Ramp Butter Recipe (+ 5 More Ramps Recipes!) - Vegetarian 'Ventures (2024)

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This post explains how to prepare ramps, how to cook ramps, and what these wild onions are. I’m also giving you a ramp butter recipe, plus I’m sharing 5 more ramps recipes!

What Are Ramps?

Heyya! Welcome to my newest series, Simple Sundays! I’ve been longing to get back into checking in more than once a week so I’ve decided having a simple recipe or even round-up on Sundays may be my answer. This series won’t run every Sunday but I’m hoping it’ll be a good excuse for me to pop in more often in addition to my extensive weekly posts (that really do take a long time to put together).

This week I’m talking about the my favorite spring produce: ramps! These spring onion gems are known by all sorts of different names: wild ramps, spring ramps, wild onion ramps, onion ramps, and wild leek ramps. For anyone not familiar with ramps, as you can guess by the names, they are a wild onion that taste a bit like a mix between onions and garlic. Their growing season is so short and limited that they’ve gained a cult following as food associated with early spring (and are rather hard to get your hands on since most grocery stores do not carry them).

If you live in the Eastern US and some part of the Midwest, check your local farmer’s market in April and May to try and get your hands on a batch so you too can cook with ramps.

read more: My 10 Favorite Spring Recipes Worth Making This Weekend

5 Easy Ramps Recipes

Once you’ve acquired your first batch of spring ramps, you are probably a bit confused on how to prepare them, yeah? Since they can be rather strong tasting, I do recommend cooking (sauteing, blanching, etc) them before adding to your dish.

You can use ramps anywhere that you might use spring onions or scallions, but let me help you with 5 suggestions for how I like to cook with ramps:

1. Ramp Butter

This may be my favorite way to prepare wild ramps since it’s so beyond easy and such a great way to fancy up a dish. My favorite way to enjoy ramp butter is on salty baked or smashed potatoes. Ramp butter would also be excellent in savory oatmeal or tossed with fresh pasta. /// RECIPE: See below!

2. Spring Quiche

Throw them into eggs. My first encounter with ramps was a quiche I made in 2014. It’s such a great way to showcase these spring onions without making them the center of attention. /// RECIPE: Loaded Vegetable Spring Quiche.

3. Ramps on Toast

Sautéed on toast. If you haven’t noticed a pattern already, the key for me to is to keep the preparation simple to really enjoy the flavor. Sometimes all you need is a little lemon juice and thick sliced bread. /// RECIPE: Simple Sautéed Ramps with White Beans.

4. Spring Salad

Toss them into a salad! Greens are just starting to pop up again in most areas of the US so why not utilize them in a big spring salad. Just don’t forget to cook the ramps a bit first to tame their flavor. /// RECIPE: Vegetarian Wheatberry Spring Salad.

5. Spring Ramen Soup

Throw them into a soup or stew. They work great in place of any recipe that might call for spring onions so find a favorite veggie heavy soup and mix them on in! /// RECIPE: Vegetarian Spring Ramen.

What’s Needed for Ramp Butter?

In today’s blog post, I’m sharing my go-to ramp butter recipe (which is probably my favorite ramps recipe ever since it’s so easy to make!). Here’s what you’ll need to make ramp butter:

• Ramps
• Unsalted butter
• Lemon juice
• Salt and pepper

How to Make Ramp Butter

As I’ve already mentioned, ramp butter couldn’t be easier to make! Here are the basic steps to making this ramps recipe at home:

1. Wash the spring ramps thoroughly (I’ve given instructions on how to do so in the recipe card below).
2. Cut the ramps into small chunks, then sauté in butter until softened.
3. Add all the ramp butter ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth.

How Long Does Ramp Butter Last?

If stored in an airtight container in the fridge, this homemade ramp butter should last up to 1 week.

Tips for Making Ramp Butter

Cooking the wild ramps is a key step in this recipe. The wild ramps need to soften a bit before you blitz them up in the butter, otherwise the texture and flavor won’t be right.

I used unsalted butter in this ramps recipe, but you’re welcome to use salted if that’s all you have on hand. Just keep in mind that using salted butter means you won’t need to add any additional salt!

Ramp butter can be enjoyed atop potatoes, toast, savory oatmeal, pasta, bagels, and more!

Want More Vegetarian Spring Recipes?

• Cottage Cheese Toast Ideas
• Chive Blossom Vinegar (+ 5 Ways to Use It!)
• Cauliflower Steak with Carrot Top Pesto
• ALL OF MY SPRING RECIPES!