Okay, I’ve got a quick tip for you today that I hope will as life changing for you as it was for me. Here it is: you can freeze whole citrus. Say whaaaaa? If you’re already privy to the magic that happens when you cook with fresh citrus, but hate paying a dollar or more for just one lemon, this tip may just change your game. If you’re sitting here thinking, “Why on earth would I want to freeze whole citrus fruit??” read on and allow me to explain…
Why Cook with Fresh Citrus?
Between bottled juice and freeze dried citrus peels, there are a lot of ways to add citrus flavor to your food, but none compare to fresh juice and zest. It’s just a whole different beast when fresh. Cooking with fresh citrus is a total game changer and will take any meal up about ten notches. Sure, I will sometimes still use bottled juice when it’s a more secondary ingredient, or just needed to act as an acid in a chemical reaction, but when I’m making a recipe where lemon or lime is the star of the show, fresh is an absolute must.
Here are some of my favorite recipes that feature the awesomeness of fresh citrus:
- Greek Turkey and Rice Skillet
- Lemon Blueberry Cream Cheese Galette
- Lemon Butter Green Beans
- Lemony Cucumber Couscous Salad
- Lime Crema
- Cilantro Lime Chicken Drumsticks
- Mexican Red Lentil Stew
- Easy Orange Chicken
- Simple Cranberry Sauce
Freezer to the Rescue!
The problem is that buying a single lemon or lime can be super pricey. They’re quite a bit less expensive when you buy them by the bag, but I can never seem to go through an entire bag before they shrivel and die. UNTIL, that is, I learned that you can freeze whole citrus fruit. So go ahead and buy a whole bag without worry. Use one or two now, stash the rest in your freezer, and use them as needed.
Frozen lemons and limes are almost easier to zest, and once thawed they’ll release their juice more readily because, as with any fruit or vegetable, freezing and thawing weakens the cell walls. You can thaw the fruit quickly with a brief 15-20 seconds in the microwave, or by running under warm water for a few seconds. Always zest before you thaw because once the fruit is soft post-thawing, zesting can be difficult.
Must the Citrus be Frozen Whole?
Nope, you can totally cut or slice the citrus fruit before freezing, or even just freeze your unused leftover peels on their own, but I prefer to freeze the fruit whole. Why? Because I usually use a combination of the juice and the zest in my recipes for extra citrusy flavor, and they are much easier to zest when whole (and frozen solid). Plus, keeping them whole protects the insides from drying out as quickly. Natural protection!
The Method:
- Wash and dry your fruit to remove any waxy coating. While the waxy coating will actually help protect them in the freezer, you don’t want to have to worry about the waxes later if you plan on zesting your fruit straight from the freezer.
- Place the whole citrus fruit in a heavy duty freezer bag and seal it up tight. Air exposure is the enemy when it comes to freezing food because it sucks out moisture and deadens flavors.
- Freeze the citrus. There is no exact cut off date for how long the citrus will last in your freezer. Instead, they will just slowly dry over time. Over a long time. Like months. If and when the peel begins to dry out, the zest may not be as flavorful, but the juice inside will still be quite usable. That being said, I usually try to use up my frozen foods within three months to ensure optimum quality.
- To use the frozen fruit, remove it from the freezer bag and zest the fruit while frozen solid. Once zested, thaw the fruit through by either microwaving for 15-20 seconds, or running it under warm water. Once thawed, slice in half and squeeze the juice as usual. The juice should flow from the citrus quite easily.
And that’s it! I hope you get as much use (and FLAVOR) from citrus as possible in the future, without having to pay a premium. :)
This a great news! I have a lemon tree, and I’m never able to use all my “crop” before it starts to go bad. I’ve been freezing the juice, but this will be a big time saver!
Oh I love this tip. Thanks!
Brilliant! Total game-changer.
What an amazing tip!! Thank you so much for sharing.
Love this tip! Thanks!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
I had no idea! I’m so glad you posted this. I always wondered who the heck would use a bagful of lemons or limes but I think I’m going to have to be that guy now. Which is great because I never have lemons when I really want to make a lemon dessert on a whim. Woot!
Thank you so much for this brilliant tip! Love it!
so lemon and limes, obviously. but plain ol’ oranges? A 10lb bag from Sam’s is WAY cheaper but we can usually only get through half the bag before it starts to mold. I know that seems like a dumb question…
I would only freeze fruit that you plan to cook with (zest and juice) rather than for peeling and eating. I think they’d probably be too soft to really eat on their own after freezing and thawing.
Hooray! I’m glad to know this. (Now, if I could just organize my freezer better to give me more room to try this out…)
How clever! I cook so many things that would be jazzed up with a squeeze of lemon or lime but hate having them turn into sad moldy rocks in the fridge.
WOW!! I didn’t know that you can freeze citrus and zest them while frozen, which makes it easier. I never knew that. Now, I can purchase a whole bag of citrus with confidence and freeze them. :-)
This is brilliant! I always freeze the “empty” citrus peels after juicing for a recipe, but this way makes soooo much more sense. No more sad and moldy lemons in the crisper.
Game changer!!!!!!
I hadn’t thought about doing this. Thanks for a great suggestion!