I love baking and cooking with lemons and limes! They are awesome citrus fruits. I love the way adding just a little bit of lime juice to a soup adds the perfect touch. So many recipes call for just a little bit of lemon juice. I have been so frustrated when a recipe call for a little fresh lemon or lime juice and I don’t have any on hand. So I came up with an easy solution! Freeze the juice! I’ve been doing this for a few months now and it is such a lifesaver! I love this idea! Another plus is you can buy lemons and/or limes when they are on sale.
I freeze the juice in my favorite silicone tray but you could also use an ice cube tray. I cut the lemons in half, then squeeze one half into a bowl, remove any seeds and carefully pour that into one cube spot. And repeat. I like to do that so when a recipe calls for juice from either 1/2 a lemon or 1 lemon I know how much it is. Also, a lot of juice comes out of one lemon so it wouldn’t fit in 1 cube anyway. I have been freezing the entire lime juice as one cube but I think I am going to start halving that as well since often the recipes I use only call for 1-2 teaspoons of lime juice.
How to Freeze Fresh Lemon & Lime Juice
Love to be in the Kitchen original idea
Rinse the lemons/limes and pat dry. *Cut the lemons and limes in half. Squeeze all the juice you can out of half of the lemon or lime into a small bowl. (If needed to make getting the juice out easier you can cut each half in half again.) I LOVE using a lemon/lime squeezer. I use this lime squeezer for squeezing both lemons and limes. It saves me time and is so much easier! Next, remove any seeds. Carefully pour into one spot of the ice cube tray (or silicone tray.) Repeat one lemon or lime half at a time until finished. Carefully place in the freezer. Once frozen, label a freezer-safe ziplock bag then quickly remove the frozen juice and place it in the bag. Keep in the freezer. Once you need the juice, remove cube/s from the bag in the freezer and place in a small bowl. Microwave until melted.
*If you want to keep the zest, you can either freeze it along with the juice or you can add the zest in one spot of the ice cube tray and add only enough water to cover it. Then after freezing and when you need it, thaw it out on a paper towel and let the water absorb into the paper towel and just use the zest.
Great Idea! 🙂