Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (2024)

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Christine Benlafquih

Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (1)

Christine Benlafquih

Christine Benlafquih is a freelance writer and cooking class instructor with a background in Moroccan cuisine.

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Updated on 10/2/19

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Once you've sampled preserved lemons, you'll understand why they've become such a popular and essential ingredient in Moroccan cooking. Here's a list of recipes that call for this tangy, salty, and delightful addition.

If you're planning to make your own preserved lemons, be aware that they need a full month to cure before they're ready to use in cooking and salads.

  • 01 of 18

    Chicken With Preserved Lemon and Olives

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (2)

    Chicken with preserved lemon and olives is perhaps the most popular of Moroccan dishes which use preserved lemons. Along with saffron and ginger, they provide key flavor to this and othertagines.

  • 02 of 18

    Lamb or Beef With Preserved Lemon and Olives

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (3)

    Surprisingly easy to make, lamb with preserved lemon and olives may be prepared with lamb, beef, or ​goat meat. The recipe explains procedures for using a conventional pot or pressure cookerbut also links to the preparation method when using a clay or ceramic tagine.

  • Moroccan Fish Tagine

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (4)

    Use fresh or preserved lemon in this traditional fish and veggie tagine. A Moroccan marinade called chermoula adds plenty of flavors,but you can make things a bit fiery by adding cayenne or chili pepper.

  • 04 of 18

    Moroccan Cauliflower

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (5)

    Moroccan spices and preserved lemon transform a head of cauliflower into an exciting side dish full of flavor and color. You might also consider offering it as a light vegetarian entree.

    Continue to 5 of 18 below.

  • 05 of 18

    Moroccan Artichoke Salad

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (6)

    Artichoke hearts and bottoms are a favorite vegetable while in season during winter months. For this Moroccan artichoke salad, they're simmered in a tangy sauce with Moroccan spices, garlic, and preserved lemon. Olives add color and flavor.

  • 06 of 18

    Cooked Salad With Preserved Lemon and Olives

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (7)

    Mallow is a plentiful green in Morocco, but if it's not available in your area you can make this mallow salad with spinach or a mix of greens. This cooked salad boasts incredible flavor. Seasoned with olive oil, garlic, herbs, and spices, it should be offered as a dip with wedges of Moroccan bread.

  • 07 of 18

    Salade Mechouia

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (8)

    Roasted pepper and tomato salad is a popular offering in homes, restaurants, and roadside grills. It can be eaten as a dip or used as asandwich filler along with meats. This version includes a little bit of minced preserved lemon rind for extra flavor.

  • 08 of 18

    Beef or Lamb Tagine With Carrots

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (9)

    Zesty seasoning and tangy preserved lemons contrast perfectly with the natural sweetness of carrots in this beef or lamb tagine. If you like things fiery, offer a little harissa on the side.

    Continue to 9 of 18 below.

  • 09 of 18

    Lamb With Cabbage

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (10)

    Cabbage may not make it onto your shopping list most weeks, but do give this dish of lamb with cabbage a try. It's a surprisingly delicious way to prepare this vitamin-C abundant vegetable.

  • 10 of 18

    Lamb or Beef Tagine With Cardoons

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (11)

    Although many Americans have never tried cardoons, in Morocco they're quite popular, particularly when prepared in this classic tagine recipe with preserved lemons and olives. You may find them at a farmers market if you don't grow them yourself. Cardoon stalks look like giant celery and if you are unfamiliar with them, you will need to know how to clean cardoons to prep them for cooking.

  • 11 of 18

    Tangia Marrakchia

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (12)

    Enjoy this tangia marrakchia, often called bachelor's stew. Although you'll sometimes find tangia recipes calling for a conventional pot or pressure cooker, the traditional way to prepare this stewed meat dish is to slow-cook it in an urn-like clay pot called a tangia. If you don't own a tangia, you can use a casserole or other oven-safe dish instead.

  • 12 of 18

    Chicken Tagine With Nigella Seeds

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (13)

    The addition of preserved lemon is optional but recommended in this chicken dish with nigella seeds. The seeds impart oregano-like flavor and have the added benefit of being very healthy for you.

    Continue to 13 of 18 below.

  • 13 of 18

    Chicken With Potatoes and Olives

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (14)

    This delicious chicken with potatoes and olives has been a family favorite for many years. Preserved lemon is optional for those who like its tangy, lemony flavor.

  • 14 of 18

    Lamb or Beef With Carrots, Potatoes and Chickpeas

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (15)

    This tagine with carrots, potatoes, and chickpeas is another veggie-laden tagine that calls for preserved lemons and olives for extra flavor. Use lamb, beef, or goat meat. If using dried chickpeas as most Moroccans do, remember to soak them the night before.

  • 15 of 18

    Lamb or Beef Tagine With Eggplant

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (16)

    This tagine with eggplant is another tagine where preserved lemons are optional but recommended. Meat is stewed with onions, tomatoes, and partially-pared eggplant. The traditional Moroccan seasoning includes ginger, saffron, turmeric, cinnamon, and pepper.

