This Ravioli with Lemon Butter Sauce recipe is a perfect busy weeknight recipe. It's quick and easy and full of flavor. This piccata-style lemon cream sauce with capers takes store-bought ravioli and makes them extra special. It's a pasta dinner idea that your whole family will love.
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Why you'll love this ravioli recipe
If the words lemon butter sauce don't turn you on we probably can't be friends. It's like the best thing ever to serve over ravioli. I mean it.
I'm not a spaghetti kind of gal. But I am a get dinner on the table fast kinda gal.
Pasta is a great weeknight dinner idea but I want something a little more than just noodles and sauce. And I definitely don't want to get stuck in the kitchen. If that's you, you are going to love this Ravioli Piccata recipe.
Related: Butternut Squash Ravioli with Alfredo Sauce
Jazzing up store-bought ingredients is one of my favorite hacks for getting dinner on the table quickly!
Chicken piccata is a classic recipe that is tasty thanks to the lemon and capers. This pasta twist uses the same delicious flavors but makes it even easier to make!
Store-bought ravioli are paired with a simple lemon cream sauce to make a meal that can be on the table in about 20 minutes.
Your family will love it. You will love making it.
Add chicken (baked, shredded or rotisserie chicken), or don't. It's a filling meal, that you will make again and again. Because lemon butter sauce. YUM.
Serve it on its own or with a simple vegetable side dish or salad.
Ingredients
See recipe card for quantities.
You can make your own ravioli if you want. But man, that sure would be a lot of extra work.
Store-bought ravioli are filled with all kinds of things and flavors. Since this sauce is lemon, garlic and butter, you'll want to choose a filling that would play well with these flavors.
You can't go wrong with simple ricotta-filled ravioli. Although I used some that also had spinach inside.
Ravioli also come in a variety of sizes. I used small, about 1" square ravioli. Any size will work.
You can find fresh ravioli in the refrigerator section, near the pesto and other refrigerated pasta sauces at your local grocery store.
A dried or shelf-stable ravioli may take a little bit longer to cook. I have not tried this with frozen ravioli but I'm sure those would work too.
Instructions
Step 1
Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and capers and saute until fragrant, around 1 ½ to 2 minutes.
Step 2
Add the ravioli and fry for 2 more minutes, this gives the ravioli a garlicky and buttery taste.
Step 3
Add the chicken stock and toss to combine. Cover with a lid and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or according to package directions.
Your ravioli should be al dente (they should still have a little bit of a bite to them when chewing and not mushy).
Step 4
Stir in the heavy cream, lemon zest and salt and pepper and stir once more to combine everything together before removing from heat.
To Serve
To serve, place in serving bowls and top with grated parmesan cheese.
Hint: Don't have time to make the lemon butter sauce for ravioli? Add a little bit of pre-made lemon butter sauce. It makes this recipe even faster!
Variations
With this basic recipe, you can make small changes to create even more tasty twists.
- Add protein - To make it even more filling add cooked chicken chunks or shredded chicken before adding the heavy cream.
- Spicy - add red chili flakes to bring a little heat to the dish.
- Kid friendly - swap the capers with green peas if your kids are not adventurous eaters. It will also sneak in a bit of a veggie. SCORE!
Top Tips
- When adding the cream, make sure you pour it in slowly. If cream gets heated too quickly it can sometimes curdle.
- For a more pronounced lemon flavor, add the juice from ½ of lemon along with the zest. Although this may cause the cream to curdle. Whisk in a little at a time to see if that helps.
- The lemon slices in the photos include the rind so if you are offended by the bitterness a citrus ring can bring, skip it.
- Try the same recipe with tortellini or other filled pasta. Or keep it extra simple with spaghetti.
- The 20 ounce package of ravioli says it will make 5 servings. I feel like my family needs a side to make this a filling meal for everyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
To store leftovers, let them cool completely then store them in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.
The acid from the lemon may have caused the cream to create. Next time, you can try adding a smaller amount or add the zest in at the time of sauteing the capers. You may have also added the cream too fast to the dish, or you may have the heat too high.
Picatta traditionally means cooked in a sauce with lemon, butter and parsley. And usually includes capers and a pan-fried protein. Here, I've taken the main flavors, minus the parsley, and skipped the protein in favor of using ravioli as the main component.
Ravioli with Lemon Butter Sauce and capers is a crowd-pleasing meal that is ready in under half an hour! Add this to your meal plan immediately!
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Ravioli with Lemon Butter Sauce and Capers
Ingredients
- 20 ounch fresh ravioli
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 tablespoons capers, drained
- 1 ½ cups chicken stock
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ lemon, zest and juice
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and capers and saute until fragrant, around 1 ½ to 2 minutes.
- Add the ravioli and fry for 2 more minutes, this gives the ravioli a garlicky and buttery taste.
- Add the chicken stock and toss to combine. Cover with a lid and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or according to package directions. Your ravioli should be al dente.
- Stir in the heavy cream, lemon zest and salt and pepper and stir once more to combine everything together before removing from heat.
Notes
- For a more pronounced lemon flavor, add the juice from ½ of lemon along with the zest.
- The lemon slices in the photos include the rind so if you are offended by the bitterness a citrus ring can bring, skip it.
- Try the same recipe with tortellini or other filled pasta. Or keep it extra simple with spaghetti.
- The 20-ounce package of ravioli says it has about 5 servings. I feel like my family needs a side to make this a filling meal for everyone.
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