Craving lobster ravioli? Looking for the best lobster ravioli sauce ever? We have the best, easy 15-minute recipe for a deliciously creamy lemon sauce to enhance lobster ravioli perfectly.
Table of Contents
- What Sauce Goes with Lobster Ravioli?
- The Ingredients
- How To Make This Lobster Ravioli Sauce Recipe
- Make Ahead Instructions
- Storage Instructions
- Variations
- FAQs
- Pro Tips and Tricks for AMAZING Lobster Ravioli Sauce
- Try These Delicious Italian Recipes Next:
- Lobster Ravioli with Lemon Cream Sauce Recipe Recipe
What Sauce Goes with Lobster Ravioli?
This lobster-stuffed pasta comes in vacuum-sealed packaging at lots of mainstream grocery stores now (get it at Costco and Superstore in Canada, Trader Joe’s in the US). It is such a treat for lobster lovers. Adding lobster ravioli to your cart, though, begs the question – what is the best sauce to serve with lobster ravioli?
This is it. This sauce goes so well with lobster ravioli. The creamy, silky sauce is wonderful in this dish because the subtle flavors don’t take from the lobster’s delicate taste (like a bolder tomato sauce or a garlic butter sauce can).
I went with natural pairings that I love with whole, fresh lobster, like butter and lemon.
The Ingredients
Here’s some guidance around the ingredients you’ll need for this lobster ravioli sauce:
- Butter. This is what is going to bring out the sweetness in the shallots and give the sauce its beautiful sheen. I love dairy butter in this dish, but you could use plant-based butter as well.
- Shallot. You can switch this out for white onion if you like.
- Cream. Use a heavy cream or at least 35% medium fat cream to ensure the cream does not curdle with the addition of lemon juice. Substituting milk or light cream will lead to a split sauce.
- Lemon. Use both the zest and the juice (but not all of the juice – see recipe notes). Grate the zest very finely. I love to use a microplane for this, but the smallest holes on a box grater will work, too.
- Black pepper. A little crack of black pepper gives this sauce a little bit of heat.
- Parmesan cheese. Use freshly grated Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano). The powdery Kraft stuff won’t give you the same flavor and will make the sauce too salty.
- Fresh Parsley. Other fresh herbs like chives are a great alternative. I like to use Italian parsley.
How To Make This Lobster Ravioli Sauce Recipe
- First, bring a large pot of water to a boil with a little salt.
- While you’re waiting for it to boil, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and then add in the shallot.
- Cook the shallot for about 5 minutes or until they have softened. Be careful not to caramelize them too much.
- Whisk in the cream, lemon zest, salt, and pepper and bring it all to a simmer.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir or whisk in the Parmesan cheese until the sauce is smooth.
- Whisk in 1 TBS of lemon juice and cover the pot. Add the lemon juice in a little at a time and check the balance as you go. Leave it on the unlit burner to keep it warm.
- Check the package instructions for the lobster ravioli’s cooking time. Cook for roughly 4 minutes in boiling water or until they float to the surface.
- Drain and reserve 1/2 a cup of the pasta water for later.
- Add the ravioli to the sauce and toss through to coat it. Add in a little of the reserved pasta water should you need to thin it out.
- Top with a sprinkle of freshly chopped parsley or chives, and serve.
Related: How Long to Cook Fresh Ravioli
Make Ahead Instructions
This is a pretty simple and quick dish to put together but here are a few steps you could take in advance:
- Chop your chives (or parsley) up ahead of time. They will keep well in the refrigerator overnight or in the freezer.
- Chop up your shallots and keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Zest and juice your lemon a few hours before you need them.
Storage Instructions
Allow your pasta and sauce to cool before packing it into an airtight container. You will need to keep it in the fridge.
You can gently reheat the pasta and sauce in the pot or microwave but beware that the sauce can split if heated too quickly.
Variations
- Serve this creamy sauce with shrimp or chicken ravioli.
- Make a brown butter sauce version by separately browning the butter, then pouring it into another dish. Add 1 tbsp oil to the pot to saute the shallots and return the browned butter at the end.
- Make your own homemade pasta dough and lobster ravioli if you’re feeling very adventurous.
- Try this sauce with fresh tarragon instead of parsley as a posh combo.
- Stir a little ribbon pasta and poached lobster meat through this same sauce.
- Cook a little chopped chorizo or bacon with the shallots for a twist on this recipe.
- Add a splash of dry white wine instead of lemon juice.
FAQs
Here are a couple of queries that tend to pop up:
It can be served as an appetizer or a main course. Personally, I love it as a main course, it’s such a tease as an appetizer. This recipe serves 6-8 as an appetizer or 4-6 as a main.
