Cowboy Butter: Versatile Spiced Garlic Butter for Steak and More Recipe
Cowboy Butter is a flavorful compound butter perfect for enhancing the taste of steak, seafood, vegetables, and other cooked meats. Made with garlic, Dijon mustard, smoked paprika, chili flakes, and butter, this versatile condiment adds a smoky, spicy kick that melts beautifully over hot food.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: Approximately 7 tablespoons (serves 4-6 as a condiment) 1x
- Category: Condiment
- Method: Frying
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
Butter Mixture
- 100g (7 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened, divided
- 1 large garlic clove, finely minced (about 1 tsp)
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp smoked paprika (can substitute with regular paprika)
- 1 tsp chili flakes / red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve amount if using table salt)
Instructions
- Sauté Garlic: In a small frying pan, melt 1 tbsp (15g) of butter over medium heat until it starts foaming. Add the finely minced garlic and cook while stirring for about 30 seconds until it turns a very light golden color. Remove from heat and let it cool for 3 minutes to deepen the garlic’s flavor.
- Mix Ingredients: In a small mixing bowl, combine the remaining softened butter, Dijon mustard, smoked paprika, chili flakes, and salt. Pour the cooled garlic butter over the mixture. Stir thoroughly until all ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Serve: Use the Cowboy Butter immediately by softening it over hot steak to allow it to melt thickly. It is also excellent with other cooked meats, seafood, and even vegetables.
- Storage and Usage Tips: Optionally, you can melt the butter gently and use it as a dip for steak bites or roll the mixed butter into a log shaped with cling wrap. Refrigerate and slice coins from the log as needed, placing them atop hot food to melt.
Notes
- Use a knife to finely mince the garlic for the best texture.
- Adjust the chili flakes to taste for more or less heat.
- For a milder paprika flavor, substitute smoked paprika with regular paprika.
- If using table salt instead of kosher salt, reduce the salt amount by half to avoid over-salting.
Keywords: Cowboy Butter, compound butter recipe, steak butter, garlic butter, spicy butter, smoky butter, meat condiment, steak topping
