These cowboy butter potatoes are perfectly cooked on the griddle or in a skillet, then tossed with a rich and flavorful compound butter. A simple side dish to serve with your favorite protein, this will be your new favorite way to cook potatoes on the Blackstone!
When you think of “cowboy butter”, you might imagine bold flavors, sizzling steak, and backyard grills. But cowboy butter isn’t just for steak. In fact, we’ve used the trendy compound butter as a “sauce” for everything from cowboy butter shrimp to cowboy butter chicken breasts.
So when I grilled a cowboy ribeye recently, I immediately thought to griddle up some awesome cowboy butter potatoes to pair with it. The result was fantastic! The combination of crispy, golden potatoes straight off the griddle and the flavor-packed butter is a match made in carb heaven!
Say goodbye to bland, under-seasoned potatoes – your Blackstone potatoes are about to get a major upgrade!
Why You’ll Love these Potatoes on the Blackstone:
- Perfectly crispy on the outside, tender on the inside – The potatoes are boiled first so they’re nice and tender, then they get a light coating of flour for extra crisp as they shallow fry on the griddle.
- Rich and flavorful potatoes – Potatoes can get a bad wrap because they’re naturally pretty bland. But the addition of the cowboy butter makes them extra decadent and flavorful!
- Make a large batch on the Blackstone – The best thing about making these potatoes on the Blackstone is that you can make a large batch at once, perfect for feeding a large family without the need to cook the potatoes in batches, as you would need to do in a skillet.
- Save leftovers for hash, breakfast bowls, and more – We intentionally make extra potatoes when we make this recipe. The leftovers make fantastic breakfast bowls with your choice of protein, sautéed vegetables, a sprinkle of cheese, and over easy eggs. You can also cut leftover potatoes smaller in size and add to breakfast burritos.
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Ingredient Notes
Before you fire up your griddle, here’s what you’ll want ready:
- baby potatoes – Size matters here. Big ones get halved (or quartered), small ones can go in whole. Aim for even sizes so they cook evenly.
- sweet onion – I went with a hefty Vidalia because I’m a sucker for that mellow, caramelized flavor next to crispy spuds.
- all-purpose flour – Just a sprinkle! This adds a touch of texture and helps those potatoes crisp up in their shallow fry.
- beef tallow (or oil) – Tallow gives you serious flavor and authentic steakhouse vibes, but any high-heat oil can work.
For the Cowboy Butter:
There are many different variations of cowboy butter, and we often adjust our recipe based on what we’re serving with the butter. For instance, for our cowboy butter shrimp, we add in extra lemon juice and garlic because those ingredients pair well with seafood.
Here are the ingredients that we used for the cowboy butter potatoes:
- butter – You’ll need one stick of butter. You can use salted or unsalted.
- shallot – Very finely diced.
- all-purpose seasoning – Or you can substitute salt and pepper. We used our Shake That All Purpose Seasoning, which pairs perfectly with potatoes.
- chives and parsley – These add a bit of color and freshness to the side dish.
- garlic – You can very thinly slice the fresh garlic cloves or mince them, it’s up to you.
- red pepper flakes – Just a dash added to the butter adds a bit of kick. You can omit if you like, or add more for extra spice.
- dijon mustard – A classic cowboy butter ingredient.
- smoked paprika – Substitute regular paprika if you wish. This adds extra flavor and gives your potatoes a beautiful slightly red color.
- Worcestershire sauce
- prepared horseradish – One of my favorite ingredients, and one that is very underrated. Prepared horseradish (not the creamy style) adds great flavor to a variety of dishes.
- fresh lemon juice
What is Cowboy Butter?
Cowboy butter is much more than your average melted butter. Think of it as a bold compound butter, bursting with flavor from ingredients like garlic, shallots, Dijon mustard, smoked paprika, and Worcestershire sauce. This buttery blend was born for steak, shrimp, and rich grilled foods – but it makes an unbelievably good sauce for perfectly cooked, crispy potatoes.
Each time we make cowboy butter, we adjust the recipe to suit the proteins and vegetables in the dish. For potatoes, we lean into horseradish and keeps things garlic-forward to create layers of flavor that pop against the crispy texture of the potatoes. For shrimp, we like to up the lemon juice and add in zest from the lemon as well.
Cowboy butter is a fantastic addition to any recipe that can benefit from a bit of richness and added flavor, and you can even make a batch ahead and refrigerate it in an airtight container for other dishes.
How to Make the Best Potatoes on the Blackstone
Step 1: Prep the potatoes. Start by cutting the baby yellow potatoes into halves or quarters, depending on the size. Smaller potatoes can remain whole. The goal is to have the potatoes be even in size so that they cook evenly on the griddle.
Step 2: Boil the potatoes. Cut raw potatoes can take quite a long time to cook, and if you were to cook them from start to finish on the griddle, then the exterior would probably burn before the insides had a chance to fully soften – not to mention all of the propane that you would use up in the process. So I prefer to boil, or at least par-boil, my cut potatoes first.
