Luscious might be an understatement. It’s kind of mind blowing how four of the most basic ingredients in your kitchen can make something so beyond delicious as this homemade lemon curd, but somehow they do. With just a small sauce pot, a whisk, and four simple ingredients you can make a little jar of velvety sunshine to spread or dollop on top of all your food. And now that I know how fast and easy it is, and that you can freeze it, I will never pay $4 for a jar of it at the store ever again.
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What is Lemon Curd??
Curd is one of those unfortunate words, like “moist,” that never really sounds appetizing. BUT I promise you, this stuff is heaven. Lemon curd is a dessert spread, kind of like lemon custard, or like a sweet version of hollandaise sauce (I hope I didn’t lose you there). It tastes a LOT like the filling for lemon squares (did I get you back on board?). It’s super rich and smooth, but still light and bursting with fresh lemon flavor.
What is Lemon Curd Used For?
EVERYTHING. Well, almost. You can use lemon curd anywhere you use jam or preserves, so on toast, biscuits, scones, etc. It’s also a great topper for yogurt (try Lemon Berry Yogurt Breakfast Bowls), oats, parfaits, cakes, pies, cookies, donuts, pancakes, waffles, crepes, cheesecake, need I go on? Anywhere you want lemon flavor, grab a spoonful of your homemade lemon curd.
Homemade Lemon Curd Methods
I made approximately 578 batches (exaggeration) of lemon curd this week, testing all sorts of methods from the microwave to the stove top, adding ingredients in all sorts of different orders, but I found that the method below created the silkiest, lightest, and smoothest homemade lemon curd without an excessive amount of work (only about 10 minutes compared to 2 minutes for the microwave version).
So be aware that there are a million ways to make homemade lemon curd, but the method below is my favorite. It’s actually quite similar to the way I make hollandaise sauce (see Almost Eggs Benedict).
Fresh vs. Bottled Lemon Juice
Freshly squeezed lemon juices is and always will be better than bottled, but during my one million test runs of this recipe, I found that bottled lemon juice did not make my lemon curd any less delicious. I don’t know if it’s all the sugar and butter, but I didn’t notice a massive difference between fresh and bottled in this recipe. So unless you have some lemons in your freezer that you’re trying to use up, save yourself some trouble and pour your lemon juice instead of squeezing it.
That being said, if you are using fresh lemons, go ahead and zest your lemon before juicing it. Adding lemon zest to the lemon curd will make a marked difference in the flavor. 👍
How Long Does Homemade Lemon Curd Last?
This homemade lemon curd will last in your fridge for 1-2 weeks, but you can also freeze it! You guys know how I love freezing everything. In the freezer, the lemon curd will last at least a few months and the beautiful part is that it only hardens about as much as ice cream, so you can scoop it out as needed.
And that’s where I’m really in danger. When I scooped a spoonful of frozen lemon curd today to test its freezer durability, it tasted a LOT like a really rich lemon sorbet. So I’m going to have to stop myself from eating this as a frozen dessert. 🙊
Homemade Lemon Curd
Servings 8 2 Tbsp eachIngredients
- 1/4 cup sugar ($0.08)
- 1 large egg ($0.25)
- 1/3 cup lemon juice ($0.16)
- 4 Tbsp butter ($0.54)
Instructions
- Add the sugar, egg, and lemon juice to a small sauce pot. Before placing the pot over the heat, whisk the ingredients together until smooth.
- Place the pot over medium heat and cook while whisking continuously. The mixture will become very frothy as you whisk. When the liquid becomes hot enough to cook the egg, the mixture will begin to thicken and no more liquid will separate from the foam. It will take about 5 minutes of whisking over medium heat for the mixture to thicken, but will vary depending on your cookware. The mixture should be thick enough to coat a spoon (see photos below).
- Remove the pot from the heat. Add one tablespoon of butter at a time, whisking until it has fully melted into the sauce before adding the next. As the butter is melted into the sauce, it will become less frothy and more silky in texture, and look more glossy rather than foamy.
- Once all of the butter has been whisked in, transfer the lemon curd to an air-tight container and refrigerate until completely cooled. The curd will thicken further upon cooling.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Liquid Measuring Cup
- Measuring Cups Spoons
- Whisk
Notes
Nutrition
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I love spreading my homemade lemon curd on English muffins. Since it already has tons of butter in it, it’s almost like butter and jam rolled into one!
How to Make Homemade Lemon Curd – Step by Step Photos
I’m adding a few more step by step photos than usual, since I really want you to see the texture changes that occur during this process. Lemon curd is easy to make, but you have to use your eyes to know when it’s time to move on to the next step.
It can be helpful, but is not critical, to take your butter out of the refrigerator and slice into 1 tablespoon pieces before you begin. Letting it warm up slightly can make it easier to melt into the sauce later.
Add 1/4 cup sugar, one large egg, and 1/3 cup lemon juice to a small sauce pot.
