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7 Chain Restaurants Serving Real Butter on Their Steaks

Evidence-Based
These chain restaurants serve real butter with their steaks and meals every time.

Nothing hits better than a tender steak with great marbling, cooked to perfection. Chain restaurants can be a consistent option when looking for a steak dinner. It can be a familiar choice when you’re traveling in an unfamiliar place. The ideal pairing for a quality steak is real butter. No fake junk, adding a chemical taste to the steak. Just real butter coating the top. Here are 7 chains that say you can rely on real butter melting over their steaks.

Outback Steakhouse

Outback

At Outback Steakhouse, you can count on real butter being paired with their chops. While talking to Tasting Table, a chef at Outback Steakhouse, Efrem Cutler, said the chain prefers to cook their cuts in butter. Cooking the meat in creamy butter can help enhance the flavor of the steak, adding a bit of that pleasant nuttiness you taste and smell with a good browned butter.

Red Lobster

Red Lobster

Steamed seafood at Red Lobster simply isn’t complete without its loyal companion; melted butter. “Nothing but butter! It’s a #Lobsterfest thing,” the company said in a Facebook post. “Lobster, corn on the cob, and artichokes….Best reasons for melted butter,” a customer commented on the thread. The popular chain knows that it’s necessary, and that their customers deserve real butter with their crab and lobster.

McDonald’s

Big Breakfast from McDonald's with hotcakes
McDonald’s

McDonald’s knows the importance of real butter for their breakfast meals, and customers can rely on their consistency. “Just like how you butter toast at home, we use real butter on our English muffins, biscuits and bagels used for some of our breakfast menu items, making mornings extra special,” the chain says.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House

ruth's chris steak and lobster on a plate with half a lemon
Ruth's Chris Steak House / Facebook

Ruth’s Chris Steak House prioritizes using real butter, as well. “I worked at Ruth’s Chris in the early 90s. Number one, they use the best beef available similar to Papas steakhouse or Morton’s. Number two, they have a Cajun flare using New Orleans/Louisiana spices,” a reviewer said on Quora. “Their little trick is they put clarified butter on the steak as it is leaving the kitchen. The plate is scorching hot because they keep them in the oven and the room temperature butter hits the plate and sizzles for effect.”

Tim Horton’s

tim hortons exterior
Photo: Lester Balajadia / Shutterstock

I grew up with Tim Horton’s in Buffalo, and something as simply as a buttered, toasted bagel or biscuit is so good for a reason. “I love whatever brand of butter they provide in those small packets/[containers] at Tims. I was always curious what brand/type of butter they use,” a reviewer said on a Reddit thread about Tim Horton’s. From the commentary, it says Tim Horton’s consistently has real butter, but the brand itself is up for debate. “It’s Saputo,” one said. Another followed it up with “it’s not Saputo in my market, it’s Neilson Dairy for the stick.” Another said “I like it too. It’s like whipped or something. It’s fluffy and so good on a muffin.”

Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel Old Timer's Breakfast
Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel uses real butter their diners can depend on. “Our Old Timer’s Breakfast comes with two farm-fresh eggs and grits. Your choice of our delicious Fried Apples or Hashbrown Casserole, plus Turkey Sausage, Thick-Sliced Bacon, or Smoked Sausage. Then we top it off with all the fixins’ including warm Buttermilk Biscuits with real butter, Sawmill Gravy, and the best Dickinson’s preserves and jam we could find,” the company says.

Biscuit Belly

Biscuit Belly

Biscuit Belly also incorporates real butter in its famous breakfast biscuits. “I would recommend topping them with butter after baking if you want that extra bit of butter flavor on top,” Hannah McClain, Director of Culinary Training & Operations at Biscuit Belly tells Daily Meal about brushing the warm, fresh out of the oven biscuits with butter. “If you butter before you bake, you risk burning the butter.”

Jess Kelly
Jess Kelly is an accomplished freelance writer and journalist with nearly a decade of experience contributing to renowned media outlets, including The Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan, AAA, Elite Traveler, Eater, Food52, Insider, Wine Enthusiast, Kitchn, AAA World Magazine, Thrillist, Conde Nast Traveler, Lonely Planet, Hemispheres, and TravelPulse. Read more about Jess
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