It has been the week of lemons for us. Thanks to my in-laws’ prolific tree, we brought back a bounty of Meyer lemons from our California trip a couple of weeks ago. This led to a batch of Lemon Sugar Puff Pastry Twists, which disappeared faster than Donald Trump’s presidential bid. From there we moved onto Grilled Lemon & Rosemary Chicken, which has earned a place in our summer grilling line-up.
My mum, who was here for a visit, set to work juicing the rest of the lemons, producing six cups of fresh citrus juice. She rummaged around for extra ice cube trays in our pantry and, using a small ladle, filled them with the juice. We now have lemon juice to last for the summer, which will help me avoid those extra trips to the store when I discover the lemons I bought two weeks ago are now shriveled specimens.
Now, I know some of you are thinking, “Why doesn’t she just use the bottled lemon juice or the lime juice in those cute little plastic, squeezable limes?” This is where my “fresh is best” snobby side comes out. The side of me that can’t palate bottled lemon or lime juice (or bottled garlic, for that matter) is the same side that flips out at house guests when they try to use my “day off” mug for their coffee. Seriously, my husband and I have special mugs dedicated to our weekend coffee and tea breaks, to be used only on the weekend…only by us. Now you really want to come and stay with us, don’t you? Well, I may not let you use my mug, but I do promise to make you some great dishes fresh citrus juice.
How to do it:
To make the fruit easier to juice, roll firmly on the counter with the palm of your hand to loosen up the flesh. Cut the fruit in half crosswise and juice it using a handheld juicer, food processor attachment or whatever tool you happen to favor.
Using a small ladle or a small pitcher with a spout, pour the citrus juice into ice cube trays. Each standard-sized ice cube will contain about 2 tablespoons of liquid. However, I suggest measuring the capacity of your ice cube tray to be sure.
Freeze until solid. Juice will freeze to a stage that is slightly softer than regular ice cubes. Remove cubes from the tray and place in a freezer resealable bag.
When you are ready to use the juice, remove the number of ice cubes from the freezer that you desire and defrost them.
Recipes that use fresh lemon or lime juice:
Cookin’ Canuck’s Fish Tacos with Creamy Green Chile & Cilantro Sauce
Cookin’ Canuck’s Lime Squares with Gingersnap Crust
Cookin’ Canuck’s Avocado, Tomato & Cotija Cheese Salad
Kalyn’s Kitchen’s Pan-Fried Asparagus Tips with Lemon Juice & Lemon Zest
Herbivoracious’ Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette
101 Cookbooks’ Lime, Grapefruit & Ginger Juice
How to: Store (Freeze) Lemon and Lime Juice
Ingredients
- whole lemons
- juicer hand-held or automatic
- ice cube trays
Instructions
- To make the fruit easier to juice, roll firmly on the counter with the palm of your hand to loosen up the flesh.
- Cut the fruit in half crosswise and juice it using a handheld juicer, food processor attachment or whatever tool you happen to favor.
- Using a small ladle or a small pitcher with a spout, pour the citrus juice into ice cube trays. Each standard-sized ice cube will contain about 2 tablespoons of liquid. However, I suggest measuring the capacity of your ice cube tray to be sure.
- Freeze until solid. Juice will freeze to a stage that is slightly softer than regular ice cubes. Remove cubes from the tray and place in a freezer resealable bag.
- When you are ready to use the juice, remove the number of ice cubes from the freezer that you desire and defrost them.
Notes
Averie (LoveVeggiesandYoga) says
May 21, 2011 at 12:40 pmI live in San Diego and run past tons and tons of lemon trees daily and my daughter’s homebased preschool teacher has a HUGE lemon tree and meyer lemon tree and I have more lemons than I know what to do with in the spring thru fall…I am totally going to freeze the juice now! thanks for the idea.
I actually recently posted about lemon trees, lemons, and lemon recipes. Wish i had known about this tip!
Brandie says
May 21, 2011 at 1:01 pmThis is an excellent tip! Such a great idea. Loved the Donald Trump comment..hahaha.
Katrina says
May 21, 2011 at 1:31 pmThanks for the info!
Kay Little says
May 21, 2011 at 1:56 pmThis is what I am about to do…I just bought my lemons and ready to freeze the juice, but I have a question about the zest. Is it possible to freeze the zest in the juice. or maybe separate? Thanks for the inspiration!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
May 23, 2011 at 9:41 amKay, do you mean the zest or the pulp? If you mean the pulp, it’s a personal preference. I don’t mind the pulp, so I leave it in there, but others may prefer to strain the juice first. I hope that answers your question.
