Make the best Lemon Jam at home with this super easy recipe. You need 3 simple ingredients only: lemons, water and sugar. No pectin here. Fill your crepes or top your cakes and tarts with it.
This jam has a zesty, refreshing and a little tangy flavor, so it’s good for warm spring days! You can either have it at breakfast, spread it on biscuits or use it as a topping on Lemon Bread. I have another plan with it though. I’m going to make lemon thumbprint cookies and fill them with it very soon!
Don’t you think even the name of this recipe sounds so tempting? I know it’s not the jam season yet, we mostly make it at the end of Summer or in September here in Turkey. So why did I make this lemon jam last night? Why am I that crazy to make it at night? Did I tell you that I forget about time concept when it comes to cooking?
My parents sent us a big box of lemons from their garden a few months ago and we’ve finally come to the end of these lemons! It was really hard to accept this sad reality when I saw last night that we had about a kilo left!
These lemons are coming from Mersin, which is a city famous for its citrus fruit. The lemons from there have such a heavenly fragrance that when you cut them in halves, you feel like you’re in a citrus yard!
So making jam with those lemons was my solution to keep the flavor of those wonderful lemons longer in our kitchen. It was the first time I was making it, so I was a bit excited and curious about the result. Despite all my fears, it came out perfect! No recipe could go wrong with these incredibly fragrant lemons! So use the best lemons you can find to make this jam. Maybe I could use some of them to make Turkish Delight with lemon flavor next time.
What Goes In Lemon Jam Recipe
We don’t need many ingredients for this recipe. You can make it right now if you have lemons, water and sugar. Nothing else is needed. This is the basic version of making lemon jam. If you want to enrich the flavor, add different ingredients like nuts or ginger.
Lemons are used in three different forms in this jam:
- Lemon zest
- Chopped lemons
- Lemon juice
Lemon Marmalade or Jam?
Do you know the difference between marmalade and jam? To my childhood knowledge, they have two main differences. Marmalade is thicker than jam and looks more like fruit puree. This is how we know in Turkish cuisine. When I searched these terms on the Internet, I discovered a few more details.
For one thing, jams contain fruit pulp and are like a combination of smashed fruit and sugar.
Marmalades, on the other hand, are made with citrus fruit and contain the peel of the fruit. Please read more about this on Primer Magazine:
What’s The Difference Between Jelly, Jam, Marmalade, Preserves and Fruit Spread?
So I think we can call this lemon marmalade recipe too because it has lemon zest and chopped lemons with the skin on.
Making Lemon Jam
The recipe has three straightforward steps.
First, prepare the lemons. Grate the zest of three lemons in a small bowl. Squeeze one of them. Put the lemon juice and grated lemons aside. Slice the fourth lemon into thin strips or chop it in bite size pieces or even in rings.
Second step is about removing the bitterness of lemon peel. Put the lemon zest and chopped lemons in a pot. Pour water over them and bring it to boil. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Strain the lemon zest and lemon pieces, put them back in the pot with clean water and repeat this step for the second time. Bring it to boil, simmer for 10 minutes and strain.
Third step is about making the jam. Put the cooked lemon pieces and zest in the pot along with sugar and water. Bring it to boil over medium high heat and simmer for 30 minutes over medium low heat. Let it cool in the pot and then keep it in a jar. You will see it is still runny when you remove it from heat. Don’t worry! It will get the right consistency as it cools down.
I’m leaving the image in the original post which was published in 2013 when we don’t have much experience about food photography.
OTHER LEMON RECIPES
- Lemon Cookies (naturally yellow)
- Kefir Bread With Lemon
- Lemon Ice Cream Recipe
- Lemon Curd Tartlets Recipe
- Lemon Poppy Seed Cake With Oil
OTHER JAM RECIPES
PrintHomemade Lemon Jam
Zesty, refreshing and fragrant lemon jam with three simple ingredients.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 1 small jar (200g) 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
- 4 lemons
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups extra water to boil lemons zest
Instructions
- Grate 3 lemons into a small bowl.
