This Easy Lemon Butter Sauce Is the Easiest Way to Upgrade Dinner (2024)

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Laura Rege

Laura Rege

Laura Rege is a recipe developer and food stylist living the mid-coastal lifestyle between Dallas and Brooklyn. Formerly a senior member of the editorial teams at Food & Wine and Martha Stewart Living, Laura now creates and styles recipes for websites like ours and cooking videos! When she's not in the kitchen for work, she is off traveling in the U.S. or abroad searching out the next delicious bite.

published Jan 17, 2022

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This Easy Lemon Butter Sauce Is the Easiest Way to Upgrade Dinner (1)

This 10-minute sauce only calls for 6 ingredients.

Serves4 to 6Makesabout 1 1/2 cupsPrep5 minutesCook10 minutes

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This Easy Lemon Butter Sauce Is the Easiest Way to Upgrade Dinner (2)

With lemon butter sauce in the repertoire, dinner will never be lacking in flavor. It’s the kind of finish that transforms any cooked protein or side into an interesting meal, regardless of how it was prepared. French in origin, the key to the rich, silky texture of this minimal-ingredient, 10-minute sauce is butter, and the key to its irresistible tanginess is lemon.

Shallot and garlic smell incredible cooking up in butter and contribute savory notes. The parsley lends a clean finish while the chicken broth (you can use vegetable instead, if preferred), helps stretch out the sauce so it’s not just melted butter. Last but not least, don’t forget salt and pepper. They balance out the acidity, bringing out all the flavors of each ingredient.

This sauce is also extremely versatile. Stir in Dijon mustard or a touch of Worcestershire sauce for a different flavor profile. Add chopped capers or olives for a briny element. Mix and match fresh chopped leafy green herbs such as tarragon, chives, basil, or cilantro. Or stir in your favorite spices like paprika, dried oregano or Italian seasoning, or ground cumin.

What Is Lemon Butter Sauce Made Of?

Lemon butter sauce is a decadent sauce made from lemon and butter, plus ingredients such as shallot, garlic, chicken stock, and parsley.

How Do You Thicken a Butter Sauce?

The sauce is thickened with the butter that is whisked in at the end of cooking. Make sure to use cold cubed butter. Continuously whisking helps to incorporate the butter into the sauce while it melts, ensuring even distribution as well as emulsification.

What to Serve Lemon Butter Sauce With

You’ve got a great sauce recipe, now how do you put it to use? Lemon butter sauce is delicious spooned over any cooked protein, vegetable, or grain!

  • Serve it over proteins like chicken (we love it over seared chicken cutlets!), salmon, and steak. If you’re cooking protein in a skillet, cook the protein first, then make the sauce in the same skillet to get extra flavor from the browning.
  • Try it over roasted, steamed, or pan-seared vegetables.
  • Toss it with noodles to make lemon butter pasta.
  • Dip steamed artichoke leaves and hearts in it.
  • Drizzle it over warm grain salads or rice.
Comments

Lemon Butter Sauce Recipe

This 10-minute sauce only calls for 6 ingredients.

Prep time 5 minutes

Cook time 10 minutes

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Serves 4 to 6

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

  • 1

    small shallot

  • 2 cloves

    garlic

  • 2 to 3

    medium lemons

  • 1 small bunch

    fresh parsley

  • 6 tablespoons

    cold unsalted butter, divided

  • 1 cup

    low-sodium chicken broth

  • 1 teaspoon

    kosher salt, plus more as needed

  • 1/4 teaspoon

    freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Dice 1 small shallot (about 1/4 cup). Mince 2 garlic cloves. Juice 2 to 3 lemons until you have 3 tablespoons juice. Pick and finely chop the leaves from 1 small bunch parsley until you have 3 tablespoons. Cut 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter into 6 pieces.

  2. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook, stirring frequently, until shallot is beginning to soften, 1 minute. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until both garlic and shallot are light golden-brown, 1 to 2 minutes more.

  3. Add the lemon juice then 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Boil until sauce reduces by half, about 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to low. While whisking, add the remaining butter and continue to whisk constantly until all the butter is melted and incorporated.

  4. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and stir to combine. Add the parsley and stir to combine. Taste and season with more kosher salt as needed.

Recipe Notes

Substitutions: You can use other leafy green herbs in place of the parsley, such as basil, cilantro, or tarragon. If using tarragon, reduce the amount and add gradually to taste.

Storage: The sauce is best served immediately to ensure the butter does not separate from the sauce, but you can refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat gently.

Filed in:

sauce

Gluten-Free

pantry

dairy

quick

stovetop

This Easy Lemon Butter Sauce Is the Easiest Way to Upgrade Dinner (2024)

FAQs

What is lemon butter sauce made of? ›

Lemon butter sauce is a decadent sauce made from lemon and butter, plus ingredients such as shallot, garlic, chicken stock, and parsley.

