How to Make Lemon Cream Sauce

Lemon cream sauce for pasta, fish, chicken, vegetables, and even red meats.

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About This Lemon Cream Sauce Recipe

This delicious sauce is a cream based reduction flavored with the bright, tart notes of fresh lemon juice. Our recipe is chef and home cook tried and true. It is easy to execute, the sauce is stable and has multiple uses.

The secret to a velvety and rich creamy lemon sauce is to simmer heavy-cream with a couple of aromatic flavoring agents until it is infused with lemony and savory goodness.

Heavy cream is the perfect medium for the job because:

• it is incredibly receptive to other flavors and embraces them with enthusiasm. 
• unlike butter, which once overheated becomes oily, it also thickens beautifully as it simmers and transforms into a suave, flavorful culinary concoction. 

Ingredients for Lemon Garlic Cream Sauce

• Chicken stock. Chicken stock provides a solid umami foundation for the sauce. You may also use chicken base added directly to the heavy cream, in which case you will have more control over the amount of liquid you are starting with and can shorten the thickening time (see recipe card for details). 
• Garlic. A bit of minced garlic boosts up the savory base for the sauce. You may substitute with garlic powder. 
• Lemon juice. Freshly squeezed lemon juice gives the sauce its lemony flavor and tartness. Do not increase the amount too much beyond what the recipe calls for. We do not typically use the lemon zest with this particular sauce as it introduces bitterness. If you really want to use lemon zest, add it to the sauce as a finishing touch. 
• Heavy cream. The almighty base for this sauce – stable and luxurious. 
• Thickener (optional). If you find yourself short on time, patience, or both, you may thicken the sauce with a slurry comprised of 1/2 tbsp corn starch and 1 tbsp cold water (see recipe card notes).
• Seasonings (to taste). Salt and pepper to season the finished sauce as needed. 

How to Make Lemon Cream Sauce for Pasta 

Step 1. In a sauce pan over medium-high heat combine the chicken stock (or base), minced garlic, lemon juice and heavy cream. Stir and bring to a gentle boil.

Step 2. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the sauce, until it thickens to your desired consistency. This may take about 20 minutes with stock, considerably less with base. If you’d like to shorten the time, make a slurry by combining corn starch and cold water and gradually add it to the simmering sauce while stirring. This will thicken it almost instantly.

Step 3 (optional). After you are satisfied with the consistency of the creamy lemon infused sauce, taste it and season with salt and pepper as needed. 

A Lemon Cream Sauce for Chicken & More

• pasta – flat strand noodles such as fettuccine, linguine (above) and pappardelle are best suited on the receiving end of cream sauces like this one, but it is also great with ditalini
• skillet asparagus 
• use it as a dipping steak sauce
• grilled or steamed veggies
• pan seared salmon
• shrimp or lobster
• grilled, poached or baked fish
• lamb shoulder chops or lamb sirloin chops
• baked chicken legs or pan seared chicken breast or thighs

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Easy Lemon Cream Sauce for Pasta, Chicken Etc. (Multi Purpose)

Yield: 2 cups

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 22 minutes

Heavy cream based lemon garlic sauce perfect for flat strand pastas such as pappardelle and linguine, vegetables, fish, chicken and even simply prepared red meats

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Ingredients

• 2 cups chicken stock*
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 1/2 lemons, juice of (about 5-6 tbsp, adjust to taste)
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream**
• 1/2 tbsp corn starch (optional)***

Instructions

1. In a sauce pan over medium-high heat combine the chicken stock (or base), minced garlic, lemon juice and heavy cream. Stir well and bring the mixture to a gentle boil.
2. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the sauce, until it thickens to your desired consistency. This may take 20 minutes when using stock because there us more liquid that needs to evaporate, less time when using chicken base.***
3. After you are satisfied with the consistency of the creamy lemon infused sauce, taste it and season with salt and pepper as needed. 

Notes

*Substitute with 1/2 tbsp chicken base. Add it directly to the heavy cream - this will significantly shorten the time for reducing the sauce to your desired consistency.

**Must use heavy cream.

***If you are using chicken stock and you'd like to shorten the time for the sauce to thicken, mix the corn starch with 1 tbsp cold water to create a slurry. Otherwise do not use this ingredient.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 262Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 155mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 1gSugar: 8gProtein: 4g

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