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This post is all about how to make Cowboy Butter Steak Sliders. These handheld sandwiches are soft and tender and melt right in your mouth. From the juicy tenderloin to the zesty-herby cowboy butter smothered buns, and the melty havarti cheese, these are addictively delicious sandwiches you just can’t get enough of.
Looking for an impressive slider to make for your friends and family on the grill? These Cowboy Butter Steak Sliders are the perfect choice, the cowboy butter is full of deliciously fresh flavors like lemon juice and zest, fresh parsley, thyme, chives, and garlic with a kick of heat. Once you try this cowboy butter, I assure you will want to smother it over everything you make! 🙂
Chicken sandwiches are one of my favorite foods, and it was hard for me to top my most popular Honey Mustard Chicken Sliders and my mini Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich Sliders. But, when it comes to a tender cut of quality steak, nothing else competes. So I have to declare this my favorite sandwich I’ve ever made. My husband, Aaron, agrees!
Don’t have a grill? You can easily prepare your steaks in a cast iron skillet indoors, basting it with cowboy butter throughout the cooking process. I’ve added instructions in the notes of my recipe below.
This recipe post is all about how to make Cowboy Butter Steak Sliders – the fanciest slider you will ever make!
Key Ingredients:
Steak – select a Choice-Grade steak and a premium cut like ribeye, filet, NY Strip. I am using tenderloin (filet mignon).
Havarti Cheese – you can use any type of mild, melty cheese. Fontina works as well. I got Boar’s Head brand from the specialty cheese counter.
Slider Rolls – slider sized rolls are perfect, like King’s Hawaiian.
Butter – the star of this dish
Aromatics – onion, garlic, chives.
Produce – parsley, lemon
Seasonings – cayenne, red pepper flakes, thyme, paprika, salt and pepper.
Dijon – just a dollop of dijon is used in the cowboy butter. Even if you aren’t a “mustard person” you will love this. You don’t taste mustard.
How to Make Cowboy Butter Steak Sliders:
Prepare the Steak
Prepare steaks by trimming excess fat and silver skin if needed. Rub with oil and season your steaks well on all sides with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. If steaks are thicker, be sure to season more heavily. Wrap steaks in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a few hours for optimum seasoning penetration.
Make the Cowboy Butter
In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and whisk continually. Add lemon juice and zest, garlic, dijon, and dry seasonings. Remove from heat and add chives and fresh parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon out a few tablespoons into a small bowl for use on the steaks as they grill. Set aside the remaining butter for slider buns.
Cook the Steaks
Preheat grill to medium-high with an indirect heat zone. Remove steaks from the fridge and allow them to rest at room temp for 30 minutes. Cook steaks over direct heat for about 2-3 minutes per side, being sure not to char them. If high flames appear, move them to indirect heat until flame subsides. Brush both sides with cowboy butter as they cook. After 5-6 minutes of total cook time, move the steaks to indirect heat until desired temperature is reached. Remove and allow steaks to rest on a plate with tented foil for 10 minutes before slicing.
Caramelize Onions
Place a cast iron skillet on the grill over direct heat. Add a few tablespoons of butter into the skillet, once it melts add the sliced onions. Allow onions to cook until caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
Assemble Sliders
Pre-heat oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Separate the sliders and brush the inside of the slider buns with all remaining cowboy butter. Add the havarti cheese to the top and bottom buns then add the grilled onions to the bottom buns. Place a few strips of sliced steak per bottom slider. Broil for 1-2 minutes or until cheese begins to melt. Place the top sliders over the steak, slice and enjoy!
Tools I Love For These Steak Sliders:
Lodge Cast Iron Skillet
Silicon Basting Brush
Stainless Steel Saucepan with Measurements
Looking for More Delish Sliders?
