Last reviewed on 12 September 2026.
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This page sets the two side by side on what can be measured: fat and calories, saturated fat and cholesterol, behaviour under heat, lactose, salt and the claims printed on premium jars. Whether ghee belongs in a heart-healthy diet at all is a separate question with its own page.
What is the difference between ghee and butter?
Ghee is butter with the water and milk solids removed. Butter is cream churned until the fat globules clump together, leaving a product that is about 80 to 82 per cent fat, around 16 per cent water and a small amount of milk protein, lactose and minerals, plus salt in salted versions. To make ghee, butter or malai is heated until the water boils away and the milk solids brown and sink, and the clear fat is strained off. The browning is what gives ghee its nutty aroma, and it separates ghee from European clarified butter, which is strained before the solids colour.
How many calories are in ghee versus butter?
Ghee has about 900 kcal per 100 g, or roughly 45 kcal in a level teaspoon of 5 g. Butter has about 720 to 740 kcal per 100 g, which comes to about 36 kcal a teaspoon. Gram for gram, ghee carries about a quarter more energy, simply because none of its weight is water. Per gram of fat the two are identical. The teaspoon is where the difference shows: a spoonful of ghee brushed on a roti adds nearly half again to its calories, as the page on calories in one chapati works out.
Which has more saturated fat, ghee or butter?
Per 100 g, ghee does, because it is more concentrated. As a share of the fat, the two are nearly the same, roughly 60 to 65 per cent saturated in both. USDA FoodData Central lists about 62 g of saturated fat per 100 g of anhydrous butter oil, the closest equivalent to ghee, against about 51 g for salted butter. That works out to about 3 g in a teaspoon of ghee and 2.5 g in a teaspoon of butter. Cholesterol follows the same pattern, at roughly 250 mg per 100 g of ghee and 215 mg for butter. Swapping one for the other changes very little.
Is ghee healthier than butter?
Not in any way the evidence can show. Both are concentrated milk fat, both supply vitamin A, and the small amounts of protein and calcium in butter are too minor to matter. Ghee is often credited with butyric acid, which does nourish the cells lining the gut, but butyrate makes up only a few per cent of milk fat, and the gut's main supply comes from bacteria fermenting fibre. The case for ghee in Ayurveda rests on tradition and on its use as a carrier for herbs. What ghee does to cholesterol and weight is covered in the sibling post is ghee good for you.
Why is ghee better for tadka and frying?
Because butter's milk solids burn. Butter starts to brown and then blacken at around 150 degrees Celsius, leaving bitter specks, which is why it suits gentle heat. Ghee has no milk solids left to burn, so its smoke point sits comfortably above 200 degrees, with figures around 250 often quoted. That makes ghee the natural choice for tadka, puris, roasting suji for halwa and cooking parathas on a hot tawa. Butter belongs where its creamy flavour stays intact: finishing dal makhani, spreading on toast or pav, and baking, where its water helps create steam and texture.
Can people with lactose intolerance eat ghee?
Usually, yes. Clarifying removes almost all the lactose and most of the casein, so ghee contains only traces. Butter itself holds under a gram of lactose per 100 g, which many lactose-intolerant people tolerate in the amounts spread on bread. Lactose intolerance and milk allergy are different conditions, though. An allergy is a reaction to milk protein, and even the traces in ghee can trigger it in sensitive people. A child with a diagnosed milk allergy should not be given ghee unless the paediatrician or allergist has agreed to it. The wider approach is on the lactose intolerance diet page.
Does salted butter raise blood pressure?
It adds salt, though usually not much. Salted butter contains roughly 1.5 to 2 per cent salt, and USDA lists about 640 mg of sodium per 100 g. A 10 g pat on toast therefore brings about 65 mg of sodium, a small share of WHO's limit of under 5 g of salt, or 2 g of sodium, a day. It adds up for someone who spreads butter generously several times a day or who has been told to restrict salt. Unsalted butter and homemade white makhan avoid the issue, and ghee contains no added salt at all.
What is A2 ghee, and is it worth the price?