What if I add too much lemon to lemon butter sauce? ›

Dilute the Lemon Juice

Start by adding small amounts of water or a neutral liquid, such as broth or white wine, to the dish. Gradually stir and taste as you go, until you reach the desired level of acidity. This method will help to mellow out the sharpness of the lemon juice without compromising the overall flavor.

How do you keep lemon butter sauce from breaking? ›

Cook the sauce over low heat - This will help to prevent the sauce from breaking. Use a whisk - Whisking the sauce will help to create a smooth and uniform texture. Use butter that is at room temperature - This will help to prevent the sauce from breaking when it is added.

What are butter sauces? ›

noun. : a sauce made of butter, water or broth, and seasonings, thickened with flour, and used also as a basis for the making of other sauces (such as caper sauce or shrimp sauce) by the addition of special ingredients.

What is lemon cream sauce made of? ›

In addition to one lemon and a cup of heavy cream (this is not the time to substitute half and half), you'll need olive oil and shallots—that's all. We use both lemon juice and zest in this easy recipe. The tang of the lemon balances the richness of the cream.

Why do people put butter in sauce? ›

Adding Butter To Tomato Sauce Brings A Balanced Richness

Rather than reach for olive oil to heat up the veggies, swap it with salted butter. Sautéing the veggies in butter will help infuse the dairy product's rich flavor into the rest of the sauce.

Why is my lemon butter runny? ›

Problem: My Lemon Curd is Too Runny

The curd wasn't cooked long enough to allow the egg to thicken, or not enough butter was added.

What does too much lemon do to the body? ›

Lemon juice is high in the amino acid tyramine. If you are sensitive to tyramine, drinking lemon juice can trigger migraine headaches. Lemons can worsen heartburn symptoms in people with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In high amounts, lemon juice can also irritate your stomach and cause nausea.

Why is my lemon butter grainy? ›

Grainy or gritty lemon curd comes from curdled (over-coagulated) eggs, as a result of overcooking.

What are the five basic sauces? ›

The five mother sauces are hollandaise, tomato (sauce tomat), bechamel, Espagnole, and veloute. French chef Auguste Escoffier identified the five mother sauces, forever associating them with French cuisine.

Why add lemon juice to sauce? ›

A shot of red wine vinegar might do the trick here, but that adds its own flavor; a small splash of humble lemon can brighten the sauce exponentially without stealing the spotlight. That's what a hit of acidity does—it sharpens the flavors, sometimes imperceptibly.

Can lemon butter be frozen? ›

Lemon butter can be refrigerated in a sterilised jar or container for up to 2 weeks. Freeze lemon butter for up to 3 months. Store in an airtight container.

What thickens butter sauce? ›

As we mentioned, flour and cornstarch are the most popular ingredients used to thicken butter sauce for pasta. After you've heated your butter and water combo in your skillet, turn your heat down so nothing scorches as you work in the dry ingredients. Then slowly whisk in your flour or cornstarch.

What are the 4 key sauces? ›

An essential basic technique in the classic kitchen, is the preparation of roux, which is directly the basis of 4 of the 5 classic basic sauces. Bechamel, velouté, tomato and Espagnole are thickened with a white or brown roux. The fifth sauce is of course Hollandaise and it contains egg for binding.

What is a broken butter sauce? ›

What does it mean when a sauce breaks? A broken sauce is generally caused by the separation of sauces into two components: a watery liquid and an oily film on top. This happens when there's too much fat or liquid in the mixture.

Which of the four basic sauces has three basic ingredients like butter egg yolk and lemon juice? ›

Hollandaise sauce (/hɒlənˈdeɪz/ or /ˈhɒləndeɪz/; French: [ɔlɑ̃dɛz], from French sauce hollandaise meaning “Dutch sauce”) is a mixture of egg yolk, melted butter, and lemon juice (or a white wine or vinegar reduction).

How do you thicken runny lemon butter? ›

To thicken runny lemon curd, put the curd back into your saucepan, place over the lowest possible heat, and stir constantly. The curd will thin out at first as the butter melts, but it will eventually begin to thicken back up.

What sauce is made from eggs butter and lemon? ›

Hollandaise sauce is one of the five “mother sauces” in French cuisine and consists of egg yolks, butter, lemon juice, and water whisked to creamy perfection over low heat.

What is Indian butter sauce made of? ›

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic, and cook slowly until the onion caramelizes to a dark brown, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine cream, tomato sauce, remaining butter, salt, cayenne pepper, and garam masala in a saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a simmer.

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