Add This Cowboy-Style Ingredient To Salmon For 10x The Flavor

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Back in 2023, TikTok was sizzling over steak with cowboy butter. A video showing a content creator dipping sliced steak into a seasoned butter sauce went viral, inspiring home cooks to make their own. Before you rush out to buy a sirloin, know that this cowboy-inspired ingredient works on a range of proteins. In fact, you can use it on salmon to maximize flavor.

Cowboy butter is a compound butter made with garlic, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and zest, fresh herbs (like thyme, parsley, and chives), paprika, chili powder, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. It's a stellar pairing for salmon because the butter maintains the fish's moisture, melting into the flesh and flavoring every flake. The acidity of lemon and mustard counterbalance the salmon's fat and the butter's richness. Similarly, garlic's natural compounds impart a sharp, potent kick that holds its own against the fish. Herbs bring aroma, freshness, and color while the dry spices offer smoke and heat. 

Checking all of these boxes shows the condiment's versatility. Cowboy butter doesn't need to be limited to animal proteins either. It can be used on pasta, rice, bread, and various vegetables, like potatoes or corn.

Cowboy butter isn't a Wild West invention. Its origins have been linked to the now-shuttered Mr. Donahue's, a modern Southern-inspired restaurant in NYC that was famous for meaty mains. There, the condiment was essential to dishes like roast beef, asparagus almondine, and duchess potatoes. While the name's inspiration isn't definitive, it seems "cowboy" is an homage to the frontier tradition of campfire cooking. That said, cowboys typically ate jerky or salted pork rather than roast beef and salmon.

It can be challenging to find prepared cowboy butter in stores. While there are compound butters with some of its components (like garlic-herb or lemon), the closest store-bought equivalent is cowboy butter seasoning, a result of the trend's virality. It can be used dry or mixed into butter;  however, some versions, like the ones from Spiceology x Derek Wolf and Kinder's already contain dehydrated butter. 

If you'd rather make the condiment from scratch, consider this Southwestern-style cowboy butter recipe, complete with lime instead of lemon, chipotle, and cumin. One prep tip you need for making easier compound butter is to let it fully soften overnight. This makes it easier to mix and evenly distribute the other ingredients. Cover the cowboy butter in plastic wrap and mold it into a log shape, so it will be easy to slice and serve on salmon, steak, or whatever else you're craving.