If you’re looking for the perfect recipe for a special occasion date night at home, look no further. This Brown Butter Seafood Ravioli Sauce Recipe will dress up your store-bought ravioli and put a restaurant-quality meal on the table in under 30 minutes.
Grocery stores from coast to coast and around the globe offer high quality, ready-made fresh ravioli. I’ve found some delicious seafood ravioli options in Whole Foods downtown Chicago, tiny local grocers in the middle of nowhere Tennessee, and in my seaside village in Portugal.
So if you’re craving delicious pescatarian pasta, and you’re not in the mood to roll out homemade pasta dough and shell fresh lobster tails, this delicious recipe is a great option for you!
You’re going to love this dish because it takes a handful of simple ingredients and builds a sophisticated, flavorful sauce for your pasta. Brown butter is a simple trick to learn, and tastes delicious with all kinds of sweet and savory recipes.
In this seafood or lobster ravioli recipe, the brown butter is elevated by toasted hazelnuts and fresh basil – the perfect marriage of rich and savory with fresh and bright.
Enough with the chatting! Let’s start cooking.
If you’re looking for the perfect Creamy Lobster Ravioli Sauce, I have a great lobster ravioli sauce recipe for you! If you married a traditional Italian red sauce (tomato paste) with a creamy alfredo sauce, this savory pink sauce is what you’d find. Delicious over store-bought or homemade lobster ravioli – or any pasta shape!
If you’re looking for a creamy sauce full of ricotta and lemon zest, try this One Pot Lemon Ricotta Pasta with a delicious walnut herb topping.
Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy seafood ravioli sauce recipe:
- Fresh seafood ravioli
- Fresh asparagus spears
- Salted butter
- Hazelnuts
- Fresh basil
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh lemon juice
- Sea salt and black pepper
Full measurements and directions included in the printable recipe card below.
Step by step instructions for the best sauce for store-bought lobster ravioli:
To begin, bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium high heat. This will cook your store-bought seafood ravioli and the fresh asparagus. Once boiling, add a good pinch of salt to the pasta water, along with the ravioli, and reduce heat to medium (you want to keep the water at a simmer, if it boils too rapidly the ravioli may break open and their seafood fillings will get diluted.) Cook according to package directions (usually 4-5 minutes total cook time). When 2 minutes remain in your cook time, add the cut pieces of asparagus to the pot of boiling raviolis in water.
Finish cooking. Drain. Toss lightly in olive oil to keep from sticking.
In the meantime, prepare your hazelnut brown butter sauce. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. (Browning butter is best achieved in a light-colored or stainless steel pan so you can track the browning process. Cast iron makes that difficult.)
Cook the butter until it is is foaming a bit and just starting to brown. (This recipe calls for salted butter. If using unsalted butter, plan to use additional salt to flavor.) Add crushed hazelnuts to the pan and cook for an additional 2 minutes, watching closely so the sauce doesn’t burn.
When the hazelnut butter has browned perfectly, add the juice of 1/2 lemon, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
Add the cooked ravioli and asparagus, 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese and the fresh basil to the pan. Carefully toss the ravioli to combine all.
Plate the ravioli. Drizzle additional brown butter sauce over the pasta. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese and fresh basil leaves.
FAQ’s, Variations and Serving Suggestions:
Lobster ravioli is probably the most popular version that is readily available in your local grocers. But I’ve seen crab and shrimp options, as well. Shrimp ravioli is more common where I live in Portugal, so it’s my go-to when I’m looking for a quick but fancy meal. This brown butter sauce will complement any type of seafood ravioli (store bought or homemade ravioli).
This ravioli in brown butter sauce can be a one-pot wonder, or you could serve it with a simple Cucumber Tomato Salad and a hot loaf of Garlic Bread Baguette.
Pine nuts, walnuts or macadamia nuts would all be delicious with this ravioli sauce recipe.
I tested the recipe with a variety of fresh herbs. I found the basil and hazelnut combination to be perfect with the seafood ravioli. But tarragon, parsley and chives all brought delicious fresh flavor to balance the richness of the dish. So use whatever herbs you have on hand!
To store, transfer ravioli in brown butter sauce to an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. To reheat, warm in microwave at 50% power for 1-2 minutes, stopping every 30 seconds to check.
Check out some of our other delicious recipes:
- Creamy Langoustine Lobster Risotto with Asparagus and Lime
- Shrimp Rasta Pasta Recipe
- Easy Baked Walleye Recipe with Lemon & Butter
- Crispy Sweet & Spicy Korean Tofu
Seafood Ravioli Sauce Recipe (Hazelnut Brown Butter)
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
12–16 ounces fresh seafood ravioli
1/2 pound fresh asparagus spears, cut on bias
6 tablespoons salted butter
1/3 cup hazelnuts, skinned and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons fresh basil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, for service
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (from 1/2 lemon)
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
To begin, bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium high heat. This will cook your store-bought seafood ravioli and the fresh asparagus. Once boiling, add a good pinch of salt to the pasta water, along with the ravioli, and cook according to package directions (usually 4-5 minutes total cook time). When 2 minutes remain in your cook time, add the cut pieces of asparagus to the pot of boiling raviolis in water. Finish cooking. Drain. Toss lightly in olive oil to keep from sticking.
In the meantime, prepare your hazelnut brown butter sauce. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. (Browning butter is best achieved in a light-colored or stainless steel pan so you can track the browning process. Cast iron makes that difficult.) Cook the butter until it is is foaming a bit and just starting to brown. Add crushed hazelnuts to the pan and cook for an additional 2 minutes, watching closely so the sauce doesn’t burn.
When the hazelnut butter has browned perfectly, add the juice of 1/2 lemon, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
Add the cooked ravioli and asparagus, 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese and the fresh basil to the pan. Carefully toss the ravioli to combine all.
Plate the ravioli. Drizzle additional brown butter sauce over the pasta. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese and fresh basil leaves.
Notes
Store-bought seafood ravioli comes in varying package weights. This amount of hazelnut brown butter sauce is sufficient for a full pound of ravioli. Be sure to check your ravioli weight when preparing the recipe to be sure you have enough sauce to cover. If you are cooking just one pack of ravioli (usually 8-10 ounces), save any extra brown butter sauce to drizzle over grilled fish.
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 15
- Category: Easy Recipes
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: Seafood Ravioli Sauce Recipe, Lobster Ravioli Sauce Recipe, Sauce for Store-bought Ravioli