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This lemon pepper sauce recipe is bursting with citrusy, peppery flavors, perfect for wings, grilled chicken, fish, and vegetables! It’s so simple to whip up, requiring just 5 ingredients and 5 minutes.
Need a delectable dipping sauce? This lemon pepper sauce is full of zingy, zesty flavor, but requires only 5 minutes and 5 ingredients. How’s that for simple? It might sound too good to be true, but we promise: this one’s a must-try.
The butter is savory and creamy, punctuated by the zingy lemon and hint of spicy black pepper. It’s perfect with salmon, shrimp, wings, roasted vegetables, or anything that needs a little kick!
Ingredients in lemon pepper sauce
Lemon pepper sauce is a common dipping sauce for wings. While the name sounds similar, it’s not flavored with lemon pepper, a store-bought seasoning blend of lemon zest, salt and pepper. You don’t need any special ingredients: you’ll rely on a real lemon to bring in the citrus, and the other ingredients you probably already have in your pantry and fridge. The ingredients in lemon pepper sauce are:
- Salted butter
- Lemon juice and zest
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Garlic powder
- Salt
Best way to zest a lemon
The only part of this lemon pepper sauce that takes any time? Juicing and zesting the lemon. For zesting, the quickest and best way is to use a microplane grater. A microplane is a handheld grater with sharp holes in it, 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: make sure to remove the yellow part of the skin only; avoid the bitter white pith.
- Gradually turn the lemon until all yellow parts of the peel have been removed.
Storage info
How long does homemade lemon pepper sauce last? Store leftovers refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 1 week. The sauce solidifies when it’s cold, so re-heat it on the stovetop before serving.
Ways to use lemon pepper sauce
Lemon pepper sauce is a common dipping sauce for wings, but there are so many other ways to use it! While it could work with pasta, this one is intended as a dipping or drizzling sauce for vegetables, fish, or meats. Here are some ideas:
- Fish like seared salmon, grilled salmon, sockeye salmon, cod, tilapia, mahi mahi, swordfish, Chilean sea bass, halibut, and more
- Shellfish like sauteed shrimp, grilled shrimp, or seared scallops
- Chicken like wings, roasted chicken, or pan fried chicken
- Roasted vegetables like asparagus, green beans, broccoli, potatoes, and sweet potatoes
- Grilled vegetables like best grilled vegetables, corn, green beans, broccoli, potatoes, zucchini and asparagus
More sauce recipes
Looking for sauces? Here are a few more sauce recipes you might enjoy:
- Try creamy Tzatziki Sauce
- Go for Garlic Butter Sauce or Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce
- Mix up zingy Peanut Sauce Recipe or Ponzu Sauce, zesty Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
- Make a classic Pizza Sauce Recipe or Homemade Tomato Sauce
Dietary notes
This lemon pepper sauce recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. For dairy-free, use non-dairy butter.
Lemon Pepper Sauce
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 tablespoons 1x
Description
This lemon pepper sauce recipe is bursting with citrusy, peppery flavors, perfect for drizzling over wings, grilled chicken, fish, and vegetables! It’s so simple to whip up, requiring just 5 ingredients and 5 minutes.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus zest of ½ lemon
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 pinches kosher salt
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a saucepan or skillet over low heat.
- Once melted, stir in the lemon juice, zest, black pepper, garlic powder, and kosher salt. Use immediately or refrigerate for up 1 week; reheat gently on the stovetop.
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Have you experimented freezing the sauce and re-using it at a later time ?
We haven’t tried it!
Let us know if you have any questions!
Is butter always a good base to make sauce to pour over wings? I’m experimenting with a honey lemon pepper sauce recipe and I don’t want the wings to taste “greasy” from the butter.
It usually make a nice base that doesn’t feel to greasy.
I have new restaurant