If you’re wondering how to make Red Lobster’s butter sauce recipe but aren’t sure where to begin, then we’ve got the post for you. Red Lobster’s butter sauce is highly addictive, but luckily, it is also ridiculously easy to make. With only a few simple ingredients, you can make a 5-star seafood dipping sauce without ever having to step foot outside the house. The added bonus? Most of the ingredients used to make the dipping sauce are likely already stashed in your fridge. Interested in learning more about this famously delicious dipping sauce? If so, let’s get started!

Table of Contents
- What Is Red Lobster Butter Sauce?
- What Is Needed to Make Red Lobster Butter Sauce?
- Red Lobster Butter Sauce Recipe
- Red Lobster Butter Sauce For Crab Legs
- Red Lobster’s Butter Sauce? So Easy!
- FAQs
What Is Red Lobster Butter Sauce?
Red Lobster butter sauce is nothing more than melted butter with a few additions added in.
Truth be told, “butter sauce” is nothing new, novel, or exclusive to Red Lobster. It is actually served at most seafood restaurants and even in restaurants that don’t exclusively cater to seafood.
Regular butter sauce is often referred to as “drawn” butter. Drawn butter is essentially just melted butter that occasionally has a bit of lemon juice or other seasonings added to it to make it interesting. And while some chefs insist that drawn butter is always clarified butter, others state the opposite.
Regardless of these facts, Red Lobster butter sauce remains a stand out among the crowd of other drawn butter types as it is blended with unique ingredients that make it a bit different from all the rest.
What Is Red Lobster?
Red Lobster is an American restaurant best known for its delicious seafood and cheesy cheddar biscuits. This inexpensive restaurant features seafood favorites like crab, salmon, lobster, and more, often drizzled with butter and seasoned to perfection.
One of Red Lobster’s most popular dishes, the lobster, is often served with butter sauce. This sauce is often offered in a separate bowl and is used for dipping the lobster. It also often leaves food-goers looking for recipes they can make to duplicate the flavor at home.

What Is Needed to Make Red Lobster Butter Sauce?
As previously mentioned, Red Lobster’s butter sauce is nothing more than melted butter with a unique blend of seasonings added in. Like the lobster ravioli sauce, you can make this on your own.
When making this butter, you’ll want to add cilantro, garlic, lemon juice, and black pepper. It will be up to you to decide whether or not you will use salted or unsalted butter– that will depend on your taste preferences and dietary needs. If you do choose to use unsalted butter, be sure to compensate for the salt that is left out by using a pinch of sea salt or table salt. Otherwise, your butter sauce may taste a bit bland.
Remember that any butter sauce can be made with regular or clarified butter. But if you want to use clarified butter, don’t worry. It can easily be made by gently heating butter over the stove and skimming away the excess water and milk fat. The remaining butter should be “clear” yellow rather than murky. This clarified butter not only works well as a dip for seafood, but also, can be used over popcorn, in eggs, or even in other great recipes such as Yard House garlic noodles.
Red Lobster Butter Sauce Recipe
Now that you are fully aware of the deliciousness that awaits you, we’re sure that you’re (literally) chomping at the bit to get to the Red Lobster butter sauce recipe.
By using just butter and a few seasonings, you can have a delightfully tasty dip for your lobster and other seafood entrees that you can easily whip up within 5 minutes anytime you’d like!
The following are the ingredients and steps for how to make Red Lobster butter sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, divided
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons dried cilantro (may use parsley if you don’t like cilantro’s pungent flavor)
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions
Red Lobster Butter Sauce
Brown butter
Begin by browning some of your butter in a saucepan to give the sauce extra flavor. Do this by adding one tablespoon of butter to a small saucepan and melting it over medium heat. As the butter is melting, add your minced garlic and continue to cook until the butter has browned.
Be careful not to burn your butter. The browning of the butter indicates that it is time to reduce the heat. Do not continue to cook your browned butter on medium as it will eventually burn.
Reduce heat
Once your butter has browned and your garlic has become fragrant, reduce the heat to low and add the remaining butter to the pan.
Mix other ingredients
Mix in your freshly squeezed lemon juice, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using, along with your cilantro.
Simmer
Let the mixture sit still over low heat for about 11 minutes so that the seasonings can impart their flavor.
Enjoy!
Once 11 minutes have passed you can feel free to strain your butter or you can serve the sauce as is.
Red Lobster Butter Sauce For Crab Legs
The Red Lobster butter sauce is insanely easy to make, and yes, this sauce can be used for crab legs.
For an even easier rendition of this sauce in smaller batches, consider melting only a ½ stick of butter (the equivalent of ¼ cup) and combining it with the juice of one half of a lemon.
Want to make this easy sauce a bit more interesting? Try the following additions on for size:
- 2 cloves of finely minced garlic (makes garlic butter)
- 1 tsp of red chili flakes (makes the butter spicy)
- Zest of one lemon (makes zippy lemon butter)

You can add just one of the above additions to your small batch of melted drawn butter or all three! The choice is really up to you. For even more butter creations, consider experimenting with:
- Thyme
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Italian Seasoning
- Minced Onion (or Onion Powder)
- Ginger
- Cumin
- Soy Sauce
Red Lobster’s Butter Sauce? So Easy!
Though associated with swanky seafood, Red Lobster’s butter sauce recipe is seriously easy! Simply melt a bit of butter and add a few seasonings, and you’ve got a delectable dipping sauce perfect for nearly all types of seafood meat.
What’s even better about this lobster sauce is that it is very versatile which makes it easy to customize to make something original you can call your own! Experiment with different kinds of herbs, seasonings, and flavors to see which you like the best. Bon appetit!
FAQs
What is in Red Lobster butter sauce?
Red Lobster butter sauce consists of butter, cilantro, minced garlic, pepper, and a bit of lemon juice. Some of the butter is first browned to impart additional flavor. When making your own rendition of this sauce at home, you won’t want to skip the browning process; it really brings a lot of character to the sauce!
What is lobster butter made of?
Traditional lobster butter, or drawn butter, is typically made out of just melted butter and lemon juice. Sometimes, it will include clarified butter, and other times, the butter will be kept as is. Depending on where you dine, the lobster butter may include additional ingredients, such as garlic, herbs, and other goodies to further boost the flavor.
How do you melt butter for lobster tails?
If you want melted butter for lobster tails, simply place some melted butter in a small saucepan and melt the butter over low heat. If you wish to brown your butter first, add only one tablespoon of butter to the saucepan over medium heat, before reducing the heat to low and adding the rest of the butter. Add additional spices and flavorings as you see fit.
How do you make burnt butter for lobster?
Burnt butter for lobster can be made by first browning a tablespoon of butter per cup of butter over medium heat. You’ll then reduce the heat to low and add the rest of your butter until it is fully melted. At this point, you may serve your browned butter as is or use the Red Lobster butter sauce recipe above to make the flavor a bit more interesting.
Red Lobster Butter Sauce Recipe

By using just butter and a few seasonings, you can have a delightfully tasty dip for your lobster and other seafood entrees that you can easily whip up within 5 minutes anytime you’d like!
Type: sauce
Cuisine: American
Recipe Ingredients:
- 1 cup butter, divided
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons dried cilantro (may use parsley if you don’t like cilantro’s pungent flavor)
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Recipe Instructions:
Brown Butter:
Reduce Heat:
Mix Other Ingredients:
Simmer:
Yummy. Thank you!!