Making Lemon Powder (from Fruit or Peels)

Lemon powder is one of my favorite secret ingredients. Whether it is adding freshness and sweetness to tea, a little bit of zip to my favorite marinades, or a wonderful sweet aroma to homemade bath products and cosmetics, it’s just the best!

It’s also hard to find really good, fresh, organic stuff online or anywhere else, and when you do, it costs a small fortune. If you are as tired of it as I am, do what I did and make your own! It’s so much easier than you might think if you’ve got a food dehydrator or just an oven.

Keep reading, and I’ll tell you two great ways to make lemon powder—from whole fruit and from peels alone. Roll up your sleeves, and we will get right into it.

Supplies and Kitchen Tools

You don’t need anything special for this recipe, assuming you’ve got a food dehydrator or oven as mentioned, and a blender or food processor. Everything else should be in your kitchen right now.

• Lemons or Lemon Peels: There are two approaches to making homemade lemon powder—one using slices of whole lemons and the other using peels alone. Both are good, but the finished product is slightly different. Using just the peels is a little more work but results in a finer, fresher, and zestier lemon powder. Using whole fruit makes for a somewhat coarser powder with a more complex flavor that has noticeable bitter and tart notes. Both are great, though! If you want less upfront work, use whole lemons.
• Food Dehydrator or Oven: A food dehydrator makes drying out the peels or fruit painless and easy, but not everybody has one of these devices. An oven can work just fine, though, but most will require a little more babysitting to make sure the temperature stays just right.
• Blender, Food Processor, or Spice Mill: A necessity for this recipe, any blender, food processor, or spice mill that is in good shape and capable of rendering hard foods to a powder consistency will work just fine. Obviously, if you have a fine blade or grinding assembly or attachment, now is the time to use it.
• Baking Sheet: If you’re going with oven drying rather than a food dehydrator, you’ll need a baking sheet. Larger is better as long as it will fit in your oven because we cannot layer the lemon pieces during preparation.
• Parchment Paper: Not needed if you’re using a food dehydrator. If you’re going with oven prep, though, you’ll need some to line the baking sheet with unless it is nonstick.
• Oven Thermometer: The real trick to using an oven successfully with this method is controlling temperature. We will dry our lemons at a very low temperature, far below what most consumer-grade ovens can be set to. Accordingly, an oven thermometer can be really helpful for an accurate measurement of the temperature inside.
• Veggie/Fruit Slicer: If you want to use lemon peels only, do yourself a favor and get yourself a veggie or fruit slicer. Either works wonders for getting just the outermost layer of the skin off—the part that has all of those aromatic oils and other compounds. Peeling the fruit with your fingers or using a knife is possible, but then you’ve got to scrape the pith off for best results. That’s a chore.
• Paring Knife: Useful for slicing whole lemons into the rounds we need for dehydration. Also useful for cutting off the peels alone if you want to go that route.
• Sifter/Sieve: This handy tool is needed for processing the powder as we grind it in the food processor or blender. Invariably, some clumps and larger pieces will remain. This will help us separate them for further processing.
• Cutting Board: Self-explanatory.
• Teaspoon: If you’re using peels alone, a simple teaspoon can come in really handy for scraping away the pith if you didn’t cut the peels off using a vegetable or fruit peeler.
• Silicone Spatula: Helpful for getting every last bit of powder out of your blender or food processor. Hey, we are working hard for this stuff, and every little bit counts!
• Airtight Container: Like all other powdery ingredients in our kitchen, it is imperative that you store your lemon powder in an airtight container for maximum shelf life. I recommend glass, but plastic or metal works okay.

Okay, that is everything we need regarding supplies and equipment. Time to get down to business. We’ll start with making lemon powder from whole fruit first since it’s a bit more straightforward and easier.

Making Lemon Powder from Whole Fruit

Step 1: Wash lemons. This first step is an important one. Thoroughly wash your lemons under cool water, and give them a scrubbing with a clean veggie brush or kitchen rag. If you’ve got a fruit wash you like to use, now’s a good time to break it out.

Drain well, shake off the excess water, and then pat them dry.

Step 2: Slice lemons into rounds. Transfer the lemons to your cutting board, grab your knife, and slice them into round pieces—discs no thicker than one-quarter inch. Note that you don’t need to worry yourself with popping out any seeds that are in there. They won’t affect the finished product!

Step 3: Preheat dehydrator/oven. Turn on your dehydrator, if you have it, to its low setting, usually around 100 to 105°F (40°C). If you’re using your oven, set it for that if it will go that low, but most won’t. That’s okay. Set your oven on the lowest temperature possible and leave the door cracked to let most of the heat out. Don’t forget to install your oven thermometer at this time.

Step 4: Place lemon slices on tray or baking sheet. Transfer the lemon slices to the dehydrator trays, making sure to keep them in a single layer with space in between each.

If they are lying on top of each other or touching, this will interfere with the drying process and significantly impact the finished product, often making it clumpier because moisture will be retained.

If you’re going the oven route, do the same thing with your baking sheet, but line it with parchment paper first.

Step 5: Process lemon slices until completely dry. Now load your dehydrator trays into the machine or pop the baking sheet into the oven.

With a food dehydrator, the slices will take about a day to dry—24 hours—and sometimes a lot longer than that depending on your machine. It might need to run for up to two days.

You don’t need to check on the slices until 24 hours have passed, but do remember to rotate your trays at the prescribed intervals if the manual for your machine recommends you do so.

