Laura the Gastronaut > Julia Child > Sauces > Snail Butter

Snail Butter

February 22, 2021 | Updated January 17, 2023 | Laura

*This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please see full disclosure policy for details.
*The views expressed on this blog are my own.

Julia Child's Snail Butter

✽ Recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I | Julia Child ✽

Julia Child Recipe 165 | 363 recipes to go!

✽ Snail Butter [Beurre pour Escargots], p. 103

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✽ Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I was written by Julia Child who co-authored with Simone Beck & Louisette Bertholle and was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1961.

✽ You can buy Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I which contains these recipes here. (affiliate link)

The purpose of this Julia Child section of my blog is to document my journey of learning how to cook. To show my successes, my failures, and what I learned along the way.

Since I didn't create these recipes (if only!), I do not post exact amounts of ingredients or word-for-word instructions. If any of these recipes spark your interest, I highly recommend you buy Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (affiliate link). It's a great investment and learning tool and contains hundreds of classic recipes.

I hope that you enjoy reading my thoughts, learn something new, and leave inspired to try a new recipe. Bon appétit!

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Butter Count & Cost: Snail Butter

✽ Butter Count: +8 TB

✽ Cost: $1.29 [~$0.32 per serving]

Check out the total Julia Child butter count & cost here!

→ Looking for a different Julia Child recipe? Here's a list of all of the completed and pending Mastering the Art of French Cooking recipes!

Snail Butter + Homemade Bread = Love

Are you a little iffy about eating snails and about to not even begin reading this because of that iffiness? Don't run yet! This post is mostly just about our beloved friend, butter- lots and lots of butter.

This butter is called snail butter because it is the butter that most cook their escargot in. However, it is lovely on a piece of freshly baked bread as well. I should know.. I ate a lot of pieces slathered in this delicious gold.

Julia Child's Beurre pour Escargots: Rating

✽ Laura's Rating: 8

✽ Brian's Rating: 7.5

This butter was very highly rated for my husband and I. At the moment I was eating it, I probably could have rated it higher, but it didn't seem fair that a butter recipe received the same high rating as some of the previous masterpieces I've cooked from this book.

I did decide to cook snails in the butter. It just seemed right since that is the title of this recipe. I found these canned snails on Amazon (affiliate link).

I was a little nervous about buying snails online, but I think for $15 these snails are so worth it. While I didn't enjoy the buttered snails as much as the buttered bread, they were far from terrible. We made a simple pasta to accompany the snails, and that was indeed a good decision. I'm not sure I could have stomached a dozen snails on their own. My husband, on the other hand, could have eaten all the snails by himself.

Snail Butter: Questions

✽ What is compound butter?

Compound butter, known as beurre in French, is a butter that has been mixed with other ingredients. Common additions include herbs, garlic, shallot, spices, and honey. The butter is softened prior to adding in the other ingredients so you are left with a creamy spreadable butter that have lots of flavor!

✽ What can you use this snail butter for?

The most obvious answer- snails! I covered escargot with this snail butter, popped them in the oven, melted some Parmesan on top, and served with pasta.

This flavored butter is also amazing on a piece of warm French bread. You can also use it for broiled meats, fish, mussels, clams, or oysters.

✽ How do you cream butter?

I simply let the butter soften at room temperature and then mashed/stirred it with a fork until it was light and creamy. To get it really creamy, use a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed for a couple of minutes. The butter will be pale yellow, fluffy, and light. You can also cream it by pounding it in a bowl with a pestle.

Looking for more Julia Child butter recipes?

→ Check out all of the butter recipes that I've completed so far!

Fun Escargot Facts

*Find these facts plus lots more on Mobile Cuisine.*

✽ How many snails do the French eat?

France consumes 40,000 metric tons each year!

✽ How slow are snails?

Really slow! Some snail move as slow as 0.0004 miles an hour.

✽ What is heliculture?

Heliculture is the science of growing snails for food.

✽ How long have people been eating snails?

People have been eating snails since at least ancient Roman times. In fact, the oldest surviving cookbook written by Apicius had a snail recipe.

How to Make Snail Butter

Julia Child Butter

This butter is quick to whip up! First, cream the butter well. I kept my butter out at room temperature to soften it up a bit and used a fork to smash it until it was light and creamy.

Beurre pour Escargots

Then the minced shallots must be twisted in a towel so that all of their juices are extracted. The shallots, mashed garlic, parsley, and seasonings are beaten into the butter.

Beurre pour Escargots Julia Child

At first, I thought I would throw the snails into a skillet with the butter to warm them up. I then decided that the oven was the way to go. I put them in a small gratin dish, covered them with butter, and baked them for about six minutes until warm.

Snails Cooked in Butter

I topped the snails with some Parmigiano Reggiano and cooked for a minute more to melt the cheese. We whipped up a quick simple pasta and served the snails on top of that with freshly made homemade bread.

Escargot Julia Child

While I'm not quickly running out to go pick up some more snails any time soon, this did end up being a very nice dinner.

Julia Child Snail Pasta

*This blog, Laura The Gastronaut, and this post were/are not endorsed or supported by Julia Child or The Julia Child Foundation.

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Category: Julia Child, Sauces Cuisine: French
Keywords: snail butter recipe, julia child compound butter recipe, garlic butter, french butter recipe

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More Recipes from the Sauce Chapter:

Parsley Butter (another herbed butter great for broiled meats and fish)
Sour Cream Dressing-Dill Sauce (this sauce is so easy and so delicious)
Pot-au-Feu (you just can't go wrong with homemade mayo)
→ Check out all of the completed Julia Child sauce recipes!

✽ You can find this recipe and all the other Julia Child recipes I make in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I (affiliate link).
Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. I was written by Julia Child who co-authored with Simone Beck & Louisette Bertholle and was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1961.

✽ Check out my Julia Child Recipe Checklist to see a list of all my completed and pending recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking!

Bon appétit!

February 22, 2021 by Laura Ehlers

*This Snail Butter blog post may contain some Amazon affiliate links. These link to products that I personally use and recommend. If you purchase anything using my links, it will not cost you anything. It will though give laurathegastronaut.com some financial support which helps me keep this blog running. Thank you for reading my blogs and your continued support.