BEST Lobster Ravioli Sauce with Lemon Brown Butter
Updated May 15, 2025, Published Mar 11, 2022
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This indulgent BEST Lobster Ravioli sauce with Lemon Brown Butter recipe is ready in 20 minutes with only 5 ingredients! Easy recipe for weeknights and special enough for a date night at home. The sauce is so luxurious you’ll swear it’s a cream sauce!
If you love seafood, try these Classic Lobster Bisque Recipe (Easy) , Seared Scallops Charred Lemon and Butter, Spaghetti Frutti di Mare (Seafood Pasta), Orzo Pasta with Shrimp, Sun-dried Tomatoes, and Artichokes, and King Crab Salad Recipe (Simple and Easy).
Why I love this meal
Have you ever tasted lobster ravioli? If you haven’t, now is the time! You’ve seen it on the menu at Italian restaurants, and now you can make it right at home for a cozy date night or special occasion.
You will crave this delicious sauce with lobster ravioli regularly!
To make it easy, I use good quality store-bought lobster ravioli. You can make your ravioli with my detailed guide- homemade ravioli! You can also try Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce, mushroom ravioli cream sauce, Lemon Butter Pasta Sauce (Pasta al Limone). If you’ve never made ravioli before check out my guide on how to cook frozen ravioli.
Table of Contents
Recipe Ingredients
- Lobster ravioli
- Butter (unsalted butter is fine)
- Lemon
- Lemon zest
- Minced garlic
- Parmigiano or grated parmesan cheese
- Fresh parsley for garnish. Read more parsley here: Parsley vs. Italian Parsley: What’s the Difference?
- Salt
Optional: black pepper, red pepper flakes, or a dash of Old Bay seasoning for spice and a splash of heavy cream for richness.
See the recipe card for amounts
How To Make Lobster Ravioli Sauce
This delicious brown butter sauce is both fresh from the lemon and rich from the brown butter. It’s the perfect sauce for lobster ravioli.
- Melt the butter in the pan on medium heat in a large sauté pan.
- Brown the lemon slices on both sides. This will release a little lemon flavor into the butter sauce.
- Remove the lemons and set them aside on a clean plate.
- Add the remaining butter. When the butter begins bubbling slightly, add minced garlic and stir.
- Stir the butter until the fat solids start to brown a little- a few minutes. Make sure not to burn the butter.
- Boil a large pot of salted water. Add ravioli and cook until al dente.
- Add a 1/2 cup of the pasta water and let cook or an additional minute or so until velvety sauce forms!
- You will know the ravioli are done cooking when they all rise to the top. Read How to Cook Fresh or Frozen Ravioli Pasta (Instructions) for precise details!
- Add the ravioli to the pan, using a slotted spoon, and stir gently to combine.
- Top with freshly grated parmigiano, parsley, and lemon zest, if desired.
- Serve with charred lemon on the side of the plate. Mangia! (eat)
For this recipe, I use refrigerated Giovanni RANA brand Maine lobster ravioli. Buy these, or other varieties, at most grocery stores such as Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Kroger. They are kept in the refrigerated section.
There will usually be directions on the package, but in the event you can’t find them:
- Bring a large pot of water (about 4 quarts of water and 1-2 tablespoons of salt).
- Add the ravioli and return to a gentle boil for 3-5 minutes. The ravioli should float to the top when they are done.
- If your ravioli is frozen, keep it in the freezer until the water is boiling, then cook for 7-8 minutes or until it floats to the top. Stir gently in the beginning and middle of cooking to keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom.
- Drain the cooked ravioli and reserve some of the cooking water, about a cup.
Read How to Cook Fresh or Frozen Ravioli Pasta (Instructions) for more!
What Type of Sauce is Best for Lobster Ravioli?
The best lobster ravioli sauce is typically a cream or butter sauce.
The sauce should be subtle yet flavorful to complement the lobster. I love to taste the flavor of lobster meat.
In this recipe, we use brown butter. It adds a depth of flavor without overpowering the dish.
Lobster ravioli is a special treat in our home! I love the taste and don’t like overcomplicating the sauce to let the lobster taste shine.
The easy rich garlic butter sauce comes together in minutes while the ravioli are boiling. This luxurious lemony brown butter sauce with a hint of garlic is the perfect match!
Another lobster recipe you will love is this baked lobster tails!
Expert Tips
- Use a Microplane for grating the cheese and the lemon zest. Read why I recommend grating your own cheese.
- Lobster ravioli brands I recommend:
- Giovanni Rana
- Any locally made lobster ravioli works great as well
- Good quality salted butter such as Kerrygold brand. This will level up your sauce!
- Make sure to brown butter over medium heat. There is a few seconds between brown and burnt butter. Keep an eye on it.
- Use a light-colored pan so you can notice when the butter begins to brown.
- When the butter begins to brown, immediately add the reserved pasta water.
More recipes with brown butter: BEST Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto Brown Butter, Gnocchi in Garlic and Brown Butter Sage Sauce, Brown Butter Basil Pasta Recipe- (Video), and Best Brown Butter Apple Pie.
Why I Love this Meal
This meal is both fancy and easy. It is a meal you might enjoy at a fancy Italian restaurant, yet you can make it at home in under 20 minutes!
We sometimes make this on weekdays as a special treat. My children love it too!
Recipe Variations
If you want to add extra protein to this meal, try adding grilled shrimp or even chunks of fresh lobster tails!
To make the sauce extra creamy, you can add heavy cream.
This sauce also works well for other stuffed ravioli such as spinach, butternut squash, and three cheese.
