Made in less than 10 minutes, Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce transforms a few simple ingredients into a rich, silky sauce that elevates everything from pasta and vegetables to meat, fish and seafood.
Having a few versatile, creamy sauce recipes up your sleeve is a lifesaver, especially when you need to make a nice dinner fast. This bright, fragrant sauce with a delectably buttery texture is one of those recipes.
Ingredients You Need to Make Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce
- Butter: salted or unsalted butter
- Olive Oil: ideally good, extra-virgin olive oil
- Fresh Garlic: Look for a firm, fresh head of garlic with large cloves and smooth skin.
- Lemon: Ideally organic as you'll need both juice and zest.
- Parsley: Fresh, flat leaf parsley (Italian parsley) - dried parsley is not a good substitute in this dish.
- Kosher Salt
This sauce shares many similarities with classic creamy sauces in Italian and French cuisines. Sautéing garlic in a rich blend of butter and olive oil creates a deeply flavorful base, but it's the fresh lemon juice and zest that makes all the difference. A Mediterranean element that lightens the sauce and adds bright flavor and aroma. (Your kitchen will smell amazing). A restaurant-quality lemon garlic butter sauce in 7 minutes flat.
Serve With
Though this vibrant, buttery sauce is ideal for seafood, its uses are endless. Add spark to a side of steamed vegetables or platter of grilled meat, drizzle over a tender fish fillet for an alluring lunch, or toss with your favorite pasta to feed your family fast or for a quick and easy date-night dinner. It's such a simple recipe that you'll learn it by heart.
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How to make Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce
In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir garlic in sizzling butter and olive oil until fragrant. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and zest and fresh parsley. Season to taste with salt and serve.
Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 large garlic cloves minced
- 1 large lemon juice and zest
- 1 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- kosher salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat butter and olive oil in a small saucepan or skillet over medium heat until sizzling. Add minced garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and juice, and parsley. Season with salt to taste and serve.
The most perfect sauce!!!
So quick, easy and versatile and most of all, delicious!
Thank you Marissa!
aww...my pleasure, Marian. Thanks so much for your kind comment.
Made my favourite baked crumbed salmon with side salad . We spooned this dressing over golden crumbed salmon and it raised the flavour to the next level . Please make this , you won’t be disappointed. 5stars . Thank you .
aww...thanks so much, Steve. I'm so glad you enjoyed this!
Lovely on salmon or any fish. Also great on pasta or rice. Can’t wait to try it on linguine with clams.
So glad you're enjoying the sauce, Peter!
You would think this simple sauce would be very flavorful, but its not.
Don't know where I went wrong, but it's flavorless.
Hi Donna. I'm sorry to hear that this wasn't what you were hoping for.
Hey Donna,
Did you use big cloves of garlic? Mine weren’t all that big so I used eight cloves to make up for size. Adding salt is also crucial to bump up the flavour.
Can i use a pinch of sugar if i use salted butter..or no need
Hi Denise! No need to add sugar with salted butter.
Can I use basil instead of Italian parsley in garlic buttery lemon sauce
Hi Linda! Sure!
So easy, and came out delicious! I put it over a seafood pasta.
Hi Victoria! So glad you're enjoying the recipe. Perfect pairing with your seafood pasta!
Delicious as is.
I tried this...Added 4 Tablespoons of heavy cream at the end, and poured it over cooked cubed potatoes, cooked carrots, and sliced fresh scallions. Mixed, then added a sprinkling of fresh flat leaf parsley on top. Delicious too.
Sounds delicious, Ohliver!
Made it today was delicious stirred on noodles with lemon sole for myself and chicken for my husband a side of mange tout so quick and easy
Sounds wonderful, Chris! So glad you and your husband enjoyed this.
Is nutrition for entire amout-assumimg so as it doesn't mention a quantity-possibly clarify in recipe. Sounds good, thinking to try it. Thanks!
Hi June. The recipe serves about 6 people, so the nutrition information represents 1/6 of the recipe.
Poured this on mahi mahi, easy and delicious! I still have some left over-Can it be frozen for later use?
So glad you enjoyed this, Gina! Yes, you can absolutely freeze it for use later. For convenient portions, I like to freeze it in an ice cube tray and transfer to a freezer safe container once frozen.
Hello, great recipe! Do you think I can make it ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator? If so how long do you think it will last before it goes bad?
Hi Jojo! You can make this up to 5 days in advance - just store in the refrigerator in an airtight container before reheating.
Such a delicious versatile sauce Marissa! I love sauces like this. Only a few ingredients, yet so much fresh flavor!
Thank you, Mary Ann. It's such a great back-pocket sauce - I keep finding new ways to enjoy it!
Beautiful and aromatic sauce - perfect for so many summer dishes! I love using the same combination (But with thyme or rosemary instead of parsley) for pasta sauces!
Thanks, Ben! Those herbs are a great way to riff on this recipe.