Seafood Butter Sauce

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Garlicky, lemony and spicy, this Seafood Butter Sauce is quick and easy to make and the perfect sauce to serve with your favorite seafood! 

If you’re not familiar with seafood butter sauce, it’s a rich melted butter sauce with loads of garlic, a hint of lemon and a delicious blend of herbs and spices, including Old Bay seasoning.

We enjoy this seafood butter sauce recipe on the spicy side, and usually serve it with Instant Pot shrimp for a mouth watering appetizer, or this Cajun seafood boil or crawfish boil, when we want to impress guests.

Jump to:

• Why this recipe works
• Ingredients
• Step by step instructions
• Expert tips
• Common questions
• Serving options
• Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Why this recipe works

1. It’s quick and simple to make. It takes just 20 minutes and requires ingredients you probably already have in your fridge and pantry! 
2. You can serve it with any type of seafood like these broiled scallops or sous vide lobster tail.
3. The sauce is customizable, so you can make it spicier, sweeter or even more garlicky. You can also make it in advance and store it!

Ingredients

For a full list of ingredients and quantities, check out the recipe card at the end of this post. 

You’ll need 1 stick of butter for this recipe, or ½ a cup. I prefer to use unsalted butter so I can control the saltiness of the sauce. If you only have salted butter, you may wish to reduce or omit the added salt in the recipe.

The sauce is garlicky, so the recipe calls for 4 garlic cloves. Feel free to add another clove if you like your butter sauce extra garlicky. 

A classic addition to seafood butter sauce is Old Bay seasoning, so you’ll need 1 teaspoon for this sauce. Old Bay seasoning is a blend of different herbs and spices with a mix of savory and spicy flavors.

For additional spicy and smoky flavor, the recipe calls for ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper and ½ teaspoon of smoked paprika.

Lemon complements the butter and garlic flavor, so you’ll need 2 teaspoons of lemon juice (use freshly squeezed) and 1 teaspoon of lemon pepper seasoning. 

To balance the savory and spicy flavors, the sauce also includes 1 tablespoon of honey to add a hint of sweetness. You can substitute maple syrup if you prefer.

Step by step instructions

Melt the butter over medium-low heat in a skillet or large saucepan.

Sauté the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes, until softened. *The goal is to soften, not to brown the onion and garlic.

Add the remaining ingredients and cook 2-3 minutes, being careful not to let the spices burn.

Remove and serve with steamed or poached seafood.

Expert tips

1. Feel free to double or triple the recipe. It can be stored in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
2. Be careful not to brown the onions and garlic. You just want to soften them in the butter.
3. You’ll also want to be careful not to boil the butter mixture. Just let it simmer. You don’t want the spices to burn.
4. If you’re not a fan of spicy, you can reduce or omit the cayenne pepper.
5. If you like it spicier, feel free to add a pinch of red pepper flakes or more cayenne pepper.
6. You can also change it up by adding some Cajun seasoning.

Common questions

Serving options

• This sauce is perfect for steamed, poached or sous vide fish like this sous vide cod or sous vide halibut.
• We love it as a dipping sauce for shellfish like this sous vide shrimp or air fryer scallops.
• Serve it drizzled over this seafood rice, scallop scampi or Instant Pot shrimp scampi.
• You can even enjoy it with chicken! We sometimes serve it with this air fryer whole chicken.

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Recipe