How many times have you come across a recipe that says add The Juice of One Lemon? Ok, no problem except for the fact that lemons come in different sizes. Now what?
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Yes, I know most of the lemons at the grocery store all look alike. They may look alike on the outside, but once you cut into a lemon, you may find some have a big, thick rind, or some have a super-thin rind. Either way, that impacts how much juice is inside.
Also, if you buy produce at farmers’ markets, you can find different varieties of lemons that range from small to medium to large.
Table of contents
How much juice is in one lemon?
By food standards, one medium-sized lemon weighs approximately 3.5 ounces and contains approximately two tablespoons, so if a recipe calls for the juice of one lemon, you should add that. This is mostly the size of lemons sold in stores.
So if a recipe calls for three tablespoons of lemon juice, you most likely will need two lemons to get the right amount of juice for your recipe.
The lemons below came from my two lemon trees. I have two varieties, and each is remarkably different in size.
My older tree produces little lemons with a very thin rind. When I cut these open, I am always amazed at how much lemon is inside.
My new tree produces very large lemons. The rind is very thick, and the actual amount of lemon inside seems very small.
Here is the difference between the two lemons. The smaller lemon had one tablespoon + one teaspoon of juice; the other lemon had two tablespoons of lemon juice. So next time you need the juice of one lemon, you may need two lemons to make sure you have enough juice to make the standard two-tablespoon measurement.
The chart below shows how many ounces of juice are in one lemon.
Ponderosa Lemons
If you want a lot of lemon juice, this Ponderosa Lemon weighs two pounds and has two cups of lemon juice. Whew! If you are familiar with pomelos, this lemon is about the size of a pomelo. Cut one open, and you will find lots of seeds and the flavor and acidity of the smaller lemons. Since these types of lemons are not grown commercially and basically are found in backyards, you may never see how magnificent this lemon is.
Just imagine how much lemonade you can make with this big guy, or how many lemon meringue pies this would make. A Lot!
How to juice a lemon
How you juice a lemon can make a difference in the amount of juice you get
- Keep your lemons at room temperature
- Before you juice a lemon, press and roll the lemon between your hands or on a countertop. This will soften the lemon and help release the juice.
- Try microwaving a lemon for 10 seconds before juicing for maximum juice.
- A citrus reamer or a juice press are the easiest tools to use to get the most juice out of a lemon. Just squeeze over a bowl and strain to remove the seeds.
- Hand-squeezing the lemon is a quick way to juice a lemon without any tools. Just squeeze hard on the cut lemon to get the juice out, then with your fingers, press the inside of the lemon to release more juice
- Another handy tool is the citrus reamer with a bowl. Here, you can juice your lemons directly into a bowl that also strains out the pulp and seeds. This is very handy.
Lemon Juice Chart
This chart will help you determine how many teaspoons, tablespoons, and ounces are in one lemon.
Lots of recipes also use lemon zest. If the recipe calls for the zest of one lemon, that would mean using one medium-sized 3.5-ounce lemon that will yield approximately one tablespoon of lemon zest.
Check out this guide to learn how to zest a lemon. There are several ways to do it.
Lemon zest tip
My suggestion is that when you need to juice a lemon, zest it first. Even if you don’t need lemon zest right now, you can freeze the zest and use it later.
Why add lemon zest to a recipe?
- Citrus zest has lots of essential oils that add strong citrus flavors.
- Adding zest to a recipe infuses a bright lemon flavor to sweet and savory baked goods, salad dressings, creamy desserts, icings, and ice creams.
- Sprinkle lemon zest over finished desserts or veggies to add a pretty yellow color and flavor.
Essential tools for juicing and zesting lemons
For juicing, you have several options depending on how much juicing you need to do. For juicing one or two lemons for a recipe, I like using a wooden citrus reamer. This reamer is simple to use, easy to clean, and easy to store. Another option for a handheld juicer is a metal citrus squeezer press. I prefer the metal types since I have broken several plastic ones.
Try these if you are juicing a lot of lemons. This manual tabletop citrus reamer has a bowl under the reamer to catch the juice, and it separates the seeds and pulp, perfect for when you want a lot of juice. And for lots of lemons, go for the electric citrus juicer, which is great for making lemonade or freezing lemon juice.