Simply add the cut baby potatoes to a large pot with salted water, and boil until fork tender. Then drain well to remove excess moisture – remember, moisture creates steam on the griddle instead of a nice charred crust. Transfer the drained potatoes to a large baking sheet, spread out in a thin even layer.
Step 3: Sprinkle the potatoes with flour. Toss potatoes in a very light dusting of all-purpose flour. I like to use a fine mesh strainer for this so that I don’t add too much flour. This step is key for crisp texture on the griddle.
Step 4: Begin to cook the potatoes cut side down on the griddle. Heat the Blackstone griddle to a medium heat, and add a good amount of your favorite high-heat cooking oil. For this recipe, I used beef tallow to give my potatoes even more flavor. You can also use bacon grease or avocado oil, but I would stay away from adding butter to the griddle at this point, because it would burn.
Place the potatoes cut side down on the oiled surface, and allow them to cook untouched for several minutes for a nice charred golden color to develop. After a few minutes, you can nestle cut onions into the nooks and crannies. I like to add the onions for flavor and texture variety, but you can leave them out if you wish.
Step 5: Start melting butter with aromatics. While the potatoes cook, make the cowboy butter in a separate skillet over medium heat. Add a stick of butter to a large skillet with thinly sliced or minced fresh garlic and finely diced shallot. Sauté until the garlic and shallot are softened, but not browned. Then add the crushed red pepper flakes. Continue to cook until the butter is fully melted.
Step 6: Finish the cowboy butter. Remove from the heat and add the remaining cowboy butter ingredients to the skillet, including the Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, all-purpose seasoning, horseradish, and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly, taste, and adjust the seasoning if needed.
Step 7: Finish the potatoes on the Blackstone. Once the potatoes have a nice, crispy char on the bottom, begin to sauté them together with the onions on the griddle. Continue to cook until the potatoes are done to your liking.
*Remember, just like with griddle hash browns, potatoes take a while to cook. Even after boiling them, our potatoes took about 18 minutes to cook on the griddle.
Step 8: Toss the griddle potatoes with the cowboy butter. When potatoes are deeply golden and cooked through, transfer them (along with onions) to a large bowl. Pour the cowboy butter over the hot potatoes, sprinkle with freshly chopped chives and parsley, and toss well.
Let them rest a couple of minutes so the potatoes soak up the buttery goodness, and then your Blackstone potatoes are ready to serve!
*TIP – As you’re serving the potatoes, be sure to scoop from the bottom of the bowl. All of that concentrated cowboy butter seeps down through the cracks, so you’ll need to redistribute it as you plate the potatoes.
Cowboy Butter Potatoes on the Blackstone Griddle
Ingredients
- 2 18 oz bags baby yellow potatoes
- 1 medium sweet onion chopped, optional
- ½ – 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2-3 tablespoons high-heat cooking oil or beef tallow or bacon grease
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives and/or parsley diced
For the Cowboy Butter:
- ½ cup butter
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ medium shallot finely minced
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
- 1 tablespoon Shake That All-Purpose Seasoning or salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
- juice of ½ lemon
Instructions
- Cut the potatoes in halves or quarters so they are uniform in size. Add the cut potatoes to a large pot of salted boiling water. Boil the potatoes about 8-10 minutes or until barely fork tender.
- Drain the potatoes well, and transfer to a large baking sheet in a thin even layer. Toss potatoes in a very light dusting of all-purpose flour (about ½ – 1 tablespoon). *I like to use a fine mesh strainer for this so that I don’t add too much flour. This step is key for crisp texture on the griddle.
- Heat griddle on medium heat. Then add about 2-3 tablespoons high-heat cooking oil (or tallow or bacon grease) to the heated surface and spread it around with your spatula.
- Place the potatoes cut side down on the oiled surface, and allow them to cook untouched for about 6-8 minutes for a nice charred golden color to develop. *If adding the chopped onions, add those to the griddle as well, nestling them in between the potatoes.
- While the potatoes cook, begin making the cowboy butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add a stick of butter to a large skillet with garlic and shallot. Sauté until the garlic and shallot are softened, but not browned. Then add the crushed red pepper flakes. Continue to cook until the butter is fully melted.
- Remove the butter from the heat and add the remaining cowboy butter ingredients to the skillet, including the Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, smoked paprika, all-purpose seasoning, horseradish, and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly, taste, and adjust the seasoning if needed.
- Once a golden brown color develops on the bottom of the potatoes, begin to sauté together the potatoes and onions. Continue to cook until the potatoes are done to your liking. *Total cooking time for potatoes could be 15-18 minutes, depending on your griddle's heating capabilities.
- When potatoes are deeply golden and cooked through, transfer them (along with onions) to a large bowl. Pour the cowboy butter over the hot potatoes, sprinkle with freshly chopped chives and parsley, and toss well.
- Let the potatoes rest about 3-4 minutes, then serve. Sprinkle with more chives or parsley for garnish. *As you’re serving the potatoes, be sure to scoop from the bottom of the bowl. All of that concentrated cowboy butter seeps down through the cracks, so you’ll need to redistribute it as you plate the potatoes
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