Making this lemon garlic butter sauce recipe is so easy, and it’s the perfect topping for all kinds of vegetables and meats. Best of all, it takes just a few minutes to make. With fresh ingredients like butter, lemon, garlic, and parsley, you’ll get a vibrant, homemade flavor in no time.
Lemon Butter Garlic Sauce Is A Quick Tom Make Favorite
My lemon garlic drizzle sauce is a buttery sauce that’s incredibly easy to make with just a few fresh ingredients. Its bright, lemony flavor pairs perfectly with seafood, steamed vegetables, baked potatoes, and grilled meats, making it a versatile addition to your kitchen.
This buttery sauce is also great for dipping pizza crust in!
I created this recipe as a copycat for Longhorn Steakhouse Broccoli. However, it’s also a clone for the Texas Roadhouse Garlic Butter Sauce too. It transforms veggies like green beans and asparagus into something truly special and might even convince your kids to savor Brussels sprouts!
Garlic Lemon Butter Sauce Ingredients
To make this very simple homemade lemon butter sauce with garlic, you’ll need:
- Butter – You’ll need a whole stick of butter for this recipe. Good quality butter always tastes better in sauces. You can also substitute ghee.
- Olive oil – I prefer olive oil, but other high-quality oils, like avocado, will work.
- Minced garlic—I always love fresh minced garlic when making this recipe. You can use already chopped garlic in a jar, but the flavor will not be as good as fresh minced.
- Fresh parsley – Choose bright, vibrant green parsley. Cut off the stems and just use the leafy part for this sauce.
- Lemon – Choose a bright yellow, juicy lemon without too many marks on the outside since you’ll use the peel to make lemon zest, too.
📝 Note: You can find the full recipe with ingredients and measurements in the recipe card located at the bottom of this post.
How do I mince garlic cloves for the sauce?
To mince fresh garlic easily, remove the cloves from the bulb. Lay them on a cutting board and use the side of a knife to press down on them, one at a time. This should loosen the skin. Remove the skin, then cut off any hard ends of the cloves. Discard. Now again, use the flat side of the knife to press down onto the garlic cloves. They should break open and flatten out. Then, chop them up as fine as possible. Alternatively, if you have a garlic chopper like the one I use, you can just peel the garlic and trim off the hard ends, then squeeze the cloves through the press.
How to Make Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce (Step-By-Step)
- Turn off the heat and move the pan to a cool burner. The flavors will infuse while the mixture cools. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.
Gina’s Tips
- Prepare your ingredients before you begin to make your sauce: Mince the garlic, chop the parsley, and grate and juice your lemons.
- I wouldn’t recommend it, but you can replace fresh garlic with minced garlic from a jar in a pinch.
- I highly recommend using fresh lemon juice instead of the stuff in the yellow bottle to make this recipe!
- Other additions you may enjoy are freshly cracked black pepper and fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary.
Can I make this sauce creamy?
Creamy garlic lemon butter sauce is also really yummy, especially on ribbon pasta like fettuccine. It’s easy to turn this great sauce into a creamy version. Add half and half, or heavy whipping cream as you return the pan to the heat in step 4.
You’ll need to heat it longer to ensure the cream heats through. Whisk the whole time. Keep in mind that the cream will lessen the taste of the lemon, so you may want to adjust the quantities to suit your taste.
What To Serve Lemon Garlic Butter With
This sauce is so vertical. I love it over veggies such as broccoli and mashed potatoes or shrimp, scallops, crab legs, and especially lobster. It’s perfect tossed with any type of pasta.
How to Store Leftovers
Don’t you dare throw away any of that yummy buttery sauce! It will taste even better tomorrow. Here’s how to store leftovers:
- In the fridge – Pour any leftover sauce into a small container with a tight lid and refrigerate. Your sauce will taste good for 3-4 days if covered well.
- In the freezer – Pour the leftover sauce into ice cube trays. You can also portion out a larger batch into ice cube trays to grab a bit of sauce whenever you want! Freeze for 2-3 months. Let your sauce thaw in the fridge before using it in your next recipe.
- How to reheat – You’ll want to warm up your leftover butter sauce slowly. Otherwise, the ingredients might separate. Place the garlic butter in a saute pan over low heat and let it gently raise in temperature. As it gets hot, you can slowly increase the heat on your stove, too.
- How to use up leftovers – You can reheat this sauce anytime you want to use it! It will be as delicious as it was the first time around. Great sauce for a quick dinner veggie topping.
⚖️ Need a big batch to feed a crowd? You can easily change the number of servings in the recipe card below by tapping 2x or 3x. The ingredient measurements will automatically double or triple. You can then tap print and there you have it, a recipe for a crowd.
Make It For A Dinner Party Crowd
This simple recipe is perfect for making a dipping sauce for warm, crusty bread when you’re hosting a dinner party. Garlic lovers will all agree: You can’t go wrong when serving this over a side dish or in a gravy boat.
Pair this butter sauce with a Southern Low Country Seafood Boil dinner and drizzled on air fryer baked potatoes and slow cooker asparagus.
Do you have a question?
Do you have a question about this recipe❓ I will answer in the comment form below👇🏼 the recipe card. Did you make this recipe? If so, could you be a gem and leave a comment and rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below? This helps others find yummy 😋 recipes to make for their family and friends.
How to Make Lemon Garlic and Butter Sauce
Note: Be sure to read through the recipe’s post for tips and details about this recipe.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, only use real butter
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic cloves, about 1 1/2 tablespoons of minced
- 1 tablespoon parsley, fresh, finely chopped (stems removed)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh-squeezed
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Melt butter with olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.1/2 cup butter, 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Add garlic cloves to the melted butter and olive oil. Cook the garlic for 30 seconds but don’t let it get brown.6 cloves garlic cloves
- Turn off the heat and move the pan to a cool burner. Let the garlic sit in the mixture for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to infuse.
- After 10 minutes, return the pan to the heat.
- Add finely chopped parsley, lemon zest, salt, and fresh-squeezed lemon juice to the pan.1 tablespoon parsley, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Whisk the ingredients together for about 30 seconds to ensure a smooth and well-combined sauce.
- Remove the pan from the heat.
Notes
- Make sure you prepare your ingredients before you begin to make your sauce. Mince the garlic. Chop the parsley. Grate zest and juice your lemon.
- I wouldn’t recommend it, but in a pinch, you can replace fresh garlic with minced garlic from a jar.
- I highly recommend you use fresh lemon juice to make this recipe, not the stuff in the yellow bottle!
- Other additions you may enjoy are freshly cracked black pepper and fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary.
I cannot wait to make this recipe! Thank you for all the helpful hints. This cook needs all the help she can get. I’ll let y’all know how it turns out.
this sounds great looking forward to making iy
Please let me know it turns out for you and if I could make the instructions easier to follow for you or anything.
This is amazing! Best my home-cooked broccoli has ever turned out thanks to this sauce. Have you ever frozen the sauce into cubes to have on hand? I’m curious if it would turn out as good. I think I’ll try it and see!
Chole, Excellent idea to freeze it in cubes. I think they would freeze great and making dinner time prep quick and easy.