- Squeeze one of them to have 2 tablespoon lemon juice. Put the other two aside. We are not using them.
- Chop one lemon or slice it thinly into strips or rings.
- Put the zest and chopped lemon pieces in a pot.
- Pour 1 cup water over them. Bring it to boil over medium high heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
- Strain and repeat this step one more time. The bitterness of lemon zest will be removed this way.
- Add sugar, lemon juice and 2 cups water over strained lemon zest in pot.
- Bring it to boil over medium low heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. It will be runny at this step but gets thicker as it cools down.
- Keep it in a jar.
Notes
These ingredients make about 200 g jam, so double or triple the ingredients if you want a larger amount.
Keywords: easy lemon jam, lemon zest
This post was originally published in 2013 and has been updated with new pictures and additional information.
This is delicious. However, the cooking time is simply not long enough for the jam to set… I ended up reheating and reducing the jam for a further 40mins (approx) after finding it hadn’t set overnight.
Yes agree we have to keep on heating on low or medium heat and stirring it so evaporation may occur and the syrup thicken to become jam. I have Roselle jam before, almost same basic.
We love your jam recipe.We’ve made it a few times now.I have only one question.The final 30 minutes simmer,do you do that with the lid on or the lid off?
Hi Barry! Glad you enjoyed the recipe! Simmer it without the lid.
I was very excited to try this simple recipe, unfortunately mine did not thicken at all after cooling. It’s still very runny. Maybe I’ll try simmering it longer. Mine did not reduce in quantity either.
Thanks
★★
I must have done something wrong. My jam is still runny and looks nothing like yours. I put the actual lemon in, should l have just put in the skin and not the inside of the lemon?
★★★
Hi Vicky! Sorry to hear that you are having a problem. As stated in the recipe, we use 4 lemons. Use the zest of three lemons. Squeeze one of them so that you have 2 tablespoon juice. And chop one whole lemon into pieces. Did you follow these? If still runny after it waits for a while, you can always add one or two tablespoons lemon juice and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until it has a consistency. Hope this helps.
I followed your instructions to the letter. I then did as you suggested and added more juice and cooked again. I have less liquid now but still runny. I’m going to give it one more try. I’ll let you know what happens this time.
★★★
I thank you for recipes I.m go na make my own jam
★★★★
Can the finished product be kept in the pantry until use, or does it need to be refrigerated/frozen right away?
Seems to me only three lemons are necessary. The recipe isn’t clear.
★★★
I refrigerated overnight, and by gosh is it tasty!; and pretty in the jar. It’s very soft though, so my question remains, are the units in metric? I did use US measures and it seemed like a lot of water and sugar compared to peel and juice.
With extra cooking down though, it came out a useable soft consistency.
Thank you for sharing your recipe.
★★★★
Hi Linda, soory to hear that you didn’t end up with a thick consistency. I use a 250ml cup.
Could that be due to the lemon type you are using? The ones I use are really tangy and firm in texture.
My lemon “jam” tastes great but end result was much more than 200 gr. Reread recipe and decided the quantities must be in Turkish metric, so to save recipe I put back on stove and boiled a little longer. Stopped when I had 200 gr.
Well, this doesn’t seem to be working either. Must think on it.
★★★
How do you store your whole lemons so they last months? I love lemons and usually have several in my kitchen at any one time. I also keep my house on the cool side, around 68F/20C, but I always seem to have a couple lemons that go moldy.
I have questions! I spent the afternoon making this recipe and it did not work. I have two jars of thin liquid the consistency of water. In the last step I cooked the ingredients for 70 mins since they were not thickening after 30 or 45. At 70 mins I was out of time so put it in jars in the fridge. After cooling for 5 hours it’s no thicker than when I poured it in.
