Updated 01/23/18
If you prefer your food bland, skip this blog post.
Until now, when I made preserved lemons in the past, honestly, I struggled to use up an entire jar. Classically, you use preserved lemons in chicken tagine but we don’t eat much chicken. They go well with fish but we eat little fish. You can use them in dressing, but we can eat only so much salad. On top of that, my picky eater won’t touch anything fermented (although she finally tried my ginger beer and liked it—mothers of picky eaters, take heart). With their intensely pungent, walloping umami, super salty and complex flavor, you typically add only a small amount to a dish. How could I possibly use up entire jars of these flavor bombs? I stopped making them. Me, with the prolific lemon tree. What a shame.
Then at my favorite Indian restaurant one night a couple of months ago, my boyfriend Chandra commented on the delicious lemon in the side of pickle we order with our vegetarian tali every time we eat at Darbar. The pickle I eat about once a month or so. The pickle that I adore.
:O
I picked up the pickle. Preserved lemon. Right there. In the small white dish. How could I not have noticed?
Within a couple of days, I had two large jars of preserved lemons going on my counter.
If you can find preserved lemons in a grocery store, they will cost you a small fortune—around 10 dollars for an 8-ounce jar, more for organic. Although they are worth the price, if you have a jar, some salt, a bunch of lemons and patience—these sit for a month or longer—you can easily make them yourself. Because I have a lemon tree, mine cost me basically nothing. I used about 10 lemons for each 1-liter jar pictured below—six to preserve and four for additional juice that goes into the jar.
You can also preserve limes but will need more per jar. Follow the same basic instructions below.
Non-organic lemons, food-grade wax
I use organic lemons from my yard for these. You can find organic lemons at many grocery stores but they may be coated in food-grade wax. If, like me, you would prefer not to eat peels coated in wax, ask your grocer if the lemons have been coated. I have read online that you can pour boiling water over waxed lemons and then scrub off the wax but boiling water will kill the beneficial microbes that you need to ferment these.
Basic preserved lemon directions
Now that you have your lemons, here’s all you do: cut each lemon into quarters but don’t cut all the way through. Leave about 1/2 inch at the bottom to keep the lemons attached. Stuff about 1 tablespoon of salt into the lemon. Stuff the lemon into a clean jar. Stuffing in the lemons will release some juice but you’ll need to add more. Once you have filled the jar with lemons, pour additional lemon juice over them until you have completely covered the lemons in juice. Submersion is very important! These will turn mushy or worse—moldy—if you don’t submerge them completely in liquid. If you do encounter white mold on the surface of the liquid as these ferment, just scrape it off. The lemons will be fine. (I have lived to tell the tale.)
Recipes for preserved lemons vary. Some call for lemons and salt only. Others call for spices such as bay leaves, cloves, coriander seeds, peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks. For this post, I added some peppercorns—five or six—to each jar before I shoved in the lemons.
Submerge the prepped preserved lemons
After I filled the jar, I then put a tiny jam jar (without its lid) on top of the lemons and closed the jar. The lid of the big jar pushes down the little jar, which shoves down the lemons, and causes the liquid to rise and submerge everything. Set the jar aside on a plate to catch any oozing lemon juice. Burp the jar (i.e., open it) every day for the first several days to release any gases building up in there. Wait a month or longer.
How to cook with preserved lemons
Use your lemons when the skins have softened completely. Scrape away the pulp, rinse off the salt (depending on the recipe) and add the rinds to your dish.
But what about the pulp? Most recipes that call for preserved lemon instruct you to toss it. That won’t do on this blog. I have some ideas for using the delicious pulp:
- Add it to salsa. Delicious. Chandra makes salsa often so I threw some pulp in there as a test. Yum.
- Throw it into soup or sauce. If you want to add a complex lemon flavor to a soup or sauce, toss the pulp in in. Simply break it up with a wooden spoon.
- Add it to salad dressing. Push it through a strainer first or whir the pulp in a food processor and use it all in salad dressing.
- Add it to hummus. My hummus recipe calls for lemon and salt like most hummus recipes. How delicious would it taste with preserved lemon pulp, I wondered. Very delicious it turns out! (Here’s the recipe.) We couldn’t stop eating it.
In short, add the pulp to dips, soups, sauces and dressings that need a bit of oomph. Go here for more ideas.
Now I worry about running out of preserved lemons. Chandra and I have been chopping up the preserved lemon peels, mixing them with fermented hot peppers and eating that with my chana masala. So good! All this time, I’ve had the makings of a delicious side pickle and didn’t even realize it! Maybe we’ll just eat in every night.
Preserved Lemons
Ingredients
- 10 lemons
- 6 tablespoons sea salt
- if desired: bay leaf, cloves, coriander seeds, peppercorns or cinnamon sticks
Instructions
- Cut lemons into quarters but don't cut all the way through. Leave about half an inch at the bottom intact to keep the lemon pieces attached.
