Preserved Lemon Recipe

Preserved lemon is an  essential ingredient in Moroccan cuisine. It is used in almost all tajines, salads and side dishes. You can make your own, it is super simple, easy and quick to make.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds Lemons ( quantity depends on the size of your mason jar)
• Salt
• Mason jar

DIRECTIONS

Step 1

Rinse and scrub clean the lemons. Cut off any stems. Cut the lemons lengthwise in 4, but keep the lemon attached at the base

Step 2

Gently separate the wedges without breaking the lemon, fill the inside generously with salt, then reshape the fruit.

Step 3

Place the lemons inside the jar, press hard so they are squeezed. keep adding the lemons until there is no more space and the lemon juice covers the top. Make sure that all lemons are covered with the juice, add extra juice if needed, add a little bit of salt on top, then close the lid and sit the jar in a dark place. 

A Few Tips:

Check the jar every day the first 3 days to make sure that the juice is still covering the lemons, if not add some fresh squeezed lemon juice. After the first 3 days, check every few days to make sure the juice is still covering the lemons. If you open your jar and find your top lemon brown and dry and unless it has mold, no worries! just add lemon juice and a bit of salt. The point is the juice should always be on top!

Your preserved lemon will be ready after after 2 weeks.

Once it is ready, I don’t put mine in the refrigerator, I leave it outside to age. You can put yours in the fridge if you prefer.

Preserved lemon is pretty salty, if you are cooking with it or adding it to your vinaigrette don’t add salt until you taste.

Enjoy!