Simple Recipes to Use Up Leftover Lemons
These no-bake lemon cheesecake bars (Purely Kaylie) are made with wholesome ingredients, and make a nice tasty snack. All you need are cashews, coconut milk and real maple syrup for the base, plus of course fresh lemons!
Keep this recipe away from pets due to citrus, salt, garlic, onion and leeks. Read more on food safety for people & pets.
Bin citrus and leek (and all allium) scraps, as acid can harm worms in compost bins.
We all know the feeling of finding leftover lemons hiding at the back of the fridge. Instead of letting them go to waste, why not turn these yellow gems into something delicious?
Lemons are not local, but popular in recipes & drinks (roll between your hands before cutting, to release more juice). You can grind leftover lemon rind down waste disposal units to stop smells (don’t use lemons to clean kitchens if pets are nearby, as all citrus fruits are toxic to them).
How to Buy, Store and Prepare Lemons
Keep fresh lemons in a bowl in pet-free kitchens, or keep in the fridge for up to a week. Keep cut lemons in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a few days.
You can add a couple of drops of lemon juice to water, to stop fresh produce from going brown.
6-ingredient Vegan Lemon Cheesecake
6-ingredient vegan lemon cheesecake (Ela Vegan) uses silken tofu for the filling, sweetened with maple syrup and flavoured with tangy lemon juice and grated zest.
A Slice of Vegan Lemon Drizzle Cake
Apparently lemon drizzle is England’s favourite cake! Nice with afternoon tea, it’s light and zesty, and perfect for a snack.
This Vegan Lemon Drizzle Cake (The Veg Space) is a sponge with lemon drizzle syrup and topped with lemon icing. Serve with Earl Grey Tea (caffeine-free for pregnancy/nursing).
Use Flora vegan butter (no palm oil).
Not much is known about the origins of lemon drizzle cake. One theory is that it was created in the Jewish Chronicle in 1967, so it’s quite a modern cake.
A Recipe for Vegan Lemon Drizzle Squares
These Vegan Lemon Drizzle Squares are from Katy Beskow’s book Easy Vegan Bible. You can leave off the drizzle if wished, then freeze the leftovers, to take out and warm up, when you want a comforting pudding.
This is a very simple recipe, where you stir together the dry ingredients, whisk the wet ingredients, then combine the two.
Bake the batter in a lined baking tray for around 20 to 25 minutes, until golden.
The ‘lemon drizzle’ is made with the juice and zest of a fresh lemon, mixed with icing sugar (choose an organic version, to avoid eggs). When the cake has cooled, drizzle over the syrup, and slice into squares.
Vegan Lemon Pound Cake (Floured Frame) can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days or store (uniced) in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months.
It’s a simple recipe that just mixes up flour, salt, sugar, baking agents and the zest of 2 lemons with sugar, plant milk, vanilla, lemon juice and oil. It’s then glazed using a lemon-infused powdered sugar and more lemon zest.
Homemade Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie
Lemon meringue pie (Addicted to Dates) is not a seasonal dish (though you could sub the lemon for apricots, raspberries or blueberries). But it’s a popular one, so why not learn to make your own?
This recipe by an Irish classically-trained baker uses way more lemon juice and zest than store-bought, a nice acidity against the sweet pie crust. Make your own pastry to avoid palm oil.
A Unique Tasty Recipe for Lemon Pasta
This lemon pasta recipe (The Simple Veganista) is akin more to how Italians eat pasta. They don’t pour a jar of watery Dolmio sauce over spaghetti, and call it a meal. In Italy, pasta is more often the first course, but this meal is substantial enough for a proper supper.
Before cooking, read our post on food safety for people and pets (keep salt and lemons away from animal friends).
Here at England, Naturally – we’re passionate about sharing simple tasty plant-based recipes. And why? Because this site is all about taking back communities from ‘big business’ (whether that’s food brands or big stores).
Although it’s best to shop at farm shops and independent health shops, it’s also the case that realistically, most people have to shop at supermarkets, whether that’s for budget, or because there’s nothing else left!
So by learning to cook a few proper tasty nutritious dinners using affordable ingredients that you can buy from any store, you then free yourself from ‘plastic ready-meal kingdom’. This recipe tastes better than any jar of tomato sauce, and you’ll be eating fresh food, just like our Italian friends!
