Store-bought lemon curd doesn’t even deserve to share the same name as homemade. This from-scratch lemon curd is deliciously tangy, creamy, and sweet. You only need 5 ingredients and it comes together on the stove in 10 minutes! Lemon curd is perfect for scones, crepes, angel food cake, quick breads, pound cake, and so much more.
Let’s talk lemon.
- Are lemon bars your main squeeze?
- Is lemon blueberry cake your favorite dessert?
- Are you head-over-heels for lemon meringue pie?
If your answer is YES to all of the above, you’re going to flip for this creamy, dense, intensely flavorful spread. Homemade lemon curd is 1 million times tastier than store-bought, which is filled with ingredients we can’t pronounce and has likely been sitting on the shelf for too long. Spread the blissful homemade version on scones, biscuits, homemade English muffins, and so much more. This is the recipe you never realized you needed!
What Is Lemon Curd?
Lemon curd is a very rich dessert topping or spread. It’s buttery and sweet with intense tart lemon flavor—like a creamy lemon version of jam. Lemon curd is made from simple ingredients and comes together quickly on the stove. Lemon lovers, this is your jam.
Get it? Get it? 🙂
How to Make Lemon Curd
Here’s how we make DIY lemon curd. The full recipe and instructions are below.
You need 5 ingredients for lemon curd recipe: egg yolks, fresh lemons, sugar, salt, and butter. Each ingredient serves a critical purpose for thickening and flavoring. The egg yolks thicken the curd, just as they do in creme brûlée, pastry cream, pumpkin pies in a jar, or butterscotch pudding. Use real lemons; you need both the zest and juice. The sugar supplies sweetness and structure, while the salt balances out the flavor. Add the butter after the curd finishes on the stove. Butter makes it super creamy.
Make lemon curd on the stove. Make sure you are constantly whisking as the mixture thickens—we’re talking about 10 minutes of whisking. The good news? That’s the only step in this recipe: whisking!
Use a Double Boiler
I strongly recommend cooking the lemon curd in a double boiler because mixing these ingredients over direct heat quickly leads to burning. Don’t fret! If you don’t have a double boiler, craft a makeshift double boiler by placing a heatproof glass bowl on top of a larger pot. (You can see my DIY double boiler in my brownie baked Alaska post!) Make sure the bottom of the top pot or bowl does not touch the simmering water. It’s worth repeating: lemon curd should never be cooked on direct heat.
Why Does My Lemon Curd Taste Metallic?
Lemon curd may have a metallic aftertaste if you cook it in a metal double boiler. It’s a result of the eggs and lemon reacting with the pan, but is easily avoidable! Use a non-metal double boiler (this one has a porcelain insert) or the glass bowl option I mention above (but make sure it’s heatproof glass, like Pyrex). While you’re at it, use a silicone whisk too!
FAQ: Can I Make This With Other Citrus Fruits?
Absolutely! You can use this same recipe for lemon curd and swap the lemons for limes, grapefruits, or oranges. You can even use pineapple juice, just like we do for the layers of pineapple curd filling in this pineapple coconut cake or a make a cranberry version like we do in this cranberry curd tart.
Uses for Lemon Curd
There are so many ways to enjoy lemon curd. Here are a few suggestions:
- Enjoy on scones, muffins, buttermilk waffles, whole wheat blueberry pancakes, or a Dutch baby pancake
- Use as a filling for crepes, lemon cupcakes, or lemon coconut cake
- Use as a topping for pound cake or pavlova (uses the egg whites!)
- Fill French macarons, choux pastry, or eclairs
- Layer on strawberry shortcake
- Make a lemon berry trifle
- Spread on English muffins, homemade biscuits, toast, croissants
- Mix it with whipped frosting for the fluffiest filling in a citrus cake
- Top your classic cheesecake, lemon cheesecake, or easy cheesecake pie
- Stir in yogurt, cottage cheese, or spoon on ice cream
- Try it on gingerbread waffles (seriously, try this!)
- Use as a filling to add extra flavor to lemon blueberry cupcakes
- Fill your lemon thumbprint cookies
- Fill your favorite cupcake recipe (see my How to Fill Cupcakes post for details on how and for flavor pairing inspiration!)
Lemon Curd
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes (includes cooling)
- Yield: 1 – 1.5 cups
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
You only need 5 simple ingredients for homemade lemon curd—and the recipe comes together on the stove in 10 minutes! If you know how to whisk, you can make this delicious spread.
Ingredients
- 4 large egg yolks (for thicker lemon curd, see Note on eggs)
- 2/3 cup (134g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) fresh lemon juice (about 2–3 lemons)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature and cut into 6 pieces
Instructions
- Fill the bottom pot of your double boiler with 1–2 inches of water. (Or use the DIY double boiler method listed in the notes.) Place on high heat. Once the water begins to boil, reduce to low heat to keep the water at a simmer.
