We’ve all experienced that mouth-puckering sourness that comes with biting into a lemon, and yet that sour, acidic taste is something we truly enjoy in many recipes (examples are coming up)!
In fact, it’s such a popular flavor that we have lemon extracts, lemon zest, and lemon juice to help us add the great flavor to different things – but when should you pick lemon juice over the other ones?
We’ll explore everything you need to know about lemon juice, including what it is, how it’s different from the popular lemon extract, how to use it, and some recipes that you can try! We’ll also give you the rankings of our favorite lemon juices based on our testing, giving you a bunch of awesome ones that are high-quality and sure to get the job done!
Let’s take a look!
What is lemon juice?
Lemon juice is quite simply juice from a lemon! In its purest (and best) form, lemon juice is just squeezed lemons, providing us with a sharp, sour, and tart liquid that packs quite a punch!
It’s something that’s mainly used in baking, especially in bakes that strive for a bit of extra tartness or oomph in terms of sourness and acidity. Lemon juice isn’t as strong as lemon extract, but we’ll take a look at the differences between those two in more detail…
What’s the difference between lemon juice and lemon extract?
Lemon juice and lemon extract are both ways to add a lemony flavor into your dishes, but they come with a couple of differences.
First, lemon juice has a more sour and tart flavor to it, while lemon extract has that lemony flavor without the acidic taste. This makes lemon extract a little more balanced without the bitterness and tartness that lemon juice has – imagine the flavor when sucking on a lemon…that’s lemon juice!
That creates some differences in how they’re used, as lemon juice excels in recipes that need a little more tartness and sharpness, while lemon extract is best used to add the lemon flavor without the punch that lemon juice packs. Also, lemon juice moistens dishes, so you’d have to add water with lemon extract if you’re substituting it out.
Lemon juice also isn’t ideal for dairy products, as the high acid content can curdle those if you’re not careful – lemon extract doesn’t have that problem!
So, try using one that matches your needs!
How to use lemon juice in recipes
As mentioned, lemon juice is perfect in recipes that aim to have a lot of tartness along with the lemon flavor. The acidic and sour taste of it provides a strong punch in recipes, and can really create some awesome flavors!
You could substitute lemon extract for lemon juice, but lemon extract will have a more concentrated flavor in bakes than lemon juice will. You see, the alcohol in the extracts bake out, essentially making them twice as strong as lemon juice…
So, if you’re substituting these around, use 2 teaspoons of lemon juice for every 1 teaspoon of lemon extract! And, for lemon zest, also use 2 teaspoons of lemon juice for every 1 teaspoon of lemon zest.
Lemon juice can also be a substitute for apple cider vinegar in many cases.
You can also use lemon juice to create a pop of flavor in different drinks, pairing it with tea, soda water, cocktails, and more! It’s quite versatile, and you can feel free to experiment!
Top recipes for lemon juice
Try out these delicious recipes that take advantage of lemon juice’s unique flavor profile:
- Lemon coconut cake: Pairing the punch of lemon juice with the tropical deliciousness of coconuts? Yes, please! This wonderful recipe creates a wonderful blend of sour and sweet, taking full advantage of the great flavor profile that lemon juice provides!
- Lemon pie: This pie is gluten-free, dairy-free, and keto-friendly, making it a delicious dessert to enjoy while on your special diet! It has some zing to it thanks to the lemon juice, and really shows off how great lemon juice’s flavor is.
- Lemon bars: Another keto-friendly recipe, these lemon bars are mouth-watering delicious! The use of lemon juice adds a special kick with its acidic and tart flavor, making these a great treat to enjoy anytime!
How to choose the best lemon juice
Not all lemon juices use the best ingredients, taste good, or get the job done, so we’ve done our research and found only the best lemon juices to recommend! We’ve also created this list of criteria that helped us make our lemon juice rankings:
- Ingredients: The best products are completely natural (and in this case, only have 1 ingredient). We value natural ingredients above all else, and avoid artificial ones as much as we can.
- Consumer feedback: Listening to our fellow bakers gives us a much greater insight on what people enjoyed or disliked about each product, helping us create a more well-rounded list.
- Track record: We don’t like brands that aren’t transparent, don’t help their customers, or just have a bad rep for a number of other things, so we do a bit of detective work and check the behind-the-scenes of each brand.
- Price: Lemon juice tends to be quite affordable, and we’ve included a range of prices to ensure that there’s something for you!
Now that we’ve gone through all that, let’s jump into the rankings!
#1 Best Overall: Volcano Bursts
The best lemon juice comes from Volcano Bursts!
We love this one because it is 100% organic, purely coming from just lemons – there are no other ingredients! It tastes delicious, and has a flavor profile that shows how great the juice from Sicilian lemons is. Volcano Bursts lemon juice has just the right amount of sourness and tartness, being the perfect way to add the lemon flavor into your dishes!
It’s USDA certified for its organic label, with no preservatives and also being kosher-certified.
