Once you have found how easy it its to make Homemade Preserved Lemons, you will never buy store bought again! Post may contain affiliate links.
Homemade Preserved Lemons
I made my first batch of preserved lemons in 2010 and I've pretty much made a batch or two every year since then. If you've never had them, they are kind of difficult to describe. They are tart and sweet with an intense lemon flavor. Once you start using them, you'll find you put them in everything. You can use them anywhere you would use some lemon to jazz up a recipe. They are particularly incredible in chicken and fish dishes. I love them in grain salads and pastas. I'm not kidding when I say they are the most used condiment in my fridge.
So, when I learned that this months #FIJChallenge at Food in Jars was salt preserving, well, it was pretty much a no-brainer. The beauty of homemade preserved lemons is that they only take about 15 minutes of hands on time! The rest of the work is done by the magic of salt and time.
Preserved Lemons
Ingredients
- 8 lemons preferably organic
- ½ cups kosher salt
- 2 quart glass canning jar
Instructions
- Sterilize glass canning jar.
- Wash and scrub the lemons. Cut off the stem tip. Then cut down through the lemon has if you are cutting it in half lengthwise, but don’t go all the way through. Turn your knife a quarter turn and do the same thing. You basically want it cut into 4 wedges that are still connected at the bottom. (If this doesn’t make sense Google it, there are people who can explain it much better than I!
- Place 2 tablespoons of salt at the bottom of the jar. Holding the lemons over a plate pack salt into the lemon and shove it down into the jar. Continue until the jar is filled to about an inch from the top. Pour any juice on the plate into the jar.
- Pour the rest of the salt over the lemons and push down on them to release as much juice as possible, and cover tightly.
- Leave sitting out on the counter for 2-3 days. Every so often, push down on the lemons releasing more juice and shake it around a bit. After this, the lemons should have released enough juice to submerge all the lemons, if not you can add some lemon juice to the top.
- At this point, I put mine in the fridge, even though some sites say you don’t have to. They should be ready to eat in a couple of weeks, and should keep for about a year in the fridge.
- To use, remove from the jar and rinse with water, removing the salt and pulp. (You will be using the rinds only). The rinds get sort of translucent.
Notes
Nutrition
This week I am linking up with: Amaze Me Monday | Lou Lou Girls | The Hearth and Soul | The SITS Girls | Full Plate Thursday | Foodie Friday | Saucy Saturdays
Janice says
May I ask, why not cut the lemons into fully separated wedges? Would this not make it easier to use? I’m thinking you would have to cut off pieces when you would want to use them for a recipe instead of just reaching in and grabbing one wedge.
Pam Greer says
I think what it does is help hold the salt inside the lemons. They are practically falling apart by the time you use them, though you could definitely cut them into wedges.