If you haven’t yet tried preserved lemons, now is the time. Primarily used in Moroccan cooking, this unique salty citrus flavour quickly makes an amazing dish out of chicken or fish and adds lift to sautéed vegetables or beans. This recipe has only two ingredients, so choose them wisely. Organic lemons are the only ones I ever use for preserving as the rind will have less junk (pesticides, etc.) on it.
Ingredients:
- 12 organic lemons
- coarse Kosher salt
Directions:
1. Scrub the lemons under running water with a vegetable or nail brush to get the rind nice and clean. Then cut the stems and ends off the lemons.
2. Score each lemon into a star: start by making a cut through the lemon from the top down to almost the bottom, but don’t slice all the way through. Leave enough remaining so that the lemon stays attached. Cut again twice more, to get a star shape.
3. Pack the insides of the star with lots of coarse salt. Don’t be afraid of the salt it’s not going to become overly salty if you use too much. Just go for it!
4. Now pack the lemons into clean, sterilized jars. Really squish them in there so that the juices start to cover the lemons. Add extra fresh lemon juice if you need to top each jar up so that all the lemons are completely covered. Keep squishing down the lemons over the next couple of days to get more juices out and covering the fruit.
5. Let sit for a month in a cold place like the fridge until the rinds soften.
To use the preserved lemons, rinse under cold running water and remove the pulp. The pulp can be squeezed for it’s juice, but generally the rind is what is used. Slice or dice the rind to add to recipes like this one: Chicken Tagine with Green Olives and Preserved Lemon. Yum!
Thank you! What a great idea. I’ve made limoncello with my Meyer lemons and lemon butter, too!
Can you just use grated zest like you would with a fresh lemon in any recipe’ ? Also, do you keep these refrigerated, and how long are they good?
Thanks, Sherry
Hi Sherry, you really want the rind to preserve in the salt and lemon juice so grating the rind wouldn’t be the same thing. Preserved lemons will last in the fridge for up to 6 months.
1) Can i used only saffron mix with lemon give me special flavor? or
2)Can i used Star Anis, Cinnamon,Cloves and Cardamon pod with lemon.
What the time table for both of this preserved lemon?
Nasir, I say give it a try and see how it goes! They are so easy to make that if you don’t like the spices, you can just toss it out and start again.
Can the lemons be canned so they last longer?