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! “I must find a way to keep these beauties longer!”, I thought.
What makes these lemons so special? They 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.
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 30 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 30 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.
Homemade 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
- 3/4 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.
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