Creamy and lemony sauce, this easy recipe is the best sauce to garnish your fishes but also to serve with chicken or even pasta and rice. A basic French recipe.
This lemon cream sauce is an easy and delicious dressing which can be used to add a touch of flavor to a variety of fish based dishes. It can also be used as a side for seafood, grilled veggies or white meat. It can easily be adapted and personalized to your own preferences, with additional spices and herbs. I will give you all my recommendations and more in this article. And if you like creamy French recipe, consider trying cream with fresh cucumbers or chicken and mushrooms.
In this post
A focus on the ingredients
Lemon zest or Lemon juice?
This lemon butter fish sauce can be prepared with either lemon zests, lemon juice or even a mix of both, making it even better.
If you choose to use lemon zests, make sure to finely grate the lemon skin using either a cheese grater or a microplane fine grater, this utensil may seem unnecessary but I can guarantee that once you notice the difference it makes, you won’t be able to live without
If you do not have any of these utensils, scrape small strips of lemon zest using a knife, or a zester, then mince your lemon strips fully.
If you choose to use lemon zest, make sure to choose fresh organic lemons. We don’t want a skin filled with pesticides. To wash your lemons thoroughly, add baking soda in a bowl of water and rub the lemon skin
Be careful to only grate the yellow part of the lemon skin called the zest, do not use the white part also known as the albedo, this would make your sauce slightly more bitter. The aim in this lemon and butter sauce is to add a splash of fresh flavor, a touch of acidity, not bitterness
Lastly, if you decide to use lemon juice rather than its zest; roll the lemon in between the palms of your hands a few times. This will soften the lemon and make it easier to extract its juice whilst you squeeze the lemon.
What fat to use?
To make this lemon cream sauce, I recommend using butter. The butter will add a rich and generous flavor to the sauce.
However, if you would rather have a lighter sauce, you can either choose to reduce the quantity of butter used in the recipe, or use olive oil instead.
Furthermore, in this recipe I suggest using unsalted butter and adding some salt pepper and herbs later. However, you can also use salted butter if you wish, just make sure to taste your sauce before adding the seasoning (especially the salt).
What can you replace the heavy cream with?
If you don’t have any type of cream, or would rather use a substitute, you can replace the cream with Greek yogurt or a little bit of full milk.
Keep in mind that by using a substitute to heavy cream it may slightly alter the texture and consistency of your butter lemon sauce.
Using heavy cream in your sauce will guarantee its creamy texture. Ideally make sure your cream has 30% of fat, or reduce the cream if it makes you feel less guilty ;)
You can also use non-dairy cream, a goat cheese Greek yogurt or a plant based milk…
Use this recipe as your base and adapt it to your preferences, cooking habits and dietary requirements.
For a more or less smooth texture
Serve the lemon butter sauce for your fish as is once finished, with of course small chunks of shallot.
Or you can choose to filter it through a fine drainer, this allows you to only keep the sauce and leave behind the shallots and herbes de Provence, as well as the lemon zest if you used any. Filtering it will guarantee a very silky and smooth texture to your sauce.
It is entirely up to you and the time that you have. Personally, I tend to enjoy the sauce as is, which you can see in the photos.
Preparation steps
Here are the main steps involved in preparing this lemon butter sauce:
- In a pan, melt your butter on medium heat
- Add your finely minced shallots, add salt, pepper and let it simmer
- Finely grate the lemon zests and press your lemon to extract its juice
- Add both the lemon zest and juice in the pan and mix. The color of the shallots should change into a slightly pink-purple color. Do not worry, let it simmer a little longer
- If you wish to do so add herbs and spices, I will give you more information about that later
- Add the heavy cream in the pan and mix
- Let it simmer slowly for a few minute until it thickens slightly
- Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking
- If you want a silky smooth cream, filter your sauce
The butter lemon sauce is now ready to be served with fish, veggies or maybe some meat.
If you reheat this sauce, it might thicken when cooling down. In that case add a small amount of cream or milk to dilute the sauce slightly
The sauce can be conserved 2 – 3 days in the refrigerator.
Lemon Sauce Variations
It is possible to make many different adaptations with this recipe, each offering a unique flavor.
Some add honey for a touch of sweetness, whilst others use cider vinegar to enhance the acidic flavor of the lemon.
You can also add the spices of your choice for extra flavor, you can add paprika, cumin, curcuma, or for those who want an extra kick to their sauce why not add some Espelette pepper, or cayenne pepper, make sure to not add too much as it may overpower the lemon.
My personal preference is to add herbs. It adds a subtle aroma without being too strong and overpowering the initial taste of lemon the recipe wants to achieve.
You can add any herbs of your liking whether it be Provencal herbs or fresh herbs (parsley, basil, tarragon, thyme…) leave the stems of the herbs, it will make it easier to remove it before serving the sauce.
Lastly, in this recipe I suggested using shallots, however using onion works just as well.
You may also wish to add minced garlic to accompany the shallots.
Lemon sauce for which fish?
This creamy lemon sauce allows to enhance the delicate taste of the fish.
It is the perfect sauce to use for any type of fish, and any type of cooking, whether it be steamed, poached, pan-fried or even baked in the oven, whole or filet, in a gratin dish or in foil.
I think this butter lemon sauce would go exceptionally well with pan-fried salmon or a white fleshed fish such as cod fish for example.
This fish sauce works very well with shellfish, served cold or hot, it is a good replacement for mayonnaise to eat with shrimp, langoustines or even crab.
Can also be served with poultry
This creamy lemon sauce can also very easily be paired with poultry, chicken or turkey, whether sliced or grilled filets, barbecue skewers or roast chicken.
In that case, here is a tiny fast recipe, the easiest thing to do would be to sear the chicken slices in a pan with an oil-butter mix. Then once the meat is browned on all sides, remove it from the heat, prepare the sauce as explained above and finish cooking the meat gently in the sauce.
I will share the full detailed recipe with you soon.
Nutritional information
When it comes to the nutritional aspect of the recipe, although the texture of the sauce makes it seem light, we must not lie, this sauce is quite heavy in butter and cream.
However, the lemon juice is very high in vitamin C, an important antioxidant that helps strengthen the immune system.
I encourage to try drinking half a lemons worth of juice, or to make a drink with ginger and lemon, which is great to start the day and keep you going throughout.
In the photos below, the butter lemon sauce was served with steamed cod fish and homemade celery puree, but can be replaced by a dried ceps and potato puree.
Lemon Butter Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lemon use organic lemons for zest or juice
- 30 gr butter
- 1 shallot
- 100 gr heavy cream
- salt
- pepper
Optional
- herbs
- spices
Instructions
- Start by peeling and very finely slicing the shallot.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
- When the butter is melted, add the shallots. Add salt and pepper and brown for 5 minutes.
- Add the zest of the organic lemon, grated as finely as possible (with a microplane grater or a cheese grater. And squeeze the juice from the whole lemon.
- Mix and let simmer for a few more minutes.
- Reduce the heat, finally add the cream and mix. Leave on low heat for a few minutes while the cream heats and the lemon flavors infuse.
- Taste and adjust seasoning