Salt Preserved Lemon Peel

Recently, I’ve seen a bunch of posts on the interwebs about citrus and citrus peel – since it’s citrus season, that makes sense. I’ve been preserving lemon peel in kosher salt for a few months now – yes, that’s just the peel, not the entire lemon (I’ve preserved entire lemons, too). It’s a way to reduce waste as well as turning it into something delicious.

Usually when I use preserved lemons, it’s all about the peel; more often than not I discard the pulp, though I’m sure someone could show me what to do with it (I’m interested!). So, I got the idea of just preserving the peel in salt – each time I juiced an organic lemon, I’d get rid of the leftover lemon innards and reserve the peel. I slice the peel into strips and store them in salt.

I use the peel in things like chicken dishes or with couscous. It gives a kind of North African flavor to things. I love it! And it’s super thrifty. Organic lemons aren’t cheap.

After the peels stay in the salt for a while, they start to change color – it goes from a bright yellow to a kind of yellow orange. I think it’s beautiful.

So, this is a very easy thing to do. All you do is:

• Take a wide mouth glass pint jar (make sure it’s clean)
• Put a half inch or so of kosher salt in the bottom.
• Place some of the peels in the jar, cover with salt. Repeat with the rest of the peels.
• I like to keep another half inch layer of salt on the top.
• Put a lid on it. Let them cure for a couple of weeks.

When you want to use the lemon peels, just dig them out and chop them up to your desired consistency.

From time to time, I dump out the contents in a bowl, stir them around to redistribute them, and then put them back in the jar, making sure there is that layer of salt on the top.

I’ve definitely wondered if salt preserved lime peels, grapefruit peels, and orange peels would be good, too.

Here are recent posts about citrus peel that have inspired me to finally write about my preserved lemon peels:

What To Do With Citrus Peel [Local Kitchen]
Citrus Salt Recipe [101 Cookbooks]

Here’s to a lovely season of citrus!