From cakes and slices to pastas and salads, and our unbeatable lemon curd recipe, make use of zingy lemons with these great lemon recipes.
Lemons provide two kitchen treasures: their acid juice, important as an ingredient in hundreds of dishes both sweet and savoury and as an essential seasoning, and their rind, which provides intense lemon fragrance and flavour with little acidity.
Quick-mix lemon ricotta cake
Creamy lemon chicken
Lemon blueberry loaf cake with mascarpone icing
Lemon pasta with chilli & crispy crumbs
Greek-style lemon chicken rice with fetta
Greek roast lamb with skordalia and lemony potatoes
Chilli, lemon and garlic spaghetti
Sticky tofu skewers with lemony red slaw & chickpea croutons
Lemon & ricotta-filled zucchini flowers
Salted lemon shortbread
Lemon & garlic lamb kebabs with chunky Greek salad
BBQ mushrooms with lemon ricotta
Air fryer zucchini balls with lemon yoghurt
Classic lemon cheesecake
Lemon & passionfruit mug cake
No bake lemon slice
Lemon drizzle cake
Pork in creamy lemon and spinach sauce
Julie Goodwin’s lemon & spinach risotto
Lemon meringue pie
Pan fried chicken with lemon and tahini
Luscious lemon cake
Julie Goodwin’s lemonade scones with lemon curd
Lemon madeleines
Lemon and poppy seed biscuits
Lemon meringue blondie
Our best ever lemon tart
Our unbeatable lemon curd recipe
Lemon chicken
Lemon delicious
Lemon sand cake
How to make preserved lemons
Lemon chicken casserole
Chicken, green olive and preserved lemon tagine
Grilled lemon chicken
Tangy lemon squares
Nan’s lemon chicken
Pistachio and lemon curd cake
Lemon pistachio couscous
Coriander, lemon and chilli hummus
Fried prawns with preserved lemon and green chillies
Lemon sour cream cake
How to make homemade lemonade
Steamed salmon in silverbeet with lemon, olive and caper sauce
Lemon and dill chickpea salad
Slow-roast lamb with lemon, garlic and rosemary
Lemon lentils
Test Kitchen tips for lemon recipes
How to juice a lemon for these recipes
A lemon will give more juice if it is first warmed in hot water or the oven (180°C for 2 minutes), or rolled firmly over a hard surface. A medium lemon yields about 2 tablespoons of juice, so that is the amount to use when recipes say “the juice of 1 lemon”.
How to prepare lemons
Preparation
Lemons are sometimes waxed to prevent drying out, so if you are using the rind, wash the fruit in warm water, rubbing with a cloth, before using. To obtain rind, grate it off with an ordinary grater, a microplane or a special zester, or peel with a vegetable peeler, being careful to take only the coloured layer and not the underlying white pith. Use a pastry brush to dislodge any rind that sticks to the grater.
How to choose and store lemons
Choosing
Lemons should be brightly coloured and heavy for their size. Once picked, they do not ripen further so greenish ones will not give as much juice nor be as full-flavoured as ripe fruit. If there is a choice, choose thin-skinned rather than thick-skinned ones as they’ll have more juice for their weight. Avoid any with soft spots.
Storing
Lemons will keep in good condition at mild room temperature for a week or more; keep an eye on them and remove any that show mould, and also wash and thoroughly dry the fruit they were touching. For longer storage, store in the refrigerator crisper for up to 4 weeks.
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