How Much Juice in One Lemon

Here’s a few helpful tips to know about how to juice lemons, how much juice in one lemon and how many lemons for 1 cup juice, plus 25 lemon recipes. 

Lemons have a delicious flavor and perky scent and they’re one of the most popular fruits of the citrus family. The juice of lemons can be added to vinaigrettes, marinades, poured over chicken and fish, added to muffin and cake batter, and so much more.

Choosing the Best Lemons

Lemons should be bright yellow without any skin wrinkling or moldy spots, and the juiciest lemons will give a little when you gently squeeze them.  

How Much Lemon Juice in One Lemon

Want to know how much juice in a lemon? Well, the answer to that question depends on the size and ripeness of the lemon. The more ripe the lemon, the more juice it will likely produce. 

• 1 small lemon will produce about 2-3 tablespoon (or 1-1.5 fluid ounces)
• 1 medium lemon will produce about 3-4 tablespoons (or 2 fluid ounces)
• 1 large lemon will produce about 4-5 tablespoons (or 2.5 fluid ounces)

How Many Lemons for 1 Cup Juice?

There are 16 tablespoons in 1 cup, so you’ll either need about 8 small lemons, 5 medium lemons, or 4 large lemons to get 1 cup of lemon juice, but buy a few extra lemons to be on the safe side.

How to Juice Lemons

Some lemons can be tougher to juice than others, and some lemons produce more juice than others. Here are a few tips and tricks on juicing lemons to get the most juice from them to add to all your favorite lemon recipes.

1. With a lemon sitting on a countertop, press down hard with the palm of your hand and roll the lemon back and forth a few times. This helps to break the juice away from the pulp.
2. Cut the lemon in half lengthwise if you’re juicing by hand. It’s easier to grip when cut lengthwise.
3. Cut the lemon in half crosswise if you’re using a juicer or a reamer.
4. Using a fork, poke the pulp a few times to loosen up the membranes to release the most juice.
5. Use a reamer, juicer or a pair of cooking tongs to extract as much juice from the lemon as possible.

How to Store Lemons

Whole lemons can be stored at room temperature for up to a week and in the refrigerator for 4-6 weeks. Lemons will be juiciest when stored at room temperature.  If you won’t be using them within a day or two, then pop them in a zip-lock plastic bag and store them in the refrigerator. You can also freeze whole lemons (blended) and you can freeze lemon slices.

How Long Does Lemon Juice Last

Fresh squeezed lemon juice stored in a container with a tight lid will last in the refrigerator for about 3-4 days. The juice can also be frozen in an ice cube tray then transferred to a zip-lock freezer bag if you want to store the juice longer.

How to Use Lemon Juice – 25 Lemon Recipes

Lemon juice is so versatile and makes such a great addition to so many recipes for not only the perky pop of flavor but for nutritional benefits as well.  If you’re looking for some new healthy lemon recipes to put your lemon juicing skills to the test, here are some of my favorites! Click the recipe name to take you to the full post.

• Stir into vinaigrettes like this Cleansing Lemon Herb Vinaigrette,  Lemon Ginger Vinaigrette, Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette, Lemon Basil Vinaigrette and this Grilled Salmon Salad with Lemon Caper Vinaigrette
• Stir into soups like this Nourishing Lemon Chicken Quinoa Soup
• Blend it with garlic and olive oil to make an amazing Lemon Garlic Oil that you can marinate chicken with and pan-roast tomatoes with like this Chicken Shawarma
• Add to a glass of water to make Lemon Water
• Use it to make lemonade with like this Fresh Squeezed Lemonade and Healthy Blueberry Lemonade
• Stir into iced tea with honey to make sweet tea with like this Arnold Palmer Drink (Sweet Tea) or this Iced Green Tea with Lemon, Ginger and Apple
• Use it to make these delicious Lemon Ginger Popsicles
• Simmer with fresh ginger in water to make a Lemon Ginger Tea
• Use it to make detox drinks like this Lemon Ginger Morning Detox Drink and Turmeric Shots
• Stir into sauces
• Add to marinades
• Use it to make a perky lemon honey fruit salad dressing like we did with this Summer Berry Salad
• Stir it into cooked quinoa to make a delicious Lemony Quinoa side dish
• Pour over seafood dishes
• Make a delicious Chicken Piccata to serve for dinner
• Add it to vegetables like this Wilted Lemon Garlic Spinach and this Lemon Garlic Roasted Asparagus
• Use it to bake with, like we did with these Gluten-Free Lemon Blueberry Muffins
• Add it to pancake batter (lemon blueberry pancakes)
• Blend it with herb butter (for garlic bread, flour tortillas and corn on the cob)
• Mix with fresh dill and yogurt for a Lemon Dill Sauce

More Resources

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 1 Serving

How to Juice a Lemon

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Here's a few helpful tips to know about how to juice lemons, how much juice in one lemon and how many lemons for 1 cup juice, plus 25 lemon recipes. 

Ingredients

• 1 lemon

Instructions

1. With a lemon sitting on a countertop, press down hard with the palm of your hand and roll the lemon back and forth a few times. This helps to break the juice away from the pulp.
2. Using a fork, poke the pulp a few times to loosen up the membranes to release the most juice.
3. Cut the lemon in half lengthwise if you're juicing by hand. It's easier to grip when cut lengthwise.
4. Cut the lemon in half crosswise if you're using a juicer or a reamer.
5. Put the lemon cut side down on a juicer or a reamer and twist while you press down.
6. You can also squeeze the juice by hand or use a pair of cooking tongs to grip and squeeze the lemon to extract the juice.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

1

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 24Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 2mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 1g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations. See full disclaimer on About page.