Homemade Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Ditch the store-bought lemon pepper seasoning mixes that don’t even contain real lemon (gasp!) and are loaded with additives. Instead, make your own citrus spice mix with fresh lemon zest and a few spices. It’s so easy and tasty you’ll wish you’d started making it years ago!
Ingredients
3-4 small lemons (preferably organic), zested
2 teaspoons of freshly cracked peppercorns
1 teaspoon of quality sea salt (I used Pink Himalayan)
1/2 teaspoon of granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
Recommended Equipment
zesterormicroplane
large baking sheet
electric grinderor mortar & pestle
Use a zester or microplane to remove the peel from the lemons (avoid the white pith). Spread the fresh lemon zest in a single layer onto a large baking sheet. Set your oven to the lowest temperature possible (mine is 170 degrees) and place the zest in the middle rack.
Keep the lemon zest in the oven until all the moisture is gone and it’s dry to the touch. Mine took about one hour, but the time could fluctuate depending on the temperature of your oven and how much zest you’re using. To be safe, check it every half hour.
Using an electric grinder, mortar and pestle or pepper mill, crack peppercorns until you have 2 teaspoons worth. You can make it as coarse or fine as you like.
Measure out 1 tablespoon of the dried lemon zest (you may have extra leftover depending on the size of your lemons) into an electric grinder OR mortar. If using a grinder, pulse 3-4 times, or until you’ve reached your desired texture. Be careful not to overdo it, or it will be too powdery. If you’re using a mortar, crush the lemon zest with the pestle until it reaches a texture you like.
Mix the lemon zest, freshly cracked black pepper, sea salt, granulated garlic and onion powder into a small container and shake to combine. Store in an airtight container and use within three to six months for best flavour.
Notes & Tips
When I took the pictures for this recipe, I crushed the peppercorns first and then mixed them into my grinder with the dried lemon zest to blitz them together. This made the pepper super fine, which was OKAY, but turned out a bit powdery for my taste. Next time, I will do them separately and make everything slightly coarser.
Adjust the ratio of the spices to YOUR taste.
Do you like a more lemony flavor? Add more zest! A peppery kick? Use more peppercorns. Test out this batch in a few recipes and tweak it to your taste.
– delightful on salmon fillets or steaks, chicken or seafood and even beef
– you can use a dehydrator for the lemon zest instead of the oven
– is the ratio is 1 tbsn of zest to 2tspns pepper – Obviously the zest from 3-4 lemons is much more.
A small lemon typically has 1/2 tablespoon or more of zest give or take and I call for 3-4 small lemons zested, which should be about 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons of lemon zest with 2 teaspoons of cracked black pepper. The ratio as written is definitely more zest and less black pepper, but you could add more black pepper if you like – it’s totally up to you! I love black pepper, but I tend to hold back on it a bit since other folks can find it spicy.
