This post may include affiliate links.
This lemon garlic butter sauce is zingy, savory, and perfect for dipping! It takes minutes to whip up with just 5 ingredients.
Looking for a tasty and easy dipping sauce? This lemon-garlic butter sauce is made with just 5 ingredients and tastes like a dream! The sauce is punctuated with the zing of fresh lemon juice and the irresistible savory notes of garlic.
It’s the ideal sauce for fish or chicken, and it’s great for dipping or drizzling over grilled or roasted vegetables. Really, anything tastes better with a little garlic lemon butter sauce (in my opinion, at least!).
Ingredients in Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce
Lemon garlic butter sauce is simple to whip up and uses only a handful of ingredients! As long as you have a lemon on hand, you’ll likely have the rest of the items in your pantry and refrigerator. Here are the 5 ingredients you’ll need for this simple sauce:
- Salted butter: Salted butter has the best flavor for savory dishes like this sauce! If you don’t have it, you can use unsalted butter and add ⅛ teaspoon extra kosher salt.
- Garlic cloves: Use real fresh garlic! There’s no substitute here; the jarred version doesn’t hold up flavor-wise.
- Lemon juice and zest: Again, use a real lemon! Bottled lemon juice doesn’t hold a candle to the real stuff, plus you’ll need lemon zest to really infuse that citrus flavor.
- Parsley: Fresh parsley adds a nice color contrast; it’s optional if you don’t have it on hand.
- Kosher salt: Salt is crucial for the flavor here.
Best Way to Zest a Lemon
The quickest and best way to zest a lemon is to use a microplane grater. A microplane is a handheld grater with sharp holes, which is quicker and more consistent than using a box grater or a zester. Here’s how to zest a lemon with a microplane:
- Hold the microplane in one hand, place one end on a flat surface, and hold it at an angle.
- Hold the lemon in the other hand, and drag it down over the microplane holes (or the holes of the box grater). Important: remove only the yellow part of the skin; avoid the bitter white pith.
- Gradually turn the lemon until all the yellow peel has been removed.
Dietary Swaps
This lemon garlic butter sauce is vegetarian and gluten-free. Want to make it dairy-free or vegan? Simply use vegan butter! This simple swap works well and still offers great flavor.
Ways to Use It
There are endless ways to use lemon garlic butter sauce; it’s fantastic with fish, chicken, wings, vegetables, and more! It’s intended as a dipping sauce, though you could also use it with pasta as well. Here are some ways to use it:
- With Sauteed Shrimp
- Drizzled over Roasted Asparagus
- As a sauce for Grilled Vegetables
- On Fried Tilapia
- Tossed with Roasted Sweet Potatoes
- With pan fried chicken
- As a sauce for Mahi Mahi or Swordfish
- Tossed with Roasted Broccoli
- On Chilean Sea Bass
- As a sauce for Green Beans
- Poured over Grilled Salmon
Variation: Try It With Pasta!
This lemon garlic butter sauce also works with pasta! Though it’s intended for dipping, it also makes a tasty, simple side dish. Combine this recipe with 8 ounces of spaghetti noodles, and if desired, top with grated Parmesan cheese! You can also double the garlic for an even more garlicky flavor. See Garlic Butter Noodles.
Storage Info
Lemon garlic butter sauce is best enjoyed the day it’s made, but it also stores well!
Store leftovers refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 1 month. Keep in mind, the sauce solidifies when cold, so reheat on the stovetop before serving. Also, the parsley loses its bright green color during storage. If you’d like, add more fresh chopped parsley when serving.
Dietary Notes
This recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, use vegan butter.
Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce
This lemon garlic butter sauce is zingy, savory, and perfect for dipping! It takes minutes to whip up with just 5 ingredients.
- Prep Time: 2 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: ¼ cup 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons salted butter*
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus zest of ½ lemon
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a saucepan or skillet over low heat.
- Once melted, add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute (keep the heat low and don’t let it brown!).
- Remove from heat. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, chopped parsley, and kosher salt.
- Serve immediately. Store leftovers refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 1 month; it solidifies when cold, so reheat on the stovetop before serving. Note that the parsley loses its bright green color; you can add more fresh chopped parsley when serving.
Notes
*This quantity makes ¼ cup and is easy to double to make a larger recipe. If all you have is unsalted butter, add an additional ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt to the recipe.
Let us know if you have any questions!