This seafood boil sauce recipe is incredibly flavorful, slightly spicy, and oh-so-buttery. Not to mention, it goes well with literally every seafood dish out there and it's about as quick and easy as a sauce recipe gets - only 10 minutes is all you need to make it!
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The Best Seafood Sauce
I'm not going to lie, this seafood boil sauce is probably the best addition to all of my favorite seafood entrees. For real. This stuff is finger-lickin' and after you make it once, you'll never want to make seafood without it again. I know that's what happened to me anyway.
The sauce consists of a variety of delicious spices and seasonings - most notably of which is Old Bay - a little tanginess from some lemon juice and a nice amount of butter.
And, like I said, I love putting this stuff on just about anything and everything seafood-centric. A few of my favorite things to pair it with though are these salmon bites, this air fryer catfish, this baked haddock, this seafood rice, this seafood stuffing, and of course this seafood boil.
However, it also goes great with plain shrimp, snow crab legs, and clams when used as a dipping sauce. My dad especially love, love, loves dipping crab leg meat into it.
Anyway, I teased this recipe enough already, so let's dive into the ingredients and get cooking!
Ingredients For Seafood Boil Sauce
So, the ingredients list may look extensive at first glance, but the majority of them are staple pantry spices and seasonings that you're bound to have on hand already!
Anyway, here are all of the seafood boil sauce ingredients:
- 1 cup Salted Butter (or unsalted butter)
- ¼ cup Olive Oil
- ½ Onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp. Garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning (or cajun seasoning)
- 1 tsp. Smoked Paprika
- 1 tbsp. Lemon Pepper Seasoning
- ½ tsp. Chili Powder or Cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
- ½ cup Fish Broth (or chicken broth)
- 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice
Pretty simple stuff, eh?!
And the best part is that you really can use this crab boil sauce ingredient list as a guide and tailor it to your taste buds. If you want more cajun seasoning, add in a little extra Old Bay seasoning.
Or, if you want it to have a brighter flavor, use more lemon pepper seasoning and lemon juice. And if you're not a fan of spice, just leave out the red pepper flakes.
Want even more spice? You can add in a dash of Tabasco sauce or Lousiana hot sauce.
By the way, if you're looking for another seafood sauce that goes really with seafood, this Blove sauce has such a unique flavor and is just delicious!
How To Make Seafood Boil Sauce
Step 1: Cook The Onion
First, heat a small pot to medium heat and add the olive oil and butter to it.
Once the butter has melted and is bubbly, add in the onions. Cook the onion for about 4 minutes or until it is mildly translucent.
Then, add the garlic, and cook everything for another 2-3 minutes. With that said, you'll want to make sure the onion and garlic do not brown, or it will give the sauce a bitter taste.
Step 2: Add The Ingredients
Next, you're going to add all of the seasonings - the Old Bay seasoning, smoked paprika, lemon seasoning, chili powder, and red pepper flakes - and combine them with the onion and garlic.
Follow that with the fish broth and lemon juice and mix to combine. Now cook for 10 minutes while occasionally stirring every few minutes.
Step 3: Serve The Sauce
Once the sauce has cooked for 10 minutes, remove it from the heat.
Serve in a side cup as a dipping sauce or right on top of your favorite seafood boils.
Enjoy!
How To Store and Reheat Seafood Boil Sauce
This homemade seafood sauce recipe will make about 1 cup. So you should have plenty leftover to use throughout the week.
You can store the leftover seafood boil sauce in a resealable glass jar - or airtight container - for about one week in the fridge.
Whenever you're ready to enjoy this seafood butter sauce, you'll definitely want to heat it up again.
So to reheat it before using it, just put the sauce back in a pot on the stovetop for a few minutes over medium heat until warmed, and then use it for any seafood boils.
Or you can pop the leftover sauce in the microwave for a few seconds until it's hot.
FAQS About This Seafood Boil Sauce Recipe
What is seafood boil sauce made of?
Seafood boil sauce is made of a mixture of butter, onion, garlic, Old Bay seasoning, paprika, lemon pepper seasoning, chili powder or cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, broth, and lemon.
