The thing I love most about birders is that they’re always willing to help and share their knowledge. So, when I asked what the best suet recipes were on our Facebook page, you responded with a host of great ideas.
For those who don’t know what it is, suet is a cake of fat and other ingredients (like seeds and fruits) that is fed to backyard birds in a suet feeder. It’s most advantageous to birds in the winter because that’s when they need high amounts of fat and nutrients to guide them through the frigid weather. Many birds that might not be attracted to seed feeders, like woodpeckers, love suet.
Even though you can buy pre-made suet, you can just as easily make some if you have a little time. Here are a few fantastic user-submitted recipes. (You can find more at our Facebook page.) Feel free to add your own in the comments section too!
Recipe 1
Ingredients:
1 part cornmeal
1 part crunchy peanut butter
1 part lard
Sun flower chips and raisins
Directions:Heat on stove on low until well mixed; then pour onto parchment lined cookie sheet and freeze. Cut to size for feeder.
—Recipe submitted by Erron Pujol
Recipe 2
Ingredients:
1 part Crunchy peanut butter
1 part Yellow cornmeal
Melted bacon grease
Directions:
Mix together. I press this mixture into the plastic suet containers from my store-bought suet. And, I rub it on the tree trunk. The birds love it!
—Recipe submitted by Gerre Foster Slaton
Recipe 3
Ingredients:
1 cup lard
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups flour
3 cups cornmeal
Directions:
Melt the lard and peanut butter, then add the other ingredients. I also throw in seed, nuts, or dried fruit as I have it. I press it into 3 bread pans. When it hardens, I cut each cake in half with a spatula and it pops out of the pans. This gives me six suet cakes that fit perfectly in my cages.
—Recipe submitted by Carrie Nygard
Recipe 4
Ingredients:
1 cup melted lard or beef suet
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups quick oats
2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar (optional)
Directions:Melt lard and peanut butter together on a low burner. Take off heat, and add remaining ingredients. Spread on a cookie sheet, and allow to cool in the refrigerator until the mixture is just hard enough to cut into pieces. Store in freezer bags and use as needed. The birds love it!
—Recipe submitted by Susan L. Fessler
Recipe 5
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups lard,
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (melt)
3 cups of cornmeal
3 cups quick cooking oats
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup shelled sunflower seeds
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
Directions:
Mix thoroughly and put in cupcake papers in cupcake pan. Refrigerate until hard. Take out of cupcake papers and put in plastic bag and store in fridge. My birds eat it all year long and it goes fast.
—Recipe submitted by Nancy Stewart Haydock
Recipe 6
My grandmother’s recipe:
1lb of lard and some bacon grease (or any fat of your choice)
2 cups of peanut butter
6 cups of cornmeal,
5 cups of flour
Directions:
Melt the lard and peanut butter together, then add the cornmeal and flour to the melted peanut butter and lard. Stir the mixture well. Put on a tray feeder, in a suet cage, or in a tin can. If you make the whole recipe and have too much, it freezes very well.
—Recipe submitted by Prairie Birder
69 Comments
I put some homemade peanut butter suet out about a month ago and the birds are still eating it; I’m just wondering how long it lasts before I need to replace it. I put some dried figs and raisins in mine, if that matters. Thanks for your help.
Hi Timothy,
Have you ever made no melt suet for the summer?
Thanks!
I do hear up the lard and peanut butter, it makes it easier to add your seed and fruit. If you do hear it up, do it slowly so you do not burn the lard. Enjoy!