  • 16 of 18

    Tagine of Lamb With Green Beans

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (17)

    Potatoes are a common addition to this classic tagine of lamb and green beans. Beef or goat meat may, of course, be substituted for the lamb.

    Continue to 17 of 18 below.

  • 17 of 18

    Lamb or Beef Tagine with Potatoes

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (18)

    This delicious family meal of lamb or beef with potatoes features kid-friendly potatoes stewed with lamb or beef until tender. Robustly seasoned with Moroccan spices, the sauce is given a unique lemony flavor by the addition of preserved lemons.

  • 18 of 18

    Easy Baked Chicken Tagine

    Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (19)

    Fragrant, delicious, and easy to throw together, this chicken tagine gets baked in the oven rather than being prepared stovetop. For casual meals, patates frites are often served right on top!

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Use Your Preserved Lemons in These Moroccan Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How do you eat moroccan preserved lemons? ›

Pop them whole into stews; add thin-sliced slivers into drinks; or mince them up for earthier pasta sauces. Before use, rinse to tame the saltiness and be sure to discard the seeds; because of the fermentation process, the rind and pith are fine to consume and will taste the same as the flesh.

What is the significance of preserved lemons to moroccan cuisine? ›

Preserved Lemons are incredibly versatile in the kitchen and can be used in a variety of dishes. They are a key ingredient in Moroccan cuisine, adding a distinct salty and lemony flavor to tagines, stews, and salads. The great news is you can eat the whole Preserved Lemon - rind, pulp, and all!

What can I do with a jar of preserved lemons? ›

Fragrant, strongly flavoured preserved lemons are well worth the wait. You can use a tiny bit each time stirred through mashed potato to serve with fish, mixed into rice for prawn curry, or in a tagine for authentic Moroccan flavour.

What do Moroccan preserved lemons taste like? ›

Moroccan preserved lemons are a flavor powerhouse, offering both the tart acidity of fresh lemons and a salty, tangy funkiness coaxed out during the curing process.

Should you refrigerate preserved lemons? ›

Jars of preserved lemons can keep for months in the refrigerator and may develop a deeper pickled flavor and softer texture over time. “Shake the jar now and then to keep the lemons moist; otherwise, the salt may rise to the top and form a crust,” says Sahadi Whelan.

What are the benefits of eating preserved lemons? ›

For one, lemons are chock-full of healthful properties, like vitamin C, which is rich in antioxidants and has long been claimed to help boost immunity. There's also tons of lemon peel benefits, and because the entire fruit becomes pleasantly edible when preserved, you can reap these benefits, too.

What part of a preserved lemon do I use? ›

But if you're new to cooking with preserved lemons and still getting to know the strength of their flavor, it's best to use the rind and pulp separately. The peel and rind are where the most concentrated, citrusy flavor is. After separating it from the pulp, the peel should be finely sliced, minced or chopped.

How long does a jar of preserved lemons last? ›

Properly stored in the fridge, salt-preserved lemons can keep for a good 6 months. It is important to use a good canning jar with a tightly closed lid, and make sure the lemons are well submerged in the lemon juice. Some sources say they will last a good year, that may be, but I like to play it safe.

Do you wash the salt off preserved lemons? ›

Preserved lemons add a big punch of flavor, instant umami, and complexity to any dish. Rinse the salt off before using preserved lemon in place of fresh in recipes. The cured lemons will last up to a year in the back of the fridge.

What are preserved lemons good for other than tagines? ›

Preserved lemons are the ultimate flavor booster that will elevate your home cooking! All you need are lemons, salt, a jar, and time (10-15 minutes of prep and 3 weeks to ferment). They add a brightness and depth of flavor to stews and soups, grain and legume salads, dressing, sauces, and more!

Can you use the liquid from preserved lemons? ›

Because we prize preserved lemons for their softened, salty, umami-packed rinds, many recipes call for rinds only. Those recipes may also instruct you to discard the pulp. But save both the flavorful pulp and brine.

Can you vacuum seal preserved lemons? ›

Preserved lemons can also be prepared using sous-vide technique. Divide the lemons, salt and spices evenly amongst 3 small vacuum sealing bags. Place into the vacuum sealing drawer and Seal on setting 3 and Vacuum on setting 3.

What is another name for preserved lemons? ›

Preserved lemon or lemon pickle is a condiment that is common in the cuisines of Indian subcontinent and Morocco. It was also found in 18th-century English cuisine. It is also known as "country lemon" and leems.

What does 2 year old preserved lemon taste like? ›

The flavor of a preserved lemon needs no justification. It's mellow yet intensely lemony, with none of the nose-tickling bright high notes of the fresh lemon.

Why is my preserved lemon bitter? ›

If you are working from your home made preserved lemons you will want to rinse them off completely and scrape the white pith away from the yellow rind. The white part is bitter. You can use the inside of the lemon in many ways including a salad dressing. That bright yellow rind though is mostly what you'll want to use.

Do you eat the whole preserved lemon? ›

You eat the whole lemon, rind and all — though I'd recommend removing the seeds first. Rinse them quickly under cool water to remove excess salt and then chop them up for your dish. Under the influence of salt, the intense bitterness of the rind and pith mellow out and develop a sunny lemony character.

References

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