Cowboy Butter Dipping Sauce
This cowboy butter dipping sauce is rich, zesty, savory and packed with flavor and deliciousness. Crafted with fresh herbs and a rich garlic butter, butter sauce is the perfect teammate for your grilled meats, veggies and so much more.
It is incredibly easy to make, and is a super versatile sauce that you can batch make too- just like my Carolina Gold BBQ sauce and lemon caper sauce.
The combination of melted butter, minced garlic, herbs and that hint of umami from the Worcestershire sauce makes this cowboy butter sauce an irresistible condiment to have in your kitchen.
Think of it as a compound butter of sorts- but better. You can use it as a spread if you want to, or enjoy it as a dipping sauce for steak and any other protein. If you love compound butters, also try my avocado butter spread recipe!
Quick Look
- 🔪Prep time: 5 minutes.
- ⏲️Cook time: 5 minutes.
- 👪 Servings: 4.
- 📋Main ingredients: Butter, garlic, mustard, lemon, red pepper flakes, Worcestershire sauce, green onions, cilantro, smoked paprika, thyme, salt and pepper.
- ♨️Cooking method: Melt butter in a pan 🡢 add remaining ingredients 🡢 take off heat, cool down and refrigerate.
- ⭐Difficulty: Very easy.
- 🥣Serving ideas: Use your leftover cowboy butter as a marinade or basting mixture for your meats and grills.
Jump to:
What's So Great About the Recipe?
- It's really really easy to make. All you need to do is a bit of chopping and then mixing everything together- that's it.
- It tastes incredible! I'm partial to my Cafe de Paris butter, but this compound butter is just next level deliciousness!
- It's perfect to prep ahead of time and use for months!
Recipe Ingredients
Butter: I started off with a generous amount of unsalted butter.
Lemon juice: Lemon juice brightens up the butter sauce and lends it some nice acidity and lemony flavor. You can use it fresh or settle for the bottled variety if you want to.
Lemon zest: You’ll also need a bit of lemon zest to make the butter more flavorful, with its hint of citrusy and tangy flavor.
Garlic: You’ll need lots of garlic, ideally fresh garlic to add some chunky bits of pungent flavor to the cowboy butter sauce.
Cilantro: I also added a generous amount of freshly chopped cilantro to add some freshness to the sauce.
Mustard: Most cowboy butter recipes call for the use of Dijon mustard, but I just used regular American mustard, and it turned out just as great! Sometimes, I end up using my homemade Chinese hot mustard here.
Worcestershire sauce: A dash of Worcestershire sauce added some extra deliciousness to the butter mixture.
Green onions: I used very finely chopped green onions to lend some freshness and a pop of color to the compound butter.
Red pepper flakes: Crushed red pepper flakes add a nice bit of texture to the butter sauce. You can also use jalapeno flakes if you want to.
Smoked paprika: I also added some smoked paprika for that subtle smoky flavor. You can just use a pinch of cayenne instead if you don’t have this.
Thyme: I used fresh thyme, but you could totally make do with some dried thyme too.
Salt and pepper: And of course, to season the sauce, I used some salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Use an infused salt like citrus salt for extra flavor.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- If you don’t have the cilantro that the recipe calls for, you can just use some flat leaf parsley instead.
- Don’t have Worcestershire sauce? A dash of your favorite hot sauce can work well too. I love using my homemade garlic habanero hot sauce and my homemade BBQ sauce here.
- If you don’t have green onions, you can use some chopped chives to add that freshness to the sauce.
- To make a vegan cowboy butter dipping sauce, use vegan butter as the base, and choose a vegan Worcestershire sauce as a substitute.
How to Make Cowboy Butter Dipping Sauce
Step 1: Start by zesting your lemon. Make sure you don't remove any white pith.
Step 2: Melt the butter in a small saucepan and transfer to a small bowl.
Step 3: Add all the remaining ingredients to the pan.
Step 4: Whisk well to combine and serve immediately or store for later.
💭Top Tip
For a sweeter flavor and a bit of texture, you can also add a finely chopped shallot into the mixture.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- I would recommend starting off with salted butter, and then adjusting the other ingredients and the salt as per your taste.
- You can also use sea salt instead of regular salt for some extra depth of flavor. I love using my herb infused salt, celery salt or parsley garlic salt here.
- Planning on using this sauce on raw meat like a butter rub? Let the butter sit out at room temperature for a while, and then use the softened butter instead for maximum flavor.
How to Use Cowboy Butter Dipping Sauce
You can enjoy this cowboy butter as a dipping sauce for your chicken bites, chicken wings, steak and any other fried foods of your choice. I love using leftovers as a marinade for my chicken wings, steak bites or even just some baby potatoes- they bring a beautiful caramelization and rich deliciousness to these once they're roasted.
And of course, you can also serve this as a garlic dipping sauce with some fries, crusty bread and other dips like spicy Italian dipping oil and lemon sour cream sauce, or even use it as a base for your stir fried dishes.
Troubleshooting and FAQs
The best way to store your leftover cowboy butter is to refrigerate it in an airtight container. It can stay good for up to a week, if not more.
You can then freeze this butter for months, and cut out nice little slices or pats of the compound butter to serve with your breads, crackers and other snacks.
More Dips and Sauces to Try
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried this Cowboy butter dipping sauce or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Cowboy Butter Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoon salted butter melted
- 1 lemon juiced and zested
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoon mustard
- 2 tablespoon cilantro finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon green onions minced
- 1 tablespoon thyme minced
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan and transfer to a small bowl.
- Add all the remaining ingredients to a bowl, and add the mix in the melted butter.
- Whisk well to combine and serve immediately or store for later.
Notes
- I would recommend starting off with salted butter, and then adjusting the other ingredients and the salt as per your taste.
- You can also use sea salt instead of regular salt for some extra depth of flavor.
- Planning on using this sauce on raw meat like a butter rub? Let the butter sit out at room temperature for a while, and then use the softened butter instead for maximum flavor.
