Deep Red-Orange Seafood Boil Sauce with Cajun Garlic Butter
By Ethan Parker
Servings
4
Level
Easy
Seafood boil sauce comes together on the stove with a short run of chopping and one wide saucepan. It keeps the cooking contained on a busy night. I make it for a seafood dinner when I want a deep red-orange butter dip with garlic bits, softened onion, and a grainy Cajun coating.
Set the spice blend in a small bowl before you start, then you can add it while the garlic is still pale. I don't leave this part to rummaging through the cabinet. The spices bloom in the fat for 30 seconds, and the onion mixture becomes a dark, grainy paste that smells warm and peppery before the remaining butter and stock go in.
I grab a wide metallic saucepan here. It has enough surface for the finely cut onion to sweat evenly. Turn off the heat for the lemon wedge and parsley, then serve the dip straight from the pan, and I leave the lemon near the edge because it scents the warm butter without getting in the way of the seafood.
The sauce pools around snow crab legs, crawfish, and jumbo shrimp, and I also spoon it over a shrimp and avocado bowl when I have one on the table. Cajun seasoning and coarse pepper stay visible in the butter. A spoonful stirred into salmon chowder brings the same spiced garlic butter to the bowl.
Why you'll love this recipe
- One saucepan handles the cooking, and its wide shape gives the onions room to soften evenly.
- Most prep is chopping and measuring. You don't need more than a silicone whisk and a sharp knife.
- A generous batch works for a seafood spread, then the same metallic saucepan goes to the table.
- Everything stays on the stovetop, with no oven time or separate serving bowl to clean.
- Cajun seasoning and paprika give the sauce its deep red-orange color during the 30-second bloom.
Ingredients
- •2 cups unsalted butter (454g)
- •1 tbsp olive oil (15ml)
- •0.25 cup seafood stock (60ml, warm)
- •0.5 cup white onions (75g, finely chopped)
- •0.25 cup garlic (35g, freshly minced)
- •2 tbsp low-sodium Cajun seasoning (14g)
- •1 tbsp sweet paprika (7g)
- •1 tsp crushed red chili flakes (2g)
- •1 tsp coarse black pepper (2g)
- •1 wedge lemon (thick-cut, plus extra wedges for serving)
- •2 tbsp parsley (8g, freshly chopped)
Instructions
- 1
Finely chop the white onions.
- 2
Mince the garlic into small, even pieces.
- 3
Measure the Cajun seasoning, paprika, chili flakes, and black pepper into a small prep bowl.
- 4
Set a wide metallic saucepan over medium-low heat.
- 5
Add the olive oil and 1/4 cup (57g) of the unsalted butter, then melt until you hear a gentle sizzle.
- 6
Add the chopped onions and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until softened.
- 7
Add the minced garlic, lower the heat slightly, and cook for 60 to 90 seconds until translucent.
- 8
Add the measured spices and bloom them in the fat for 30 seconds.
- 9
Add the remaining 1 3/4 cups (397g) of unsalted butter and whisk constantly while it melts gently.
- 10
Pour in the 1/4 cup (60ml) of warm seafood stock and whisk vigorously.
- 11
Turn off the heat.
- 12
Drop the thick-cut lemon wedge near the edge of the sauce.
- 13
Scatter the chopped parsley throughout the pan.
- 14
Stir gently and serve directly from the metallic saucepan.
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