Homemade Lemon Pepper Seasoning
There are a ton of things that I eventually want to make; like my own ketchup from scratch, or sandwich bread and jam. Today it is lemon-pepper. I needed some for a recipe so I set out to make it myself.
How hard could it be? Have you ever made your own lemon pepper seasoning? Am I the only freak who would? Don’t answer that. Actually my mom is a weirdo just like me… she makes her own poultry seasoning… so there, I’m not alone.
Lemon pepper seasoning is like the all-purpose seasoning to fish and chicken, like Lawry’s is to beef and eggs and like chocolate is to pretzels.
Know-what-I-mean?
Well it is painfully simple to make and in this recipe you won’t find any artificial modified-anything! Just yummy lemony-peppery-flavory. Sorry-y.
Start with a lot of lemons, pepper and salt! Now I know four are pictured but I added the zest of another lemon.
Now if you want more lemon than pepper reduce the amount of pepper or increase the lemon zest.
So I started out with 4 to see how much I would need…
Lemme just tell ya, you need a whole lotta lemon zest! So I added another lemon to the zest pile.
Scrape.
And add it to a bowl.
Add in the pepper.
I used a mixture of half black and half the “peppercorn medley” because not only does it have pink, green and white peppercorns, but it has coriander and allspice in it as well. I just tossed them in my spice grinder and gave’em a quick pulse.
Give it a good stir, mashing the lemon zest into the pepper.
There is no “exact amount” of lemon zest. I probably should have measured it all out for you. But it depends on the size of the lemons you are using. So I say between 5 and 7 lemons.
Pile it in the center of a parchment lined baking sheet.
Spread it out and bake at the lowest setting until the zest is completely dried. Mine took an hour… it may take longer depending on how much set you’re using.
I checked on it every now and again and give it a toss. Spread it back out and back into the oven it goes.
It smells pretty good right about now.
Once completely dried. Add to a spice grinder.
Place the lid on tight and blitz away.
Until it resembles lemon pepper or fine sand.
You can either add the salt now or not. Just keep in mind if you like to control your salt, you may want to skip this step.
Mix until combined. And there you have it! Homemade lemon-pepper seasoning!
Homemade Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Ingredients:
5+ large lemons
1/3 cup {scant} of crushed pepper corns {black and/or medley}
1/4 cup kosher salt
Directions:
Zest all the lemons and mix with crushed peppercorns.
Spread out on parchment lined baking sheet and bake on lowest setting until the zest is completely dried.
Add the lemon-pepper to a spice grinder and grind until desired texture.
Mix with the kosher salt if desired and store in a airtight container for up to a few months.
Over the past few years I’ve been on a mission to find and create recipes that I can make from scratch. I hope you enjoy the recipes on this blog as they are tried and true from my kitchen to yours! (
That is so cool! I had not even thought of making my own. And yes it is universal. Thanks for the great post.
That is one spice combination I had not thought to make on my own. Looks so much tastier than store bought.
Pretend Chef~ It really is tasty. You could add some garilc powder or onion flakes for even MORE flavor too!!
How beautiful is THAT! Great looking recipe. And your photos are fantastic, Laurie! New lens/camera? Great job.
I've been wanting to do lemon pepper for a while now. Now I have no excuses! Looks great, my husband will LOVE this!! Must get lemons post haste! LOL!!
Wow…this really looks wonderful…I can almost smell the lemons…I can't wait until I get my spice grinder….BACK!!!!
Thanks for the great idea!!!
Oh, and I almost forgot…I don't think your mom is weird at all for making her own spice!
i am so freaking impressed right now. who would have thought to make your own lemon-pepper seasoning? genius!
Kay… same camera.. just getting better? Maybe? LOL
Andrea… I've been wanting to do it for a while too. It was fun!
Grand… only gourmet kitchens have spice grinders
LOL
Amanda… Thanks! I had my fingers crossed that this would taste good, because it was so fun to make and photograph!
super cool…am going to make my own. Am used to making my own seasoning for my Indian dishes, never thought of this…AWESOME!! thanks for the post.
Thanks for sharing! I, too, am on a quest to make everything from scratch…but I'm just getting started! I will be following your blog for sure! My hubby LOVES lemon pepper–and most of it has MSG in it!
A culinary noob, i am! Ive only been seriosly learning to cook for the last month. It looks good. I agree with making things from scratch. Id like to be able to make everything from scratch. Everyone likes to go out but how nice would it be to create your own meals fit for a restaurant? How long does it keep? There looks like alot.
I knew there would be another freak out there who would want to make home-made lemon pepper!!!! This is exactly what I was looking for, and I had an idea it would be that easy.
I like your style, thanks!
Good for you – the bottled spices have mostly salt in the lemon pepper.
PS: homemade ketchup is so easy and delicious; the only hard part would be if you wanted to can it instead of making it as needed.
I have been making my own lemon pepper seasoning for years. I wait until lemons go on sale. (Yesterday, they were 4 for $1.00 so got 16.). I zest while watching TV. My ratio is about 4 parts lemon zest to 1 part pepper. I also throw in small amounts of savoury, thyme & rosemary – about 1/2 -3/4 tsp each, and about 1 TBSP garlic granules and 1 TBSP dehydrated onion. I never add salt. That is
Thanks for the great instructions! I was wondering how long I can store the mix for. Thanks!
I would say if it was stored in an air-tight container that it should last for 3-4 months
I was just getting ready to order lemon pepper and decided to Google first to see if I could make my own and voila, here you are!
Lemon pepper is great with fish & chicken, but it’s absolutely fantastic with slowly cooked frozen green beans, butter and a little bit of dried basil.
You could also use limes in place of lemons for lime pepper. Also id love to hear your moms recipe for poultry seasoning since I go thru it like water when I make my home made dog treats and id love to make them as all natural as I can. Thanks much
this looks like a good recipe EXCEPT for putting it in the oven. you should never heat spices prior to using them at the time of cooking. when heated you will loose all the essential oils and it will end up tasting like the stuff bought at the store. if you want it to taste better just let the zest dry out at room temp. i would suggest after mixing keep it stored in a tightly sealed glass jar int the dark away from heat and only grind it as you need it. kept this way it will keep for several years.
it should read : you should never heat spices prior to using them only at the time of cooking
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