While we use the juice from a lemon most often, the peel has a ton of flavor too. Here’s how to use lemon zest so none of that delicious citrus gets wasted.
I really hate wasting lemons. A lemon is such a bright and cheery thing. The thought of all that sunshine going to waste makes me sad.
Get The Most Out Of Your Lemons
Lemons have two useful parts when it comes to cooking and baking: the juice and the rind or zest. Very often I only need the juice. It breaks my heart to squeeze out the juice and then see that unused daffodil of peel peeking out of the garbage can. And so I make sure that never happens.
Before cutting a lemon, I always harvest its rind (except if the lemon is going into someone’s drink. Can you imaging being served a refreshing beverage with a peel-less wedge of lemon floating in it?). Make sure to thoroughly wash and dry the lemon first. Then, I either grate it up on a microplane grater or I use a paring knife to remove long wisps (being careful not to take the white pith along with the zest). Then I can juice the lemon and not worry about the white husk that is thrown away.
How To Preserve Lemon Zest
Now, if you’re like me and you use A LOT of lemons, then you will quickly find yourself swimming in rind. What to do with it all? I preserve the lemon rind in several different ways:
- I put the finely grated zest in a bag in the freezer. This can be used in any recipe that calls for lemon zest. Just let it defrost for a moment or two on the counter before adding it to anything so that it will spread around better and not be a frozen clump. Uses for the frozen zest: Throw a bit into white cake batter (or even chocolate cake batter), muffins, cookies, breads, and veggie dips for an extra zing of flavor. I also like to mix it with the tea leaves in my tea ball.
- I scoop the larger rind cuttings from one lemon into a cup of sugar in a sealed jar. After a few days the sugar starts to take on some lemony notes which it then passes on to anything it sweetens.
- Use strips of lemon peel and candy them by boiling them in water and sugar. Get step by step instructions over at Splendid Table. It’s tasty and works beautifully to decorate cupcakes or other baked goods.
- When I have time on my hands I set the oven to 200°F, line a pan with foil, and put the longer wisps of lemon rind on the pan. After awhile, they become totally dry. I then chop them into smaller pieces and put them in a pepper mill along with some sea salt and black peppercorns. Homemade Lemon Pepper!
- I warm the long pieces of zest from one lemon over low heat in a small saucepan with 1/3 cup of olive oil. Once everything is nice and warm I remove it from the heat and let the oil steep. I usually cover it and leave it steeping overnight. Then I strain the oil into a container with a tight-fitting lid. This oil is lovely drizzled into soups just before serving or as the oil used to lightly pan-fry fish. It’s also pretty spectacular drizzled over roasted asparagus.
More Uses For Lemon Zest
There’s so many great uses for lemon zest, you’ll regret ever tossing it before. Add it to the breadcrumb coating for your meat. Stir some into your homemade salad dressing or vinaigrette for a burst of freshness. Finish your favorite roasted or steamed veggies with a sprinkling of zest. Yum!
Now that you’ve read all my lemon zest ideas I bet your mouth is watering. Well, I have some more inspiration for you. Try this simple Lemon Zest Pasta. It’s amazing! And yes, the zest from your freezer will work beautifully here!
This post originally appeared in August 2012 and was revised and republished in July 2020.
Lee Ann Kuhn says
I am so glad I am not the only one who feels bad tossing the pretty peels. I am trying the sugar in a jar to use in my kombucha and water kefir!!
Christine Pittman says
Great, Lee Ann!
Tybee says
Thank you for all the wonderful ideas for using lemon peel! I frequently buy lemon infused olive oil at a specialty store at a relatively high price. I would love to try making it myself. Do you know how long will it keep?Â
Christine Pittman says
Tybee, there is some concern over the safety of infused oils. I would make it in small batches, strain all bits out of the oil, store it in the fridge, and use it within a couple of weeks. Note that the oil will solidify in the fridge. You can put it on the counter, or into the microwave on defrost for a few seconds at a time, to make it liquid again. Here is more information on the issues with infused oils – https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/read-this-before-making-homemade-infused-olive-oil
Einir Mason says
I peel the lemon rind in strips and soak it for 3-4 weeks in white vinegar . I then water this down and put in a spray bottle, fantastic as a all round cleaner.
