How To Make Zero-Waste Citrus Juice - ~ Texas Homesteader ~

by Texas Homesteader ~

There’s an easy way to get zero-waste citrus juice to use in your recipes. There’s no need to buy a plastic bottle of lemon or lime juice. I’m sharing a simple kitchen trick that’s cheaper and with no plastic waste.

Lime Juice Needed For A Recipe

Several weeks ago we were shopping for a family gathering and we needed to pick up some fresh limes for Homemade Pico de Gallo.

While we were in the grocery store to pick up limes, RancherMan decided that ‘6 for $1’ was the way to go. Although the price was certainly cheaper I wasn’t sure we’d go through all six limes.

As it turns out there were indeed limes leftover after our gathering. To keep them from going to waste I washed them and tossed ’em in the freezer whole. (I do the same thing with fresh lemons)

Come see how a frozen lime helps me reduce waste in the kitchen.

Don’t Forget The Zest

Fast-forward several weeks later & I needed a tablespoon of lime juice for a recipe I was working on. Those frozen limes to the rescue!

I pulled one out and zested it because, well you can ALWAYS use zest! I’ll dehydrate the zest & toss it in the next batch of cookies or something.

But I have an easy way to zest the remaining citrus, whether orange, lime or lemon. Come see how.

Easily & Quickly Juicing Lemon or Lime Citrus

I cut the now-zested citrus in half and let it finish thawing. Then I use my handy-dandy vintage juicer to quickly juice the lime or lemon with just a few turns of the wrist.

This juicer is typically used to make orange juice from fresh oranges. But why not use it for smaller citrus too? It worked beautifully.

I pour the juice through a small strainer to filter out any pulp and seeds.

Don’t Waste Leftover Lemon or Lime Juice!

When I’d used what I needed of the juice I wondered what I would do with the rest of the juice? OMGosh y’all are gonna love this:

I have 2 removable inserts from a deviled-egg carrier. I pulled them out to use for preserving this juice.

One teaspoon of juice was poured into each indentation. Then I stick the whole shebangie in the freezer.

When the juice is frozen I pop each frozen section out & put them in a labeled freezer bag.

The juiced & zested rind can finally be tossed in the compost so there is no waste. Done & DONE!

What a cheap solution for 100% juice. I’ve done this with both lemon as well as lime. And with no plastic bottle trash to deal with like I’d have with a purchased bottle of lemon or lime juice.

What Recipes Use Lemon or Lime Juice?

I use small amounts of lemon (or lime) juice in many of my Homestead recipes, such as:

Pico de Gallo

Homemade Hummus

Homemade Creamy Salad Dressing

No-Bake Lemon Ice Box Pie

Lemon Cookies made with Instant Potatoes

Homemade Mayonnaise

Most of My Homemade Jams & Jellies

And many more. It’s so helpful to have this zero-waste option when I just need a few teaspoons for a recipe.

Plastic-free, baby! Plastic free…

~TxH~

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6 thoughts on “How To Get Zero-Waste Citrus Juice For Recipes – Easy & CHEAP!”

Nancy at

I have never frozen any citrus fruit whole. If I have too many of something, I usually do everything you did after you froze before hand…..then I freeze. It takes up less room in the freezer. I also freeze bananas. I put peeled and mashed over-ripe bananas in a container, then when I have time to make bread I just pull it out.

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  I can see the squeezed citrus taking up even less room pre-squeezed, Nancy. Perhaps if I end up needing much more juice than one lemon’s worth I may also pre-squeeze and measure the juice in the future. For now, It’s much easier for me to locate that lemon or lime in its full glory than rummaging through various freezer bags! LOL ~TxH~
  
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candace at

I prefer my citrus peels be put in a jar with any number of “spirits” and some sugar. Then at some point when a teensy tot sounds like a good Idea, at a perhaps, later date I haul them out of the dark cupboard and sometimes dry them or sometimes eat them or sometimes toss them in a glass of water or whatever.

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Laurinda at

Thank you for this post-I hat NO idea you could freeze citrus fruits! Now when my husband buys too many lemons for me, I won’t have to worry about them going bad before I get to use them again!

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1. Texas Homesteader Post author at
  
  In the past I’ve had to throw away too-far-gone citrus as they sat in the bowl awaiting me to have occasion to use them, Laurinda. Now if they’re not used in a couple of days – into the freezer they go! Now they’re longer wasted! ~TxH~
  
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Evelyn Edgett at

Great idea! I have one of those juicers, and it gets used a lot. I also got one of those plastic folding juicers last year, and it’s nice for a quick squeeze of juice into my water glass. I found it at Dollar Tree, and it is still working well almost a year later, and shows no signs of breaking. Don’t forget you can make a great all purpose cleaner from lemon, lime, grapefruit, etc peels in a jar with white vinegar.

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