This is a super simple version of lemon butter sauce, one that comes together in minutes.  And it is ever so good.  You will find yourself looking for ways to use this at least once a week, and those ways won’t be hard to find at all.  This sauce elevates everything, from fish and seafood to vegetables to chicken!

How to Use Lemon Butter Sauce

This is the most versatile sauce!  As well as the simplest. 

Drizzle it over fish.  This sauce is especially good with salmon and trout, but you won’t go wrong pairing it with any kind of fish, from cod to halibut to snapper to sole.  

Serve with chicken.  This is great over simply cooked poached, grilled, or seared chicken breasts.  

Toss it with pasta.  This works with any shape of pasta, but I think I like it best with long, thin pasta for a main course, and somehow I like to pair it with a shorter chunkier shape for a side dish.  That is my own weird algorithm, though, so please decide for yourself!  Adding a generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese is a great enhancement.  You can also stir this sauce into rice and other grains for a simple side dish.  

Toss it with cooked greens.  I love this sauce with braised collards or mustard greens, or simply sautéed spinach or kale.  I really love it with cooked greens mixed with hot pasta!

Use it as a dipping sauce.  My mom always served a version of this sauce with steamed artichokes, and we would dip those leaves into the sauce and scoop up all of the lemony, buttery fabulousness. It’s also perfect with grilled artichokes.

Drizzle it over simply prepared vegetables.  Asparagus is a particularly good partner for this sauce, whether grilled, steamed, roasted, and so on.  I also love it with roasted peppers, grilled zucchini and summer squash, and roasted broccoli.

Lemon Butter Sauce: This simple silky, 5-minute sauce elevates everything, from fish and seafood to vegetables to chicken!

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Tips

• Keep an eye on the butter as it starts to brown.  It can go from golden to brown to over-browned very quickly.  Remove it from the heat the minute it starts to smell nutty and get to the color you are looking for.  The butter will continue to cook and brown slightly even once you’ve removed it from the heat, so err on the lighter side, and you can always return it to the heat for another minute or two.
• You can rewarm the lemon butter on the stove. It will start to congeal as it sits.  Just 30 seconds over low heat will return the lemon butter to its liquid state, perfect for drizzling.
• Whisk or stir the butter and shallots frequently.
• Add the lemon juice off the heat.  This will keep the fresh flavor of the lemon at its brightest.  It is ok, however, to reheat the sauce with the lemon juice and herbs in it if the sauce starts to cool and thicken.

What is Lemon Butter Sauce Made Of?

• Butter – Use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt yourself.  When heating the butter with the shallots, allow the butter to turn a light golden brown.  This browned butter, also called beurre noisette (which translates from the French to “hazelnut butter”), simply refers to the nutty flavor the butter takes on as it starts to brown over the heat.  Allow the butter to deepen in color slowly so there is no chance of it starting to burn.  Browning the butter will give this sauce a wonderfully deep rich flavor.  Use the best butter you can buy!  European butters, and some other cultured butters (domestic or imported), have a higher butterfat content, which will result in a richer, deeper buttery-tasting sauce.  
• Lemon juice – This is one of the two main ingredients, so please make sure to use fresh lemon juice, which makes all the difference in this recipe.  The bottled stuff just doesn’t taste as fresh, and the whole point of this sauce is to add a buttery, tart freshness to whatever you are serving it with.  Make sure to strain the juice through a fine mesh strainer to remove any pits or pit fragments, which will give you a smoother, silkier sauce.
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste – Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.  I like to be fairly generous with the salt and pepper in this recipe, as the seasonings really perk up the simple combo of ingredients.  Kosher salt makes it easier to control the level of saltiness.  

• Minced shallots – make sure to finely mince the shallots for this sauce.  You can substitute onion in place of the shallots if that’s what you have on hand.  Scallions and garlic are other options from the allium (onion) family.  You can add those instead of or in addition to the shallots.

Variations

The recipe for very simple lemon butter sauce is delightful, and if you decide to add the parsley and red pepper flakes, you will have a more visually interesting sauce with a nice herby and/or spicy pop of flavor.  Other ingredients that will add another dimension of flavor to this sauce are:

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard  – add once the butter has melted
• 1 tablespoon minced rinsed and drained capers – add once the butter has melted
• 1 to 2 tablespoons minced olives, black or green – add once the butter has melted
• 1 to 2 teaspoons minced fresh herbs, such as tarragon, thyme, basil, or chives – add with or instead of the parsley
• 1 to 3 tablespoons minced scallions, white and green parts – add with or instead of the shallots
• ½ to 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic – add with or instead of the shallots
  2 to 3 tablespoons dry white wine – add once the butter has melted.

If you want a slightly thicker sauce, you can add 1 to 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour to the butter and shallots once the butter is melted.  Just stir or whisk frequently until the flour is completely incorporated into the butter and starts to turn a golden brown along with the melted butter.

How to Make Lemon Butter Sauce

Melt the butter with the shallot in a small sauce pot over medium heat and allow to come to a gentle simmer for about 2 to 3 minutes, until the shallot becomes tender and turns light golden brown.

Keep at a gentle simmer until the color of the melted butter deepens to a nice golden brown.  

Turn off the heat and whisk in the lemon juice, salt, and pepper, along with the parsley and red pepper flakes, if using.  

Drizzle the warm butter sauce over whatever you are serving it with.