Lemon Butter Sauce | Feasting At Home

Bright and tangy, this Lemon Butter Sauce will elevate your meal! Delicious on fish, pasta, salmon, lobster, chicken, and vegetables! Easy to make with simple ingredients.

Here’s another cooking basics recipe that will come in handy at mealtime! The preparation is quite simple, yet it feels elevated. Melt butter in a saucepan, saute garlic and shallot until fragrant, whisk in freshly squeezed lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper.

Fresh herbs add great flavor to the rich, tangy sauce, and we enjoy using a mix for variety. Drizzle over seared branzino, toss with pasta and parmesan cheese, or use it as a dipping sauce for shrimp or artichokes. The versatility and vibrant flavor make this lemon butter sauce an easy staple.

Lemon Butter Sauce Recipe Ingredients

• Lemon: Use fresh lemon juice. Taste the lemon to make sure it isn’t bitter.
• Butter: Use unsalted butter. If using salted butter, don’t add salt to the sauce. Taste and adjust at the end.
• Shallots and garlic: Add deep aromatic flavor.
• Salt and pepper: A simple way to deeply enhance the flavor.
• Fresh herbs: Use a mix for the best flavor! Parsley, chives, dill, thyme, tarragon, sorrel, lovage, basil, or mint.

How to Make Lemon Butter Sauce

1. Melt butter and sauté aromatics. In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add shallots and garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in salt, lemon juice, and black pepper.

2. Add fresh herbs. Transfer the sauce to a dish and stir in the fresh minced herbs.

3. Thin the sauce. As it cools, the sauce will thicken. To thin it, place the bowl of sauce in a larger bowl with warm water at the bottom. Stir to keep the sauce incorporated.

Butter Sauce Variations

• For a creamier, thicker sauce, Add a little whole milk or cream.
• For a bit of spice, add red pepper flakes or Aleppo Chile flakes.
• For complexity and aromatic flavor, Add dry white wine when sautéing the shallot and garlic cloves. Cook at medium heat to cook off the alcohol.
• To enhance the lemon flavor, Sprinkle lemon zest over top.
• For extra richness and depth, Add a little chicken broth.
• For extra garlicky, double or triple the garlic.

Storage

Store the sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. For reheating, warm gently over low heat in a saucepan.

Ways to Use Lemon Butter Sauce

Lemon Butter Sauce is the perfect accompaniment for fish, poultry, pasta, and vegetables. It elevates rather than overpowers delicate fish like halibut, tilapia, red snapper, trout, sole or salmon. You can also use it as a dipping sauce for shellfish- shrimp, crab, lobster, or grilled artichokes! Here are some of our favorite dishes to use this sauce.

Have fun with this creamy, delicious Lemon Butter Sauce! Be sure to let us know what you do with it!

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