If using the oven, open or close the door as needed to keep the temperature around 140°F / 60°C or a little lower. Because it is so much hotter, no matter what you do, the process usually doesn’t take as long. Check on the lemon slices every 6 hours or so until they turn dark and shrivel up.

Step 6: Test lemon slice for doneness. You’ll know your slices are finished when the flesh has turned a dark, burgundy-red or brown color, the skin has darkened, and the individual slices break cleanly in half rather than bending. If you drop one on your counter, it should make a clunk sound rather than a plop.

When they look good, test a piece, and if they are still bendy or soft, keep them drying for another couple of hours and then check again.

Step 7: Cut heat, remove from dehydrator/oven, and allow to cool. Once the pieces are done, stop the heat for the dehydrator or oven, carefully remove the trays, and set them aside on the stovetop or on racks to cool down to room temperature. This should take less than an hour.

Step 8: Load lemon slices into food processor, pulse. Once cool, put all of the lemon slices into your food processor or other machine—or as many as it will comfortably hold. Pulse it until the lemon slices are reduced to a powder consistency.

Step 9: Sift lemon powder into bowl or container. Once the lemons are as fine as they will get, remove the powder and sift it into a clean, dry bowl or other container. You should have some larger chunks left behind in the sifter or sieve.

Step 10: Reprocess larger pieces until fine. Transfer any larger leftover chunks back into your food processor or blender and repeat the previous steps until all pieces are at a consistent texture.

Step 11: Store lemon powder in airtight container. Transfer the powder into your airtight food storage container. Make sure it is absolutely clean and dry, and it has a good seal!

You are done. Assuming it is thoroughly dried out and you have a good container, your lemon powder will last at least a year if kept cool and in a dark place.

Making Lemon Powder from Lemon Peels

This section contains the step-by-step instructions for making homemade lemon powder from lemon peels alone.

Step 1: Wash lemons if peeling fresh. Assuming you are peeling whole lemons just for this recipe, and not working from collected peels you’ve been storing, wash the lemons thoroughly under cool water, then dry them.

Step 2: Peel and remove pith from peels, if needed. If the peels have any thick deposits of white pith on the undersides, grab your spoon or another scraping tool and scrape away as much as you can. This will improve the texture and flavor of the final product.

Step 3: Preheat dehydrator/oven. Preheat your food dehydrator or oven. Set a dehydrator to low, or between 100 and 105°F (40°C) if it has a precise temperature selector.

Set the oven to the same temperature if it will go that low, but if not, set it as low as it will go and leave the door open slightly so most of the heat can escape. Clip your oven thermometer onto the rack at this time.

Step 4: Load lemon peels on trays or baking sheet. Place all of your lemon peels, in a single layer and without touching, on the dehydrator trays or on your baking sheet. If you are using a baking sheet, line it with parchment paper first unless it is a non-stick sheet.

Step 5: Process peels until completely dry and brittle. Leave your lemon peels processing in the dehydrator for 24 hours or a little bit longer. They tend to go quicker than whole slices do. Do the same thing in the oven, but check on it more frequently to adjust the temperature, striving to keep it at or below 140°F.

Check on the lemon peels occasionally to make sure they are shriveling up and darkening.

Step 6: Test piece of peel for doneness. You’ll know the peels are close to getting done when they get thinner and the edges start to curl up. They will look a little bit like leather. At this point, pull out a piece and try to break it. It should be brittle, snapping cleanly with no bending.

When a few pieces do this, assuming they all look the same, they are done!

Step 7: Turn off heat, remove peels, set aside to cool. Turn off the heat to your dehydrator or oven, pull out the trays or baking sheet, and set them aside to cool down to room temperature. Give them about an hour.

Step 8: Place peels in food processor, pulse. Toss all of the peels in your food processor, blender, or other machine.

Pulse it until they reach a fine, powdery consistency.

Step 9: Sift lemon powder. Pour all of the lemon powder out and into your sieve or sifter, using your spatula if you need help. Sift the powder into a big mixing bowl or other container. You should have some larger pieces and clumps left behind.

Step 10: Pulse big pieces again until fine. Return the larger pieces to the food processor or blender, and repeat the previous steps until they reach the desired consistency.

Step 11: Transfer powder to airtight container and store. Take all of your freshly ground lemon powder, transfer it to your airtight storage container, and make sure the lid is securely attached.

All done! Easy peasy lemon squeezy, you are finished. Store your lemon powder in a dark, cool place. In a good container, it will last at least a year.

Great Uses for Your Homemade Lemon Powder

• Lemon powder can be used as a replacement for lemon zest in nearly any ingredient. Just sub in one teaspoon of lemon powder for every tablespoon of lemon zest.
• Add lemon powder to your favorite herbal tea mix or sprinkle a little bit into your favorite hot tea.
• Lemon powder is wonderful with salt and pepper on all kinds of savory dishes.
• It also makes a great rub or marinating ingredient for beef, chicken, fish, and more.
• Lemon powder, especially powder made from peels alone, adds a wonderful citrus flavor and aroma to all kinds of baked goods like muffins, bread, cookies, and more.
• Add a teaspoon or a little more of lemon powder to your favorite homemade salad dressing for a kick of brightness and flavor.
• Many savory dips, hummus and guacamole particularly, can be taken to delicious new heights with a sprinkle of lemon powder.
• Experiment with lemon powder in your favorite relaxing herbal bath mixes.
• It makes a highly aromatic and gently exfoliating ingredient in sugar or salt body scrubs.
• Lemon powder made from whole fruit has a tart, slightly bitter quality that works surprisingly well in soups, stews, and cocktails.