Cowboy Butter

Cowboy Butter combines melted butter with lemon, garlic, mustard, and a variety of herbs and seasonings. It’s an incredibly delicious condiment or dip!

What is Cowboy Butter?

It’s a very delicious, zesty and herbaceous flavored butter that goes so well with steak and other foods such as cornbread, vegetables, or even seafood.

It has a combination of melted butter, lemon juice, fresh garlic, minced shallots, Dijon mustard, horseradish, plus fresh herbs including thyme, parsley and chives, and seasonings include salt, black pepper, and cayenne.

Cowboy Butter is basically a compound butter and it can be made with melted butter and served as a dippable sauce as we show. Or, or you can mix it up with softened butter that is then rolled, chilled, and sliced for serving.

What is compound butter?

A compound butter is any flavored butter with various ingredients mixed in. It originated in French cuisine as “beurre compose.” Compound butters can be savory or sweet.

See our savory Rosemary Compound Butter and Lemon Dill Compound Butter recipes.

See our sweet Honey Butter recipe.

Why you'll love Cowboy Butter

• The combination of flavors is fantastic! You’ll be tempted to drizzle and dip all of your foods in this luscious butter sauce!
• It’s made with simple ingredients – many that you might already have on hand.
• This is a versatile recipe, and you can adjust the flavors and ingredients to suit your family’s tastes.

Key Ingredients & Substitutions

• Butter – We start with unsalted butter so we can salt and season the finished mixture to our liking. (If you use salted butter, you’ll probably be able to skip the added salt at the end.) You could also use ghee (or clarified butter) which is butter with milk fat removed. But – the taste and consistency will change somewhat, so we recommend sticking with butter – especially since the milk fat is part of the strong appeal of this sauce.
• Lemon juice – Use freshly squeezed lemon juice as it has the best flavor. Note that we don’t typically recommend bottled lemon juice as it has a bitter aftertaste.
• Garlic – Use fresh garlic, not jarred.
• Shallots  
• Dijon Mustard
• Prepared Horseradish – Look for the jars that say “prepared” on the label and have little bits of shredded horseradish root showing through the glass like this. (Some brands are refrigerated in the deli or dairy aisles at the supermarket.) Avoid the horseradish that is already mixed in a cream sauce (some of those also say prepared horseradish, but have a creamy sauce look to them).
• Fresh Herbs – Including fresh chives, fresh parsley, and fresh thyme.
• Salt – Sea salt or Kosher salt
• Black Ground Pepper
• Cayenne Pepper

Special Tools Needed

• Small Food Processor – Three or four-cup capacity or smaller mini-chopper
• Small Saucepan
• Measuring Spoons
• Cutting board and Sharp Knife
• Small mixing bowl
• Whisk

How do I make Cowboy Butter?

1. Melt butter in saucepan. Pour into a mixing bowl and set aside to cool slightly.
2. Process all remaining ingredients in a food processor to a fine paste consistency.
3. Stir in processed ingredients into mixing bowl with butter. Whisk to combine.
4. Prepare foods to serve with the cowboy butter such as cornbread, steak, and asparagus.
5. Serve chilled as a spread, melted, and brushed onto foods or half-melted and whisked into a creamy consistency as we show in our pictures.

Cowboy Butter Serving Suggestions

• • Prepare our Perfect Pan-Seared Steak or Grill a Sirloin Steak. After the steak rests, slice it up and dip it into the Cowboy Butter as a delicious condiment.

• • Bake one of our delicious Cornbread recipes. Cut the cornbread into strips and dip it!

• • Cook some fresh asparagus following this easy recipe. Then dip the spears in butter.

• • You can spoon or spread Cowboy Butter on foods as well! Drizzle some over Grilled shrimp or Pan-Seared Scallops.
  • Chill the butter, then spread it on Corn on the Cob!

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I make Cowboy Butter ahead of time?  Yes, it can be used right after making or chilled and served later.
• How do I store leftovers?   Keep refrigerated in an air-tight container for up to a week.
• How do I reheat leftovers? Cowboy Butter can be melted in a pan, then whisked.
• Can I freeze?  Yes, this freezes very well in a sealed, airtight container or freezer bag.  

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You might like these other Condiment and Sauce Recipes:

• How to Make Honey Butter
• Lemon Butter Sauce (For Vegetables, Seafood, & Chicken)
• Rosemary Compound Butter
• Blender Hollandaise Sauce

Click here for more delicious Dressing & Sauce Recipes!

See the Recipes

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