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lemon pepper butter sauce in pan
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5 from 2 votes

Lemon Pepper Butter Sauce

Easy FAST and ready for everything! This lemon pepper butter sauce is perfect on fish, shrimp, lobster and chicken.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time2 minutes
Total Time7 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Lemon Pepper Butter Sauce
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 156kcal
Cost: $3

Equipment

  • 1 small sauce pan
  • measuring cups and spoons
  • 1 Microplane
  • 1 Stove

Ingredients

  • 12 tbs butter
  • 2 lemon zest
  • 2 lemon juice
  • 1 tbs black cracked pepper
  • 2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 pinch kosher salt

Instructions

  • Over low to medium heat on the stove top, melt the butter in a small sauce pan.
  • When the butter is melted, add the zest and juice of two lemons, cracked black pepper, ground pepper and a pinch of salt. Turn off the heat.
  • Mix well with a spoon and serve immediately. Mix just before using on your dish.

Video

Notes

  • When melting the butter, do so gently over a low heat. This takes a bit longer, but it helps keep things on an even keel while cooking.
  • You can make this sauce last minute. I haven't noticed that it tastes better after sitting for a while.
  • The cracked black pepper is going to add bigger pops of flavor to your sauce, so that is why it is included. The ground black pepper gives you some heat and also pepper flavor.
  • When zesting a lemon, be sure to avoid getting down into the "white" part of the lemon as it is way more bitter. The yellow part will give you the bright lemony flavor. It is very powerful.
  • The juice gives you a bit of acidity which is welcome in this heavier buttery sauce. Be sure to avoid getting seeds in your sauce. I always squeeze mine over the palm of my hand to catch the seeds.
  • Once the butter is melted, turn the heat off and add the other ingredients. Stir well.
  • This avoids the possibility of boiling your butter or boiling off any of the juicy acidic lemon.
  • Before serving, stir well and tell your guests to stir their sauce before adding to their food.
Substitutions
  • Butter: I recommend using either salted or unsalted real butter, however, if you can't find this it is possible to use a butter substitute (margarine, for example) or a butter flavored olive oil. If you use either of those, the taste will be somewhat different and you'll want to taste at each step of the recipe.
  • Lemon: There really isn't a way to substitute for the lemon zest, however, you can use the bottled lemon juice for the fresh lemon juice if needed.
  • Pepper: Both the cracked black pepper and the ground pepper are needed in this recipe, however, if you only have one or the other, then use that. If using only cracked black pepper, use a larger grind for the cracked pepper and a smaller grind for the ground pepper. If using only ground pepper, then taste as you go until it is the right amount of peppery for you.
  • Salt: The pinch of salt is really necessary to give the pop you'll want in the final product

Nutrition

Serving: 1Tbs | Calories: 156kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 155mg | Potassium: 32mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 533IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 13mg | Iron: 1mg