How Much Juice is in a Lemon?

Many recipes require the juice of one lemon or the zest of one lemon. But exactly how much juice is in a lemon anyway? And how much zest is in a lemon?

In order to figure out how much juice and zest are in a lemon we used medium lemons weighing about 3.6 ounces for our test sample. There are 4 to 5 lemons in 1 pound. On average, one lemon has 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in it. One lemon also has 1 tablespoon of lemon zest in it.

So if a recipe calls for the juice of 1 lemon you can substitute 2 tablespoons of bottled juice. Or if it calls for 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and you'd rather use fresh you can just take the juice from 1/2 a lemon. Fresh lemon juice is often more complex than bottled so it's best to use it when you can.

Did you know that the lemon tree is an evergreen tree? Lemons turn from green to yellow because of temperature changes, not ripeness. And most likely the lemon originated from Asia, around Northeast India, North Burma, and China.

So now you can be confident that 2 tablespoons is how much juice is in a lemon. Having trouble juicing lemons? We highly recommended getting a hand juicer, such as the Bellemain Squeezer because it makes juicing lemons, limes, and oranges so much easier. If you are struggling to get the zest off, look into a zester, or better yet a microplane, which will also work with Parmesan cheese, nutmeg, garlic and ginger!

Custom Conversions for Lemon

One Lemon Equals

There is 1 Tablespoon (15 mls) of Lemon Zest in a Lemon

There is 2 Tablespoons (30 mls) of Lemon Juice in a Lemon

¼ ½ ¾ 1 1 ½ 2 2 ½ 3 3 ½ 4 4 ½ 5 6 7 8 9 10

Teaspoon(s) Tablespoon(s) Fluid Ounce(s) in Volume Cup(s) Pint(s) Quart(s) Gallon(s) Milliliter(s) Liter(s)

Lemon Zest Lemon Juice

You need 16 Lemons

Want a Fancy Cocktail?

How to Store Lemon

General How to Store Lemon Info

I need:ofFull Recipe: Smoked Manhattan Cocktail

You can usually squeeze more juice from a thin skinned lemon, but it is easier to remove the zest from a thicker skinned one.

Short Term Lemon Storage

If kept out of the direct sunlight, lemons can be stored at room temperature for approximately 1 week.

Lemons stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator will last for up to 3 weeks.

Once a lemon is cut, wrap it tightly in plastic and store in the refrigerator; it will keep 3 or 4 days before its flavor begins to diminish.

Lemon Side Notes

After salt and pepper, lemon may be the most commonly used flavoring ingredient in the culinary arts.

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What is the Produce Converter?

Full Recipe: Citrus Cured Salmon Sous Vide

One of the biggest hassles when cooking and working in the kitchen is when a recipe calls for "the juice of 1 lime" or a similar measurement. Often times when cooking people use bottled juices, pre-sliced vegetables and other convenient cooking time savers. Produce Converter will help you convert the "juice of 1 lime" and other similar recipe instructions into tablespoons, cups and other concrete measurements.

Produce Converter can also be used to figure out how many vegetables to buy when you need, for instance, "A cup of diced onion." You can use our easy conversion tool to figure out exactly how many onions you need to buy at the store in order to end up with the amount you need for your cooking.

We hope you enjoy Produce Converter and if you have any suggestions for how we can improve it and make your cooking easier please let us know.