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The Best Butter Dishes of 2024
Butter dishes are a timeless addition to any table, serving both functional and aesthetic purposes. These charming containers offer a stylish way to present and store butter, whether it's for everyday use or special occasions. Available in a variety of materials, such as porcelain, ceramic, or glass, butter dishes come in an array of designs to suit every taste and décor. From classic to contemporary, there's a butter dish to complement any table setting. Beyond their decorative appeal, butter dishes also serve a practical role, keeping butter at the ideal temperature for spreading. With their simple yet elegant presence, butter dishes, like our favorite the Sweese Butter Dish, effortlessly enhance the dining experience, adding a touch of sophistication to every meal.
Our Top Picks For Butter Dishes
View all ContentsThe Best Butter Dishes
Best Overall
Sweese truly excels in crafting Butter Dishes, and if you’re willing to spend a few extra bucks, then this butter dish will meet all sorts of reasonable demands! The Sweese 306.101 comes with an elegant design and a choice between several colors, making it customizable to fit nearly any table setting. Its compact yet voluminous geometry allows for fitting a full “American size” butter stick that conveniently doesn’t touch the top of the lid. Looks-wise, it’s a bit smaller and compact than the 307.104 one!
Moreover, the dish is also quite versatile as its porcelain bottom also serves the secondary purpose of a small cutting board. On top of that, the bottom piece can also be used as a little serving platter for edibles such as cakes and cookies. Lastly, with the above-mentioned reasons in mind, it is no surprise that this butter dish would also serve as a great gift for special occasions.
Pros
- Has a lip that keeps the inside butter from sliding around
- Lead-free and freezer-safe
- Available in 8 colors
- Has a little knob on the top – allowing you to gently lift and cover your butter
Cons
- The packaging it comes in is substandard – may end up breaking/cracking your dish
Stylish and Elegant
While this butter dish is tailored towards the Christmas season, its simple yet impressive design genuinely fits any kitchen décor no matter where you are. It’s designed to easily fit in a regular stick of butter (8 tbs of butter) in it.
This two-piece set is made from a material known as Dolomite, which is often compared to marble in terms of looks and durability while being substantially cheaper. The dish is also heat and pressure-resistant and it works very well when it comes to keeping the butter maintained in a nice rectangular shape.
Pros
- Offers a variety of matching kitchenware that you can add to your set
- Oven and microwave-safe
- Takes up relatively less counter space
- It is heat and pressure resistant
Cons
- Dolomite is vulnerable to scratches and etchings
Best Functionality
If you’re looking for a butter dish that upholds a high standard of functionality, regardless of how it looks and what specific setting its design complements, then the Sweese 307.104 will be perfect for you! This two-piece butter dish comes with a well-shaped knob made from a slip-resistant material called Porcelain, allowing you to say goodbye to any worries about the lid slipping out of your hand!
Another interesting aspect of its ergonomic design is a small ridge that has been raised on the dish piece. This goes a long way in keeping the lid in place despite any form of locomotion, as well as preventing the inside butter sticks from sliding around while cutting. Lastly, let’s not forget that it is also highly functional due to several important properties such as being lead-free (lead is a key contributor to contamination of edibles), freeze-safe, oven-safe, and microwave-safe.
Pros
- Can be easily cleaned in dishwashers
- Available in a variety of different color options, including red, blue, yellow, and white
- Available in two sizes; large enough to hold a standard-sized western or eastern butter stick
Cons
- Relatively heavy despite the presence of a knob
Most Durable
The AISBUGUR Black Butter Dish has arguably the best durability out of every other butter dish on this list. This is best suited for the type of people who like to keep their butter dishes out on the counter for long periods. The dish is made from ceramic, one of the sturdiest materials in the market, even harder than conventional structure metals. Moreover, ceramic is corrosion-resistant and invulnerable to stains and blemishes, making sure your butter dish stays clean and fresh.
Furthermore, an interesting addition to this butter dish is its unique bamboo lid design which easily outdoes every other synthetic material in terms of longevity. What’s more, is that the lid is designed with a groove that comes integrated with a high-quality stainless-steel butter knife, so you don’t even have to invest in one of those separately. Lastly, the lid also features a tightly secured silicon ring, an installment that helps keep the inside butter fresh for much longer without making it lose its texture or taste.