What liquid is in seafood boil sauce?
The liquid that is in seafood boil sauce is melted butter and some sort of broth like fish broth, vegetable broth, or chicken broth.
What to serve with seafood sauce?
There are so many seafood recipes and different things that you can serve with seafood dipping sauce! Here are a few seafood dishes to pair with it:
My Final Thoughts On This Recipe
And there you have it!
That's how to make seafood boil sauce from scratch.
This is a delicious buttery sauce recipe that is fantastic when paired with snow crab legs, shrimp, your favorite seafood boil - it great with this low country boil - or any other seafood dish you can imagine. Not to mention, it's just so, so easy to make.
Anyway, once you try it, I can almost guarantee it will be your go-to sauce for seafood entrees from here on out.
As always, if you try it, let me know what you think in the comments below. I'd love to hear how you customized it and which foods you paired it with.
Oh, and for more delicious recipes just like this one, check us out on Youtube, Instagram, or TikTok pages. We post new recipes on them daily.
More Of My Favorite Sauce Recipes
If you enjoyed this seafood boil sauce, here are some other sauces you can easily prepare at home.
Give one of these delicious sauces a try next:
- McDonald's breakfast sauce
- Tiger sauce recipe
- Chick-Fil-A Sauce
- Sweet chili sauce
- Wingstop ranch
- Tomato gravy
- Hot honey sauce
- Popeye's sweet heat sauce
Seafood Boil Sauce Recipe Made In 15 Minutes
This seafood boil sauce recipe is incredibly flavorful, slightly spicy, and oh-so-buttery. Not to mention, it goes well with literally every seafood dish out there. Plus, it's about as quick and easy as a sauce recipe gets - only 10 minutes is all you need to make it!
Ingredients
- 1 cup Salted Butter
- ¼ cup Olive Oil
- ½ Onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp. Garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning
- 1 tsp. Smoked Paprika
- 1 tbsp. Lemon Pepper Seasoning
- ½ tsp. Chili Powder
- ½ tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
- ½ cup Fish Broth
- 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice
Instructions
- Heat a small pot to medium heat and add the butter and olive oil.
- Once the butter is bubbly, add the garlic and onion. Let them cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the Old Bay Seasoning, smoked paprika, lemon pepper seasoning, chili powder, red pepper flakes, fish broth, and lemon juice.
- Let it cook for 10 minutes, so all flavors blend well.
- Serve with your favorite seafood.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size:
⅛ cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 202Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g
Randy
Awesome sauce!!
Daniel
This sauce is fantastic. I can't wait to try it on more seafood.
Josh
Best sauce for a seafood boil that we’ve tried yet.
Adela
Was delicious.. how long will it last in refrigerator??
Brendan Cunningham
We're glad you liked it! The sauce should last about a week.
Hannah
It was very simple to make and tastes really good.
Rylie
Made this last night, it’s awesome sauce…literally!!
Denny
We made this tonight for our boil and we definitely will make it again!!
Luis
We made grilled shrimp and dipped them in the sauce. It was a tasty pairing and I want to make it again.
Ted
Loved the old bay in this sauce. It was the perfect amount.
Fred
Dang good
Nikki
Great flavor and loved how easy it was to make.
Jeremy
Now this right here is how you elevate seafood. Well done.
Trish
This sauce was an awesome addition to our boil. Super flavorful. Perfect amount of butter and spices.
Jillian Cuzo
I served it with shrimp instead of cocktail sauce and it was a hit!
Terrance
Had this with chicken and it was super.
Char
This sauce is amazing! I did swap the broth with some beer. It was so delicious.
David
I have made this about ten times. Haven't gotten tired of it yet, swear it gets better each time.
Anita
Could this be used as a marinade for cooked cracked crab and then put in a steamer to heat up? Also for the other ingredients like corn, shrimp, potatoes, etc?
Brendan Cunningham
Hi Anita, I think it would work great for those things!
Kelly
Used this seafood boil sauce on a bunch of live lobsters we cooked up, it was yummy as could be.