A2 refers to a type of beta-casein, one of the proteins in milk. Milk from many Indian breeds, such as Gir and Sahiwal, carries mainly the A2 form, and some research suggests A2 milk may cause less digestive discomfort for some people, though the evidence is limited and mixed. Ghee, however, is almost pure fat with barely any protein left in it, so the protein type makes little sense as a selling point. FSSAI issued an advisory in 2024 asking sellers to drop A1 and A2 claims from dairy labels, then withdrew it for further consultation. Buy A2 ghee for taste or principle, not for health.
Is bilona ghee different from ordinary ghee?
In flavour, often; in nutrition, barely. Bilona ghee is made the traditional way, by setting milk into curd, churning the curd with a wooden churner to separate the butter, and then heating that butter into ghee. Ghee made from cultured butter has a slightly tangy, deeper aroma that many people prize. Commercial ghee is usually made from cream or white butter directly. Either way, what reaches the jar is milk fat with the same calories and much the same fatty acids. Claims that bilona ghee is more digestible or kinder to the heart have no good studies behind them.
Is homemade ghee better than packaged ghee?
Not nutritionally, but you know what went into it. Many families collect malai in the fridge over a week or two, churn or heat it, and keep the browned residue for parathas or sweets. Packaged ghee in India must meet the FSSAI standard, which sets a minimum milk fat of 99.5 per cent and a maximum moisture of 0.5 per cent and includes tests designed to detect foreign fats. Adulteration with vanaspati or other fats still surfaces in enforcement drives, so buy sealed ghee from an established dairy source with an FSSAI licence number on the pack rather than loose ghee of unknown origin.
How the fat is actually made
Knowing the process is what makes the labels legible, whether you make it at home or buy it sealed.
Collect the malai
Many households skim the cream off boiled milk and keep it in the fridge over a week or two until there is enough to work with.
Churn it, or heat it directly
The bilona route sets the milk into curd first and churns that with a wooden churner to separate the butter. The quicker route heats malai or white butter straight away.
Cook the water off
Keep heating until the water has boiled away and the milk solids brown and sink. That browning is what gives ghee its nutty smell and separates it from European clarified butter, strained before the solids colour.
Strain the clear fat
Pour off the golden fat and keep the browned residue at the bottom for parathas or sweets, as most households do.
Or buy it sealed
Packaged ghee has to meet the FSSAI standard for milk fat and moisture. Buy sealed from an established dairy with a licence number on the pack rather than loose ghee of unknown origin.
Is cow ghee different from buffalo ghee?
Mainly in colour and texture. Cow ghee is yellow because cows pass beta-carotene from their feed into the milk fat, while buffaloes convert it to colourless vitamin A, so buffalo ghee is white and often grainier. Calories and fat content are essentially the same. Some people prefer cow ghee for its lighter aroma, and buffalo ghee is widely used in sweets for its body. Neither has a nutritional edge worth paying extra for.
Is ghee or butter better for weight loss?
Whichever you will measure. At 45 kcal a teaspoon for ghee and 36 for butter, the gap is small next to the gap between a level spoon and a free pour, which can easily hold three spoons' worth. Pick the fat that suits the dish, use a teaspoon rather than tipping the jar, and count it in the day's visible fat along with cooking oil. The companion guide to choosing a cooking oil gives a daily total for all visible fats together.
Traditional dairy, understood properly
Ghee and butter are two of many traditional dairy foods whose claims clients ask about, alongside dahi, paneer, chaas and a growing shelf of fortified products. NNWA's Dairy and Functional Foods Nutrition course covers the nutrition of milk, fermented dairy, traditional dairy products, functional and fortified foods, lactose and dairy sensitivity, and gut health and probiotics. It runs four to six weeks at intermediate level, priced at 10,999 rupees in place of 15,999 or EMI of 917 rupees a month, and earns NNWA certificates.
The short verdict
Ghee and butter are the same milk fat in two forms. Ghee is denser in calories, about 45 kcal a teaspoon against 36, and both are around 60 per cent saturated. Ghee wins for tadka and frying because it has no milk solids to burn, keeps well and is nearly free of lactose; butter wins for spreading and baking. Salted butter adds a little sodium. A2 and bilona labels sell a story more than a benefit. Use either by the teaspoon and let the dish decide.