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Are you a fan of a good Dirty Martini? 🍸🫒🧈 Then you have to try this butter recipe! Dirty Martini Terrine AKA the best elements of a dirty martini recipe in butter terrine form. I’ve made this several times and it keeps being a hit. There are a lot of ways to serve this, crackers and bread will work… but the king will remain a thinly sliced baguette fried in a pan with olive oil. This briny herb butter tastes amazing on that!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love Dirty Martini Terrine
This amazing Dirty Martini Terrine recipe brings the briny and tangy taste and then adds a creamy, herby, buttery deliciousness. It’s great for company because you make it ahead, and it’s so pretty! Every time I make it for people, they go nuts because it’s so out of the box, fun and delicious!
Prep Like a Pro
Soak Ahead
Give your olives plenty of time to marinate, the longer, the better! You need at least one hour, but you can do this the day before.
Room Temp Butter
Set the butter out 1-2 hours before you begin. You don’t want your butter melted for this one. You want it room temperature so it mixes well and doesn’t separate. Make sure you remember to set it out with enough time. This will take 1-2 hours.
Cheese Softening Trick
You want your cream cheese almost dip-like as you whisk for this Dirty Martini Terrine. Make sure your bowl is large enough to sit on top of the pot. The water should be simmering, not boiling.
Slice and Dry
Slice your olives very thinly and make sure to dry them well! You don’t want wet butter!
Layer Neatly
Lightly oil your mold so the terrine releases easily. Lightly tap the bottom of the mold on the counter between each layer to make sure it’s in there good!
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🔥Chef Nadia’s Tip🔥
Make sure the cream cheese and butter are the same temperature so they don’t separate. Whisk in the butter a little bit at a time. If it separates, let it cool and mix again. I like to start by fully softening the cream cheese and then adding in the softened (not melted) butter a bit at a time. This is the trick for the creamy amazing texture in this Dirty Martini Terrine recipe.
Substitutions
- Castelvetranos → Castelvetranos are buttery and mild, but you can always use whatever your favorite olive is. Carignolas have a meatier bite and black Kalamatas are sharper and brinier.
- Blue Cheese → Any soft cheese will work here. Gorgonzola or even goat cheese could work.
- Vodka → Swap out for your favorite gin if that sounds better to you.
The Perfect Pairings
With a Dirty Martini Terrine, of course you need to start out with a delicious Dirty Martini! Some other great appetizers that would work well with this Radish Herb Butter Terrine on a charcuterie board would be Pan Con Tomate (one of my favs), Figs and Brie and Stuffed Dates.
Cocktail Hour
Milky Dirty Martini 🍸🫒
Appetizers
Pan con Tomate 🍅
Appetizers
Figs and Brie
Appetizers
Stuffed Dates
Dirty Martini Terrine: Questions Answered
Because of the fresh herbs in this butter, you can make this Dirty Martini Terrine recipe about 2 days ahead.
Butter terrine is a French recipe that layers flavored butter in a mold and then chills it till firm. It’s a beautiful way to decorate your butter while making it delicious!
For aesthetics, of course, but I like the texture of doing it this way too!
One of my favorite butters is Kerrygold Butter and that’s the one I’m using for this recipe. Whatever butter you use, make it a good one – it’s a star of the recipe.
They are mini loaf molds from Amazon.
Dirty Martini Terrine 🍸🫒
Equipment
- pot
- large heatproof bowl
- mini loaf mold, I Used These Loaf Molds From Amazon
Ingredients
- 1 cup castelvetrano olives
- ⅓ cup vodka
- ¼ cup olive brine
- 2 lemons, zest only, divided
- 6 oz cream cheese, cubed
- black pepper, to taste
- 4 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
- 6 oz blue cheese, sliced, adjust to taste
- ⅓ cup chives, fresh, chopped
- 6 green onions, chopped
Instructions
- Minimum 1 hour to a couple of days ahead: Soak the olives soak in the vodka, olive brine and the zest of 1 lemon. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
- Bring a pot of water to a simmer. Place your cream cheese in a heatproof bowl and place it over the pot of simmering water. Let fully soften.
- Whisk in 2½ tbsp of the vodka/brine mixture to the softened cream cheese. Add lemon zest and black pepper to taste.
- Add in the room temperature butter, a bit a time, making sure it's fully mixed before you add more.
- Slice olives thinly and pat dry.
- Rub some oil in your mini loaf mold. Now we start layering. The order is the cream cheese butter, olives, a slice of blue cheese (measure with your heart) in the center and fill the sides with chives and green onion. Repeat 2-3 times. Make sure to finish the top layer with the cream cheese butter.
- Cover and place in the fridge. Let it set for a few hours and up to a day.
Kitchen Cam
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Amazing! Made this for a retro cocktail party and it was a huge hit. A keeper for sure. Thank you
Hey Deb, what a great idea for a retro cocktail party! I love this terrine ♥️ I’m glad it was a hit!