This is such a simple recipe. Go and buy the ingredients today, and by tonight, you will have mastered a favourite weeknight dish!
All you need to do is fry up some fresh garlic and dried red pepper flakes in vegan butter (all brands of Flora are free from palm oil). Or olive oil, if you prefer.
While your pasta is cooking, just squeeze and zest your lemons. Then it’s a simple case of tossing the pasta in the flavoured oil, lemon juice, zest and fresh parsley. And seasoning with sea salt and freshly-ground pepper.
This is so cheap and tasty! When you fry garlic and pepper in oil, this gives a lovely tasty base, like when you eat pasta in a restaurant. The ingredients won’t ‘slide off the spaghetti’ like watery tomato sauce does.
Lemons are rich in vitamin C, and fresh parsley is also nutritious. And if you buy the lemons and parsley loose (and choose a plastic-free pasta, see below) this is almost a zero-waste meal too!
And as we all know, pasta is very filling! To avoid food waste, it’s worth investing in one of those pasta measure things (you can find them in any kitchen shop). This is useful if you are only cooking for one or two – otherwise you may well end up accidentally cooking pasta for ten! We’ve all done it.
What Brand of Pasta to Use?
The Yorkshire Pasta Company and Northern Pasta Co are both home-grown brands that use British wheat, and sell in paper (not plastic packaging). We think either of these are a great idea to support local farmers, and avoid plastic waste.
How to Cook Pasta (like the Italians)
Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil, and salt the water before adding pasta. Unless you have a medical condition. Not salting water in Italy when cooking, makes it ‘silly pasta!’ You will notice the difference in taste.
Serve with Plant-Based Parmesan
Everything tastes better with a little grated cheese on top. But Parmesan is not even vegetarian, as by law it contains a cheese made with calf rennet.
Instead, just grate your favourite vegan cheese on top. Or learn to make plant-based parmesan! It’s very simple, and once mastered, you’ll never go back!
A Stunning Vegan Lemon Cake Recipe
This vegan lemon cake is from Rainbow Plant Life.
6-Ingredient Vegan Lemon Tart Recipe
This vegan lemon tart (Rainbow Nourishments) is a simple recipe that you are sure to keep making, once you’ve tasted it! Although not local, lemons are a popular ingredient in English desserts. And all can be made with plant-based ingredients. Also try lemon drizzle cake and vegan lemon meringue pie!
Before making, read up on food safety for people and pets (citrus fruits are unsafe near animal friends).
This creates a homemade shortcrust base with flour and vegan butter (Flora has no palm oil) and is sweetened with sugar, rice syrup or maple syrup. The filling contains both fresh lemon juice and zest, and is made with coconut cream.
Lemons are actually a hybrid fruit (a cross between oranges and citrons) believed to be from Asia or India, though today most are sold here which are grown in Spain. One tree can produce 600 lemons a year!
Rich in in vitamin C, they are also popular in natural cleaning recipes (but never use citrus near pets, not even when cleaning countertops or floors, as all citrus oils are toxic to animal friends). Choose unscented products instead
This lemon basil courgette pasta sauce (Exploring Vegan) is a nice unique sauce for your weeknight spaghetti dishes. It takes a while (40 minutes of simmering diced onion and courgette on medium heat) but the result is a ‘jammy sauce’ you’ll want to make again and again, due to the taste.
Choose organic courgettes (cross-pollinated versions can be unsafe).). Read more on food safety for people and pets (citrus, onion and garlic are unsafe near animal friends).
Just bin allium scraps (leeks, onion, garlic, chives, shallots), as acids could harm compost creatures (same for citrus/tomato/rhubarb).
What Brand of Pasta to Use?
The Yorkshire Pasta Company and Northern Pasta Co are both home-grown brands that use British wheat, and sell in paper (not plastic packaging). We think either of these are a great idea to support local farmers, and avoid plastic waste.
How to Cook Pasta (like the Italians)
Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil, and salt the water before adding pasta. Unless you have a medical condition. Not salting water in Italy when cooking, makes it ‘silly pasta!’ You will notice the difference in taste.
Serve with Plant-Based Parmesan
Everything tastes better with a little grated cheese on top. But Parmesan is not even vegetarian, as by law it contains a cheese made with calf rennet.
Instead, just grate your favourite vegan cheese on top. Or learn to make plant-based parmesan! It’s very simple, and once mastered, you’ll never go back!
