Foodanddrink

You’re storing your butter all wrong — this $11 container keeps it fresh, tasty, and spreadable

Food & Wine · Jul 17, 2026 08:45 · 3 min read

Say goodbye to cold, unspreadable butter.

I am a pretty good baker. Before making a recipe, I triple-check that I have all of the ingredients, my trusty stand mixer, and the necessary baking sheets. Despite all this prep, I inevitably make the same mistake every time: I forget to take the butter out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature ahead of time. And so I wait and get frustrated. After my most recent slip-up, I looked into different methods for softening butter quickly. That’s when I discovered I’ve been storing my butter all wrong.

Butter, it turns out, should be stored on the counter and not in the refrigerator; this way, it’s always soft and spreadable. As long as you keep butter in a dark place away from light and air, the butter won’t turn rancid or deteriorate. One popular storage tool is a ceramic butter crock (aka butter bell), which uses cold water to keep butter fresh outside the fridge, but it can get messy. That’s why more than 8,100 shoppers have given the Progressive International ProKeeper Butter Dish a five-star rating. Priced at just $11, this game-changing tool has been hailed as the “perfect solution” for storing butter the right way.

Progressive International ProKeeper Butter Dish with Lid

Progressive International ProKeeper Butter Container — Credit: Amazon

$11 at Amazon

The Progressive International ProKeeper Butter Dish with Lid looks like an ordinary butter dish, but it’s so much better. Both the base and the lid are made of durable BPA-free plastic, so unlike a ceramic butter dish or butter crock, it won’t break if it falls off your counter. And while many butter dishes have a lid that simply rests atop the base, the ProKeeper’s airtight lid has a silicone seal to lock it in place. The dishwasher-safe dish can accommodate a large stick of butter (up to 8 tablespoons) and has measurement markings along the base so you can accurately slice off a teaspoon or tablespoon while you meal prep.

“Of all the butter dishes I’ve tried, this is the very best,” said one pleased customer, who endured a decade of disappointment from other models, including a “messy” butter crock. Another shopper also found their butter bell crock problematic, with mold frequently forming on the butter. Since switching to the airtight ProKeeper, “I haven’t had mold issues at all,” they said.

Besides the fact that their sticks stay fresh, customers also love that the Progressive International ProKeeper Butter Dish means they always have gloriously soft butter at the ready, whether for their morning toast or a baking recipe. “It makes it easy to spread, easy to cook with, and easy to access all the time,” said one reviewer. Another shopper echoed the sentiment. “It is so nice to have room temperature butter that spreads easily on fresh bread or rolls,” they said. “I should have gotten this years ago.”

I couldn’t agree more. After years of trying to figure out how to soften butter quickly, I’m finally ordering the $11 ProKeeper Butter Dish for myself. In fact, I’ve already reserved a spot for it on my counter, right next to my stand mixer.