Preserved lemons are lemons with nothing to prove, mellowed by salt and time. Preserving them in salt allows them to become their true selves, more lemony and less acidic than their fresh counterparts. They are popular in Indian and South African food, but you can use them pretty much anywhere you would use fresh lemons and they’ll add an unusual, but still familiar flavor.
They would make nice Holiday gifts too, if you can keep from eating them all.
Try a slice in a gin and tonic instead of lime
or try any of these:
Artichokes with Preserved Lemon Aioli
PrintHow to Make Preserved Lemons
Ingredients
8 to 10 lemons
1/2 to 1 Cup of kosher salt
extra lemons to squeeze if necessary
Instructions
Fill a several small canning jars with boiling water and let sit a minute
Pour the water out and let dry for a few minutes
Put 2 T kosher salt in the bottom of the jars
Cut lemons into quarters and push into the jars one by one, sprinkling with salt and pushing each one down
Continue until all the lemons are pushed into jars and well salted
As you pack the lemons in the jars, they will start to make their own juice
If they aren’t covered in juice by the time you are done, add a little fresh squeezed juice
Put a layer of salt on the top and then put the lids on
Let the jars sit on the counter for a few days, then refrigerate for 3 weeks, turning them upside down once in a while
Oh dear RMW ! I have a jar of preserved lemons in the fridge thinking how wonderful it would be to use them since I love Moroccan food but I hesitated since I thought once I open and spend them how could I get more of the beauty ………………did not know, so far, how to make a batch of my own and lemons are everywhere… Thank you so very much for your wonderful post.
★★★★★
I have been really into Northern African/Mediterranean dishes lately and I have seen a lot of preserved lemons listed as an ingredient for these recipes! Thank you so much for the recipe for preserved lemons so that I can make my own from scratch!
Made these but have questions. How long do these keep safely in fridge? Not all recipes seem to have that cloudy liquid. How do I know mine are safe? I’m not an experienced canned but none of the lemon recipes seem to rise to the level of regular canning.
★★★★★
Hi Norma,
They should be good for six months in the fridge.
If the lemons stay submerged in the brine, they should be safe to eat.