Preserved lemons in salt

Mar 19, 2025 | 7 comments

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Preserved lemons, sometimes known as lemon pickle, is a condiment, commonly used in Indian and Moroccan cookery. In 18th Century England, preserved lemons were known as country lemon, and leems.

Preserved lemons are quarter lemons, or lemons cut up into small pieces and covered in salt and lemon juice. The salt preserves the lemon pieces, gradually changing them, over the course of a year, to a darker colour and a more jellied texture. These more mature preserved lemons are highly prized in many places where they are habitually used.

This super easy recipe takes just a couple of minutes to make, adds a lovely fresh flavour to many dishes, and can even be taken as a hostess gift. This post was first published in October 2013 and has been updated and refreshed.

pieces of lemon in a jam jar, covered in lots of salt.

Have you used preserved lemons in your cooking? They add a lovely tang to all sorts of things and I like to use them in a barley salad,  or even sandwich fillings,  as well as the more usual tagine and couscous.

What you need to make preserved lemons

For each jam jar you want to fill, you will need roughly 2 lemons and 2 tbslp of salt, ordinary table salt is fine.

How to make preserved lemons in salt

  1. Give the jars a good wash, including the lids and dry them. You will need to protect the lids from the salt, so a square of cereal packet inner or something similar.
  2. Then just cut the lemons into smallish pieces and cram them into the jar(s), tipping in 1 tbslp of salt after the first lemon, then the second tblsp after the second lemon.
  3. Put your waxed paper or similar over the top of the jar and cram the lid on.
  4. Leave your lovely lemony jars to mature for a couple of months before using.
  5. Every now and again, tip the jar upside down and let the juice trickle through to the lid, then turn it right way up again. The salt will start to draw the juice out of the lemon pieces quite quickly. You are supposed to wait for 2 days, then top up the jars with lemon juice, but I was impatient, and did it this morning, after just 1 day. I used 60ml in each jar from a bottle of KTC lemon juice, plus 60ml water.
  6. Then just leave them for a month or more, remembering to tip them upside down every now and then.

When you open a jar, you will need to keep it in the fridge, but if you make sure the pieces are kept submerged, they should keep for a year.
Over time, the lemon pieces will darken from fresh yellow to golden brown. The darker ones are prized and many consider them better flavoured.

How to use your lemons once they are preserved

  • What to do with them? Use as a condiment and flavouring, much as you would lemon zest, bearing in mind they are now salty as well.
  • Finely chop or slice the now tender rind and add to soups, tagines, salads etc.
  • Put several pieces in the cavity of a chicken before roasting, or a piece or two chopped small with a breast, and mix with soft cheese.
  • Try some stirred through soft cheese then use as a sauce for pasta, maybe with some olives.
  • Or with the soft cheese and shredded carrot and spinach, topped with some roasted hazelnuts.
  • Or the above in a sandwich/pitta/wrap
  • Sometimes they are pulverised to a paste and kept in a jar in the fridge, then a little can be added to pasta sauces, to pizza toppings, to soups and stews, to couscous, anything really where you might use lemon zest or juice.

Here is a post giving 5 ways to use preserved lemons.
Or how about Preserved Lemon Hummus, that sounds amazing and I can’t wait to try it! Or fettuccini with preserved lemon and garlic,  I will be just whizzing up chickpeas, garlic, a tblsp tahini and some lemon – can’t wait for them to pickle so I can do that one.
You don’t need much tahini or oil to make hummus, it tastes just as good with a little bit.
These would make a cracking gift, a jar in cellophane, maybe as a hostess gift, or in a hamper for Christmas

Other recipes using lemons you might like

Chicken and Sun Dried Tomato Sandwich Paste

Carrot Jam

Lemon Peel Jam

Pinterest image for preserved lemons.

 

A jam jar with lemons cut into small pieces and covered with salt.

Preserved lemons in salt

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Preserved lemons are a useful condiment to have handy. They cost a lot in the shops, but are just a few pence if you make them yourself, which is super easy.
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Prep Time: 5 minutes
Maturing time: 30 days
Total Time: 30 days 5 minutes
Course:
Condiments
Cuisine:
Mediterranean
Diabetic
,
Gluten Free
,
Low Calorie
,
Low Fat
,
Dairy Free
,
Vegan
,
Vegetarian
Servings: 1 jam jar
Cost per portion 54p per jar
Calories: 63kcal
Click on the check box to cross off Equipment, Ingredients or Recipe Steps completed.
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Ingredients