Honey Mustard BLT Chicken Sliders
Elote Brisket Sliders
Salmon Honey Mustard BLT Sliders
Southern Fried Chicken Sliders (Cheesecake Factory Copycat Recipe)
I hope you enjoyed this Cowboy Butter Steak Slider recipe! I look forward to your questions and feedback below. Please be sure to tag me @BadBatchBaking using hashtag #badbatchbaking if you made this recipe and I will feature you on my story! Plus, I LOVE to see your baking accomplishments.
Cowboy Butter Steak Sliders
Ingredients
FOR THE SLIDERS
- 1 1/ 2 pounds boneless steak such as ribeye filet, sirloin
- neutral oil as needed
- kosher salt to taste
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 3 sweet onions thinly sliced
- 9 slider buns
- 3/ 4 pound sliced havarti cheese
FOR THE COWBOY BUTTER
- 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/ 2 lemon zested and juiced
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/ 2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/ 2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon chives minced
- 2 tablepoons fresh parsley minced
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare steaks by trimming excess fat and silver skin if needed.Rub with oil and season your steaks well on all sides with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. If steaks are thicker, be sure to season more heavily.
- Wrap steaks in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a few hours for optimum seasoning penetration.
MAKE COWBOY BUTTER
- In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and whisk continually. Add lemon juice and zest, garlic, dijon, and dry seasonings.
- Remove from heat and add chives and fresh parsley. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Spoon out a few tablespoons into a small bowl for use on the steaks as they grill. Set aside the remaining butter for slider buns.
COOK STEAK
- Preheat grill to medium-high with an indirect heat zone. Remove steaks from the fridge and allow them to rest at room temp for 30 minutes.
- Cook steaks over direct heat for about 2-3 minutes per side, being sure not to char them. If high flames appear, move them to indirect heat until flame subsides.
- Brush both sides with cowboy butter as they cook. After 5-6 minutes of total cook time, move the steaks to indirect heat until desired temperature is reached.
- Remove and allow steaks to rest on a plate with tented foil for 10 minutes before slicing.
CARAMELIZE ONIONS
- Place a cast iron skillet on the grill over direct heat. Add a few tablespoons of butter into the skillet, once it melts add the sliced onions. Allow onions to cook until caramelized, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
PREPARE & ASSEMBLE SLIDERS
- Pre-heat oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Separate the sliders and brush the inside of the slider buns with all remaining cowboy butter. Add the havarti cheese to the top and bottom buns then add the grilled onions to the bottom buns.
- Place a few strips of sliced steak per bottom slider. Broil for 1-2 minutes or until cheese begins to melt. Place the top sliders over the steak, slice and enjoy!
Notes
- Allow the steaks to come to room temperature for 30 minutes. Then pat them dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper .
- Heat 1-2 tbsp avocado oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until it’s shimmering.
- Place the steaks in the skillet (being careful not to overcrowd the pan) and cook for 4 minutes on one side without touching. Use tongs to flip the steaks and cook for 4 more minutes on the other side.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, add a few spoonfuls of cowboy butter. As the butter melts, tilt the skillet and spoon the butter over the steaks repeatedly until the steaks reach desired doneness, keeping in mind that the temperature will continue to rise about 5 degrees after you remove from heat and the steaks rest.
- Transfer the steaks to a plate or cutting board, and allow them to rest for 5 minutes before slicing or serving. Serve with the melted butter, garlic and rosemary from the skillet.
I made this recipe except I smoked a 3 pound brisket for six hours and used the meat from that! I added little bit of ranch on the bottom of the sliders, but followed the recipe otherwise. Very, very good. I will definitely make again.
Insane!!! I absolutely adore smoked brisket and it’s so good with cowboy butter! Glad you enjoyed this.
I *never* comment on recipes on blogs, but oh my goodness! My picky 14 year old and husband both just raved about these, which is rare. These are so so good!!
Oh my goodness – this makes me sooo happy to hear. I am very appreciative you made it back on here to comment 🙂 Thank you so much
Delicious! Our first recipe of yours for us to try and we are excited to try more!!
Thank you so much Morgan! My cookbook just released! I hope you do get a chance to try more 🙂