Kay Little says
May 24, 2011 at 10:41 amI was asking about the zest on the outside of the lemon….thanks for the info about the pulp that helps me too.
Monica says
Jun 1, 2011 at 10:33 amKay, I’ve frozen the zest before, and then used it in baking. It dried out quite a bit, but still worked for my recipe. Maybe freezing it in juice would help with that, though?
claudia lamascolo/aka pegasuslegend says
May 21, 2011 at 4:37 pmI love this ! Great info and very helpful as usual thank you!
The Newlywed Chefs says
May 21, 2011 at 4:58 pmYum! We’re planning on lemon bars later this week. Thanks for the post!
nancy@skinnykitchen.com says
May 21, 2011 at 4:59 pmWhat a terrific tip! Thanks for sharing…
doodles says
May 21, 2011 at 8:53 pmThere is nothing better than a meyer lemon. Sister has one in her yard in So Cal. Me I’m in an RV and would love a meyer lemon tree. But sister saw your post and is going to freeze some juice for me.
Love your lemom rosemary chicken……….thanks!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
May 23, 2011 at 9:40 amLucky you! It will be great to have that juice on hand.
blackbookkitchendiaries says
May 21, 2011 at 11:50 pmthis is a wonderful tip! thank you:)
Stacey West-Feather says
May 22, 2011 at 6:33 amI will only use fresh and heck, I live in Oklahoma. Love your blog!
Kimby says
May 22, 2011 at 3:02 pmMe, too, Stacey! (re: Oklahoma and “fresh is best!”) Hope the storms passed you by last night.
Cassie - Bake Your Day says
May 22, 2011 at 6:43 amThanks for the tips! The grilled lemon and rosemary chicken sounds lovely!
Delishhh says
May 22, 2011 at 10:24 amI do this too – not only do i store lemon juice this way but also chicken stock – it is great when making a quick sauce and need some stock. I love it. You are hilarious about your mugs 🙂 We all have qualities like this 🙂 I am sure some of mine are a little crazy 🙂
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
May 23, 2011 at 9:39 amEwa, I agree that chicken stock does freeze really well this way, too. Pesto is another one.
Barbara | Creative Culinary says
May 22, 2011 at 11:06 amCan I offer that it’s not just a great solution for lemon and lime juice but I do the same thing with leftover wine. I know, I know…I hear “Leftover wine, who ever has leftover wine?” a lot…but in the event you do; freeze it!
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
May 23, 2011 at 9:39 amThat is a fantastic idea, Barb. I always seem to have a little leftover wine – next time it will be destined for the ice cube tray.
Vicki @ WITK says
May 22, 2011 at 11:40 amI wish I had a problem with an overabundance of lemons! There aren’t a whole lot of lemon trees in Connecticut 🙂 I do prefer fresh lemon juice to those bottles. Although I often have to settle for bottled key lime juice, so sad.
Jen at The Three Little Piglets says
May 22, 2011 at 12:16 pmI’m the same way about my omelette pan – nobody else is allowed to touch it! They can neither cook with it OR clean it… I totally agree though – fresh juice is always better!
Yuri says
May 22, 2011 at 1:04 pmHa! I see I’m not the only one crazy about your lemon rosemary chicken 😉 wonderful tip, sometimes my lemons go bad bc I don’t use them fast enough. Happy Sunday, Dara!
Belinda @zomppa says
May 22, 2011 at 1:46 pmGreat tips! I just want to suck on that frozen juice!
Kimby says
May 22, 2011 at 3:06 pmDara, it was exceptional timing to post this “how to” now — thanks for the great tip! BTW, I have my “own” mug, too — don’t apologize! It’s things like that that help make the transition into the weekend. 🙂
Kalynskitchen says
May 22, 2011 at 4:55 pmI love keeping freshly-squeezed lemon and lime juice in the freezer. So convenient!
Jean (Lemons and Anchovies) says
May 22, 2011 at 5:15 pmYou had a Meyer lemon bounty just like I did. It was fun thinking of and finding new recipes for the lemons. Ice cube trays are such a great way to freeze small portions of foods we’d like to preserve but admittedly, I’ve never thought of using them on lemon juice. What a great idea. I also sometimes find myself with old, unused lemons and it’s really a pity. Now I must see if I can unearth an ice cube tray or two from my kitchen cabinets! 🙂
Maris (In Good Taste) says
May 22, 2011 at 6:28 pmGreat tip! Thanks so much!
Jeanette says
May 22, 2011 at 6:52 pmWhat a great idea, freezing fresh lemon/lime juice – I usually just keep them in my refrigerator but sometimes they go bad and end up getting thrown out, what a shame.