Before placing the pot over heat, whisk the sugar, egg, and lemon juice together until smooth.
Place the pot over medium heat and begin to whisk continuously. You’ll be whisking for about five minutes until the mixture thickens. It will get very frothy as you cook and whisk and will seem like nothing is happening, but once it reaches the magic temperature it will almost suddenly thicken. The photo above is when the mixture was at the half-way point. Very frothy on top, but there was still a layer of liquid under the froth.
When the mixture gets hot enough, the egg will begin to thicken the sauce and the entire mixture will become thick and frothy, with no layer of liquid on the bottom. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. When you drag your finger through the mixture on the spoon, the sauce should stay put and not run back to fill in the line.
Here is another view of what it looks like once thickened. It’s still very frothy in texture. There is no liquid on the bottom of the pot. It’s all thick froth. When it reaches this point, remove the pot from the heat.
Whisk one tablespoon of butter into the sauce, making sure it is fully melted (from the residual heat of the sauce) before adding the next tablespoon. As you whisk in the butter the sauce will become less frothy and silkier. It will also look a little more glossy and translucent, and less white/opaque.
Here is what it looks like once all of the butter has melted in. More glossy and translucent, less frothy. While the lemon curd is fairly thick at this point, it thickens further once refrigerated.
The flavor also mellows a bit as it refrigerates. It’s quite sour at this point but it gets creamier as it refrigerates.
You can refrigerate the lemon curd for 1-2 weeks, OR freeze it for a few months.
You can scoop frozen lemon curd out as needed, and it will thaw quickly at room temperature. I’ve died and gone to lemon heaven. ☀️🥰🍋
I’ve been eyeing this lemon curd for a few days and today I finally decided to try it. It is divine!
Does it matter if you use salted or unsalted butter?
I’m a huge fan of salted butter and know it would be DIVINE in this lemon curd. It will help balance the sweetness. XOXO -Monti
I tried this today and it was so easy and tasty! I have used it in the lemon berry breakfast bowls, sans berries. I love love love lemon so very chuffed to have discovered how easy this is.
This looks awesome. I’ve only ever bought it, never tried making it. Could you can this to preserve it?
Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with canning, so I’m not sure if this is a good candidate for that. Hopefully someone who knows more about the subject can chime in for you!
I added the butter with everything else.. help!! How do I salvage this?
Just an update that this still worked fine. The texture might have been a little different but still yummy. Thank you for the recipe!
Fantastic! Thank you for sharing the outcome!
Loved this recipe! Could I substitute orange juice for lemon juice to make an orange curd?
I’m not sure, I haven’t tried that. :)
Did you try? I was thinking the same thing with lime juice.
ANY juice…lime, orange, pomegranate…
I just made this and put it in the fridge for tomorrow. This is one of the best things I’ve ever made. Thank you for another banger!
This lemon curd is a new staple in my fridge! The texture and flavor are incredible, I can’t stop eating it on English muffins, toast, and yogurt, and sometimes even straight out of the jar. And it comes together so quickly that when I run out I can quickly whip together a new batch to replace it no problem. Amazing recipe all around
Delicious! I’m a long time follower of your blog and love it! Wondering if you could specify to use salted butter? I never have salted butter but would have added salt myself. I can usually figure it out based on how it should taste but had never tried lemon curd so wasn’t sure how it normally tastes. I didn’t notice until I was reading comments and saw to use salted. It was sill good but I can see where it’ll be better with salt. I’m loving it freezes well!
Yes, all of my recipes use salted butter. :)
Great recipe, does not make a large amount, which is perfect since I am the only lemon lover in the house. Super easy to follow, standard ingredients, too.
I want to try this and make the lemon yogurt berry breakfast bowls!
I made lemon curd this morning with a different website’s recipe. That recipe only gave the reference of “Hollandaise sauce” when trying to determine if it was thick enough. I don’t know Hollandaise sauce! Then when frantically searching for clarification, I found your method, including the clarification of thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. That alone was a life-saver. This method looks a lot simpler so I’m excited to try it next time I’m making lemon curd. Been a follower of Budget Bytes for a long time so I know it’ll be good!
I’m so glad you found that helpful! And it’s so funny that you mentioned hollandaise sauce. I’ll be posting a recipe for that this week and as I was making the hollandaise sauce I thought to myself, “this is basically just a savory version of my lemon curd…” haha!
Absolutely delicious!
We’d like to freeze jars of lemon curd and then pull it out and somehow thin it for a pancake sauce. How would you suggest we do that? We don’t love curd mixed with whipping cream. Other ideas?
Hmm, I’m really not sure how to go about thinning it to make it pourable. I’ve never tried something like that before, so it would take some experimenting.
Wow! This was easy and so delicious! I am so glad I made a double batch because otherwise I wouldn’t have any for the blueberry shortcakes for dessert tonight. I was always intimidated by making lemon curd, but the step-by-step instructions and pictures made it possible.