Seafood Boil Sauce

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Last Updated on April 16, 2025 by Toya

Learn how to make this easy seafood boil sauce that pairs perfectly with all types of seafood boil recipes. Made with simple ingredients, and in under 10 minutes, this seafood boil butter sauce recipe is going to become a go to for your seafood recipes!

The BEST Seafood Boil Sauce Recipe

When it comes to seafood boil, many people just toss the cooked seafood with melted butter or season the seafood while it’s being cooked. However, if you enjoy having your seafood boil with a separate seafood dipping sauce, then this easy seafood boil sauce recipe is the perfect one to try. 

It is one of the best seafood boil sauce recipes ever and you have to give it a try!

Seafood boil sauce FAQs

What is a seafood boil sauce?

Seafood boil sauce is a buttery sauce made with a base of butter and garlic that is infused with various herbs and spices. This recipe is delicious, buttery, and spicy and pairs well with most seafood boils.

How to make seafood boil sauce spicier

To make a spicy butter sauce, simply add some more spice to the recipe. For this recipe, one tablespoon of cajun seasoning and an extra tablespoon of cayenne pepper will crank up the heat.

Seafood Boil Sauce Ingredients

These are all the ingredients for garlic butter seafood boil sauce:

• 1 ⅓ cups of unsalted butter
• 1 head of garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, minced
• 1 tablespoon garlic seasoning
• 1 tablespoon complete seasoning
• 2 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• ⅔ cup water, stock or broth (optional)

Not familiar with complete seasoning?

It’s a very versatile seasoning mix that you can use in many other recipes besides just this sauce for seafood boils! I actually use it a lot in my cooking to enhance the flavor of my food and I highly recommend it.

How to Make Seafood Boil Sauce

To start measure out and gather all the seafood boil sauce ingredients in one place.

Next, chop up the onion and garlic and set aside.

Then place the butter in a pot and let melt on medium high heat for 2 minutes.

Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

Mix in the seasoning, reduce the heat, and simmer for 2 minutes.

Then add the lemon juice and simmer for another minute. If you’re using water or chicken broth, now is the time to add it, then simmer for a few extra minutes.

Remove this buttery seafood boil sauce recipe from the pot and serve with your seafood boil recipe.

Some Tips for Making the Best Seafood Butter Sauce Recipe

Here are a few quick tips to make the best seafood boil butter sauce recipe.

1. Chop your onions and garlic as finely as possible so that sauce is more uniform. If you want to, you can use a blender to do so.
2. If you want to make a red seafood sauce, it is best to use some red spices like paprika is a must.
3. If you have some you can squeeze the juice of 1 lime or lemon into the seafood butter sauce. Lime juice or lemon juice is the perfect accompaniment for any type of homemade seafood sauce.
4. If you want to, you can substitute the seasonings and spices listed above with my homemade seafood seasoning or my aromatic crab boil seasoning for a juicy seafood sauce. 
5. If you want to loosen up the seafood butter sauce a bit, you can also add about ½ a cup of seafood broth or one of these easy-to-find seafood broth alternatives while it cooks.

Seafood Boil Sauce vs Bloves Sauce

Bloves sauce is a kind of seafood boil sauce made by a very popular you-tuber called Bloves. Bloves sauce is made with a mixture of herbs and spices with the addition of Worcestershire Sauce, brown sugar, and chicken broth, while this seafood boil sauce does not contain these ingredients. 

Storing, Freezing and Reheating Seafood Boil Sauce

You can store this sauce by placing it in an airtight container and storing it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. When you’re ready to use, simply reheat on the stove and serve. You can also reheat it in the microwave for 15 seconds, then serve.

You can also freeze this sauce by placing it in the freezer for up to 6 months. 

What to Serve with Seafood Boil Sauce

You can use the sauce as a dipping sauce for boiled seafood like this easy cajun seafood recipe or used to toss it with your seafood boil in a bag. I have a simple seafood boil recipe made in an oven bag that you can check out here. You can also use this sauce for:

• Seafood
• Steak
• Vegetables like cucumbers

Do I Need a Seafood Boil Seasoning mix to Make the Seafood Dipping Sauce?

