26 Creative Lemon Recipes | Cooking On The Weekends

These 26 Creative Lemon Recipes range from an amazing appetizers and soothing soups, to scrumptious sides and delectable desserts. All of them make the flavor of lemon shine. There are so many ways to use lemons and there's definitely a recipe here for everyone.

Peeled lemons with their skins next to them on a cutting board.

One of my favorite things about winter is that with it comes citrus season, and my little Meyer lemon tree always becomes heavy with fruit.

And when life gives you lemons . . . well, of course there's lemonade -- but, there are so many more amazing uses for lemons in recipes.

How about: "When life gives you lemons, make Lemon Flan." Or "When life gives you lemons, make Fried Lemon Caesar Salad?"

There are so many creative things to do with lemons in the kitchen, and I love working them into all sorts of sweet and savory recipes.

Meyer lemons are my favorite, but these recipes can be made with most lemon varieties.

Creative Lemon Appetizers

Lemon Pesto

Strawberry, mozzarella and lemon zest of toothpicks to make caprese, with basil.

Lemon Strawberry Caprese

Close up of ceramic bowl full with poblano guacamole with lemons and a chip.

Lemon Poblano Guacamole

Creative Lemon Main Courses

Three baked Rockfish Fillets on white platter with fresh thyme and lemon slices.

Lemon Baked Rockfish

Spaghetti with lemon and fresh thyme on a blue-rimmed ceramic dish.

Meyer Lemon Thyme Spaghetti

Cast iron skillet with browned chicken with lemon slices.

Skillet Chicken with Lemon Shallot Sauce

Super browned roasted spatchcock chicken with lemon and fresh herbs on a wooden platter.

Spatchcock Chicken Under a Brick with Lemon-Paprika Butter

One fillet of golden pan-seared sea bass with capers on top, on blue and white china with one bite removed.

Chilean Sea Bass with Lemon-Caper Sauce

Roasted chicken thigh-leg on lemon slices with fresh thyme.

Simple Honey-Lemon Roasted Chicken

Creative Lemon Side Dishes

Smoky Vegetable Quinoa in an off white ceramic-speckled bowl.

Lemon Vegetable Quinoa

Steamed artichoke with lemons slices between the leaves on a white plate

Steamed Artichokes & Lemon Beurre Blanc

Creative Soups with Lemon

Purple bowl with puréed kohlrabi soup, with a drizzle of oil.

Coconut Kohlrabi Lemon Soup

Greek chicken and lemon soup in a bright red bowl with a spoon

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (Kotosoupa)

Creative Salads and Salad Dressings with Lemon

sliced tomatoes and cucumbers in a white pie plate

Lemon and Tomato Cucumber Salad

Lemon Marinated Fioretto Salad on a white plate with a red plate beneath it.

Fioretto Cauliflower Salad with Lemon

Fried Lemon Caesar Salad

Top view of open jar of Lemon Basil Vinaigrette with fresh basil leaves.

Lemon Basil Salad Dressing

Creative Lemon Desserts

Meyer Lemon Flan

Top view of whole Gluten-Free Meyer Lemon Cake with Olive Oil on a white plate on a red cloth.

Olive Oil Lemon Cake (Gluten-Free)

Candied Citrus Peels in a small white bowl on a purple cloth with 2 orange Meyer lemons in the background.

Candied Lemon Peels

Lemon Blueberry Cookies

One slice of Lemon Hot Milk Cake on a white and blue plate with a silver fork, surrounded by fresh lemon slices.

Vanilla Lemon Hot Milk Cake

Stack of Meyer Lemon Cookies with the top one broken in half, surrounded by more cookies and lemons.

Meyer Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Lemon Frozen Custard with Lavender

Several pink lemon bars with powdered sugar dusted over them.

Pink Lemonade Coconut Bars

Top view, close up of a Basil Cheesecake with one slice removed and many small basil leaves on top.

Sweet Basil Cheesecake with Lemon Crust

I hope you love all of these delicious and creative lemon recipes as much as my family and I do!

Comments

David

July 01, 2014 at 12:11 pm

Lemon is my favorite of most flavors. Thanks for all these fabulous ideas!

Patricia

February 10, 2018 at 7:09 am

OMG, So inpirational! I have about 8 ripe lemons on my tree now, so what to choose??! Thank you for sharing your talents Valentina.

- valentina
  
  February 11, 2018 at 7:41 pm
  
  Awww, thank you so much Patricia. It's my lemon tree that inspires me. 🙂 xo
  
Marissa

March 22, 2020 at 11:56 am

Lucky you with a lemon tree! So many beautiful recipes - first up to try for me is the Fried Lemon Caesar. Looks incredible!

- valentina
  
  March 23, 2020 at 5:38 pm
  
  Thank you, Marissa. Hope you love the salad. Stay well! 🙂 ~Valentina
  
David Scott Allen

March 24, 2020 at 9:28 pm

As I said before (or I should have said), this is a wonderful collection of pucker-up recipes!

- valentina
  
  March 25, 2020 at 12:16 pm
  
  Thanks, David. "Pucker-up." Love it! 🙂 ~Valentina
  
Jill Colonna

January 30, 2024 at 12:07 am

Great collection of stunning lemon recipes, Valentina. I still haven’t tried a Meyer lemon but we get the Menton lemons here in France.

2pots2cook

February 07, 2024 at 1:26 am

This is great! We expect to enjoy fresh lemons in a week or two and this t is such an inspiring post bursting with lemons! Thank you so much!