Stop buying preserved lemons in jars. I mean it. The supermarket versions are fine in a pinch, but once you've made your own preserved lemons recipe at home, you'll wonder why you ever bothered with the shop-bought alternative. It takes about ten minutes of actual work, a handful of ingredients, and a willingness to leave things alone for three weeks. That last part is the hardest.

Preserved lemons — ready for the fridge — Casa Adora

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

(makes one 500ml jar — scale up as needed)

• 4 unwaxed organic lemons, washed — 3 for preserving, 1 for juicing
• 4 tsp fine sea salt (not table salt)
• Cooled boiled water, enough to cover

METHOD for preserved lemons recipe

1. Prepare the lemons Top and tail each of the three lemons. Quarter them about three-quarters of the way down — cut deep enough that they open out like a flower but stay in one piece at the base. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sea salt inside each one, working it into the cuts.

2. Pack the jar Sprinkle a teaspoon of salt into the base of a sterilised 500ml jar. Pack the salted lemons in tightly, pushing each one down firmly as you go — you want them releasing their juice as you pack. Squeeze the juice from the fourth lemon over the top, then push the squeezed half into the jar to fill any gap. Cover with cooled boiled water until everything is submerged.

3. The wait Screw the lid on tightly. Turn the jar several times to distribute the salt. Set it aside in a cool, dark place for three days, turning it once a day.

After three days, move it to the fridge and forget about it for three weeks.

That's it. That's the preserved lemons recipe.

A FEW NOTES

Use unwaxed organic lemons if you can find them — the skin is what you're preserving, so quality matters here.

Sea salt only. Table salt contains additives that interfere with the preservation process.

My last batch before this one was made in May 2021. It was still perfectly good two years later. Preserved lemons keep for a very long time once they're in the fridge and the jar stays clean.

When you use them, rinse the lemon under cold water, discard the pulp, and use the preserved skin. That's where all the flavour is — intensely salty, deeply lemony, slightly funky in the best possible way.

WHAT TO DO WITH THEM

Once you have a jar of preserved lemons in the fridge, you'll find uses for them everywhere — tagines, roasted chicken, salad dressings, marinades. A good place to start is this one-pan quail with preserved lemon — simple, fragrant, and exactly the kind of dish that makes you glad you had a jar ready.

This preserved lemons recipe is part of my Fermentation Hub — a space where I'm gathering all my fermentation experiments, notes and lessons learned. It also features in my Curry Recipes hub — the complete guide to curries, spice blends, bases, chutneys and sides from The Flexible Chef.

Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures — The Flexible Chef