Run out of lemon juice or don’t like lemon? If you are on with a recipe that calls for lemon juice and you just realized that you don’t have it. Nothing to worry about! There are enough alternatives to lemon juice to save your recipe. This article brings home to you 8 simple and easy substitutes for lemon juice.
The juice is extracted by crushing the pulp of lemon fruit. This juice has a wide range of culinary and non-culinary uses.
More than ever, lemon juice is a common ingredient in cooking and baking. Also, it’s an important ingredient in several home remedies for both health and beauty.
This citrusy juice is highly acidic with low pH levels. It’s an effective natural ingredient for fermentation and leavening that helps the baked goods to gain volume.
Lemon juice is also used in several dishes across the world for its wonderful citrusy flavor and aroma.
8 Convenient Substitutes For Lemon Juice
Fortunately, other substitute ingredients can also very well play the role of lemon juice in your cooking. So, you can manage your cooking even without lemon water. Here are 8 substitutes for lemon juice:
1. Lime juice
Lime juice is the number one substitute for lemon juice; it’s difficult to distinguish one from the other as they both have the same taste and acidity level.
Lime juice can very well be used in any recipes that call for lemon juice as they both produce the same tart and citrusy flavor.
Their same pH level is very significant for it allows lime and lemon juice to be used interchangeably in preserving or canning food.
2. Lemon zest
Lemon zest, grated lemon skin, contains all flavor qualities of lemon juice. If you have lemon zest at your disposal, it’s a wonderful swap for lemon juice to produce the same lemon flavor and acidity in your dish.
Lemon zest works best in desserts, dressings, and in all dishes that call for lemon juice. Sorry, it won’t help in canning or preserving food as lemon juice does.
3. Citric acid
Lemon juice is naturally endowed with citric acid that is responsible for its citrusy flavor and fragrance.
Pure citric acid is highly concentrated, thus just one teaspoon of citric acid is equal to ½ cup lemon juice in terms of their acidity.
You can comfortably replace lemon juice with citric acid, especially in baking. Some say that citric acid is a better option than lemon juice in baked goods as it helps to protect the vitamins and antioxidants from being destroyed in the process of cooking.
Using citric acid in place of lemon juice will definitely work, but the strong acidic content in citric acid can overpower your dish if not careful.
4. Lemon extract
Lemon extract is made with lemon peel, or zest, on the other hand, lemon juice is extracted from the flesh of the fruit. Lemon extract is a highly concentrated form of lemon flavor and citric acid. It’s enough to use two to three drops of lemon extract to flavor your dish.
Lemon extract is mostly used in desserts and baked goods as a replacement for lemon juice.
5. Orange juice
Orange juice is sweeter, less acidic, and tart than lemon juice. The flavor of orange juice is more appealing than lemon in baked goods, desserts, and candies. Overall, orange juice is a worthy substitution for lemon juice, especially in sweet recipes.
While substituting, use orange juice in more quantity than lemon juice to achieve the same level of citrusy flavor.
6. Vinegar
In baking, you can easily swap in vinegar in place of lemon juice. Like lemon juice, vinegar is both acidic and tart.
In most dishes, vinegar can be used as a one-to-one replacement for the juice of a lemon.
However, everyone won’t enjoy the strong pungent flavor and aroma of vinegar. Thus, use vinegar in place of lemon juice when other better replacement options are absent.
7. White wine
White wine is popularly used in baking for its sweet, acidic, and tangy flavor. Undoubtedly, it’ll work as a good lemon juice substitute in most recipes, especially for baked goods and savory dishes.
It’s enough to use a small amount of white wine to achieve the desired acidic flavor. White wine is commonly used to deglaze pans, and also for magnifying the sweet acidic flavor of savory dishes.
8. Cream of tartar
Also known as potassium bitartrate, cream of tartar is the powdered form of tartaric acid that is extensively used in baking.
This cream is a popular ingredient used in whipped cream and for stabilizing egg-white. The baking powder you use in baking usually contains cream of tartar.
It’s a decent alternative to lemon juice for its acidic profile. Use about ½ teaspoon of cream of tartar for every 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.
How To Choose The Best Substitute?
The replacement ingredient for lemon juice that you choose to use in the recipe should complement the overall taste profile of the food. Here are the tips for choosing the right substitute according to the type of dish:
Savory dishes
In place of lemon juice in savory dishes use one of the following:
- An equal amount of lime juice
- An equal amount of orange juice
- Half the amount of white vinegar
- Half the amount of white wine.
Baked and sweet dishes
In place of lemon juice in baked goods or sweet dishes using one of the following:
- An equal amount of lime juice
- An equal amount of orange juice
- Few drops of lemon extract
- Dried or frozen lemon zest
- An equal amount of apple juice (for those who’re allergic to citrus)
- Baking soda that includes cream of tartar
- Vinegar, buttermilk, or yogurt (ingredients without citrus).
Cocktails
In place of lemon juice in cocktails use one of the following:
- An equal amount of orange juice
- Vinegar based shrub (for those who’re allergic to citrus)
- Any fresh herb that has a lemon flavor (lemon balm, lemon verbena, or lemon thyme)
Canning recipes
In place of lemon juice in canning recipes use one of the following:
- Fresh lime juice
- Any vinegar with high acidity (apple cider/distilled white vinegar).
The bottom line
We have listed here multiple ingredients that can very well substitute lemon juice in baking and cooking. Overall, we would recommend fresh lime juice as the best alternative to lemon juice, this works well in most dishes.
Always add additional liquid when the replacement ingredient is a powder or in a highly concentrated form.