This is the best cajun butter sauce recipe! Also know as seafood boil sauce this sauce is so easy to make with butter, garlic, onion, honey, and cajun seasoning. Use it as a seafood dipping sauce, as a sauce for crab legs, or as a marinade.

Sauces and seasonings like homemade carne asada seasoning and Mexican chicken marinade are one of the best ways to add more flavour to your meals, which is why I can't wait for you to try the sauce recipe I am sharing with you today.
Why you will love this recipe:
- The taste! This homemade seafood butter sauce has the most incredible flavour!
- This authentic seafood boil sauce is so quick and easy to make! It's ready in just a few minutes.
- This sauce can be used for shrimp, as a dipping sauce for crab legs, for seafood, for chicken, and as a marinade for other meats. It's perfect to serve with pan seared shrimp.
- This sauce recipe is made with no cream and is naturally gluten-free and refined sugar free. I've included options for making it dairy-free and vegan as well.
- You can make this cajun butter sauce as mild or as spicy as you like.
If you are a seafood lover you also need to try my healthy salmon loaf, the best blackened Mahi Mahi, and juicy air fryer scallops.
Ingredients and substitutions:
- Unsalted butter - this forms the base of this delicious butter sauce. I recommend using unsalted butter rather than salted butter. If you are dairy free or vegan use a vegan butter instead.
- Onion - freshly chopped onion helps add delicious flavour and texture to this cajun sauce. You can use white onion, yellow onion or sweet onion.
- Garlic - fresh garlic adds even more savoury flavour to this sauce.
- Apple cider vinegar - this helps contrast the other flavours in this butter sauce. Instead of apple cider vinegar you can also use lemon juice.
- Honey - this adds the perfect amount of sweetness to this sauce. If you are vegan, you can use maple syrup instead.
- Cajun seasoning - it wouldn't be a cajun sauce without cajun seasoning! You can either make your own cajun seasoning or use a store bought cajun seasoning. Instead of cajun seasoning you can also use creole seasoning too.
Recipe variations and add ins:
- If you are serving a crowd feel free to double or triple this recipe.
- To make this into a vegan cajun butter sauce: use a vegan butter and maple syrup instead of honey.
- To make this sauce dairy free and lactose free use a vegan butter.
- If you like a less spicy sauce, decrease the amount of cajun seasoning you add.
- If you like a sweeter sauce, add a bit more honey.
- To turn this into lemon cajun butter sauce use lemon juice instead of apple cider vinegar.
How to make cajun butter sauce:
- Step 1: First, in a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat on the stovetop.
- Step 2: Once the butter is melted turn the heat down to low and add the onion and garlic and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
- Step 3: Then stir in the cajun seasoning, honey, and apple cider vinegar and simmer for few minutes, until the sauce has the thickness or consistency that you prefer.
- Step 4: Lastly, remove the pot from the heat and serve!
Top tip:
If you prefer a thicker sauce, allow the sauce to simmer for longer to thicken it even more.
How to use this sauce:
This homemade sauce can be used in so many ways! Here are some of my favourites.
- Dipping Sauce - the easiest way to use this sauce is as a dipping sauce for seafood. Serve it with grilled shrimp, pan fried shrimp, baked shrimp, vegan shrimp, cooked crab legs, cooked lobster, or any other cooked seafood. You could also use it as a dipping sauce for vegetables or meats.
- Marinade - you can use this cajun garlic sauce as a marinade for crab, shrimp, lobster tails, chicken, steak, chicken wings, salmon, corn, other vegetables, and other fish or meats.
- Seafood Boil Butter Sauce - use this sauce to make a seafood boil or crawfish boil. Place your seafood in a large pot, cover it with water and then boil it for the recommended amount of time. Save some of the boiling water and mix it with the butter sauce. Then drain the seafood and toss it in the cajun sauce. Then serve and enjoy!
Cajun butter sauce FAQs:
There are different types of cajun sauces available. Some cajun sauces are more creamy and are often made with mayonnaise, while there are butter based sauces such as cajun butter sauce that are made with butter.
Cajun sauce can be spicy, but the great thing about making your own cajun sauce is that you can control how hot or spicy it is. If you like a hotter sauce, add more cajun spice. If you like a milder cajun sauce, add less cajun seasoning.
No it is not. It contains many ingredients that are not permitted on the carnivore diet.
Store any leftover crab boil sauce in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days. It can also be frozen and freezes well for up to 6 months.
Other seafood recipes you will love:
Recipe
Cajun Butter Sauce
Equipment
- Pot or saucepan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoon cajun seasoning (for less spicy use 1 tbsp)
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat on the stove.
- Once the butter is melted turn the heat down to low and add the onion and garlic and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
- Stir in the cajun seasoning, honey and apple cider vinegar and simmer for another couple minutes.
- Then remove the pot from the heat and serve!
Notes
- Nutritional values are an estimate and will vary depending on the exact ingredients used.
- If you like a less spicy sauce, decrease the amount of cajun seasoning you add.
- If you like a sweeter sauce, add a bit more honey.
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