- Stuff about 1 tablespoon of salt into a cut lemon and stuff the lemon into a clean 1-liter jar. If desired, cut the rinds of one or two juiced lemons and add them to the jar.
- Once you have filled the jar with lemons, juice the additional lemons and pour juice into the jar until you have completely covered the lemons.
- Close the jar and set it on a plate to catch any lemon juice that may soon begin gurgle out of the jar when fermentation begins. Burp the jar (i.e., open it) every day for first several days to release any gases building up inside. Set the jar aside for from a month to up to six months.
- The lemons are ready when the skins have softened completely. Scrape away the pulp, rinse off the salt (if necessary) and add the rinds to your dish.
Now I understand why you are not moving back to Canada. No lemon trees.
Hahaha! I do love my lemon tree!
I didn’t realise these were so easy to make, the hardest part will be finding unwaxed lemons I think! These are around £5.00 for a 300g jar here in the UK, so I’ve never bothered with them.
Right, you’d want unwaxed. Thanks for pointing that out. I forgot to mention it in the post (I don’t think about it since I just pick these from our tree). Organic too.
I saw a bag of about 12 lemons on sale at the greengrocers today for £1 – I didn’t know what to do with all of them but I wished I had read this post beforehand then I would have definitely bought them
That’s a great deal! I hope you come across a similar deal and try these 🙂
Just found your blog and love it! ❤️
When I make preserved lemons I just quarter then and don’t bother leaving them connected on one end. Doesn’t seem to make a difference in the end product and I can put more in a jar.
Thanks for this info. That sounds very efficient. When I make mine, one or two quarters will fall off as I stuff the lemons in the jar. They’re always fine. So do you sprinkle in the salt as you go along, packing the jar? Or mix it all up in a bowl first (quarters and lemons)? I’ll try this in the fall when my tree starts producing like crazy again.
Wonderful! Thank you for this recipe and all the tips. Pinning till lemons are plentiful next winter.
I am somewhat obsessed with preserved lemons. They add so much flavor. And they look so pretty too.
Woohoo! A Zero waste preserved lemon recipe! I found this recipe (http://www.marthastewart.com/967833/barley-risotto-swiss-chard-radishes-and-preserved-lemon) and instantly wanted to make it – but Martha Stewart suggest you to preserve like 50 lemons!! I must only give preserved lemons as birthday gifts if I ever followed her instructions (not a bad idea tough) to not waste it. As I couldn’t find any preserved lemons in the city where I live, and neither did I want to wait a month so to finally try it I decided to give this quick version a try: http://www.cbc.ca/inthekitchen/2013/11/quick-preserved-lemons.html
And the Barley risotto with chard, radishes and (quickly) preserved lemons and was such success! Another great wanted to ideas what to have these yummy things called preserved lemons with 🙂
Wow, four hours?! :O I didn’t know it could be done. Thanks for the link. Enjoy your lemon-infused dishes.
And what do you do with the additional lemons you juice in there? Love your blog!
Hi Natalia,
The juice in there is gold! I made dal for thanksgiving and I used to add lemon juice to this but I haven’t had many lemons lately, so I’ve been adding the juice left over from my preserved lemons. I also add it to chana masala. It’s really good in hummus too. The juice adds a lot of flavor. Thanks for the kind words about my blog 🙂 ~ Anne Marie
I followed your recipe. After about a week–today–noticed a bit of black mold on top. What am I doing wrong? Should I toss them and start again?
Hi Chrystina, I’m sorry to hear that yours developed mold. If it’s mold, I would toss them. I’m not sure what the problem would be. I did a quick search and couldn’t find much. I read one thread that said Meyer lemons aren’t acidic enough to make preserved lemons but that doesn’t make sense to me. Were your lemons submerged in liquid? Are you sure it was mold? Was it furry like mold? ~ Anne Marie
Yes it seemed a bit furry, but it was only a teeny bit so I scooped it out and threw it away. There was a bit of black stuff on the side of the jar near the top–away from the lemons and liquid –so I wiped that off with a napkin. I am just watching it now. They are submerged in juice. I am thinking I should probably start again to be on the safe side. I am also making the apple scrap vinegar right beside it and it’s doing great –knock on wood! So I don’t know what the problem was, but I will try again! I love the idea of eating lemon rinds because they are really very healthful for your microbiome! Thanks so much for your site–it’s so inspiring! xoxo–Chrystina
I would probably start over if the spot was black and moldy 🙁 I hate to say that but I don’t want you to get sick. Preserved lemon rinds are fantastic and your gut will love you. I’m glad to hear the vinegar is doing well. Be sure to stir it often to prevent mold in that too. I’m not sure how much I go on about that in the post. I will have to take a look. I find it really helps. Thanks for the kind words about my site 🙂 ~ Anne Marie
Hi – I was dismayed to find white AND black mould on mine tonight! I’m wondering, did you eat the cleaned up lemons? Were you ok after? I’ve read online that the white mould is harmless & can be just scraped off, but this is the only mention I’ve found about the BLACK mould! I’d really appreciate your feedback. Thank you!
