2 Ways To Upgrade Your Steak With Spicy, Creamy Cowboy Butter

A little bit herby, sometimes spicy, and all-around creamy, cowboy butter can dress up your steak, enriching it with flavor and sealing in its juiciness. Adding a dollop of butter to the top of a steak or to the frying pan you're cooking in ain't no new thang. However, cowboy butter's infusion of herbs and spices, plus butter's creamy vibe, adds extra zest to the meat.

That said, a slice or two of flavored butter melting down the sides of your beef isn't the only way to introduce this flavor kaleidoscope to your dinner. Cowboy butter also works as a dip and as a spread. Yes, you can cook your steak in it, but if you find yourself craving more of its herbs-and-spices flavor profile in each bite, melting it turns it into a dip that rivals steak sauce. And cowboy butter doesn't just encourage the Maillard reaction in your steak. In its melted form, it also upgrades other proteins, like shrimp, fish, chicken, and pork, making it a natural choice for a surf-n-turf spread.

Alternatively, when kept at room temperature, cowboy butter creates a multifaceted taste experience as a spread. In addition to topping your pan-seared steak with it, you can enjoy it as an appetizer by adding it to your butter board or spread it on the homemade biscuits you plan to serve with your dinner. Basically, it can improve a meal, from the start to your very last bite.

Several recipes for cowboy butter exist. However, regardless of their differences, all recipes instruct you to start with soft butter to facilitate the mixing process – an important point, given that compound butter, by its nature, features other ingredients mixed in. Cowboy butter recipes typically ask for a mixture of savory herbs, spices, and condiments. Among the recommended herbs are thyme, parsley, and chives. But rosemary, Bay leaves, and oregano might also make for tasty additions to your beef. 

Cowboy butter embraces numerous spice options, too. Salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and even red pepper flakes make appearances. And garlic, that bulb that's sometimes an herb and sometimes a spice, works itself into some recipes. So, too, do Dijon mustard and hot sauce. It's probably accurate to say that there are no wrong spices, herbs, or condiments to put in cowboy butter, provided your tastebuds like them. 

When making your cowboy butter at home, it's worth looking for the best butter for your recipe. High-fat butter, with at least 80% fat, should be your goal. If you go with European butter, you may even find some with up to 92% fat, which adds even more flavor. Finally, if you're going for a spread, put the mixture into a mold and toss it in the fridge to solidify. If a dipping sauce is your top choice, melt it. Regardless of which way you choose to eat it, though, it's going to taste great.