How To Make Delicious Preserved Lemons at Home

A few minutes of work, 30 days of waiting—and totally worth it!

ACTIVE TIME: 20 minutes • TOTAL TIME: 30 days • MAKES 1 QUART

Few kitchen tasks produce more flavor power than this one. Lemons, fermented and preserved in their own juice and salt, are one of the indispensable simple gems of our pantry, adding citrus zing to stews, vinaigrettes, even ice cream. After 30 days in the salty-juicy bath, the peel turns luscious and supple. The flavor somehow seems even more lemony than fresh lemons. Look for lemons that are heavy for their size but squeezable, indicating lots of juice. Here, thick skins are fine, since you eat the whole fruit, but the lemons should still feel hefty for their size.

We studied a lot of recipes for this traditional Moroccan preserve, and settled on the simplest one of all, adapted here from a formula by the great San Francisco chef Mourad Lahlou. Once opened, a jar will keep in the fridge for weeks or even months.

6 large, or 7 or 8 medium, plump lemons
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 5 lemons)

1 In a large pot of boiling water, boil a 1-quart jar, lid, and seal, completely submerged, for 10 minutes. Remove the jar with tongs and set it on the counter, leaving the lid and seal in the hot water.

2 Wash and dry the lemons, and cut lengthwise into quarters, but not all the way through—leave an inch or so at one end so that each lemon opens like a flower but holds together. (Don’t bother seeding them now—you can do that when you use the lemons.) Stuff some of the salt more or less evenly into each lemon and stuff the lemons into the jar, pressing down to pack them in. The last lemons may be cut all the way through and separated into quarters to fit. Add any remaining salt, then pour the lemon juice into the jar so that it reaches the top. Close the lid tightly and place the jar on a shelf in a cool, dark place.

3 Flip the jar once a day every day for 10 days (one day on its lid, the next on its bottom). After that, leave the jar upright for 20 more days. Voila, preserved lemons! Note: The jars really do need to be flipped once daily for 10 days to fully dissolve and mix the salt, so set a reminder on your watch, phone, or computer—it’s unfailingly easy to forget if you don’t. Or place the jars beside the sink in your bathroom!