What in this recipe was supposed to make it get thick?
Why are there 2 cups of water in the last step? That’s an enormous of amount of water to add.
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Hi Sandra! Sorry to hear that it didn’t work for you. Well, I’m not sure what the problem is. The only thing that thickens the jam in the recipe is lemon juice. 2 cups of water decreases and thickens as it simmers and results in about 1 cup of jam.
Can you friize this jam?
No, I don’t recommend that.
Hello Zerrin!
This looks like a lovely recipe! I may have missed it, but how long does this jam last in the fridge? Thanks ever so much!
Thank you Lexi! You can keep it at room temperature for several months. Just make sure that you always use a dry spoon to scoop jam from the jar. Any wetness causes the jam to go bad.
which is correct boil for 30 min. twice or for 10 min. twice
★★★★★
Hi Richard! Sorry for the confusion. The right one is 10 min. Correcting it in the post now. Thank you for the heads up!
The problem of this recipe is the method of removing bitterness, because this way you lose also a lot of zest aroma. The correct approach, but bit more work required is to peel just the zest, remove the white pith and then proceed without washing. That way you get all aroma, but very little bitterness…
★★★
There is a huge amount of fat and protein in this jam. What else did you add?
Oh no! Nothing else is added. There was an error and I just corrected it. Thank you so much for the heads up! Sorry for the confusion.
Thank you for this beautiful recipe! This homemade jam could make a lovely gift for my friends’ birthdays!
Hi Lithenna! Can’t think of a better birthday gift than this.
I made this jam today with the lemons my neighbor picked from their lemon tree. Love that bright color and the taste! However, these ingredients made very little jam. Will try the recipe with more ingredients next time.
Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Hi Zerrin!
I’ve been thinking of how to use my sweet Mersin lemons for a while. And that’s it!
This weekend they’ll be turned into jam! Yummy!
Thanx for sharing the recipe!
Love&kisses!
Ece 🙂
Mersin lemons are the best, right?
Your house will smell fantastic this weekend!
Hugs and kisses 🙂
I am afraid this recipe didnt work as I have cooked over 2 hours, the jam didnt gel at all, still running like water.
I read the comments and added some lemon juice and simmered for awhile but still, it’s runny. I dont understand what did I do wrong and how did those who succeed.
Even though it cant turn into the lemon jam, it’s good lemon syrup.
By the way, I have read the instruction over and over again and I want to ask you a question.
You zest the lemon and put it in a pot. Did you put it with the content on the step 2? If you did, when you strain the water, how can you keep all the lemon zest as it’s so fine?
Thank you~
★★
Hi. i am loving your recipe and I’m inspired to make your delicious lemon recipe.
please could you answer 1 question for me.
I’m wondering if you strain through muslin or a jam strainer to achieve such a clear end product ?
Thank you. looking forward to trying this very soon
Hi Caroline! Well, I don’t strain the jam as a final step. It is just as it is.
Make sure you boil the lemon zest and lemon slices with some water and strain a few times until their bitterness is gone.
Hope you love it as much as we do.
I did it, and it worked great！！！
Thankyou~
very interesting I want to make lemon jam and juice at the same time.
Is it possible?
Hi, I was so excited to try this out but it didn’t work! The taste was too bitter and the zest/ sliced lemon didn’t gel. It remained the same. Was it because I used sweetener instead of sugar? Am really confused. What did I do wrong?
Hi Gunen, I’m sorry it didn’t work for you. The bitterness might be coming from the type of the lemon you used. Some lemons have really bitter zest and you need to do the first step more than two times. You know boiling the grated zest and sliced lemon in water and draining until that bitterness is gone. You can taste it after doing this 2 or three times and if it’s still bitter, repeat this step until the bitterness is removed.
As for the second question, I have no idea about sweeteners, but sugar helps its consistency.