  • 2 lemons
  • 2 tblsp salt

Instructions

  • Give the jars a good wash, including the lids and dry them. You will need to protect the lids from the salt, so a square of cereal packet inner or something similar.
  • Then just cut the lemons into smallish pieces and cram them into the jar(s), tipping in 1 tbslp of salt after the first lemon, then the second tblsp after the second lemon. Put your waxed paper or similar over the top of the jar and cram the lid on.
    2 lemons, 2 tblsp salt
  • Every now and again, tip the jar upside down and let the juice trickle through to the lid, then turn it right way up again.
  • The salt will start to draw the juice out of the lemon pieces quite quickly. You are supposed to wait for 2 days, then top up the jars with lemon juice, but I was impatient, and did it straight away, after just 1 day. I used 60ml in each jar from a bottle of KTC lemon juice, plus 60ml water.
  • Then just leave them for a month or more, remembering to tip them upside down every now and then. When you open a jar, you will need to keep it in the fridge, but if you
    make sure the pieces are kept submerged, they should keep for a year. Over time, the lemon pieces will darken from fresh yellow to golden
    brown. The darker ones are prized and many consider them better
    flavoured.

Notes

  • What to do with them? Use as a condiment and flavouring, much as you would lemon zest, bearing in mind they are now salty as well.
  • Finely chop or slice the now tender rind and add to soups, tagines, salads etc.
  • Put several pieces in the cavity of a chicken before roasting, or a piece or two chopped small with a breast, and mix with soft cheese.
  • Try some stirred through soft cheese then use as a sauce for pasta, maybe with some olives.
  • Or with the soft cheese and shredded carrot and spinach, topped with some roasted hazelnuts.
  • Or the above in a sandwich/pitta/wrap
  • Sometimes they are pulverised to a paste and kept in a jar in the fridge, then a little can be added to pasta sauces, to pizza toppings, to soups and stews, to couscous, anything really where you might use lemon zest or juice. 
Here is a post giving 5 ways to use preserved lemons.
Or how about Preserved Lemon Hummus, that sounds amazing and I can't wait to try it! Or fettuccini with preserved lemon and garlic,  I will be just whizzing up chickpeas, garlic, a tblsp tahini and some lemon – can’t wait for them to pickle so I can do that one.
You don’t need much tahini or oil to make hummus, it tastes just as good with a little bit.
These would make a cracking gift, a jar in cellophane, maybe as a hostess gift, or in a hamper for Christmas
QR Code

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Preserved lemons in salt
Amount per Serving
Calories
63
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
1
g
2
%
Saturated Fat
 
1
g
6
%
Sodium
 
11461
mg
498
%
Potassium
 
298
mg
9
%
Carbohydrates
 
20
g
7
%
Fiber
 
6
g
25
%
Sugar
 
5
g
6
%
Protein
 
2
g
4
%
Vitamin C
 
114
mg
138
%
Calcium
 
56
mg
6
%
Iron
 
1
mg
6
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @ThriftyLesley or tag #ThriftyLesley !

7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. shandy

    😀 They are very dear friends, and also counting their pennies, so I gave them the link to your website. I also gave the recipe for the chickpea tagine we had with it…http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/10/moroccan-spinach-and-chickpeas-recipe.html I substituted with frozen spinach, pasatta, and stale bread, and splashed out 95p for a jar of smoked paprika (but it was so worth it!)

  2. Lesley

    Did you pass on the recipe, or smile serenely 🙂
    It’s surprised me just how many of the recipes here are turning out to be vegan, shows how expensive dairy, meat and fish are

  3. shandy

    We make a lot of Moroccan and Middle-Eastern dishes in our mostly vegan household. I have always lusted after the deli-style preserved lemons but watching the pennies could never justify the cost. I made these following your recipe a couple of months ago. The other day I added some to couscous. The guests raved and asked for the recipe. They taste wonderful, so thrilled I can afford them! Thank you.

  4. Lesley

    I haven’t opened either jar yet, so I don’t know yet. I will be using some soon

  5. cornishchick

    Doing this tomorrow as lemons are on the super 6. Did the different salts make a Difference?

  6. Lesley

    won’t take you that long Phryne, 10 minutes or so 🙂
    Small jars (jam jars) work really well I think. You can give some to people without overwhelming them with LOADS of lemons, you don’t have to use up an enormous jar once you’ve opened one, and it doesn’t cost a lot to make one, so you can do one every now and then, plus of course you can -re-use jam jars and not have to get hold of preserving jars
    I got lots of very old ones once from a jumble sale and happily preserved away using them for years. Then the seals got harder to find, so when I found some, I bought lots of them. I didn’t use them up for several years (I had got quite a few) and they perished before I could – I hadn’t thought of that!

  7. Phryne

    I’ll def. give this ago. Have never tried it before as I didn’t think of cutting the lemons up and thought they’d be too big for a normal sized jar (too much free = wasted space in the jar.

    Ah – another day in the kitchen 🙂 🙂

    Phryne
    x

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