5-Minute Lemon Butter Sauce
Make this super-easy and slight butter sauce for chicken, pasta, fish or steamed vegetables! Light, tangy flavor with a hint of real lemon juice and no preservatives, additives, colorants or yucky stuff!
Why this recipe works
By heating the fresh lemon juice first, there is no need to add a thickening agent like flour or cornstarch; the butter binds beautifully with the hot lemon juice in just minutes
Here’s what you’ll need
There are so many variations of this recipe–some contain eggs while others are based on a roux. This recipe uses simple ingredients: fresh lemon juice, salted butter, salt and white pepper.
Here’s how you make it
- Cut butter into small pieces and set aside
- In a medium saucepan, heat the lemon juice on high temperature
- Add the butter, reduce the stovetop heat to low and whisk until smooth
- Add salt and pepper to taste; serve immediately
This recipe takes no time to make-less than 5- minutes, but the results are delicious and if you have any leftover, you can easily reheat it!
Recipe tips
- If your lemon butter sauce starts to separate or break, remove the saucepan from heat and whisk in a splash of cold water; whisk until the sauce has emulsified
- If you want a creamier lemon butter sauce, add 2 teaspoons of buttermilk right before you serve it
Storage and reheating
If you have leftover sauce, simply store it in a jar and refrigerate up to 5 days.
To re-heat, pour it into a pan on medium heat and whisk until it reaches a smooth consistency. If its too thick, add a tablespoon of water and whisk.
Variations
One of the best ways to dress up this lemon-butter sauce is to add fresh or dried herbs. Pair the herb of your choice with whatever you’re cooking!
But remember, dried herbs are stronger than fresh, so if you’re using fresh herbs, add them at the end and use 3 times the amount of dried.
For example, if you want a Lemon Butter sauce with dried dill, add 1 tablespoon of dried dill at the beginning of the process; if you’re using FRESH dill, use three-times as much (3 tablespoons) and add it at the END.
- Dill: perfect for fish and poultry
- Rosemary: roasted chicken, pork or beef
- Sage: turkey, pork, beef
I like to serve this light Lemon Butter sauce with chicken, asparagus and steamed or poached fish.
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♥ If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and rating! I love to hear from you!
5-Minute Lemon Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 3 sticks salted butter , 1½ cups of butter or 24 tablespoons
- salt and white pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons buttermilk (optional)
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, heat fresh lemon juice on high temperature; once it starts to bubble a little, turn the stove temperature to low¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- Add butter to saucepan and stir on low heat until smooth; season to taste with salt and white pepper; serve immediately3 sticks salted butter, salt and white pepper
- If you want a creamier version, add 2 teaspoons of buttermilk to the sauce right before you serve it2 teaspoons buttermilk (optional)
Great recipe! Can I substitute olive oil, for all or for 1/2 of the butter to keep calories and cholesterol down?
Good question. I am not a certified nutritionist nor registered dietician, so I would not feel comfortable answering this question relative to the nutritional values. I also have never tried this lemon butter sauce with oil, so in that regard, my answer is vague, but honest: “I don’t know.”