Hope these help.
so 4 lemons are used, 3 only for the zest. one entire lemon is used for the remainder of the jam?. are seeds used for extracting pectin? in a cloth bag so they can be removed easily..this might aid in jelling. Also, not using the variety of lemons you mention that are extra tart/?bitter..another variety might mean one does not need to extract so much bitterness from the peel. The peel is a source of pectin also. by pouring off the water several times, you are deleting a lot of the pectin too. This means some experimenting could be done on other varieties. If people have a large quantity start with a single recipe amount and be prepared to play around a bit to get good results. I do not find ordinary lemons that bitter, just they can be really strong tasting. Meyer Lemons are milder and a better result can easily be obtained.
Thank you Zerrin for the suggestion & for the quick response. I will try that & let you know if that worked or not.
If it doesn’t work , there is always vanilla ice cream. 🙂
CJ
I hope it works. And I love your idea if it doesn’t. Lol!
Hi Zerrin,
I made one jar of his jam today with Meyers lemons. I followed the directions exactly, but after the 30 minutes, it was still runny. so i thought I would cook a bit longer, 30 minutes longer but it still didn’t setup. It does taste lovely and the color is beautifully clear. I hoped that it would set up when i put it in to the refrigerator to cool. Butt hat didn’t happen either. So if you have any suggestions to get it to set up . would appreciate it. I thought of pectin but wasn’t sure how much for one small jar.
I am new to your site & love your recipes.
Thank you, CJ
Hi CJ,
I’m sorry you didn’t get the des,red result. Could it be because of Meyer lemons? as far as I know they are sweeter and less acidic. Maybe it’s better to add a little (1 tablespoon) tangy lemon juice. Simmer for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Tangy lemon juice will help it get thicker.
Hope this helps.
Happy to hear that you loved our blog!
I bought a bag of beautiful lemons a week ago and they are perfect to make this jam now. Making 3 jars tomorrow. thanks. I love citrus jams that have a little tart flavor to them. Two of my best friends love it also, so they’ll be happy. Thanks much.
Hi, I’m in the UK, so when you say ‘cup’ of water, are you using American/ Australian measures?
Liquids in Mls please!…Xx
The cup I use is 250ml.
Just made this and I zested 4 lemons and then cut up 1 of those 4 lemons. I used a fine grater for 3 and a course grater for 1. Also I cooked it for 10, 10, then 60 mins to get the right consistency but it’s nice and clear.
What sugar do you use
Hi Vanessa, I use regular granulated sugar.
Could one of the problems of the jam being runny be because people are not covering the pot to let it simmer? I think I made that mistake.
Well, I don’t cover the pot indeed. I’m not sure what makes it runny. You can add extra lemon juice and simmer for 5-10 minutes more to make it thicker.
I made the lemon marmalade, but it did not thicken at all! Way to runny to put on toast. I even cooked it longer, but that did not make any difference.
I was hoping to give the marmalade to friends for gifts. Is there anything I can do to thicken the mixture, or do I just throw it out? It tastes ok so I could possibly use it as a topping for cheesecake. Other ideas appreciated.
You can add a few drops of lemon and then simmer it for some minutes to thicken the jam.
So not to sound stupid but I haven’t done a lot of canning, when you say grate 3 lemons are you meaning just the zest? And when you strain the water out of the lemons do you just discard the strained water and put new water in? Also, do you not need pectin to make this gel? I don’t see a step to make the pectin so just wondering. Lastly, I have what I believe to be Meyer lemons (the tree was here when we moved in but the fruit is slightly sweet) would those work and if so should I decrease the amount of sugar? Thank you! I’m a newbie with lots of questions
Hi Teresa, it’s always a pleasure for me to answer our readers’ questions. I’m happy you ask them here in the comments section, maybe some others have the same questions in their mind.
As for your questions, let me go one by one:
For your question 1: yes I mean grate the zest of 3 lemons.