I use up every bit of a lemon as I freeze the zest in portions and the juice in ice trays and I also freeze the remainder of the lemons excluding the seeds in bags and use inside whole chicken or under chicken or lamb when roasting ( no need to defrost)
Nurali Lakhani says
Very good articles Don’t know if everyday peels can be preserved in salt water without refrigeration and used these collected peels to make pickles
Brenda says
Thank you for the wonderful ideas, I’ll definitely be trying them all ?????????
Christine Pittman says
You’re welcome!
Deni says
Drop some of that zest or pieces of the peel in a smoothie as well. I do it every morning, along with some frozen fruit, yogurt, half an avocado and coconut milk. Â Yummy, nutritious and refreshing!
Christine Pittman says
Deni, That is a brilliant idea!
Wendy says
When I have a lot of lemons I freeze the juice in plastic ice trays and then bag up the 1 oz. cubes for when I need lemon juice and then I make candy from the lemon peels.
Christine Pittman says
Wendy, what great ideas! I’m going to try making candied peel next time. Love it!
Andi Nodal says
Thanks for your wonderful ideas to help me find more uses for lemon rind. I enjoyed this article.Â
Kristine Bagasin says
Hi I have lots of rind left from making lemon square and not enough juice from it thanks for this useful advice.
I use the peeled lemon skin after zesting and squeezing for lemon water.
And use the skin as fertilizer after, and have someone plant the seed.
Lemons in our place is kind of rare and a bit pricey.
No need to waste there.
Thanks a bunch!
Yours,
Kristine
Philippines
Christine Pittman says
Kristine, You’re welcome. I love the fertilizer tip! Thank you!!
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Felice says
Thanks for the tip! Got to save every bit of my slightly-more-pricey organic lemon :)
Ros says
Hi will be trying your recipes, but I am looking for a specific one for preserving lemon rind in jars. Are you able to help me please
Christine Pittman says
Hi Ros,
I actually don’t have a recipe like that. You could try just using lemon rind in this to see what happens. When preserving lemons using this method the rind does end up being the primary thing that you eat. Worth a try.
marilyn says
Thanks for the great lemon ideas. My tree is my pride & joy and although I give away buckets full, I will be glad to save some in the freezer and in the pepper mill. Great Blog!
Christine Pittman says
Marilyn,
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog and commenting. I am very jealous of your lemon tree. We had one at the first house we lived in in Florida but its lemons were not particularly tasty. It is a delight to live here though so that in the winter I can find fresh local lemons (that taste good!) at the farmer’s market. I hope you stop by the blog again soon or consider subscribing to my newsletter or following on Facebook. All the links are below. Happy Zesting!
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Amanda @ Amanda's Apron says
WHAT?! I never knew there were so many things that you could do with lemon peels!!! I LOVIT!!!! Thanks for sharing!
Christine Pittman says
Amanda, I know! Lemon peel is amazing. I just love it. Such a great ingredient with its ability to transform any dish. Thanks for visiting!
katie says
Christine I love all of these ideas! I never thought to freeze my zest. I also love the idea of making my own lemon pepper and lemon sugar! So many possibilities!
Christine Pittman says
Katie, Do you have a dehydrator? That works best for drying out the zest and then making lemon pepper. You can also just add bits of the dried zest to salt and put it in a pepper mill for seasoning fish and veggies.
phyllis says
Great ideas. I freeze my zest too, but I just keep a zip lock in the freezer and keep adding to it. I get to a point that I feel guilty if I don’t zest the lemon before I juice it. I also zest the oranges before we use them.
Christine Pittman says
Maybe I learned my citrus-frugality from you, mom!
Julia @ Live Pretty says
Love these ideas! The lemon olive oil would be so beautiful on seafood, and the lemon sugar on cookies. So going to try :-)
Christine Pittman says
Thanks Julia! Let me know how they turn out. And thanks again for chatting with us on Tuesday. It was a great show!