It comes in at $0.52 per fluid ounce, and you won’t find a better one for the price!
Ingredients: 100% organic lemon juice.
#2 Best Organic: 365 by Whole Foods Market
In second place we have the lemon juice from 365 by Whole Foods Market!
This is one of the most delicious lemon juices on this list, and is our vote for the “best organic!” It comes straight from the lemon, and boasts a great flavor that’s bound to level up your dishes!
Something great about 365 by Whole Foods Market is that they’ve banned over 100 ingredients due to their strict standards regarding quality. This includes things like FD&C colors and hydrogenated oils, which is a relief knowing that we don’t have to worry about those things in this lemon juice!
You’ll love this one for the flavor, as you get to experience a truly organic product for the amazing price of $0.50 per fluid ounce!
Ingredients: Organic lemon juice.
#3 Runner-Up: Santa Cruz
Another organic option, the third spot goes to Santa Cruz!
This lemon juice rounds out our top 3 with a bang, as this delicious product is gluten-free, non-GMO, and USDA certified for organics. It’s super flavorful and tastes exactly like it should – like a lemon!
It’ll give your baking an oomph while being completely natural, letting you enjoy the great blend of flavor properties without worrying about sketchy ingredients!
Ingredients: Organic lemon juice.
#4 Best Kosher: Tuscanini
The best kosher lemon juice comes from Tuscanini!
This lemon juice is straight from the lemon, with no added water! It’s imported out of Italy, giving credit to the brand’s name. You’ll absolutely love it for its amazing flavor, but you’ll also love it for being kosher-certified – you can use it year-round, making it the perfect choice for Passover!
Made in Italy and coming in at $0.30 per fluid ounce, you won’t regret grabbing Tuscanini lemon juice!
Ingredients: Lemon juice (not from concentrate), potassium.
#5 Most Budget Friendly: Happy Belly
The most affordable option on this list comes from Happy Belly!
This is a great tasting lemon juice that will really help your bakes pop, and it’s extremely well received with nearly 25,000 positive reviews!
Happy Belly does include some additional ingredients, including preservatives, which we’re not fond of…but it does taste good and gets the job done. It costs just $0.07 per fluid ounce, which is an amazing price! However, the extra ingredients keep it from being ranked higher on this list.
Try it out!
Ingredients: Filtered Water, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Less than 2% of:, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Sodium Bisulfite (Preservative), Lemon Oil.
#6 Honorable Mention: Iberia
The number 6 spot goes to Iberia, who gets an honorable mention.
Their lemon juice is solid, and is kosher. The flavor is great and it does what it needs to – plus, it’s the second most affordable on this list, coming in at $0.12 per fluid ounce! There are no ingredients in it outside of lemons, but it’s from concentrate, and we don’t prefer that for flavoring reasons – a from concentrate juice goes through a filtering process that extracts water.
However, Iberia made an overall solid lemon juice that we’re sure you’ll enjoy!
Ingredients: Lemon Juice from Concentrate.
#7 Honorable Mention: Nevlers
Another honorable mention goes to Nevlers lemon juice!
This is a great product that has a really great lemon flavor, and is priced well at $0.33 per fluid ounce. It’s also kosher-certified, and it does the job really well!
As much as we like Nevlers lemon juice taste-wise, they include preservatives in it, which is something we avoid when we can. We prefer all-natural ingredients without any additions, as those make for the highest-quality products! This is still a good lemon juice that tastes good, however, so try it out if the extra stuff doesn’t bother you!
Ingredients: Lemons; Antioxidant Potassium Metabisulfite (to preserve freshness).
#8 Honorable Mention: Nellie & Joe’s
Our third honorable mention goes to Nellie & Joe’s lemon juice!
Made in the USA, this stuff is crafted with obvious care and attention to detail, just like a lot of the other choices on this list! It tastes really good, and is rated well by others. However, it doesn’t rank higher due to having preservatives and other ingredients added while being priced nearly the same as number 1 on this list, which is purely made from lemons.
Regardless, Nellie & Joe’s have made a solid overall lemon juice!
Ingredients: Lemon Juice and Lemon Oil from Concentrate and less than 1/10 of 1% Sodium Benzoate as a Preservative.
#9 Honorable Mention: ReaLemon
Our final honorable mention, and our final lemon juice, is from ReaLemon.
With a clever brand name comes a great product, as this tasty lemon juice really does what it needs to – add a pure lemon flavor!
Now, it’s great, we like it, and it’s very well received by others, but it takes last place in today’s rankings because it’s the most expensive on this list, costing $1.11 per fluid ounce without adding any benefits over the other options on this list.
Plus, it includes preservatives and extra ingredients, which is unnecessary and unfortunate, as this is a solid product outside of those factors.
Ingredients: Lemon Juice From Concentrate (Water, Concentrated Lemon Juice) And Less Than 2% Of Sodium Benzoate, Sodium Metabisulfite And Sodium Sulfite (Preservatives), Lemon Oil.
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