Simply the best Cream Sauce for Lobster Ravioli! It has a silky texture and hints of garlic, thyme, white wine, and shallot, yet takes just 20 minutes. Pair store-bought ravioli with this elegant homemade sauce and enjoy a meal worthy of date night — or the dinner guests you really want to impress.

Platter full of lobster ravioli served in a light cream sauce with shallots and thyme.

Creamy Lobster Ravioli Recipe

Tender lobster-filled ravioli swimming in a light white wine cream sauce? This is heaven on earth, friends. Best of all, it feels elegant and perfectly suited to a special occasion, whether it’s a romantic dinner, family celebration, or hosting friends, yet is incredibly easy to make, especially if you opt for store-bought ravioli with a scratch-made sauce.

What type of sauce goes with lobster ravioli?

A simple yet elegant white wine cream sauce is the perfect pairing for lobster ravioli — make it correctly and the sauce will be silky and full of flavor but not too heavy. Lobster can be on the sweet side, so the light zip of shallots and lemon in this sauce provide a nice counterpoint and keep each bite feeling balanced.

You also can pair lobster with a brown butter sauce, though it will be sweeter. In a real hurry? Cook your lobster ravioli al dente, drizzle with olive oil, add a squeeze of lemon and sprig of thyme, and call it a day.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Prep bowls with labels showing lobster ravioli and the ingredients needed to make an appropriate cream sauce (cream, white wine, thyme, lemon, shallot, garlic).
  • Lobster Ravioli: This sauce is perfect for Trader Joe’s lobster ravioli, which have the signature orange and yellow striped pasta shown here. You can also find lobster ravioli with refrigerated pastas at Whole Foods and many other large grocery chains, or plan for a few extra minutes and make your own!
  • Shallot and Garlic: Key aromatics that infuse the sauce with flavor. Shallots belong to the onion family, but with a sweeter and more delicate flavor than, say, your standard yellow variety.
  • White Wine: Your favorite dry white will work here – anything crisp and not sweet. We love a Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, or Pinot Gris. Prefer no alcohol in your sauce? Substitute with a high-quality seafood, vegetable, or chicken stock.
  • Thyme: Dried thyme is a time-saver and works well in this sauce, but a few sprigs of the fresh thyme make a truly lovely garnish for the finished ravioli and sauce.
  • Butter and Cream: You can’t replace heavy cream for the silky texture that makes this sauce sing — you’re only using a little bit, so it won’t by itself make you fall out of your chair — but light cream or half and half is an acceptable substitute if that’s what you’ve got.
  • Lemon: A spritz of lemon juice perks up the whole sauce, and the wedges are just so pretty on the finished dish.

Don’t love lobster? This sauce is also decadent and amazing with other filled pastas – try it with cheese, spinach or butternut-filled ravioli, tortellini, or tortelloni.

How To Make Cream Sauce for Lobster Ravioli

This sauce comes together very quickly, so you’ll want to get a large pot of water bubbling for your pasta as the very first step. Remember to add a generous pinch of salt — the best pasta cooking water is salty like the sea — and set a timer to check the ravioli at the early end of the cooking time stated on the packaging. You want it to be al dente, not so tender it’s falling apart.

Once the water is going, grab a large pan and begin the sauce. Cook the shallot and garlic in melted butter over medium-high heat, then add the generous glug of white wine and let it simmer to a concentrated liquid.

Large skillet with cooked shallots, garlic, and a simmering white wine sauce.

Lower the burner to medium heat, then pour in the cream — a little goes a long way — along with thyme and lemon juice. Swirl and cook for just a minute or two to warm the cream through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cream added to white wine sauce, along with lemon juice and thyme.

Now it’s a simple matter of gently tossing the pasta into the sauce and turning to coat each ravioli.

Pro Tip: If your pasta is not yet done when the sauce is ready, reduce the heat all the way to low. Your goal is to just keep the sauce warm without thickening it further. Conversely, if your pasta is cooked and drained well before your sauce is finished, toss it with the tiniest drizzle of olive oil so the ravioli don’t stick together while they wait to be tossed in the sauce.

Skillet with striped lobster-filled pasta coated in a white wine and cream sauce.

