What does seaweed butter taste like?

Deeply savoury — the butter's sweetness against saline umami, like good anchovy butter without the fish. Laver gives the classic dark, mineral depth; dulse gives a smokier, rounder version.

Which seaweed is best for butter?

Laver is the traditional choice — it is the seaweed of Welsh laverbread and melts almost completely into the fat. Dulse flakes are the easy route, and a spoon of pepper dulse turns it into something close to truffle butter.

Can you freeze seaweed butter?

Yes — roll it into a log in baking parchment, chill, then freeze for up to three months. Slice rounds straight from frozen onto hot steak, fish or potatoes and let the pan heat do the rest.

Do you use fresh or dried seaweed for butter?

Dried is easier and safer to keep: rehydrate flakes for ten minutes in warm water, squeeze bone-dry, then work into softened butter. Fresh works too — blanch it briefly, chop fine and dry it well before mixing.

Seaweed Butter Recipe — East Neuk Seaweed

By Jayson Byles, forager & chef · August 2026

Seaweed butter is softened butter worked through with finely chopped rehydrated seaweed — laver for the classic, dulse for the smoky version — then rolled, chilled and sliced over anything hot. It is the fastest route from a foraged frond to a plate that makes people go quiet, and it freezes beautifully.

The recipe

Rehydrate two tablespoons of dried laver or dulse flakes in warm water for ten minutes. Squeeze them properly dry — water is the enemy of keeping butter.
Chop fine, then beat into 250g of softened good butter with a squeeze of lemon and a twist of black pepper. No extra salt if the seaweed is lively; taste first.
Spoon onto baking parchment, roll into a log, twist the ends like a cracker, and chill until firm.
Slice rounds over hot food, straight from the fridge or freezer. It keeps a fortnight chilled, three months frozen.

Dulse crisping in a hot pan — Dulse meets hot fat — the flavour that makes the butter

Where it belongs

On steak as it rests. On white fish and scallops. Melting into a baked potato — a dish we cook on the beach fire at workshops. Tossed through new potatoes, greens or hot pasta; under the skin of a roast chicken; on sourdough toast with a soft egg. One log, a dozen dinners.

Make it yours

A spoon of pepper dulse takes it towards truffle butter; a pinch of seaweed salt on the sliced rounds doubles down; smoked butter and dulse is the East Neuk answer to café de Paris. The method never changes — dry seaweed, soft butter, tight roll.

We spread this on flatbreads over driftwood fires most weeks — come taste it where it’s made, or find the full wild larder in Thriving in the Intertidal.

Seaweed Butter

The recipe

Where it belongs

Make it yours

Notes from the shore