How to Zest a Lemon

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Learn How to Zest a Lemon five different ways. Whether you use a zesting gadget or a common kitchen tool, add some sunny lemon flavor to all your favorite spring and summer soups, salads, desserts, and cocktails.

Zested lemons and tools to zest a lemon on a countertop.


 

A little lemon zest, or any citrus zest, really, can do amazing things to food. If you’re making something that needs a little oomph, but you don’t quite know what, chances are a little fragrant lemon zest can rescue it from being stashed away in the fridge, never to be eaten again.

And good news! You don’t have to have the most well-stocked kitchen in the world to make lemon zest, either. There are lots of tricks to zest a lemon without a proper zester.

Ingredient notes

  • Lemons: Always begin by washing and drying your lemons to remove any wax coating, pesticides, or dust and debris. Scrubbing with a vegetable brush works well. No matter what technique you use, don’t dig in too deep to white part, the bitter pith of the juicy fruit. Use a light touch, focus on the rind (the yellow part), and make sure you rotate the fruit so you don’t over grate.

Do you need a zester?

There are different kinds of zest and different ways to generate them. It’s helpful to see what equipment gets the job done while considering what you may already have on hand. Before adding another tool to the drawer, consider the type of zest you need:

  • Small, thin shreds: Stir into baked or salad dressings or sprinkle over roasted vegetables. Look for a rasp-style grater like a Microplane or box grater.
  • Long, thin strips: Form into twists as a garnish for cocktails or decorations on cakes. A channel knife is the easiest way, but you can also trim down and thinly slice peel from a vegetable peeler or paring knife.
  • Flat, wide strips: Add to cocktails as a garnish, dry and add to cups of tea, or slice into thin strips to make twists. Make these with a vegetable peeler or paring knife.

For even more information on which zesting tools to buy, if any, see my post on The Best Zesters.

Step-by-step instructions

1. To zest a lemon with a microplane:

  • Hold the grater in your non-dominant hand and the lemon in the other over a cutting board or clean work surface. Going in one direction, push the lemon away from you across the rough side of the grater, removing the colorful part of the fruit, exposing the pith. Gently rotate the lemon as you go to get all of the zest you can from each fruit.
A lemon being zested with a microplane grater.

2. To zest a lemon with a vegetable peeler:

  • Hold the lemon in one hand and the peeler in the other. Beginning at the top of the fruit and working your way around the lemon, use the peeler to cut into the skin and carefully remove the peel in thick, wide strips. Avoid going so deep as to remove the white pith.
A lemon being zested with a peeler.

3. To zest a lemon with a paring knife:

  • Hold the lemon in one hand and the knife in the other. Beginning at the top of the fruit, cut into the skin and carefully remove the peel in strips, working your way around the lemon. Stay on the outer layer and avoid going so deep as to remove the white pith. You can slice these larger strips into smaller pieces if desired.
A lemon being peeled with a knife.

4. To zest a lemon with a box grater:

  • Place the cheese grater over a cutting board or clean work surface. Holding the box grater by the handle firmly with one hand, and the lemon in the other, push the lemon away from you across the rough side of the grater, removing the colorful part of the fruit, exposing the pith. Gently rotate the lemon as you go, to get all of the zest you can from each fruit.
A lemon being zested on a grater box.

5. To zest a lemon with a zesting channel knife:

  • To make zest, hold the lemon in one hand and the citrus zester in the other. Starting at the top of the lemon, press the round blades into the skin and move them across the fruit, rotating so that you get all of the zest you can.
A lemon being zested with a zester.
  • To use a channel knife for garnishes, hold the lemon in one hand and the channel knife in the other. Dig the tip of the channel-shaped blade into the lemon at the middle, and rotate the lemon so that you make one long, narrow peel.
A lemon being zested.

To make a lemon twist:

  • Gently rotate a long strip of lemon peel around a drinking straw, securing each end with pins to hold it in place. This can be done in advance; by the time your cocktail is ready, your twist will be beautiful and perfectly curled. Just remember to give it an extra twist over the drink, to release the natural oils over the surface of the cocktail.
Lemons twists being made on straws.

Recipe tips and variations

A Greyhound cocktail next to a carafe of grapefruit juice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much zest do you get from 1 lemon?

1 large lemon will yield about 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest.

What is a good lemon zest substitute?