For your question 2: You are right, just discard that water because it’s too bitter and we are trying to remove the bitterness of lemons by repeating this process. So after boiling and straining 2 times, we start the real step of lemon jam by adding sugar, lemon juice and water.
For your question 3: We don’t use pectin for this jam.
For your last question: I think meyer lemons should work fine for this recipe. Although I’m not 100% sure, I don’t think you need to reduce the sugar because we use the zest and they still need sugar. If the zest of your lemons are sweet too, then maybe you can use 150g sugar instead of 200g.
Hope these help.
Would love to hear the result when you try! Feel free to come back here and share it.
Hello it looks wonderful and I want to make it but the recipe itself does not appear for me and I am unable to click on anything. Can you Please send it to me.
thank you
Gabriela
I made the jam and it was delicious but too thin. I cooked it 30 minutes. Could it be that my lemons were too small and I should use 4 lemons zested instead of 3? Help……..I love the taste!
Linda, it’s most probably about the size of lemons you used. If the jam is too thin, you can grate even 5 or 6 lemons and slice 2 or 3 lemons instead of 1. Glad that you love the taste.
I tried this recipe today, excited & prepared to can. I was going to do 8 jars & 4of Orange. However w/ a few bad lemons, I decided on 7 jars of lemon. I Alterd the recipe & set out hopeful. The larger amount & Being a busy Mom of 5, it took me much longer than I expected. Grating 21lemons is NO Joke! In the end, my jam is STILL runny & no where near as pretty as yours 🙁 & the taste is a bit bitter. (I used Papa’s Lemons. They’re the size of my fist to a med Orange.)Any suggestions on a quick fix so i can wrap it up for the night? ?? More Sugar or Zest for flavor & sweetness? I thought about chia seeds for thickening? Idk? Don’t wanna throw out a good days work….
Hi Christina, I’m really sorry that the recipe didn’t work for you. You grated only the zest of lemons, didn’t you? It’s my fault that I didn’t stated it in the recipe. We should grate the yellow parts only and be careful not to grate the white parts as they give a sharp bitterness. Sorry but I’m not sure whether adding more sugar helps it. As for its consitency, did you change the amount of lemon juice in the recipe? What gives the jam the right consistency and thickens the jam is lemon juice. I used 2 tablespoons for 4 lemons. So I guess you should have used almost half of a lemon and get about 10 tablespoons of lemon juice. So to thicken it, you can put it over heat, bring it to boil and add lemon juice, let it simmer for about 5-10 minutes and then remove from heat. You can check it with a spoon. Mix with a spoon and if the jam sticks on the back of the spoon, it’s done. Hope these help.
I am a little confused. Do you use the 3 lemons you zested, or only the one you sliced into rings, or all of them? I could not figure out when and how to add in the 3 lemons.
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Thank you for posting this wonderful recipe! I found this in March of this year, and have made three batches of this since then! We have a very bountiful lemon tree, so I made five times the recipe at once. The end result was delicious – almost reminiscent of a tart lemonade! I found some lovely limes and ruby red grapefruits at the market the other day. Tomorrow I’m planning on trying this recipe, but substituting a grapefruit or perhaps a few limes for some of the lemons. Do you have any advice, or have you perhaps tried this recipe with other citrus fruits? Thanks again for such a deliciously spritely recipe, without the heavy bitterness common to most marmalades!
Thank you for sharing your feedback on my lemon jam. It is one of the greatest hits, isn’t it? Well, I tried the same recipe for orange leaving all the skins, but not with grapefruit. I think the skin of grapefruit is not so appealing, so you might leave them out or just use little. Would love to hear the result when you try!
The first instruction says to “grate 3 lemons”. Does that mean zest/grate the peels, or grate the entire lemon?
No not the entire lemon, just the zest.
Hi Zerrin,
It came out AMAZING. Do you think it would be okay to double the amount without affecting the beautiful color of the jam and would it take 60 instead of 30 minutes to cook. Not sure if you tried. Thank you soo much for sharing your recipe.
