Cajun Butter Sauce for Seafood

Name: Cajun Butter Sauce for Seafood
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1/2 stick unsalted butter (melted); 1/2 teaspoon salt; 3 garlic cloves (minced); 1-2 teaspoons fresh parsley (chopped); 1/2 teaspoon paprika; 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Why You'll Love this Recipe

Easy to make. Making your own sauces and dressing can be daunting, time-consuming, and not worth the effort. But not this Cajun butter sauce. This recipe is as quick and easy as it gets. All you need is 6 ingredients, 5 minutes, and a microwave.

Versatile. Serve this Cajun butter sauce with virtually any seafood. You can use it as a dip, seafood marinade or even use it as a crab boil sauce.

Customizable. Adjust the spices and garlic to make it as spicy or mild as you'd like. Scroll down to the variations section for more adjustments you can make to suit your taste.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Ingredients needed for cajun garlic butter.

Butter - I recommend using unsalted butter so you can adjust the salt to taste. If you only have salted butter on hand, it can be used in place of the unsalted butter, but I'd recommend omitting the additional salt.

Garlic - Similar to my Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs and Lemon Garlic Hummus, I recommend using fresh garlic cloves. Using dried garlic powder or garlic granules simply does not have the same sharp, fresh flavor as garlic cloves. Using garlic powder would cause the flavor in this garlic butter sauce to fall flat.

Parsley - Using fresh parsley over dried parsley is recommended for the best flavor, but dried parsley can be substituted in a pinch.

Spices - I prefer to make my own mix at home so I can easily adjust the flavor. If you own a pre-mixed Cajun seasoning, you can substitute the salt, paprika, cayenne, and onion powder with 1 ¾ teaspoon of a pre-mixed Cajun seasoning. Or, if you have Old Bay seasoning, you can use it for a milder seafood butter sauce.

See the recipe card below for the remaining ingredients and quantities.

Variations

How to make spicy butter sauce: If you're looking for a seafood boil sauce that's got a bit of a kick to it, increase the cayenne pepper to taste.

For a smokier butter sauce: Substitute the paprika for smoked paprika.

Low sodium option: If you are sensitive to sodium, make sure to use unsalted butter, then adjust the amount of added salt to taste. My recommendation would be to start with ⅛ teaspoon and add additional salt to taste.

Instructions

Ingredients for a sauce in a clear bowl.

Melt the butter. Add the butter to a microwave-safe bowl and cook for about 1 minute, or until the butter is just melted.

Cajun garlic butter sauce in a glass bowl with a spoon.

Mix in the remaining ingredients. Once the butter is melted, add in the salt, minced garlic, fresh parsley, paprika, cayenne and onion powder. Whisk together until smooth. Adjust spices to taste.

Serve while hot with your favorite seafood.

Recipe FAQs

How do you thicken butter sauce?

If you want a thicker garlic butter sauce for seafood, simmer the sauce on the stovetop in a small saucepan for 5-10 minutes over low heat. This will help reduce the sauce, making it thicker without cornstarch. If you want to make your seafood butter sauce this way, I recommend doubling or tripling the recipe and make sure to keep the heat low. You do not want to burn the garlic.

Can I cook raw meat in the sauce?

Yes. I typically use this simple seafood butter sauce for dipping cooked seafood in, but you can marinade and sauté seafood like shrimp in the butter sauce.

What can I serve this Cajun butter sauce with?

This spiced seafood butter sauce pairs well with air fryer shrimp, juicy crab legs, lobster and seafood boils like Louisiana Crawfish boil, shrimp boil, or crab and lobster seafood boil.

A bowl filled with cajun garlic butter with a spoon in it.

Top Tips

Avoid over-melting the butter. If you microwave the butter longer than necessary, it can begin to brown the butter. The butter will still be usable, but it will have a darker color and a nuttier flavor and aroma. Or, start over and reserve the browned butter for baking desserts like Spiced Gingerbread Bars or Cinnamon Coffee Cake.

Use fresh garlic. This is important, so I wanted to reiterate it. Garlic powder and garlic granules should be saved for recipes like Air Fryer Butternut Squash, Air Fryer Salmon Burgers and Argentine Red Shrimp. At the very least, use frozen garlic cubes or fresh garlic paste.