Name: Lemon Pepper Sauce
Prep time: 3 min
Cook time: 2 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons salted butter; 2 tablespoons lemon juice, plus zest of ½ lemon; 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper; 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder; 2 pinches kosher salt

This lemon pepper sauce recipe works for dipping wings, fish, vegetables, and more! It’s requires 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

This lemon pepper sauce recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free. For dairy-free, use non-dairy butter.