Forget Bland Salmon – Load It Up With Flavor By Making It Cowboy-Style

You could say that salmon is the chicken of seafood. It is very good for us, can be prepared using myriad different methods, and cooking it the right way maximizes its nutrients. Salmon also pairs well with a grocery list of other ingredients thanks to its generally mild flavor — but if you really want to knock it out of the park taste-wise, you need a hefty dollop of cowboy-style butter. Don't worry, there's no need to lasso the nearest cow. Much like cowboy casserole and its John Wayne counterpart, the name's a bit of a misnomer. Cowboy butter is simply a blend of Western or Tex-Mex-inspired herbs and spices that have been mixed into a slab of the creamy stuff — that is, compound butter — and can either be spread on your salmon just before it's cooked or used as a decadent dipping sauce after.

It's highly unlikely this flavorsome butter was ever smeared on cowboys' favorite bread on the trail (imagine trying to keep it chilled in the Wild West!), so nobody's really sure why it was called that in the first place. We do know that in France, beurre composé — literally composed butter — was regularly used as a sauce in restaurants, with all sorts of ingredients added to the butter to give it a range of flavors. While professional chefs made pounds of the stuff, it's easy to make on a smaller scale in your own kitchen. The trick is to use strongly flavored ingredients sparingly, so that when the butter melts, the herbs and spices enhance the salmon rather than overwhelm it.

Although cowboy butter slipped off the radar somewhat, it came back with a bang in 2022, thanks to a viral TikTok post, and home cooks have been whipping it up ever since. There's no definitive recipe out there, so you can throw in whatever spices and herbs you have to hand, though smoky paprika, spicy cayenne, and chili flakes are often called out. Punchy herbs like parsley and chives are ideal, as are mustard, garlic, and citrus. Some people blend their ingredients so the butter stays smooth, but if you prefer a more textured butter, go for it!

Once you've decided on your flavor additions, get your butter to room temperature and give it a good mix so it's nice and pliable, then add your tasty extras. When they're all evenly blended, roll the butter into a log using plastic wrap or parchment paper. Then, pop it in the fridge until it's ready to use. 

Laying a thick slice of cowboy butter on top of a salmon filet before baking, broiling, or air frying will melt to give you a divine sauce, but it's not just fabulous for fish. Cowboy butter is wildly delicious paired with steak or chicken and brings richness to a bowl of veggies. The sky's the limit when it comes to flavor, too, because you can switch up the taste depending on what herbs or spices you add. Who knows, you may end up with a different cowboy butter for every day! Compound butters keep in the fridge for around a week but can last for up to six months in the freezer.