Chef Louise says
May 22, 2011 at 8:19 pmlove this idea… hate wasting fruit when i don’t get to it…
Katrina says
May 22, 2011 at 9:07 pmSuch a great idea because I hate when I run out of fresh lemons and limes and I hate it even more when I didn’t use them fast enough and they are starting to go bad!
Nancy@acommunaltable says
May 22, 2011 at 9:46 pmBrilliant!! I agree with you – the bottled stuff just doesn’t cut it!!! So much better to have fresh juice and this is the perfect way to make sure you always have some when you need it!!
thepickyeater says
May 23, 2011 at 4:30 amwhat a great idea ! i drink loads of lemon juice during summer….its the best drink
Rachel @ Baked by Rachel says
May 23, 2011 at 7:32 amThe perfect use for ice cube trays!
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
May 23, 2011 at 9:10 amgreat teaching here!! Are you going to EVO btw. Were your ears burning this weekend? I was talking about how I love your site and you!
DessertForTwo says
May 23, 2011 at 5:55 pmWe’re overwhelmed with citrus juice from our trees. Must get to juicin’ and freezin’! Thanks 🙂
Laurie says
May 23, 2011 at 11:08 pmThanks for the tip. We get lemons and limes in big batches, and I spent a week cooking with lemons and still have more left.
marla says
May 24, 2011 at 6:12 amDara, this is a very smart idea. I find that we often let lemons & lime go to waste – now there is no need to do that since we can preserve their precious juices. Great how-to post!
Shaina says
May 24, 2011 at 11:00 amThis is a fantastic idea. I’m with Marla on letting them go to waste all too often.
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen says
May 25, 2011 at 5:07 amI’ve been doing this with pesto and sauces but never thought to do it for lemon juice, so simple and so easy!
megan @ whatmegansmaking says
May 25, 2011 at 6:40 amwhat a great idea! Seriously, how did i not think of this?
Anna says
May 25, 2011 at 4:18 pmso smart! thanks for sharing!!
Kevin (Closet Cooking) says
May 30, 2011 at 6:16 pmGreat idea to freeze lemon and lime juice! Now I just need to clear some more space in my fridge.
Marly says
Jun 1, 2011 at 3:01 pmI love this idea! I agree with you – fresh is best! We can be fresh fruities (you know, like foodies?)!
Elle says
Jun 7, 2011 at 8:56 amYou know, I always freeze zest, so why not the juice? Great tip!
Kristina Vanni says
Jun 13, 2011 at 2:11 pmGreat tips! Whenever I have a leftover half of lemon or lime I squeeze it and save the juice in a small container in the fridge….now when that starts to overflow I can just freeze it!
John says
Sep 29, 2011 at 2:15 amI simply cut the citrus in half and place into a zippy bag then freeze. At the moment I have about 4 shopping bags full with last years lime crop. Just thaw and squeeze for lime juice for fish etc. Too easy.
Cheers,
John.
elainrm says
Dec 26, 2012 at 4:09 pmMy tree produced tons of lemons. I am jucing them with a juicer and freezing a cup of the juice in zip lock bags. I do have to remove the skin but it is worth it.
Dara (Cookin' Canuck) says
Dec 27, 2012 at 10:24 pmYou’re right…the effort is definitely worth it. It’s great to have all of that lemon juice during the year.
drink lemon water says
May 27, 2013 at 12:01 pmnice tips I’ve tried it and it works everytime!!
Merl says
Sep 15, 2013 at 5:10 amCan I use frozen lemon juice to make Lemon Butter? Want to make for Christmas presents and may not have the lemons then! I am in Australia and have just founf this blog, very informative, Thank You.
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Han Canto says
Dec 3, 2016 at 1:15 pmThank you for having the time to answer our questions
My pine can I use juice bottles to frieze the lemons Juise I use a lot of lemons and ice cubes it take a lot of space in the frizer when you put them in plastic. Bags spacial y a lot of Juice in one bottle of permanganate bottles they Transpernt and big
Thank you again
elziv says
Nov 17, 2017 at 4:48 amWhat a great idea ! I drink loads of lemon juice throughout summer time….Its the exceptional drink
Ami says
May 19, 2018 at 9:22 amBut what if some of limes are too sour or have become bitter. That may waste the lot.
Dara says
Aug 10, 2018 at 5:54 pmHi Ami, if you’re concerned about that, I suggest juicing each lime separately and tasting the juice before adding it to the rest of the juice. That seems like your safest bet.