But on a remarkable night Boyd went on to score two more in the second period to take his career SPL tally to 160, two more than Henrik Larsson’s previous league record.
Further goals from substitute Steven Whittaker and a stunner from Madjid Bougherra at the death made this a truly memorable evening for the Ibrox faithful who are now watching their a side hitting their best form in possibly years.
That’s 26 goals in six SPL games for Walter Smith’s men but they also suffered a huge blow when Kenny Miller was sent off at the start of the second half for violent conduct.
The striker will now miss Sunday’s Old Firm match.
At the end of the 90 minutes, however, this was overshadowed by the way Rangers performed.
Smith rewarded the eleven players who produced a stunning comeback at Easter Road on Sunday with a repeat lineup for Dundee Utd’s visit and they repaid his faith.
Despite the bitterly cold conditions Rangers started the match positively and immediately Nacho Novo was in the thick of things.
After just three minutes the Spaniard, playing on the left, slotted the ball past Nicky Weaver in the United goal but Boyd, who had played him in, was already ruled offside.
And in the very next attack Rangers showed the quality that had seen them score 19 goals in their previous five SPL outings.
Broadfoot and Lafferty combined on the half-way line before the ball was fed down the right wing to Kenny Miller.
The striker delivered an excellent first time cross which again found Novo free at the back post but his effort from just ten yards went high in to the Broomloan Road Stand.
United, however, hit back quickly and when Danny Cadamarteri held the ball up and laid it back to Darren Dods the defender’s crisp strike from 20 yards went a foot wide of Allan McGregor’s post.
But with Rangers in this mood the United backline was always going to be tested to the limit and on 19 minutes they cracked.
Boyd latched on to a slack back pass and he laid it in to the path of Miller who was brought to the ground by a clumsy Dods challenge.
Only one man was going to take it and Boyd calmly sent Nicky Weaver the wrong way for goal number one.
The second arrived only five minutes later and it was an absolute cracker.
Novo won a free-kick 30 yards from goal and when Steven Davis rolled the ball to Boyd he blasted a low, unstoppable shot that was behind Weaver before he had even moved.
Ibrox was now rocking to a chorus of ‘There’s only one Kris Boyd..’ and before the half hour mark he had bagged his third goal and equalled Henrik Larsson’s SPL previous record of 158.
The energetic Miller darted down the left wing with the ball and his inch perfect cross was met gleefully by Boyd who diverted it home from close range.
Ibrox rose to it’s feet to celebrate a fantastic achievement and every Rangers player sprinted in to the United to 18-yard box to jump on their teammate.
At this stage it was quite easy to forget that there was still over an hour to play but Peter Houston realised that his side were in real trouble and the temporary boss swiftly took Craig Conway off and replaced him with Damien Casalinuovo.
With a three-goal advantage in place it was perhaps understandable that Rangers were happy to keep possession for the remainder of the half.
But with just three minutes remaining a Danny Cadamateri shot from 35 yards almost caught Allan McGregor cold and sent a shockwave around the stadium.
And with William Collum about to blow his whistle a Miller curling shot had Weaver diving to his left to nervously palm the ball to safety.
It was an all-action first-half for the home fans to enjoy and the visitors looked shattered as they walked down the tunnel.
Walter Smith decided to make one change at the interval with Steven Smith replacing Sasa Papac but in a blink of an eye United found themselves right back in this game.
With just a minute of the second period played Paul Dixon was given space down the left and his cross was diverted home by substitute Casalinuovo who saw his effort creep over the line with McGregor scrambling back.
At this stage it was game on and things were to get worse for Rangers moments later when Miller was sent for an early bath.
The striker tangled with Dods on the turf and appeared to kick the centre-half in his face with his right boot.
Collum immediately pulled out his red card and despite pleas from Kris Boyd and Davie Weir, Miller will now miss Sunday’s derby in Glasgow’s East End.
After a first-half in which they were simply not at the races United were now in the ascendancy and Cadamarteri again came close with a powerful strike which was a yard over McGregor’s goal.
With an extra man now on their side Rangers were stretched and on 65 minutes the Tangerines should have bagged their second.
Cadamarteri darted to the goal line and his cut back was somehow put wide by Casalinuovo from just six yards.
With his team now reeling Walter Smith was forced in to making his second change with Steven Whittaker replacing Novo on the left wing.
And within a couple of minutes on the pitch Whitty settles a few nerves in the stadium when he bagged his side’s fourth.
Lafferty fired in a cross which looked looked to be going harmlessly across to Sean Dillon.
The defender, however, took a heavy touch going back towards his goal and Whittaker used his pace and power to nip in before hitting a left foot shot across Weaver.
To say that a fourth goal was just what Rangers needed would be an understatement and Peter Houston must have been tearing his hair out at the way his team gifted the opportunity.
But this was always going to be Kris Boyd’s night and it was almost inevitable that he would get his fourth to make history.
With 75 minutes played a corner was sent in deep and Boyd, at the second attempt, blasted the ball in to the net from two yards before celebrating in typical style with the Copland Road Bears.
With the points guaranteed and Boydy now a record breaker you would have thought he would have stopped there but you would be wrong!
With 11 minutes remaining Lafferty did well down the right and his cross in to the box looked to be intended for Kirk Broadfoot who had dropped deep to find space.
Boyd, however, came out of nowhere to shove his Ayrshire buddy out the way and after taking one touch he guided a high shot past Weaver for his fifth.
But the scoring was not finished and with Rangers now rampant Madjid Bougherra decided to get on the act with a wonder goal.
The big Algerian picked it up in the centre circle and skipped past four defenders before rifling a stunning left foot shot beyond Weaver.
This was the icing on the cake on the cake and Bougherra darted past the home dug-out high fiving every person including Walter Smith.
It was one of those nights that few fans will forget and even with the sending off of Miller United simply could not cope with a Rangers side in such devastating form.