A white sauce like this one is perfect because it draws on the flavors you’d pair with fresh, whole lobster (like butter and lemon). Red sauce usually is heavy on garlic, which overpowers the sweet, delicate lobster flavor. Red sauces often also have herbs like oregano and basil, which simply don’t go well with the taste of lobster.
A simple side dish goes well with lobster ravioli. I recommend a steamed green vegetable like asparagus or green beans, or a torn lettuce salad dressed with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. With cheese or meat ravioli, you can go with bolder flavors and textures, like caesar salad.
Pro Tips and Tricks for AMAZING Lobster Ravioli Sauce
- Start with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Taste and add up to 1 tbsp more if you like (it will be quite lemony at that point; I do like it both ways). Reserve the remaining lemon juice for something else.
- Reserve a bit of the lobster pasta water to thin it out if you like (and bonus: the water also has lobster flavor).
- Don’t allow the cream to boil rapidly once you’ve added the lemon juice or the sauce will split. Simmer it gently on low to medium rather than medium-high heat.
Try These Delicious Italian Recipes Next:
- Brown Butter Sage Sauce
- Tuscan Chicken
- Seafood Pasta with Cream Sauce
- Asiago Tortelloni Alfredo with Grilled Chicken
- Seafood Pizza
- Beet Pasta Sauce
- Old-Fashioned Baked Macaroni and Cheese and super-creamy cheese sauce for mac and cheese (full of tips on making sure it’s never bland or grainy!)
Next Reading: What to Serve with Ravioli (Most Popular + Delicious Sides!)
Lobster Ravioli with Lemon Cream Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs fresh lobster ravioli
For Lobster Ravioli Sauce
- 6 tbsp butter
- 1 shallot minced
- 1 cup heavy cream a.k.a. whipping cream or 35% m.f. cream
- 1 medium lemon zested and juiced
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¾ cup finely-grated parmesan cheese
- Minced chives or parsley to serve
Instructions
Prepare Lobster Ravioli
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it well.
- Add lobster ravioli to the boiling water. Cook for 4 minutes (or according to package instructions). Drain in a colander.
Make Lobster Ravioli Sauce
- Meanwhile, melt the butter over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the shallot and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the cream, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer.
- Remove pan from the heat and whisk in the parmesan cheese until the sauce is smooth, then whisk in 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Cover the pot and leave it on the unlit (but still warm) burner to keep the sauce hot.
- Add ravioli to the pot with the sauce and toss to coat.
Video
Notes
- You can find fresh lobster ravioli (and other fresh pastas) in vacuum-sealed packages in a refrigerator case, usually near the deli or meat section of grocery stores. Feel free to use spinach ravioli or another fresh pasta with this sauce.
- Shallot substitute: use 1/2 cup finely-chopped onion in place of the shallot if you prefer.
- Don’t substitute the cream. Use a heavy cream or at least 35% medium fat cream to ensure the cream does not curdle with the addition of lemon juice. Substituting milk or light cream will lead to a split sauce.
- Start with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Taste and add up to 1 tbsp more if you like (it will be quite lemony at that point; I do like it both ways). Reserve the remaining lemon juice for something else.
- If you like a thinner sauce, reserve ½ cup pasta water before you drain the rest. Then you can add a tiny splash at a time to reach your desired thinness.
- Be sure to zest the lemon before you juice it. It is much harder to zest once it has been juiced.
- You can make the sauce up to 2 days before serving. Store in an airtight container in the fridge and reheat over very low heat.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Such a decadent pasta dish… perfect for my son’s birthday celebration. So easy to make and super impressive.
I loved this lobster ravioli sauce! I made it for my family for Sunday dinner and it was such a hit. The brightness and creaminess of the sauce was everything.
This sauce was so delicious! I was lucky to find some lobster ravioli, which was awesome together!
I love how easy it is to make this delicious lobster ravioli! Perfect for an impromptu date night at home.
OH my! My tastebuds are dancing reading this post! I cannot wait to get my hands on lobster ravioli and make this unctuous buttery sauce! Dreamy!
You have me drooling for sure. The next time I’m at Costco, I’ll be looking for this ravioli. We love a decadent seafood meal now and then and that sauce looks incredibly luxurious.
This sauce. Oh my. So easy and next level delicious
SO GOOD! Licked our plates. Added the extra lemon juice because we love lemon flavor and it was incredible.
Wonderful, delicious sauce recipe. Perfect with the lobster ravioli I found at Costco in Canada.
Made this sauce and it is soooo good. I had shrimp and lobster ravioli and used it on that, the lemon was perfect. The sauce is so yummy I’ll make it on regular plain pasta too.