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…
How to Freeze Whole Citrus
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. :)
Great tip – thanks! No more zombie citrus in my fridge!
I am thrilled with this and can’t wait to try it
Love this tip about freezing citrus !!!
Thank you !
I always froze my Lemons but found that when thawed they were quite soft & soggy and difficult to juice. Any tips for making juicing easier? Great tip to zest while still frozen..! I hadn’t thought of that, so simple.
Hmm, I don’t think I have any tips there, as I actually find the softness makes them *easier* to juice. :)
So grateful for this tip. Who wants to waste Meyer lemons, ever?
Haha, this was my exact thought! I got a handful of gorgeous Meyer lemons in my CSA box this week, and I don’t have any immediate plans for them, but to let them go to waste would be a terrible shame.
Here’s something I learned when I needed a lemon and did not have have one. I was making a red sauce for some seafood which really requires lemon. So I tried this.. I got out a jar of capers washed and dried them then chopped and smashed them on The Cutting Board and added them to ketchup or tomato puree, a little bit of Worcester sauce and a nice amount of horseradish. It was the best red sauce for shrimp I ever made. And really pretty . Whereas before the lemon juice always made the red sauce a little watery this actually thickens it with all these little pieces and stuck to the shrimp and fish better. I haven’t used lemon in red sauce since I did that. I love Capers in chicken piccata etc those type of things so I knew they had a lemony taste. Capers are shelf-stable for so long and then refrigerated they last forever. I live alone and this solved so many of my needs in such an inexpensive way just thought I’d pass it on. Great and many other things like tartar sauce Etc
Can halo oranges be frozen. I buy in a bag as I do lemons and I do those
Their skins aren’t as thick, but yes they can!
Thank you for the tip, its great ,now I know that my tree when its full usually winter, I can have them right through summer. Thanks again.
This was very helpful, thank you do you have any suggestions for fruit like mangoes?
I like to cube up the fruit then put it onto a lined baking sheet until it freezes. Then I’ll put it in a freezer safe bag.
Thank u so much i have always hated throwing out my demolished lemons . Ready to go out and buy my 6 or 7 lemons . Gayle
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This article was great! I loved the detailed instructions!! Thank you!
Thank you! Who knew this was possible!
Thanks for the tip. I have two kinds of lemon trees that produce an amazing amount of fruit. I’ll be storing some for the little gap that occurs between seasons.
Can’t wait to try this… we love lemon, but the last few from the bag I buy always seem to go bad!! Thank you!!
This is great to know, whenever I buy a bag I never seem to get through them all before they start to go bad just like you said! I will now purchase a bag of lemons with confidence, knowing I can freeze the majority.
Exactly!