For zesting, you want to find the zester that works best for you. Also, replace these because they will become dull over time. I like using this Microplane zester because it allows you to put the zester over the top of a bowl and the zest falls out from the bottom side.
For making long strips of lemon peel for garnish, use a channel knife/zester. This has sharp holes at one end that create nice thin strips of citrus. Another zesting option is this flexible citrus zester that has a cup under the zester to catch the citrus zest. If you have young kids who like to cook, this is a great option to keep little fingers safe.
Lemon Recipes
- Lemon Ricotta Muffins are made with olive oil for a deliciously tender crumb and are delicious for breakfast or dessert.
- Lemon Sponge Pie is a unique recipe with a flaky pie crust, lemon custard and a lemon sponge cake on top. It’s so easy and so good.
- Lemon Bundt Cake has lemon pieces baked in, adding tanginess to this easy-to-make bundt cake.
- Lemon Baked Ricotta is one of the easiest appetizers, full of fresh lemon flavors and savory herbs.
- Lemon Cookies with Frosting have lemon in the cookie and the frosting too, because you can’t have too much lemon flavor.
- Crispy Lemon Cookies are simple slice-and-bake shortbread cookies that are tender and perfectly lemony.
- Lemon Cake Pie, yes, this is a cake and pie in one dessert, and it is fantastic.
- Lemon Blueberry Scones bake up golden brown and are full of fresh fruit.
- Lemon Curd Cookies have a shortbread dough filled with fresh lemon curd.
- Do you know what tastes great with a lemon dessert…Frozen Lemonade, is super refreshing.
Pin for later
Remember – When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Dessert
Lemon FAQ’s
Look at the skins and pick a bright-colored, glossy fruit that feels heavy when you pick it up. If there is any green on the lemon, that means it’s not fully ripened. Leathery-looking, dull-skinned fruits mean the lemon is old.
Lemons are best kept in the refrigerator and can last for three to four weeks. If you leave your lemons on the counter, they will last a week to two weeks, depending on how warm the area is.
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About Jere’
From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven sharing both sweet and savory recipes with all my baking friends.
I run into this dilemma all the time! This made it so easy and will definitely keep the chart on hand
This is SO helpful! Lemon juice can vary so much so it’s good to know how much you actually get out of one lemon. Thanks for answering the question. 🙂
Thanks for the info. Very useful post. Bookmarked
Thank you for this. It makes life so much easier. I always assumed there was a tablespoon and a half of lemon juice in a medium lemon, but lately I’ve been wrong.
Such a good and helpful article thank you so much for sharing all this useful information. Such a great idea, so true! How much is the juice of a lemon? I’m definitely going to make a note of all this measurements and tips. Article saved, thanks again!
First of all thanks for sharing such detail information regarding lemon. As we fight this pandemic, this is definitely the time to drink lots of lemon to supplement our body with such vitamins from it. Thanks for sharing this to us.
This is such a useful post! What a great idea to post. It can definitely be confusing when following a recipe, especially a baking recipe that requires precision.
This post is so helpful and informative! I’m definitely pinning this so I can refer back to it again and again.
Glad you find it helpful.
This was great info! I use lemon juice in so many recipes and really never knew! Thanks so much!
Luckily I have two trees in the backyard so I can just go pick what I need.
I always use a citrus reamer as it makes a big difference in how much juice I can get out of them. It’s interesting to see how to seemingly similar lemons can give different amounts of juices.
I like the reamer too, it seems to work the best.
This is so helpful! I always wonder when a recipe calls for juice of one lemon, exactly how much that’s supposed to be!
That’s exactly why I wrote this.
So useful! Bookmarked this post ❤️
I enjoyed reading this post a lot because I also grow a few lemon trees at home and they are fruiting now…or should I say most of the time 🙂
I can see with your Thai cooking you could use lots of lemons.
Some really good tips here as I often buy a bag of lemons and they are often all different.
I use the lemons off my tree and they are definitely different.
i have always wondered about this myself thank you for making life easy