Oh and I am using regular lemons, not Meyer so that can’t be it.
You can also make a drink out of it. There’s a Vietnamese drink called Chanh Muoi!
Thanks for the idea Huong. I just looked that up. It sounds really good! I might try to make it with my ginger beer. Cheers 🙂 ~ Anne Marie
I have just made these. I’m so excited. I wonder what you could do with the rinds that you end up with for the juice. Do you do anything with these?
Thank you so much for your wonderful blog. I am learning such a lot from you!
Rebecca
Hi Rebecca, Thank you! I was very excited when lemons came back into season this year. I ran out of preserved lemons a couple of months ago and really missed them and talked about them constantly (so I think my family is glad they are back in season now to and no longer has to listen to my crazed ramblings…I love these so much…). Yes, I have ideas for the skin! You can make candied peels with them: https://zerowastechef.com/2015/01/14/candied-citrus-peels/ You can also zest them. It’s a little trickier after you have juiced them but just yesterday on Instagram I saw a pic of someone freezing juiced lemons to zest later. Apparently that makes them easier to zest. I dry my zest or freeze it. This year, I started lemon extract with some fresh zest. That should be ready soon: https://zerowastechef.com/2018/02/05/lemon-extract/ When the lemons are gone, I’ll still have the extract and zest to add lemon flavor to pancakes or anything else. ~ Anne Marie
I am trying the recipe with giant kumaoni lemons (galgal). will share the result!
Hi everyone , I also love preserved lemons and make them regular when my lemon tree is loaded. The leftover lemon peel ( after juicing) I put into a jar and add cheap white vinegar they sit in there for at least 14 days .After straining the contents I use the liquid as a cleaning solution.It’s very powerful so PLEASE wear rubbergloves . I have not bought any commercial stuff for years ! Cheers Ose
Hi Ose. Thank you for this tip. Lemon peels are so useful! It’s a shame to just toss them. Enjoy your preserved lemons 🙂 ~ Anne Marie
Hi! My preserves lemons are ready to use but I’m unsure of how you store them if you are only using one rind at a time? Back in the jar? Separate jar in the fridge?
Also how long can I store the pulp? I just cook for 1 most of the time so don’t use huge amounts of anything 🙂
I am wondering the same thing, what did you end up doing?
Hi Erin,
I make hummus with them (you need only a little bit) and serve them chopped up, on the side of Indian dishes like dal. Or sometimes I put them right in the dal. Here are the recipes for those: https://zerowastechef.com/2017/07/03/hummus-with-preserved-lemon/
https://zerowastechef.com/2017/11/28/pumpkin-dal/
They also taste good in salad dressing with fresh lemon juice, olive oil and garlic. You need only a little.
~ Anne Marie
What about a recipe for the Indian pickle that inspired you?!! Sounds delicious!
Love your blog. You said it was harder to zest the extra lemons once juiced. Do it the other way round. Zest them, preserving or using the zest as usual, then juice 🙂 Off to have my first go at preserved lemons as trees are bursting with fruit here in southern Australia.
Love your Kimchi and Sauerkraut, thank you! And we baked our first Sourdough loaf this week and it was a tasteful joy!
I finally have ripe lemons and picked a slew of them for pickeling, but wait – 1 liter jars? Do you think I can cut your recipe in half? Currently my largest jars are only a quart and it is only the two of us.
Hi Mary Helene,
You can cut the recipe in half, quarter it, double it or whatever to make it fit the jar you have 🙂
~ Anne Marie
I’ve used up all of the first batch of my delicious preserved lemons (thank you for the recipe)! Can I use the leftover brine to start a new batch? Or is it better to start completely from scratch for the next batch?
Hello Anne Marie, just wondering why you say to discard the flesh? I know it’s very salty but I use it to make dressings (no salt added needed) 🙂 I have a jar for over 1 year and they are still amazing.
Hi Sophia,
These are prized for the rinds but I don’t discard the pulp. I use every bit of that also. There is a list in the post with ideas for it. It’s delicious and adds a ton of flavor to dishes.
~ Anne-Marie
Thank you so much for your answer. I was wondering that because I make this but I peel the lemons first. I use the peel to make a confit in olive oil and then preserve the rest of the lemons. So I actually don’t use the rind for this 😅 But will try with the peels on sometime! Thanks again!
I love fermenting lemon with very fresh ginger. It’s a fantastic flavor combination and, since ginger is easily lacto-fermented, I find it helps speed up the process with lemons. I like making extra brine to use in salad dressings, etc. Add a bit of sugar to some brine to create a delicious shrub for a fizzy cocktail. Lots of uses! Thanks!