When You Know You're Not Using Enough Butter, According To Ree Drummond - Exclusive

Like Edie Sedgwick to Andy Warhol, butter is Ree Drummond's muse. The Pioneer Woman's fridge — as she happily admitted about a decade ago on her blog – is usually stocked with pounds of the deliciously fat-heavy churned cream. "It adds color, flavor, beauty, and joy to absolutely everything I cook," she affirmed.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that Drummond was exaggerating for the sake of internet scandal. Over a two-week period in 2011, Drummond wrote that she went through 121 pounds (that's 484 sticks) of butter. True to form, butter figures in the majority of The Pioneer Woman's most coveted recipes, including chicken-fried steaks, cinnamon rolls, and potatoes au gratin.  

Julia Child is indisputably butter's fairy godmother. Ree Drummond, however, is surely its most devoted apostle. As such, when Mashed sat down to talk exclusively with The Pioneer Woman, we had to ask her for the telltale signs that a dish doesn't have enough butter in it.

Forget pie crusts and pound cakes. You might be underestimating the importance of butter in more basic recipes, according to Ree Drummond. "I do use a lot of butter with my cooking," she told Mashed, "but I'm usually pretty judgemental about a lack of butter on simple things like skillet toast, or egg in the hole." 

Eggs in the hole happens to be Ree's husband, Ladd's, favorite way to start the day. "I made him three of them this morning. In situations like that, butter is definitely underutilized," Drummond explained. "For three egg in the holes — I used over half a stick of butter for Ladd's egg in the holes this morning. You've got to have the butter that sizzles the fried egg; you've got to have the butter for the bread to soak up."

The moral of the story? "Usually, any time bread is involved, I watch for enough butter," Drummond concluded. You heard it from the master herself.  

Catch more of Ree Drummond on "Big Bad Budget Battle" on Food Network, with new episodes airing Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT and streaming same day on discovery+. Fans can get Ree's top tips and recipes for saving time and money at FoodNetwork.com/shows/Big-Bad-Budget-Battle. Follow the competition on social media using #BigBadBudgetBattle and share your favorite budget-friendly dishes.