If you don’t have fresh lemons to zest on hand, lemon extract will deliver a similar flavor punch.

What is the difference between lemon zest and lemon peel?

Citrus fruit is covered with a peel. The outer skin layer is called a flavedo. It has all the flavor, thanks to the natural citrus oils that are located just under the surface. That peel includes the inner skin layer, called an albedo, which many refer to as “pith.” The white, fleshy pith is what people usually avoid because it tastes bitter.

The difference between lemon zest and lemon peel is that zest is purely made of the very outermost layer of the citrus fruit: all flavedo (flavor) and no bitterness. Not all citrus fruits have the same ratio of pith to skin, however. For example, grapefruit tends to have thick skin with a lot of protective pith, while limes have almost no pith at all. This is an important distinction when you start zesting different fruits.

Zested lemons and tools to zest a lemon on a countertop.

Put your lemon zest to work

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A lemon being zested with a zester.

How to Zest a Lemon

Learn How to Zest a Lemon five different ways. Whether you use a zesting gadget or a common kitchen tool, add some sunny lemon flavor to all your favorite spring and summer soups, salads, desserts, and cocktails.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 3 servings (1 tsp each)
Course Pantry
Cuisine American
Calories 10
5 from 22 votes

Equipment

  • Microplane grater (My favorite! Use this for zest, cheese, nutmeg, garlic, and chocolate)
  • Vegetable peeler (My go-to peeler for thick strips of zest and for peeling potatoes or any vegetable)
  • Paring knife (A super-sharp paring knife is a kitchen staple that works great for zesting citrus)
  • Box grater (Use the fine-grater side for citrus and try the coarse and medium grates or slicing side for vegetables, herbs, and cheese)
  • Channel knife (This 2-in-1 tool zests or makes strips for citrus garnishes)

Ingredients 

Instructions 

To zest a lemon with a microplane:

  • Hold the grater in one hand and the lemon in the other over a cutting board or clean work surface. Going in one direction, push the lemon away from you across the rough side of the grater, removing the colorful part of the fruit, exposing the pith. Gently rotate the lemon as you go to get all of the zest you can from each fruit.

To zest a lemon with a vegetable peeler:

  • Hold the lemon in one hand and the peeler in the other. Beginning at the top of the fruit and working your way around the lemon, use the peeler to cut into the skin and carefully remove the peel in thick, wide strips. Avoid going so deep as to remove the white pith.

To zest a lemon with a paring knife:

  • Hold the lemon in one hand and the knife in the other. Beginning at the top of the fruit, cut into the skin and carefully remove the peel in strips, working your way around the lemon. Avoid going so deep as to remove the white pith.

To zest a lemon with a box grater:

  • Place the grater over a cutting board or clean work surface. Holding the box grater by the handle firmly with one hand, and the lemon in the other, push the lemon away from you across the rough side of the grater, removing the colorful part of the fruit, exposing the pith. Gently rotate the lemon as you go, to get all of the zest you can from each fruit.

To zest a lemon with a zesting channel knife:

  • To make zest, hold the lemon in one hand and the zester in the other. Starting at the top of the lemon, press the round blades into the skin and move them across the fruit, rotating so that you get all of the zest you can.
  • To use a channel knife for garnishes, hold the lemon in one hand and the channel knife in the other. Dig the tip of the channel-shaped blade into the lemon at the middle, and rotate the lemon so that you make one long, narrow peel.

To make a lemon twist:

  • Gently rotate a long strip of lemon peel around a drinking straw, securing each end with pins to hold it in place. This can be done in advance; by the time your cocktail is ready, your twist will be beautiful and perfectly curled. Just remember to give it an extra twist over the drink, to release the natural oils over the surface of the cocktail.

Recipe Video

Notes

  1. Lemons: Always begin by washing and drying your lemons. No matter what technique you use, don’t dig in too deep to the bitter pith or the juicy fruit. Use a light touch, and make sure you rotate the fruit so you don’t over grate.
  2. Yield: 1 large lemon will yield about 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest.
  3. Storage: Store leftover lemon zest covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 tspCalories: 10kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 0.4gFat: 0.1gSaturated Fat: 0.01gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.03gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.003gSodium: 1mgPotassium: 50mgFiber: 1gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 8IUVitamin C: 19mgCalcium: 9mgIron: 0.2mg
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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

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