I made this Jam and it has been very popular i ended up with just one jar for my household will make it again but keep it a secret
Thank you Zerrin! I love the idea of making Lemon Jam late at night-I too lose all track of time in the kitchen. I have made lemon curd but never lemon jam. I am blessed with a lemon tree and can’t wait to try this one 🙂
Hello, Zerrin ! Love your site, it makes me dream of my beautiful holidays in Turkey, where I go with my husband almost every year (near Marmaris). A question, please: do I have to squeeze the juice from the 4 grated lemons ? Or is it enough to put only 2 tablespoons ? Thanks and all the best to you and your little one !
Hi Gabriela! Thanks for stopping by! Turkey is a wonderful place for summer holidays, isn’t it? And the west of it has the best sea!
As for your question, add just 2tbsp lemon juice to give the right consistency to the jam. The lemon flavor will be from the grated zest.
Cheers from Turkey
When you say grate the 3 lemons do you mean the whole lemon or just the zest?
Hi Sarah! I mean just the zest of lemons.
I am glad that you are telling us that NOW……after I wasted 4 lemons , sugar and time. When I read to grate that is what I do. I will try again now that I know how it is to be made.
Do you happen to know if this can be canned? It seems like it should be acidic enough, haha. Looks great but if I make it I want lots of it 🙂
This jam can be kept in jars for months! You need to make several jars of it then:)
Love how it came out clear and sure it is so delicious like it looks.
Hi Samah! It has a great tangy flavor! We still have a little left. Thinking on how else I can use it!
Uses: on top of ice creams, puddings, inside little filo dough pillows, on pancakes, waffles, crepes, toasts, bagels, muffins, English Muffins, as a glaze with grilled or baked meat and fish, g(Salmon.. Chicken .mmm) on top or in, chicken or fish salads, add to sweet or savory smoothies. Pasta (Linguine, Orzo) Rice., Filling inside cupcakes, tarts, topping on full sized or mini cheesecakes. My mouth is now watering, have some fresh lemons from my neighbor’s tree, going to go make some. Thanks for the beautiful photos and recipe!
All these are great ideas Patricia! Would love to hear your thoughts when you try it.
It’s not often I see a lemon jam Zerrin! I LOVE it! So refreshing and pretty! Like lemon sunshine. I’m off to check out your cookies!
This lemon jam is not too sweet, its fragrance and tanginess are outstanding, so we love it! Its color is great, isn’t it?
Looks and sounds delicious … and got an OOOOH out of me as I was scrolling through posts in my Reader feed. 🙂
Lol! Thank you Chris! It is that good when combined with a little butter on bread:)
My lips are puckering and my mouth is watering. I love lemony lemon desserts and I know this would be beautiful as a topping on so many things. I know how you feel about being in a time warp when we are creating and cooking in our kitchen. I totally loose track of time. I love your cloth napkins and ornate spoons so beautiful to see some of your favorite things on display.
I’ve already used it to fill thumbprint cookies today and it was perfectly tangy! It balances the sweetness of cookies. Happy to hear that you love the props!
This is going in my TO MAKE list! Looks and sounds so good. I have never attempted to make lemon preserves, but this recipe is very tempting. Great shot too! Thank you for sharing, Zerrin!
Hi Feride, you will love the lemon zest in it! I cut them in big slices, but you can chop into pieces too!
Don’t bother. I have just spent several hours with this shocking recipe. The final result is only half a jar of jam that isn’t even set. It is an absolute shocker!
I love how sharp the jam looks…How clear! Wonderful, Zerrin. I will try this jam recipe for sure. We are not that much into very sweet jams and marmalade but this one will be a good one to make and keep around with its tangy flavor.
Thank you Ilke! It is not too sweet, so I’m sure you will love it! Try to use fragrant lemons for this jam.