This seafood boil sauce recipe is full of cajun flavor, can be made in less than 20 minutes and is perfect for dipping or pouring over your favorite seafood boils and steam pots.
There's nothing quite like a classic seafood boil. Steamed seafood like shrimp, king or snow crab legs, and mussels, paired with classic additions like andouille sausage and corn and potatoes are begging to be topped with this cajun seafood boil sauce. This garlic butter sauce is great even as a dipping sauce for plain shrimp or lobster tails (try these air fryer lobster tails for a super easy way to prepare them).
Seafood boils themselves are delicious, the bold flavor of the sauces that accompany them are what take them to the next level! Buttery goodness? Check. Cajun flavors? Check. Spicy and lemony? Check! Make this sauce as is or adjust it to your liking using any of the substitutions listed below. However you do it- this sauce is finger lickin delicious.
Make this a true cajun seafood feast by pairing it with air fryer crab cakes and remoulade sauce and a bowl of slow cooker gumbo.
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Ingredient Notes
- Butter: The base of a garlic butter seafood sauce is, you guessed it, butter. Almost all recipes that you will find on Season and Thyme use unsalted butter, this way you control the amount of salt that goes into the recipe.
- Onion and Garlic: These season the sauce beautifully. Make sure to mince them up finely so that there are no chunks.
- Old Bay Seasoning: What's a seafood sauce recipe without classic Old Bay seasoning? Old Bay has celery salt, spices (including red pepper and black pepper), and paprika. It's a great base of flavor for this sauce.
- Cajun seasoning: Cajun seasoning differs from Old Bay in that it is made with simpler ingredients and is often spicier. Having a combination of the two gives more layered flavor to the sauce. It a main flavoring agent in this Instant Pot Cajun Shrimp.
- Lemon Juice: With the heavy flavors and rich butter, lemon juice helps to cut through with a bit of acidity.
- Fish Stock or Chicken Stock: Stock helps to thin out the sauce a bit and mellow the flavor. You can use chicken stock or fish stock. I like to use the stock that my seafood boil was cooked in, because SO MUCH FLAVOR.
Variations and Substitutions
- Make it spicier by adding red pepper flakes or tabasco sauce.
- Thin out the sauce by adding additional stock. Start with ¼ cup chicken stock or fish stock and add more if needed.
How to Make
Step 1. To a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
Step 2. Add minced onions and garlic and saute until soft and fragrant, around 5 minutes.
Step 3. Add spices and cook for 1-2 minutes. This helps the dried spices to really reach their full flavor potential.
Step 4. Whisk in broth and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.
Step 5. To finish, add lemon juice and fresh parsley.
Step 6. Serve poured over top your seafood or as a dipping sauce on the side.
Recipe Tips
- Dice all of the seasonings finely so that they permeate the entire seafood butter sauce.
- You'll notice there is a lack of salt added to this recipe, and that's because Old Bay and cajun seasoning can both be quite salty! Feel free to add salt to taste.
- This seafood boil recipe can be made ahead of time and reheated on the stove when ready to enjoy. It will solidify when placed in the fridge because of the butter, but will melt back to its original state after a minute or two of low heat on the stove.
What to serve seafood boil sauce with
Serve this sauce to accompany any of the following:
- seafood boils
- king crab legs or snow crab legs
- air fryer salmon
- shrimp
- lobster tails
More seafood recipes
Recipe FAQs
Seafood boil sauce contains a combination of butter, garlic, and spices such as Old Bay seasoning, cajun seasoning, paprika, and red pepper flakes.
This sauce will last up to a week in the fridge. When serving, pour into ramekins or over seafood itself rather than dipping directly into the pot, this will help keep the sauce fresh.
Butter! Butter and reducing the sauce for at least 5 minutes once you add in the stock.
If you tried this Seafood Boil Sauce Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below. I love to hear from you.
Seafood Boil Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ cup onion minced
- 2 tsp. cajun seasoning
- 1 tsp. Old Bay Seasoning
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp. paprika
- ½ cup chicken stock or fish stock
- ¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
- ½ lemon juiced
Instructions
- Mince onions and garlic finely.
- To a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
- Add minced onions and garlic and saute until soft and fragrant, around 5 minutes. Add spices and cook for 1-2 minutes. This helps the dried spices to really reach their full flavor potential.
- Whisk in broth and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes.
- To finish, add lemon juice and fresh parsley.
- Serve poured over top your seafood or as a dipping sauce on the side.
Notes
- You'll notice there is a lack of salt added to this recipe, and that's because Old Bay and cajun seasoning can both be quite salty! Feel free to add salt to taste.
- This seafood boil recipe can be made ahead of time and reheated on the stove when ready to enjoy. It will solidify when placed in the fridge because of the butter, but will melt back to its original state after a minute or two of low heat on the stove.
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