The Genius Method For Saving Leftover Lemon Juice

When life hands you lemons, you want to get every last drop of juice from these tart yellow fruits. But if you are grilling a Tuscan flank steak with lemon-Rosemary sauce, baking lemon chess squares, or shaking up a lemon drop martini, you may find that you are left with a lemon that has lots of juice left to squeeze and no place to use it before it goes bad. Don't fret — there is an easy trick so you can join the waste not, want not movement. Freeze the leftover lemon juice in ice cube trays. Genius? We think so.

Start by juicing your leftover lemon halves and wedges or even those whole fruits that are on the brink of going bad. Evenly distribute the juice into your ice trays, and place the trays in the freezer. This hack is literally the meaning of easy peasy lemon squeezy. Once the lemon juice has solidified, you can pop the lemon cubes out of the trays to free them up, place the cubes in a freezer-safe bag, and they'll be ready to use.

What you will love about this hack is the portion. While ice cube trays come in all shapes and sizes, one standard ice cube tray well can hold about an ounce, or two tablespoons of liquid. That's plenty of space when you consider that you can expect to get about three tablespoons of juice out of a big lemon and two tablespoons of juice out of a medium-sized lemon.

Having the juice handy and in measurable ice cube amounts means that you don't have to guess how many you need when you make a lemon meringue pie or easy lemon chicken, which brings us to how to thaw them. To transform your lemon juice ice cubes back to their liquid state, you can place the frozen cubes in a bowl in the fridge and let them melt overnight, leave them in a bowl out on the countertop for about 20-30 minutes, or put them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds.

Of course, the reason you use lemon in a dish is because of the taste and acidity that it lends to your recipes, so it is natural to wonder if freezing the juice affects either. The answer is yes, you should not expect frozen lemon juice to taste just like fresh lemon juice. While your lemon juice's tartness will remain intact, there may be a slight bitterness. This is due to enzymatic bittering, which causes air-exposed enzymes in lemon juice to turn into bitter-tasting limonin. However, the change is only slight and should not deter you. Lemon juice also tends to lose its beautiful scent after freezing. If that perfume is important to the dish, you could squeeze a little fresh lemon along with your thawed lemon cube.

Frozen lemon ice cubes are perfect for adding to a stew or a stock to brighten it. Use it in a vinaigrette for a salad, for baking, or add it to your favorite seafood dish to enhance the taste of your meal. You can also add it to lemonade — whereas regular ice cubes are going to dilute your lemonade, frozen lemon juice cubes will intensify that zingy, tart taste. Depending on your taste preferences, you may want to add just a few alongside normal ice.