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Glite Dictionary
lemon butter

lemon butter

1 2.9
A sauce of browned butter with lemon juice and parsley for fish or vegetables
  • noun
translation icon : mantequilla de limón
  • She decided to enhance her dish with a homemade lemon butter that complemented the fish perfectly.
  • lemon butter sauce

Examples

  • May I suggest fish en croute with lemon butter sauce?

    Compulsion (2013)

  • Mmm-- now, fish en croute with lemon butter sauce isn't as intimidating as it sounds.

    Compulsion (2013)

  • The chef prepared a delicious salmon fillet with a drizzle of lemon butter on top.

  • At the restaurant, the roasted vegetables were served alongside a rich lemon butter sauce.

Synonyms

meuniere butter
vslemon butter
  • Specialized
8.8

Butter browned and flavored with lemon and parsley served over fish or vegetables

is the same sauce but known by another culinary name

How Thick

lemon cheese
  • UK
4.2
lemon curd
3 2.5
lemon butter
1 2.9
glaze
43 3.7
vinaigrette
28 3.3

Surface Forms

lemon butter singular
lemon butters plural

Morphology

lemon + butter

The meaning ('a butter-based sauce flavored with lemon') is directly derivable from combining 'lemon' and 'butter' — it denotes butter that includes or is flavored with lemon. This is a common culinary compound pattern (e.g., garlic butter, herb butter), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily understand the MWE even if they may not infer recipe-specific details like clarifying or browning.

Etymology

The name lemon butter comes from the simple, literal idea of adding lemon to butter to make a bright sauce for fish and vegetables. That's why today lemon butter means a butter 'sauce' flavored with lemon.