store in a cabinet away from sunlight. Ghee will last for months at room temperature because all the milk solids have been removed. Storing in the refrigerator will make it last even longer.
Notes
- * If the butter starts bubbling up during the melting phase while in Slow Cook mode or during the Saute mode, use a splatter screen to keep your countertops from becoming messy.
- If the milk solids are too light, the ghee will spoil quicker.
- Every Instant Pot is different, so the times I’ve listed may be different for you. The important thing is to keep an eye on the milk solids and remove them from heat when they turn golden.
- See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips, and see the step-by-step instructions and photographs for details on what color the milk solids should be.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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ANNE says
Thank you so much for the Ghee in the Instant pot,so easy,so well explained.
Love it and will make again
Kind regards from New Zealand
Neena Panicker says
Hi Anne, thank you for your comment and I’m glad you enjoyed the ghee recipe!