You can serve from the skillet just like this, transfer to a large platter and pass family-style at the table, or plate individual portions. In any case, be sure each ravioli has a bit of the creamy sauce on top, and use sprigs of fresh thyme and lemon wedges for a beautiful garnish.

Can’t get enough lemon? Add a light dash of lemon zest at the end, too.

What To Serve With Lobster Ravioli

Serve this alongside a light arugula Parmesan salad – the peppery “rocket-shaped” greens nicely contrast the silky rich cream sauce — an Italian salad, or roasted asparagus or broccolini. Garlic bread or breadsticks round things out and make this a truly special occasion-worthy meal.

Platter full of lobster ravioli served in a light cream sauce with shallots and thyme.

Do lobster ravioli reheat well?

Yes! Lobster ravioli in cream sauce reheats very well if you’re fortunate enough to have extra for lunch or dinner the next day.

  • To refrigerate, package leftovers in an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
  • To reheat, add a splash of broth to loosen the sauce and warm over low heat on the stovetop, or use 45-second bursts in the microwave until warmed through.

Does this freeze well?

No; this cream sauce is likely to separate when frozen and reheated, and the cooked ravioli may become very mushy.

On the contrary, uncooked ravioli freeze very well, so I highly recommend storing extra packages in your freezer for quick and easy dinners. There’s no need to even defrost in advance: simply drop the frozen ravioli straight into rapidly boiling water, and cook for 1-2 extra minutes on top of the stated cooking time.

More Easy Pasta Recipes

Love this? Try my recipes for tortellini in Alfredo sauce, tortellini with mushrooms and butter, or creamy pesto gnocchi next.

Can’t get enough ravioli? This easy baked ravioli recipe is a go-to for feeding a crowd with minimal fuss, and pumpkin ravioli with a sage browned butter sauce is the ultimate dish for the fall.

If you try this Cream Sauce for Lobster Ravioli, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. I love hearing how recipes turn out in your kitchen, and it helps other readers, too.

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5 from 2 votes

Lobster Ravioli with Cream Sauce

Simply the best Cream Sauce for Lobster Ravioli! It has a silky texture and hints of garlic, thyme, white wine, and shallot, yet takes just 20 minutes. Pair store-bought ravioli with this elegant homemade sauce and enjoy a meal worthy of date night — or the dinner guests you really want to impress.

Ingredients

  • 18 ounces lobster ravioli
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large shallot thinly sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 3/4 cup dry white wine
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • kosher salt and fresh-cracked black pepper
  • fresh thyme and lemon wedges optional garnish

Instructions

  • Boil a large pot of water, add a generous pinch of salt, then add ravioli and cook just to al dente, according to package instructions. Drain and set aside, tossing with a very small drizzle of olive oil if the sauce is not yet ready.
  • While pasta cooks, melt butter in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add shallot and cook for 2-3 minutes, just until softened. Stir in garlic and cook 30 seconds more.
  • Pour in the wine and bring sauce to a simmer. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the wine is reduced by about half.
  • Reduce heat to medium, then stir in the cream, thyme, and lemon juice. Cook for 1-2 minutes, just until the sauce is smooth and heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste – I usually start with a heaping 1/4 teaspoon salt and 8-10 cranks of pepper. You may prefer more or less.
  • Gently stir ravioli into the sauce. Serve right away with additional lemon wedges and sprigs of fresh thyme, as desired.

Notes

  • Variations/Add-Ins: 
    • Prefer a thicker, creamier sauce? Add 2-3 tablespoons of finely-grated Parmesan cheese along with the cream, and cook until fully melted. You can also pass Parmesan at the table if some diners would like it and others may not.
    • Want to add veggies? Toss some sautéed zucchini or squash, baby spinach leaves, frozen peas, or halved cherry tomatoes in along with the cream.
    • Love lemon? Add a light dash of lemon zest along with the lemon juice, or as a final garnish.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 417 kcal, Carbohydrates: 38 g, Protein: 13 g, Fat: 21 g, Saturated Fat: 10 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g, Trans Fat: 0.2 g, Cholesterol: 78 mg, Sodium: 576 mg, Potassium: 71 mg, Fiber: 3 g, Sugar: 3 g, Vitamin A: 442 IU, Vitamin C: 3 mg, Calcium: 40 mg, Iron: 9 mg
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