- Place egg yolks, granulated sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt into the top pot of your double boiler. Using a silicone whisk, whisk until completely blended, then continue to whisk as the curd cooks. Constant whisking prevents the egg yolks from curdling. Whisk and cook until the mixture becomes thick, resembling the texture of hollandaise sauce, about 10 minutes. If you’d like to be precise and use a candy or instant-read thermometer, the temperature will rise to about 170°F (77°C). If curd isn’t thickening, turn up the heat and constantly whisk.
- Remove pan from heat. Whisk the sliced butter into the curd. The butter will melt from the heat of the curd as you whisk. Pour curd into a jar or bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top so it is touching the top of the curd. (This prevents a skin from forming on top.) The curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Once cool, the plastic wrap can be removed.
- Refrigerate the curd for up to about 10 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, you can freeze the curd up to 3–6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before enjoying.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Egg Separator | Citrus Juicer | Citrus Zester | Non-Metal Double Boiler | Silicone Whisk
- Thicker Lemon Curd: For thicker lemon curd, replace 2 of the egg yolks with 1 whole egg. This means you will use 2 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg. Keep the rest of the recipe and instructions the same.
- Lemon Juice: Do not use bottled lemon juice. Use fresh-squeezed lemon juice.
- Butter: You can use salted butter instead of unsalted butter. Simply omit 1/8 teaspoon salt in the recipe.
- No Double Boiler? No Problem! If you do not own a double boiler, you can simply place a small heatproof glass bowl over a saucepan of simmering water—you will cook the curd in the top pot/bowl.
- No Straining: I don’t strain the lemon curd. The zest is very tiny and has been cooked, so you can hardly detect its texture. It’s really just there for flavor. However, feel free to run the finished lemon curd through a fine mesh sieve if you want to take the extra step.
Reader Comments and Reviews
This was so easy to make and turned out delicious. I used half of it to make the Lemon Thumbprint cookies, which also turned out delicious. This curd will also be great for toast!
I made this curd a few weeks ago- and it was amazing. Do you think it would work for lemon meringue pie- I saw you have another lemon meringue pie recipe on your site, but I don’t want to use corn starch…This thickened up pretty well.
Hi Crystal! This curd won’t hold its shape as well for a pie. We recommend following our lemon meringue pie recipe.
I love this recipe but don’t try to double it. I’ve been whisking for over 35 min and still not thickened
OMG so tart and delicious
I made this lemon curd (my first time making a curd of any sort!) because we were also making the pavlova from this site and I didn’t want to waste the egg yolks. It turned out soooo delicious. I’m dairy free so we swapped the butter for avocado butter and didn’t have any issues. We had some leftover and friend of mine literally ate two spoonfuls of it plain because it was so delicious! Thanks for making me look like I can actually bake. 🙂
Thank you so much for your review. I was considering trying this tomorrow and your positive review makes me ready to give it a go!
I was going to try this tonight and realized I squeezed all my lemons and have no zest, will this be a problem? Can I use more fresh lemon juice?
Hi Wendy, you’ll miss a bit of flavor if you skip the zest. Keeping that in mind, you can certainly leave it out if you don’t have it.
You’re my first stop anytime I’m doing something new. I made this to use as a filling in lemon cupcakes. My grandson requested lemon pie for his birthday, then changed his mind to lemon cake so I’m trying to give him both! It tastes delicious and tomorrow I’m assembling & frosting the cupcakes (mixing some curd into the buttercream too!)
Great recipe! I had egg yolks left over from making an angel food cake…what better
way to use them! I doubled the recipe & it turned out perfectly. Cooking time was the same as noted on the recipe for a single batch. Set up in no time. The curd is a wonderful combination of tart & sweet.
Thanks for the recipe…it’s a keeper!
Can I double this recipe
Hi Jenise, You can make double batches of this lemon curd, and cooking time should be about the same.
First time making lemon curd and it was pretty awesome. Very tart, but delicious. Does not make much, just a cup, so if you’re making pie then adjust the recipe.
Fantastic recipe. I decided to make this at home when I saw the price of a jar of lemon curd at the store. Fun and easy to make and ridiculously good!
Made this as a topping to my brothers Angel Food Cake (also a winner from Sally’s) it was SO GOOD!! We also pot some whipped cream on and it was the best! Making this tonight to put on top of Belgian waffles tmrw morning! I will say, it was worth it to take a small spoon ladle and push the curd through a fine mesh strainer. Both times, I wasn’t a fan of the leftover zest.
I’m new to your site. Making the lemon curd tomorrow. I’m also celiac but not dairy free etc. please consider gluten free options in your recipes if possible. Thank you
Hi Elaine, Welcome! We are not experts at gluten free baking, but we do have a section of naturally gluten free recipes.
This recipe is gluten free.
Simple recipe, easy to follow. Mine is currently chilling to final readiness… I will have to be honest and admit I took a small taste from the spatula and Wowsa! I cannot wait for it to be done, it is already abso yummy and will only get better! Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe. I subscribed to your email eagerly awaiting more simple and easy recipes.
