Seasonal Recipes: Meyer Lemon (2024)

FAQs

Why is Meyer lemon so expensive? ›

Their limited window of availability, coupled with their more fragile nature (which makes shipping them more difficult), naturally makes them more expensive than hardier, year-round regular lemons too.

Availability – While regular lemons are readily available all year long, Meyer lemons are more seasonal. Your best bet for finding them is from December through May.

American-grown lemons are available all year, since lemon trees bloom all year and can have flowers, ripe and unripe fruit all at the same time. The Meyer lemon, a relative newcomer to our kitchens, is the one lemon that's at its peak in the winter, with a season that runs from November until about April.

The sweet, distinctively clean, and zesty aromatic flavour of Amalfi lemons that are grown along the rugged coast of the Campania area of Italy has made them famous all over the world.

Meyer lemons taste similar to regular lemons but with a sweeter, more floral taste. They have a lighter dose of acidity and a thin peel and lack the sharp tang and bitterness of a typical lemon. The flavor can taste a little like a sour lemon mixed with a juicy orange.

You can freeze lemon wedges or slices, lemon zest, lemon juice, or whole lemons. Always wash fruit with soap and water or a fruit and vegetable wash before starting the prep work for freezing. Use a microplane to create lemon zest from the peel.

When freezing whole lemons, keep them in a food-safe plastic bag, like a Glad^® FLEX'N SEAL™ Freezer Bag with as little air as possible. Always wash lemons thoroughly before stashing them away in your freezer. You can also freeze lemon slices to add a spritz of lemon juice to drinks or dishes.

The layer of bitter white pith that makes a thick protective coating for regular lemons is so thin on Meyers that they may be eaten in their entirety, peel included. Cut thin slices, remove the seeds and roast them with root vegetables, chicken or fish.

How will I know when they are ready to harvest? Meyer lemons ripen, between November and April. You probably noticed they flowered over a long period of time, and obviously the first fruit to set would be the ones that ripened in November. The fruit will change color as it becomes ripe.

Meyer Lemon Trees can bloom all year, but they have two main blooming times: fall and early spring. If they bloom while it's too cold for them to be outside, simply keep your tree indoors.

What month do Meyer lemons produce fruit? ›

One great thing about the Meyer lemon is that it can bear fruit almost all year round. It's also quite resilient and can thrive outdoors. It can still do well outdoors during winter so long as the temperature doesn't drop below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Meyer lemons don't ripen any further once picked, so if it's the milder taste you want, then it's best to leave the fruit on the tree as long as possible. It's a good idea to pick fruit before a hard freeze if it's ripe. When citrus fruit freezes, it can become pithy and lose its juiciness.

Yes, you can freeze lemons. Freezing lemons extends their viability by months, so it's a great solution when you can't finish a whole bag of lemons or your backyard tree yields a surplus. Read on to learn how to freeze lemons, from the whole citrus to the zest.

Look for them at the grocery store in the winter months (a.k.a. citrus season); they peak in January and February, but you'll likely see them stocked through early spring. You can also order Meyer lemons online from growers like Rincon Tropics or Pearson Ranch, or invest in your very own Meyer lemon tree.

Because this delicate fruit is only in season from December to May, its price is usually higher than that of Eureka or Lisbon lemons.

A Meyer lemon is sweeter and translates better in certain recipes, like desserts. If your recipe calls for the bold, acidic flavor of lemon juice or zest, you won't get the same flavor from a Meyer lemon. Instead, you might have better results substituting lime juice or zest or even a splash of vinegar.

Citrus fruits have a distinctive nutrition profile, and Meyer lemons are no exception! They are high in vitamin C, folate, and phytonutrients called flavanones, which have antioxidant and anticancer properties.