Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce
Make this garlic lemon butter sauce for pasta in just under 10 minutes, using just a handful of simple ingredients. Unsalted butter comes together with fresh garlic and lemon juice to create a rich, bright and versatile concoction that you can put to use in a ton of ways!
Use it as a pasta sauce with spaghetti or homemade cheese tortellini or as a base for your simple salad dressing.
Quick Look: Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce for Pasta
- 🔪 Prep time: 2 minutes.
- 🍳 Cook time: 5 minutes.
- 🍽️ Servings: 4 servings.
- 🥣 Main ingredients: Butter, lemon, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper.
- ➡️ Method: Melt butter → add garlic and seasonings → remove from heat → add lemon → mix and serve.
- ⭐ Difficulty: Easy.
- 🍝 Best served with: Pasta, garlic bread, chicken, vegetables, or shrimp, like in my garlic lemon butter shrimp recipe.
Jump to:
- Quick Look: Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce for Pasta
- What's So Great About the Recipe?
- Recipe Ingredients
- Substitutions & Variations
- How to Make Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce
- 💭Top Tip
- Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- How to Use Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce
- Troubleshooting and FAQs
- More Easy Condiment Recipes
- Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce for Pasta
What's So Great About the Recipe?
- The sauce comes together in just under 10 minutes, and is one of the easiest, simplest sauces you can make.
- It's versatile enough to use beyond pasta. You can use it for garlic bread, as a salad dressing or even a marinade for your meats.
- You can make it in a batch and refrigerate it for weeks- just like my homemade pesto butter.
Recipe Ingredients
Unsalted butter: Creates the rich, buttery base of the sauce while letting you control the amount of salt.
Garlic: Adds the savory garlic flavor that makes this sauce so good. Fresh garlic works best, but you can also use air fried roasted garlic for a smoky flavor.
Lemon: Both the juice and zest are used for fresh, bright citrus flavor.
Parsley: For a bit of color and that herby deliciousness. Use fresh or dried parsley.
Salt + pepper: To season the sauce. Use lemon infused salt if you want some extra lemony zing.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- Use salted butter instead of unsalted butter, but reduce the additional salt if needed.
- Add dried rosemary, oregano, or thyme or an infused salt like mixed herb salt for more Italian-inspired flavor.
- Add red pepper flakes or jalapeno flakes for a spicy kick.
- Add freshly grated Parmesan when serving for extra richness and cheesiness.
- Use vegan butter or olive oil instead of regular butter for a dairy-free version.
How to Make Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce
Step 1: Finely mince garlic and chop the fresh parsley.
Step 2: Heat butter in a saucepan over low heat and add in the minced garlic.
Step 3: Take it off heat as soon as the garlic gets aromatic. Add chopped parsley and seasonings.
Step 4: Finish up with a squeeze of lemon juice and freshly grated lemon zest.
💭Top Tip
Add a splash of olive oil (try my lemon infused olive oil) along with the butter to keep it from burning.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- Add the lemon juice and zest after removing the pan from the heat to get as much of the citrusy flavor as possible.
- Don't let the garlic burn, as it can make the sauce bitter. I realized this when I made my homemade Cajun butter.
- Taste the sauce before serving and adjust the salt and pepper if needed.
- You can also experiment with other additions to this infused butter sauce. I like chopping up jalapenos (try my jalapeno butter if you want a spreadable consistency) and adding them in.
How to Use Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce
This sauce is perfect for tossing with your favorite pasta, but that's just the beginning. Combine it with hot pasta and a splash of pasta water for an easy lemon garlic butter pasta, or drizzle it over cooked chicken, vegetables, or seafood.
You can also add some garlic bread seasoning or lemon pepper seasoning and serve it as a dipping sauce for crusty bread. The bright lemon and garlic flavors work especially well with dishes like roasted broccoli and potatoes that need a little extra richness and acidity.
Troubleshooting and FAQs
Transfer any leftover sauce to a clean glass jar or airtight container and refrigerate it.
You can also freeze the sauce in a silicone ice cube tray or individual portions. This makes it easy to take out just the amount you need when you're ready to use it.
More Easy Condiment Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
If you tried this garlic lemon butter sauce or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce for Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 lemon juiced and zested
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced or grated
- 2 teaspoon parsley chopped
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large skillet or a saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic, parsley, salt and pepper.
- Take it off heat, add in the fresh lemon juice and a bit of lemon zest if you want to, and mix it well.
- That’s it! You can then use this sauce with whatever pasta you like and enjoy a flavorful buttery, garlicky lemon pasta recipe.
Notes
- Want to bring some extra Italian flavors into this delicious buttery sauce? Add in some dried herbs like rosemary, oregano and thyme.
- Want a kick of heat into the lemon sauce? Add some red pepper flakes into the mix.
- If you have any leftover lemon garlic butter sauce, you can store it for up to a week, if not longer. You can make the sauce in a big batch and store it for later too!
- When using this sauce for your lemon garlic pasta recipe, remember to reserve a splash of pasta water. Then, add it to your pasta along with the sauce to get the perfect creamy lemon garlic pasta.
- Remember to cook pasta until it is just al dente to get the perfect texture. Overcooking will ruin the pasta shape and texture.