Try adding fresh herbs that pair well with seafood, such as thyme. You could also drizzle with a little olive oil before serving.
If you like tortellini (a cousin of ravioli), try these easy recipes: Easy Italian Tortellini Pasta Salad, Easy Cheese Tortellini in Broth with Spinach, and Tortellini in Brodo- a Christmas Eve Tradition.
More seafood pasta recipes: Shrimp Scampi Pasta Recipe (with Fettuccine), Spaghetti Frutti di Mare (Seafood Pasta), and Orzo Pasta with Shrimp, Sun-dried Tomatoes, and Artichokes.
What To Serve With This Recipe
Here are a few of the best side dishes to serve with this lobster ravioli sauce recipe:
You will definitely want to serve some delicious homemade bread to soak up the sauce! Try one of these: Fast Italian No Knead Ciabatta Bread, No Knead Italian Focaccia Bread, Easy Soft Italian No Knead Bread. If you want to go all out serve these as an appetizer Best Italian Zucchini Fritters (easy recipe)!
Don’t forget a salad to go with your meal: Italian Fennel, Citrus, Pomegranate, and Salad, or pear gorgonzola salad.
I particularly love Roasted Fennel Recipe (Italian Style) as a warm side dish for this meal. This dish would also go so nicely with a dry white wine!
Don’t forget dessert! Frozen Lemon Dessert (Creamy Lemony Treat)
If you make this recipe please write a comment! I want to connect with all of you through your experience with my recipes.
Do you need more ideas? Here are some: What to Serve with Ravioli (50 best side dishes)!
From my Cucina to your Table, Mangia! Mangia! (Eat!). Made with Amore, Elena.
More delicious pasta recipes for you…
Restaurant Style Italian Cacio e Pepe (Best Tips)
Creamy Sausage Baked Ziti “White Baked Ziti”
Chicken Skillet Creamy Chive Mascarpone Sauce
Easy Lemon Ricotta Pasta with Asparagus
Angel Hair Pasta with Fresh Herbs
BEST Lobster Ravioli Sauce with Lemon Brown Butter
Get ready for your new favorite lobster ravioli sauce! The lemon brown butter sauce is easy to make and complements the lobster flavor well!
💙 MADE THIS RECIPE AND LOVED IT? 💙 Please leave a ⭐️STAR rating and COMMENT below- I love connecting with you! Tag me with your creations on Instagram and find me on Pinterest.
Lobster Ravioli Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 13-ounce package lobster ravioli
- 5 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 1 medium lemon, cut into 1/2 slices
- Reserved pasta water from cooking
- ½ cup freshly grated parmigiano cheese
- 1 extra lemon, zest only, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a cast iron pan or other large saucepan on medium high heat. Once the butter is melted add the lemon and cook until brown on both sides (about 2 minutes per side). Remove lemons from pan and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a generous amount of salt. Cook the ravioli until al dente according to package directions.
- Meanwhile, add the remaining butter. When the butter starts to bubble slightly- add the garlic. Stir the butter until the fat solids start to brown a little- a few of minutes. Make sure not to burn the butter.
- Drain the ravioli, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta water to the pan and let simmer until shiny sauce forms, about 1 minute.
- Add the ravioli to the pan and stir gently to combine. Top with freshly grated parmigiano and lemon zest, if desired. Serve with charred lemon on the side of the plate. Mangia! (eat)
Notes
- Use a Microplane for grating the cheese and the lemon zest. Read why I recommend grating your own cheese.
- Lobster ravioli brands I recommend:
- Giovanni Rana
- Any locally made lobster ravioli works great as well
- Good quality salted butter such as Kerrygold brand. This will level up your sauce!
- Make sure to brown butter over medium heat. There is a few seconds between brown and burnt butter. Keep an eye on it.
- Use a light-colored pan so you can notice when the butter begins to brown.
- When the butter begins to brown, immediately add the reserved pasta water.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is a wonderful go-to special recipe for Sunday night. I like to create something fun on Sunday night, and this recipe does the trick. The charred lemon is delicious. I toss in fresh thyme and sage from the garden to the final sauce.
I really appreciate this simple yet captivating recipe. My wife also loves it!
I am thrilled you love it! Love the addition of thyme and sage from the garden! Enjoy.
I used this today for my ravioli and it was so good! I kept looking at sauce recipes and they all had heavy cream, which is too much with lobster ravioli. This was so tasty and easy to make. One thing I changed was instead of zesting the lemon on top, I squeezed some fresh lemon juice into the pan after adding the ravioli and it came out very citrusy and light.
Yes! I love that it still remains light and lets the lobster ravioli shine! Love the lemon juice.
Delicious and easy! Thank you Elena for sharing. Love getting the chance to try new recipes.
Happy you loved it!
Delish!! I used a stick of butter and 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese and a little moe pasta water. My husband usually hates lemon, but the lemon comes through softly and the sauce helps maintain the lobster flavor. If you close your eyes, you get the taste of a steamed lobsterโฆwonderful recipe.
Thanks! Marianne Franklin
YAY! Thrilled he loved it with the lemon. It’s a yummy one.
I want to make this for Christmas Eve dinner. I have 7 people and want to make sure I have enough lobster ravioli. I have 8 pks of 13 oz each (the Costco double pack)
Not sure how much to make . Would I triple the recipe? Thank you!
Hi! Depends on how much your people eat. Plan on 80-100 gr pasta per person, but if you have sides and dessert maybe less? I hope that helps!
We made this meal twice last week and everyone wanted more!
This makes a great recipe for a date night!