Mine was watery and I did turn up the heat. I already put in the butter can I put it back in the double boiler to thicken?
Hi Kilo, yes, cooking for longer should thicken the curd.
I had the same issue with my curd not thickening and I had put butter in. So I returned it to cook for another 12 minutes , Ireturned it to the refrigerator to cool. It work beautifully. Thank you for the help. cook longer when you are at 1 mile above sea level, (my advice)
My lemon curd is cooling and there’s a white foamy layer forming at the top. Is this normal or did something go wrong? If there’s shouldn’t be a foamy layer, is it possible to save this curd? I appreciate your response!
Hi Ruth, we haven’t had that happen before! It’s likely from the constant whisking, but should go down as it cools. Did the foam disappear as it cooled?
Could I can this?
I’m going to give this a try i love a really good lemon pie! I thought the store bought tasted good. This promises to be so much more enjoyable. I’ll let you know how it goes
I made it and everybody loved it! But i’ve seen a lot of recipes using only whole eggs… What do you think??
Hi Diane, we’re so glad it was a hit! We don’t recommend using all whole eggs, but here is an option for a thicker curd that utilizes one whole egg: For thicker lemon curd, replace 2 of the egg yolks with 1 whole egg. This means you will use 2 egg yolks plus 1 whole egg. Keep the rest of the recipe and instructions the same.
Hi Sally,
I love this recipe! Would it be possible to make as an orange curd instead?
Thanks!
Hi Lauren, you can definitely make orange curd with this recipe. We recommend using at least *some* lemon juice with the orange juice for best flavor.
This is so easy and delicious
I love your recipes. I revert to them above everyone else. Excellent recipes!
I am planning on making your delicious strawberry cake w/strawberry frosting. I was thinking of adding this lemon curd in between the layers. Do you think this would make the cake too sweet?
Hi Danielle, lemon curd would be delicious with our strawberry cake! Please do let us know how you like it.
Thank you for your response! I will definitely let you know how it turns out. 🙂 Would it be a good idea to thicken the curd to prevent the cake layers from shifting? I am making a semi-naked wedding cake that may be 3-4 layers and either 8 or 9 in rounds. I’m worried about the cream cheese frosting being too soft to handle the weight and the added curd in the middle. I read somewhere that you can use white chocolate instead of powdered sugar to thicken the cream cheese frosting and make it more stable for stacked cakes. Would that method work with the strawberry cream cheese frosting recipe?
Hi Danielle, see recipe Notes for details on creating a thicker curd. When using cake fillings like this, we do often recommend using a thin layer of frosting, then creating a frosting dam on the outer edge, to prevent the filling from seeping out the sides. You can see how we do this in our raspberry cake filling post. We haven’t tried incorporating white chocolate in the frosting, so we’re unsure of how it would work, but let us know if you do any experimenting!
This resepi was wery easy we have a lot of lemmons in the garden
My first time making lemon curd so was a little nervous about it. it was actually very easy and turned out beautifully, so delicious. I hope the lemon cheesecake turns out just as good!
I find these recipes don’t scale well when doing large quantities, as I have citrus trees and plan on freezing a large portion of the curd for different recipes while its in season.
I was recently diagnosed with an egg allergy. Is there any way to make lemon curd without eggs or am I just doomed to miss out?
Hi Alison! This classic lemon curd recipe won’t work without eggs, but there are egg-free curd recipes out there! We recommend doing a quick google search and looking for a recipe with good reviews, like this one: https://mommyshomecooking.com/easy-eggless-lemon-curd/
eggs are just the thickener, you can use any thickener like cornstarch or any starch, gelatin, agar agar
My curd was too watery . How can I thicken it? Thanks
Hi Judy, We would try turning up your heat just a little to help thicken the curd.
Will this lemon curd do well in cream puffs or puff pastry? I would like to make it for my turn on Bunco afternoon. There are 12 of us. Should I double the recipe?
Hi Lori, yes, lemon curd is delicious in cream puffs! One batch should be plenty, depending on how heavily you fill them.
Hi Alison, I know of a lot of people with an egg allergy who are in fact actually only reacting to the whites. I recommend trying this as it’s yolks only and see if perhaps you feel fine. (This is obviously assuming you have a sensitivity and not a serious medical condition.)
I want to try this recipe however it specifically calls for a silicone whisk snd I only have metal. Will this be a problem? Please let me know as my wonderful recipe I need for is waiting
Hi Lily! Using a metal whisk can lead to a metallic aftertaste because of the eggs and lemon reacting with the metal.
I made this recipe for the first time. Delicious! And used non-corosive metal whisk, no metal after-taste 😀
I have a very fruitful Meyer Lemon tree and this recipe was perfect for those beautiful lemons. We made this delish cheesecake and a lot of it. One 9×11 dish, one 8×6, and one 6×6 and everyone flipped over it. It was enjoyed for days and down to the last piece. I thought I had lost the link to the recipe and am so glad I found it again. Will be making it again soon. The curd was amazing.