To make this easy seafood sauce really good be very generous with the seasonings. You obviously need some lemon juice, onion, garlic, and butter as this is a butter based seafood sauce.

You will also need to make a seasoning mix with ingredients like garlic powder, complete seasoning,  paprika,  ginger, thyme, lemon pepper, and cayenne.

The measurements above make a fairly spicy butter sauce, but with adjustments to the amount of cayenne pepper used, you can take the spice up a notch or two if you really enjoy spicy seafood boil sauces!

You can also add a few more ingredients to the mix like red pepper flakes, old bay seasoning, oregano, and chili powder to make the recipe even richer in flavor. 

Variations of Seafood Sauce

Besides the sauce above, there are other variations of this sauce that you can make that will work great for seafood, meats, and vegetables. Here are some ideas below:

• Cajun seafood boil sauce: I love cajun food, so I often find a way to include cajun seasoning in my recipes. This sauce can be made into a cajun seafood boil sauce recipe by keeping the base of onions, garlic, and butter and replacing all the other ingredients with cajun seasoning. A cajun seafood boil sauce recipe is just as simple as the yummy seafood boil dipping sauce in the recipe card. 

• Louisiana seafood sauce: For a Louisiana seafood sauce that goes great with the seafood boil, keep the sauce as is, but add in some bay leaves, Louisiana hot sauce, and lemon slices.

When it comes to making a seafood boil sauce recipe, it is very important to make a the sauce very flavorful, as this will play a big part in how good your seafood boil is.

This seafood boil dipping sauce recipe is incredible and goes well with all sorts of seafood boils. But, it also works quite well for different types of seafood. I sometimes use this seafood dipping sauce for just steamed crab legs, or for lobster tails. Also, feel free to use this sauce as a crab boil sauce or a shrimp boil sauce too!

It also makes a great dipping sauce for vegetables and meats, and the best part is that it is super easy to make!

And if you enjoy this sauce, you will surely love this cajun dipping butter sauce, this garlic butter seafood sauce, or this easy crab boil sauce too! So, feel free to give it a try as well!

Lastly, if this seafood boil dipping sauce recipe isn’t thick enough, i’ll show you how to thicken it up below.

How to Make Seafood Boil Sauce Thick

Interested in learning how to thicken seafood boil sauce? Here are my best tips.

Add some more minced onions – This is a great option. It serves to help thicken up the sauce without changing it quite so much. For the recipe above, 1 large onion is used, but if you want to make this seafood sauce thicker, you can add an extra ½ onions to the recipe. Mince it nicely for the best results.

Add some cornstarch – Another way to thicken a boil sauce is with a cornstarch slurry. Follow the instructions above to make the sauce, then reduce the heat to low. To make the cornstarch slurry, whisk 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of the cooked seafood sauce. Once done, pour the cornstarch slurry into the rest of the seafood sauce recipe and whisk until the sauce has thickened. 

You can also check out some other easy ways to thicken seafood boil sauce here. And, if you enjoyed this recipe, check out 5 more amazing buttery seafood boil sauces here.

I’ve made many different butter sauces and they all taste amazing. However, this butter sauce for seafood boil is one of my favorites. This indulgent seafood boil sauce recipe is a flavorful and versatile addition to any seafood feast. It has a rich blend of spices, herbs, and aromatics that enhances the flavors of seafood in a unique way.

So, whether you’re boiling shrimp, crab, lobster, or a combination of seafood, this easy recipe can add a zesty and savory punch that’ll elevate the entire meal!

If you want to learn how to make a seafood boil sauce, please check out the recipe card for simple instructions. Enjoy!

More Seafood Recipes

• Seafood boil recipe
• Keto seafood boil
• Best seafood boil recipe with eggs
• Crawfish boil
• Shrimp boil

This seafood boil sauce recipe was originally published in June 2021. It has been restored and updated with reader feedback. New photos were added.