Hello! This lemon pepper sauce has fast become one of my signature dishes. It’s the pasta equivalent to a lemon, butter and garlic sauce that you might have with fish. It’s fresh, zingy and very addictive.
It’s a butter sauce for pasta base (similar to my butter and cream sauce) and has a touch of pepper and lots of fresh lemon juice to bring it to life. You can serve this with a simple spaghetti or linguine but it will be elevated significantly with my easy homemade pappardelle. It’s fast and fool proof and such an impressive hand made pasta shape to create.
Ingredients
- Lemon – You need fresh lemon juice, bottled juice will not do! The zest is used for a final touch at the end.
- Butter – I use salted butter in this recipe to give flavour. A block, not margarine, unless that is personal choice for you. If you use unsalted butter, simply season to taste at the end or use my guide in the recipe card below. I like to cut it into cubes so that it melts in even time.
- Garlic – Use fresh garlic and grate finely with a microplane. You can also mince it.
- Pepper – I used cracked black pepper but you could use white pepper too.
- Pasta cooking water – You know this is one of my key ingredients in sauces. Always reserve a cup of starchy water in case you need it.
How to make this butter sauce for pasta
This is such a quick pasta recipe to whip up. Have everything prepped and ready to go. Toasting the pepper gives it a lovely depth of flavor, it’s the secret weapon in this lemon butter. Perfect dinnertime solution any day of the week!
- Cook pasta in a large pot of heavily salted boiling water. Undercook by two minutes so it can finish cooking in the sauce. Reserve a cup of pasta water.
- Gently toast the pepper in half the butter in a skillet over a medium-high heat for one minute.
- Lower the heat and add the rest of the butter and whisk until melted.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 extra seconds.
- The heat should be very low here, even lifting the pan off the element if you need. Keeping the pan on the lowest heat add the lemon juice and whisk so it emulsifies into the butter.
- Add the cooked pasta into the lemon pepper sauce with ¼ cup of the starchy water and toss. Cook for another 2 – 3 minutes.
- Serve with the lemon zest on top.
Tips for this lemon pepper pasta recipe
- Pasta water – It is the key ingredient in all of my pasta sauces. The starch acts as a thickener for cohesion. Your kitchen will come to a stand still if you forget to reserve some, it’s that crucial! A good trick is to transfer the cooked pasta from the water into the sauce, this way the water pot is left untouched for you to ladle from as you need.
- Undercook your pasta – When using dried pasta I always undercook by a minute or two so it can finish cooking in the sauce. This is why I add ¼ cup of starchy water in at the end so it can bubble away in the sauce for a couple of minutes and still be al dente.
- Use a big fry pan – even for two people I like to use a nice big skillet so that when you add the cooked pasta in you have room to give it a really good toss.
Some add ins for the creamy sauce
This sauce really is the ultimate base to add other ingredients to. It’s light and fresh and can carry so many things! Here are some ideas to inspire you:
- Use whatever pasta shape you like – Personally I like a long shape like pappardelle or linguine with this butter sauce as it feels more luscious and delicious.
- Use this as a side to meat or fish – It would be amazing with my baked Italian chicken wings.
- For a vegetarian pasta dish add some fresh or roasted cherry tomatoes, roast some courgettes or your favourite vegetables in some olive oil and add them in at the end.
- Mix in some baby spinach at the end for some colour.
- Add in some capers for an extra zing.
What kind of pasta is best?
ANY! There isn’t a right or wrong answer here and comes down to personal preference. If you are making some homemade pasta dough my hand rolled pici would be perfect. Check out my guide to shapes for beginners if you want to have a go at making some fresh pasta but aren’t sure where to start. A homemade pappardelle is also so easy to make and is the perfect match for this lemon butter pasta sauce.
Recipe FAQs
How do you keep lemon butter sauce from separating?
It’s all about the heat! You don’t ever want roaring hot pans when making pasta sauces, a soft gentle bubble is ideal so it thickens slightly into a luscious sauce. That’s why I take the pan off the heat before adding the lemon juice as we want to keep this butter sauce silky smooth and glossy. An emulsified butter is when two liquids that don’t usually go together magically create a fantastically smooth and cohesive sauce. Lemon juice and liquids like oils and vinegars need to be added slowly and whisked to create a flawless creamy sauce.
Can I make ahead of time?
I think it’s one of the things I love about pasta the most, it has to be made fresh which can mean it’s great to make for guests as you can’t have it prepped beforehand so they help themselves to drinks!
What’s the most important tip for cooking pasta?
SALT your water! Please! It drives me crazy when I hear chefs saying it needs to taste like the ocean, I think they must have some pretty tasteless oceans wherever they live! Golden rule for salting water for pasta is 1.5 – 2% salt. Weigh your water! I generally use about 250g dried pasta for two people. That requires about 2.5L of water which means I need about 40g of salt. Try it!! It only takes an extra couple of minutes and you’ll never have bland pasta again.
Want to explore some other sauces?
If you loved this lemon pepper butter sauce recipe and are looking for more easy pasta recipes to try there are SO many! If you are after another light fresh one then check out the Spring Pasta in Parmesan Broth. For something else light and Summery then try the Spaghetti Primavera. While this lemon pepper sauce is light and bright, if you’re craving something richer and more decadent, try my Butter and Cream Sauce. It’s the perfect base for gnocchi or gnudi.
- Spring Pasta in Parmesan Broth
- Spaghetti Primavera
- Creamy Garlic Mushroom Pasta
Recipe
Easy Lemon Butter Pepper Sauce for Pasta
Ingredients
- Fresh pasta or dried pasta 300g fresh or 250g dried
- 50 g butter divided
- 1 ½ teaspoons cracked black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic grated or minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon fine salt if using unsalted butter
- Zest of one lemon
- Parmesan cheese to serve
Instructions
- Cook your pasta in a pot of heavily salted water, undercook it slightly so it can bubble away in the finished sauce for a minute or two. Before draining reserve a cup of the pasta water.
- Melt 25g of the butter in a saucepan over a medium-high heat and toast the pepper for a minute.
- Lower the heat slightly, add the rest of the butter and whisk until melted and just bubbling, careful not to brown.
- Lower the heat even further, it should just be softly sizzling and add the garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.
- Take the pan off the heat completely and add the lemon juice, a couple of teaspoons at a time, whisking until well combined (even though whisking in a lemony sauce is the polar opposite of relaxing, still a good workout?!).
- Return to the element, still on a really low heat and add in ¼ cup of the pasta water and then your cooked pasta and toss well.
- Let your pasta gently cook away in the butter mixture, turning and tossing constantly until al dente, 2-3 minutes.
- Serve with the fresh lemon zest on top and lots of grated parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Allow your pasta to finish cooking in the sauce.– This tip comes from alfredo self discipline because I can’t neatly transfer my pasta into the sauce from the water I don’t have someone else here to hold a finished strainer of pasta above my head to drizzle water into the sauce. I never wish to see splashes of pasta cooking water on my stovetop
- Additions!– This is ultimately a pretty simple recipe and the perfect base. Use this sauce as a base to add some vegetables or protein to make it a little more substantial if you wish.
- This sauce will never be a saucy plate of pasta, the beautiful thing about a butter sauce is it kind of soaks into the pasta too, giving it lots of flavour!
