This Is The Easiest Way To Zest Lemons Without A Zester

Use a peeler, knife, or grater to zest a lemon in a pinch.

Lots of recipes call for the zest of a lemon. In fact, lemon zest may even be a more common ingredient than lemon juice, although one of our favorite lemon-focused sweets, lemon curd, calls for both zest and juice from a lemon.

Used in both sweet and savory dishes, lemon zest adds a little brightness and a little zing to dishes. Many marinades, sauces, and salad dressings call for lemon or lime zest, and fruit desserts like a blueberry or apple pie might incorporate a little zest into the filling.

You can buy a lemon zester for quick and easy lemon zesting, but this specialty tool is not the only way to get zest from a lemon. 

Related: How To Zest A Lime Without A Zester

How To Use A Peeler To Zest Lemons

While a lemon zester is a handy kitchen tool, it’s not needed to zest a lemon. If space in your kitchen drawers is limited or you just want to minimize the number of kitchen tools in your repertoire, you can pick up a peeler.

1. Hold the peeler in your dominant hand and the lemon in your non-dominant hand.

2. Starting at the top, or crown of the fruit, start peeling downward. You will end up with a bunch of lemon strips.

3. Take the strips and a good, sharp chef’s knife and cut or mince the strips into tiny pieces. This lemon zest will be a slightly different feel and texture of lemon zest from a zester or microplane, but it’s zest all the same.

How To Use A Knife To Zest Lemons

1. Hold the knife in your dominant hand and firmly grasp the lemon in your other hand.

2. Begin at the top and carefully cut into the outermost layer of the citrus fruit, cutting downwards.

3. Once the lemon has been peeled, you can proceed as with the peeled lemon.

4. Finely chop or mince the peel pieces until you have the desired size.
   

Related: How To Keep A Meringue Pie From Weeping

How To Use A Grater To Zest Lemons

Box graters and hand graters are great tools you can use to zest a lemon. Keep in mind that graters tend to be very sharp so be careful while using them. If possible, use safety gloves.

1. If you’re using a box or hand grater, choose the side with the smallest openings. This will produce zest and not risk going too deep into the fruit.

2. Use the grater to zest the lemon in a downward motion away from your body—the way you would grate cheese over a plate or a cutting board.

3. Once you have a pile of zest, you can add it to the recipe as you see fit. Since a number of recipes call for the “zest of a lemon,” the goal is to zest the entire lemon for about a tablespoon’s worth of zest.

Related: 42 Lemon Dessert Recipes As Lovely As They Are Sweet

Three Rules For Zesting Lemons

No matter which tool you use to zest lemons, there are three rules you should follow to guarantee you get the most out of your delicious zest.

1. Wash The Lemons First

Before you go about zesting your lemon, be sure to wash the fruit. This will remove any residual protective wax. While water and a vigorous scrub should get the job done, you can also use a mixture of baking soda and water if you want to take things to the next level.

2. Avoid The Pith

Once you start zesting, rotate the fruit, depending on how much zest you need. Avoid going too deep as the white part—the pith—is quite bitter and may impact the flavor of your recipe.

3. Use A Plastic Cutting Board

Although we typically prefer wooden cutting boards to extend the sharp lives of our knives, a plastic cutting board is better if you're zesting lemons with a peeler or knife and then chopping or mincing the zest. These methods release flavorful oils which will soak into a wooden cutting board.

Tip

The key to zesting a lemon correctly, whether you are using a lemon zester or another kitchen tool, is not to go too deep. The zest is really just the outermost, colorful part of the fruit.

Frequently asked Questions

Can you zest a lemon with a fork?

Either a knife or peeler is a better option than a fork, but if you really only have a fork handy, you can use it to get some zest from your lemon in a pinch. Use the tines of the fork to gently but firmly scrape the outermost layer of the lemon. This method will take more time and effort, but it can be done.

What can you use to replace lemon zest?

Lime or orange zest can be used in place of lemon zest. These other fruits may alter the flavors of the recipe a little bit, but either can be easily substituted.

Is lemon peel the same as lemon zest?

Lemon peel refers to all of the lemon’s skin, including the pith. Thus, lemon peel and lemon zest aren’t the same thing. However, you do use part of the lemon peel to get the zest.

How much zest does one lemon produce?

It depends on the size of the lemon, but you can expect to get about one tablespoon of zest from one average-sized lemon.