Lemon Sorbet Recipe

A flavorful lemon sorbet recipe that is deliciously simple. Fresh and bottled lemon juices combined with sugar create a delightful and satisfying play between sweet and sour.

Print Pin

Lemon Sorbet

A soft, citrus, frozen treat

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American, Italian

Keyword fruit sorbet, lemon, lemon sorbet, sorbet

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Equipment

• Ice cream maker (optional)

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 5 lemons (Juice of)
• 1 cup Lemon juice 5 more lemons, or the bottled variety
• 3 lemons, zested (3 of the lemons above)

Instructions

• In a medium saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar is fully incorporated, forming a syrup. Let cool
• Juice and zest the lemons of your choice. You should have about .5-1 cup of fresh lemon juice and 3 tbsp of lemon zest
• Add lemon juice and zest to the cooled syrup. Chill for 2-8 hours
• Follow your ice cream maker's directions for sorbet to freeze or place in a freezer-safe container and into a freezer for 4-8 hours, hand-churning every 30 minutes

Lots of Lemons

While citrus-based desserts are delightful, there’s something about using twelve lemons in a single dessert that is less than thrilling. Lemon juice and lime juice come bottled, as juice or from concentrate. There is notable distinction between the taste and impact of using freshly squeezed lemon juice, bottle lemon juice, lemon juice from concentrate, lemon zest, and lemon extract. It is worthwhile to find the right ratio and combination of lemon flavorings to bring any lemon treat to the desired level of sour and preferred flavor profile.

Lemon Sorbet – Lemon Supreme

Lemon sorbet is one of my favorite sorbets. It was the first recipe I made with my ice cream maker – recipe, period; not just sorbet. I have tried lemon sorbet, lemon sherbet, lemon gelato, frozen lemonade, and lemon ice cream. While each is quite lovely, the sorbet reigns supreme.

Lemon sorbet delivers a sharp tangy lemon flavor without any distractions. The flavor can be balanced between personal preferences for sweet and sour by altering lemon, water, and sugar ratios. There are options from a lightly lemon sugary treat, to a peaked perfection of citrus, to something so sour as to damage your sense of taste. My most sour attempt was a bit astray. The effect faded after a day. Regardless, take care if you dabble on that end of the spectrum.

For more sorbet recipes, click here.