Churned cream with salt added, both for flavour and as a preservative. Salt levels vary between brands but average around 1/2 teaspoon per cup.
What it does in a recipe: The same fat, water and milk solids as unsalted butter, with seasoning already built in. Pick the swap that covers that job — the ratios below are written so you can act on them without doing any arithmetic.
Also called: Table butter
4substitutes
1close matches
Fats & oilscategory
Quick answer
Unsalted butter + salt
1 cup salted butter = 1 cup unsalted butter + 1/2 tsp fine salt
All substitutes, best first
4 ways to replace salted butter
Unsalted butter + salt
Closest match
1 cup salted butter = 1 cup unsalted butter + 1/2 tsp fine salt
This is exactly what salted butter is, and adding the salt yourself means you know precisely how much is in the dish.
MethodBeat the salt into softened butter, or whisk it into the dry ingredients if the recipe has any. Sprinkling it on at the end gives an uneven result.
Trade-offNone. If anything the seasoning is more consistent than a brand-to-brand average.
1 cup salted butter = 1 cup salted vegan butter block
Block vegan butters are salted to a similar level and built to a similar fat-and-water ratio, so both seasoning and structure carry across.
Trade-offSalt content varies more between vegan brands than between dairy ones, so taste before adding any further salt. Browning is weaker without milk solids.
Allergen checkMost vegan blocks are based on soy, coconut or nut oils, and recipes change between production runs. Check the ingredient panel every time you buy, and let a clinician rather than a recipe guide decisions about a diagnosed allergy.
Margarine
Reliable
1 cup salted butter = 1 cup salted stick margarine
Stick margarine is formulated to butter's roughly 80% fat content, so it measures and behaves similarly in creaming and melting.
Trade-offCookies spread more and set softer, and the flavour is noticeably plainer. Tub margarines hold much more water and should not be used here at all.
Allergen checkMany margarines contain soy oil or soy lecithin, and a good number include buttermilk or whey, so they are not automatically dairy-free. Read the panel before serving anyone with a dairy or soy allergy, and confirm severe cases with the manufacturer.
Ghee + salt
Reliable
1 cup salted butter = 7/8 cup ghee + 1/2 tsp fine salt
Ghee is pure butterfat, so a little less matches the fat in salted butter, and the salt is added back separately.
Trade-offBetter for high-heat cooking than butter, but there is no water for steam and no milk solids to brown, so it is a poor swap in pastry or a pan sauce that relies on butter to emulsify.
Salt levels differ enough between brands — roughly 1/4 to 3/4 tsp per cup — that anything where seasoning is critical is worth making with unsalted butter and your own salt.
Cooking around an allergy? Diet tags here describe the ingredient itself, not any particular brand. Processed products change formulation without notice and shared production lines are common, so read the label on everything you use. A severe allergy is a medical matter — confirm with the manufacturer or your clinician rather than relying on a substitution chart.