Name: Lemon Butter Sauce
Cook time: 5 min
Ingredients: ¼ cup unsalted butter (cut into pieces); 1 garlic clove (grated); ¼ teaspoon sea salt; 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; Freshly ground black pepper; Parsley (for garnish); Pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

This rich, flavorful lemon butter sauce is delicious on pasta, roasted veggies, and more. Made with 5 ingredients, it comes together in minutes.

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Earlier this spring, I started making this lemon butter sauce to serve with steamed artichokes. Since then, I’ve started serving it with so much more – pasta, roasted veggies, couscous. It’s deliciously buttery and rich, with a bright, savory flavor from lemon juice and garlic. You only need 5 ingredients to make it, and it comes together in less than 5 minutes. I mean, why not drizzle it over everything?

Lemon Butter Sauce Recipe Ingredients

You only need 5 ingredients to make this recipe:

Butter, of course! I recommend using unsalted butter here. That way, you have complete control over the seasoning. If you use salted butter, or if you make this recipe with vegan butter, omit the salt and season to taste.
Fresh lemon juice – Its bright flavor cuts the butter’s richness.
Garlic – For savory depth of flavor.
And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop.

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

How to Use Lemon Butter Sauce

Once you have this lemon butter sauce recipe in your back pocket, have fun experimenting with different ways to use it. It’s amazingly versatile, and I think you’ll find that it tastes great on all sorts of dishes. Here are a few serving suggestions to get you started:

Toss it with pasta. I call for this lemon garlic butter sauce specifically in my artichoke pasta recipe, but don’t feel like you need a recipe to use it. Make a quick weeknight dinner by tossing it with any pasta shape, sautéed greens, and Parmesan cheese, or use it to dress up your next batch of homemade pasta.
Mix it with couscous or rice to make an easy side dish for any protein you like.
Serve it as a dipping sauce. I especially like it with steamed artichoke leaves or roasted baby artichokes.
Drizzle it over simply cooked veggies. You’ll love it on green beans, roasted asparagus, roasted radishes, and cauliflower.

How do you like to serve this lemon sauce? Let me know in the comments!

More Favorite Sauce Recipes

If you love this recipe, try one of these easy sauces next:

Lemon Butter Sauce

rate this recipe:

5 from 65 votes

Cook Time: 5

Serves 4

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This lemon garlic butter sauce is rich, flavorful, and SO easy to make! Serve it on pasta, couscous, roasted veggies, and more.

Ingredients

¼ cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 garlic clove, grated
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
Parsley, for garnish
Pinch red pepper flakes, optional

Instructions

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the garlic and salt and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice. Season with freshly ground pepper and sprinkle with parsley and red pepper flakes, if using.
Serve with steamed artichokes for dipping or toss with pasta. See the blog post above for additional serving suggestions.