Pros
- Can be easily cleaned in dishwashers
- Comes with a variety of different color options, including red, blue, yellow, and white
- The bamboo lid is also designed to be used as a small chopping board
- Lightweight kitchenware which makes it easy to carry around
Cons
- The design pales in comparison to the rest
- It is big and bulky – ends up taking a lot of space
Cute Aesthetic
The SWEEJAR Ceramic Butter Dish is a fine piece of kitchenware that meets the general requirements of any household, plus some more. Its overall geometry features an elegant, curved radius edge that is lined with thick walls. The thick walls ensure that the butter inside neither gets too hard when put in the refrigerator nor gets too soft when left at room temperature.
It comes with a choice of several colors; black, green, red, cyan, blue, white, and yellow, making it the ideal gift for several occasions.
Pros
- Can store both western and eastern butter sticks
- Made out of durable ceramic – making it microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator and oven-safe
- Has a beautiful, unique design
- Available in 8 colors
Cons
- The lid needs to be slightly larger and taller to easily fit in some standard butter blocks in their prime
Buying Guide: Butter Dishes For Your Kitchen
Butter dishes are a hyper-specific kitchen item, which, as you can see, vary in terms of size, color, functionality, and design. While the above list of best butter dishes caters to a wide variety of requirements pertaining to all the important factors, it is ultimately important for you, as the consumer, to buy one that suits you best! To achieve this, you must look into the brands of butter that you often purchase along with your design motivations. This includes examining the kind of aesthetic you want to perfect in your household, be it simple enough to accommodate several butter dishes or specific enough to allow a select few.
Factors To Consider When Buying a Butter Dish
Numerical and qualitative descriptions can be confusing if you don’t know what characteristics you should be looking for in your perfect butter dish. However, fret not, for we have simplified what you should be looking at when buying a butter dish:
Material
The material your butter dish comes made from is very important as it will dictate the different kinds of properties your dish will come with.
A crucial consideration to make is how sturdy you want your butter dish to be. Butter dishes are commonly crafted from plastic, ceramic, porcelain, glass, crystals, as well as some unorthodox materials such as stainless steel, stone, enamel, and even wood.
While plastic is quite durable, shatterproof, and on top of that, very lightweight – it is also very common and easily affordable.
Glass is another viable option which, while being prone to breaking and chipping, is the easiest to clean and very attractive to the external eye. Lastly, ceramic and porcelain are the most common materials used for crafting butter dishes as they support coloring and many kinds of design.
Capacity
The size/capacity of your butter dish should just be enough to fit in at least a butter brick of your favorite brand. It should not be too large so as to take up too much space, completely defeating its purpose of keeping your kitchen tidy and organized.
Conversely, it should also not be too small such that a regular butter stick doesn’t fit in it, forcing you to cut it down to size, which is tedious to do every day. Having a butter dish with a slightly taller lid piece is a plus as it prevents your butter from coming in contact with its surface and potentially melting (albeit slightly).
Style
While some people view kitchenware for its pure functionality, many perceive them as a thing of beauty that, on top of doing what they do best, also adds to the kitchen’s décor. If you’re the type of person who is mainly concerned with keeping their butter fresh, creamy, and spreadable at all times, then a simple design will mostly suffice. You don’t need to go out of your way to examine the intricacies of its design and how it will impact the décor of your kitchen.
However, if you’re the kind of person who wants to promote a certain standard of décor in their kitchen, then you’ll really need to explore your options. You may also easily get your hands on designs pertaining to special occasions such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years’ Eve, etc.
People Also Asked
What is the point of a butter dish?
The purpose of a Butter Dish is to keep your butter soft, creamy, and spreadable without the need for reserving crucial space in the fridge. It works by shielding your butter from light, air and bacteria which are primarily responsible for degrading the quality of your butter.
How long does butter last in a butter dish?
If you keep the butter dish tightly sealed, then the inside butter can stay fresh at room temperature for up to two to three weeks. However, we would still recommend checking in on it from time to time as someone may unintendedly fiddle with it. Consequently, if left unchecked, your butter can darken, exhibit a foul odor, and/or taste very sour.
How often should I wash my butter dish?
We would recommend washing your butter dish between sticks to guarantee that it stays clean throughout. As far as the cleaning process is concerned, if your butter dish is dishwasher safe, then simply putting it in the dishwasher along with your other dishes should do the trick. Otherwise, washing by hand is always an option.
Can we put a butter dish inside the fridge?
Butter tends to get hard in the refrigerator, making it difficult to cut and spread the butter. However, there exist butter dishes like the SWEEJAR Ceramic Butter Dish which keeps your butter at the perfect temperature, even in the refrigerator.
