The 3-Ingredient Seafood Boil Sauce That's Too Easy Not To Try

The seafood boil is one of those classic one-pot meals that's perfect for a crowd. Have some friends over, open a few cold beers, and you've got a no-fuss dinner party that, while casual, packs a ton of flavor and feels like a special occasion. Most winning seafood boils include some variation of shrimp, clams, crawfish as the protein with potatoes, corn on the cob, sausage, and a good bit of seasoning inside that simmering broth. And then there's the dipping sauce.

A good sauce for a seafood boil doesn't have to be complicated — three ingredients are all you need. A simple mix of Old Bay seasoning, butter, and lemon juice is more than enough to make a delicious sauce that pleases a crowd. Old Bay's ingredients list offers so much flavor on its own — a mix of celery salt, paprika, mustard seed, red and black pepper, and cayenne pepper, plus other undisclosed components — to carry the boil. But when you add the zing from lemon juice plus the smooth, creamy richness of butter, then you really have a winning formula.

If you need a quick guideline, you basically mix a couple of tablespoons of water with about 1½ teaspoons of Old Bay. Simmer over medium-low heat for a few minutes, then turn it to low and slowly mix in a stick of butter (8 tablespoons), 1 tablespoon at a time. Whisk in the lemon juice, and you have the perfect three-ingredient sauce for your seafood boil.

If you're ready to make this delicious sauce, we'd recommend using unsalted butter. Old Bay seasoning itself already has plenty of sodium, so you won't be adding on to those levels with your butter. Fresh lemon can also help cut down the saltiness a bit. You can always make a larger batch and store the unused portion in the fridge to use later. Reheat it in a small saucepan or in the microwave. You can even toss a bit of the cold butter into pasta, potatoes, or any vegetable.

With a sauce this delicious and easy to make, you can take it well beyond a basic seafood boil. It pairs perfectly with plenty of other seafood dishes, such as seasoned baked salmon, grilled or sautéed rainbow trout, crab cakes, grilled shrimp, or practically any other fish-related dish. But this Old Bay, lemon juice, and butter mix also works well with non-seafood dishes — try it with grilled chicken, drizzled over some nice roasted potatoes, or with classic corn on the cob. That's the beauty of Old Bay. It's such a classic and versatile seasoning mix that it pairs well with almost anything, especially when used in a tangy lemon butter sauce.