The Best Butter Dishes, Crocks, Bells, and Beyond

Next to dessert domes and bread boxes, I can’t think of many functional kitchen storage items that can so casually and effortlessly unveil food with a little ceremony as the butter dish. The best butter dishes should feel like a functional pedestal for your precious Camargue beurre, creamy Kerrygold, and everything (spreadable) in between. Consider, for example, this glass butter dish by Sophie Lou Jacobsen, which looks like it dances ballet when you’re out of the room:

Let’s address the common question conjured by butter dishes: “Can I leave my butter out at room temperature?” According to the USDA, butter can be left at room temperature for one to two days, and refrigerated for one to two months — although throngs of room temperature butter-obsessed subreddits might disagree. Exposure to air, light, and heat are what ultimately spoils butter, so you will want to be mindful of your kitchen’s temperature; and anything above 70 degrees Fahrenheit will usually give your butter a 48-hour lifespan. Butter, however, isn’t always considered a TCS (Time/temperature Control for Safety) food, because a lot of it, particularly in the United States, is pasteurized. Basically: Feel free to leave your butter out in a (gorgeous) dish all day as long as your kitchen is at an average or cool-ish room temperature, but it’s best to stash it in your fridge overnight to be safe.

The best butter dish for your needs depends on what you’re looking for on an aesthetic and practical level. Romanticize your countertops with some vintage majolica or a traditional butter bell; reach for a minimalist butter dish to compliment your Scandinavian dining table, or a trompe l’oeil dinner roll-shaped butter dish to impress dinner guests.

Butter Dishes vs. Butter Bells and Crocks

When shopping for a butter dish, you will generally notice rectangular, single- and double-stick butter containers made out of ceramic, stoneware, or glass. There are some delightful round butter dishes out there, too, for any Rodolphe le Meunier butter fans or folks who just prefer a round dish.

You can also try keeping your butter in a traditional 19th-century French-style butter bell or butter crock, which stores butter in a small, water-immersed vessel that provides an airtight seal on the container while ensuring your butter stays delightfully spreadable. These crocks help to keep your butter safe to eat while left out at room temperature for longer periods of time.

The Best Single Stick Butter Dishes

OXO Good Grips Butter Dish

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Let’s start with the basics. For folks who want to avoid the potential hazards of using a potentially slippery glass butter dish, OXO makes a very affordable plastic option with built-in stick measurements that will give clumsy cooks, people with kids, and high-traffic kitchens a sigh of relief. There are also little ridges on either end of the dish to hold the butter in place while you cut it. 

Polish Pottery Market Butter Dish

Prices taken at time of publishing.

My love for traditional Polish pottery deserves a post in its own right, but, for now, I’ll happily drool over this slightly domed ceramic butter dish; it manages to feel both folkloric and contemporary with its is graphic design, and it’s oven-, dishwasher-, and microwave oven-safe.

The Best Double Stick Butter Dishes

Le Creuset Stoneware Heritage Butter Dish

Prices taken at time of publishing.

For the Le Creuset-lover who already has everything else from the heritage cookware brand, this 4-inch wide stoneware dish is a timeless option with some nice, deep ridges and little textured handles (butter = slippery sometimes). 

Leslie Kanter Majolica Butter Dish

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Don’t forget to scope out sites such as eBay and Etsy for vintage butter dishes, including this radish-embellished stunner from ceramicist Leslie Kanter.

Ferm Living Oli Butter Box

Prices taken at time of publishing.

This Ferm butter dish is made out of recycled glass, and puts the real star of the show (that salty French butter) on full display. 

Match Pewter Convivio Double Butter Dish

Prices taken at time of publishing.

I can’t say for sure how it would feel to use a $200 pewter butter dish every day, but probably pretty great/like I was one of those rich cousins in Downton Abbey. 

The Best Round Butter Dishes

Bordallo Pinheiro Round Covered Butter Tomato

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Round butter dishes are often more whimsical than their rectangular or square counterparts. Just look at this tomato homage from Bordallo Pinheiro, the masterminds behind some of the best cabbageware majolica out there.    

Augarten Emperor Hand-Painted Porcelain Roll Dish

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Here’s an idea: Why not buy your butter-loving valentine this trompe l’oeil roll-shaped butter dish for the upcoming holiday instead of another gold-plated chain?  

Haand Butter Dish

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Leave it to Haand to master a perfectly minimal, round ceramic butter dish that comes in spring-ready colorways. And, as Haand reminds us, “Most butter at grocery stores comes in sticks — slice those in half and fit two halves in this sweet round shape.”

The Best Butter Crocks

Polish Pottery Butter Bell

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Finally, for a butter bell that feels story book-ready, look no further than this ornate Polish crock. As with its stick butter dish cousin, this jar is oven-, dishwasher-, and microwave-safe.