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The best balance of tart and sweet, this refreshing lemon sorbet tastes like a frozen lemonade – perfect for any hot summer day.
Anyone who has made homemade ice cream can tell you that it is one of the best things about summer.
Whether it’s rocky road ice cream, peach ice cream, or key lime pie ice cream, digging into ice cream that you made yourself will make you feel like a little kid again.
But what if you can’t do dairy, or simply want a lighter frozen dessert option?
That’s where sorbets come in.
This lemon sorbet is like eating frozen lemonade. It’s perfectly tart, cold, creamy, and totally refreshing. It’s everything you want on a hot summer day!
What is sorbet?
I’m sure if you’ve spent any time in the ice cream aisle at the grocery store, you’ve probably seen pints of sorbet, such as raspberry sorbet or lemon sorbet, alongside the various ice cream flavors.
But what exactly is a sorbet?
A sorbet is a frozen dessert made with fruit juice, sugar, and water. There may be other ingredients included, such as alcohol or citrus zest, but the most basic sorbet consists primarily of those 3 things.
If you’ve ever wondered what makes a sorbet different from sherbet: sorbets do not contain dairy and sherbets do.
And what about granitas? Granitas are made with similar ingredients to sorbets, but instead of being churned in an ice cream maker for a smooth texture, they are poured into a pan and the surface is scraped with a fork as it freezes to create icy flakes.
How to make lemon sorbet
If you’ve never made ice cream or sorbet before, don’t worry: it’s actually quite easy! This lemon sorbet is especially simple.
Ingredients you’ll need
As I said above, a basic sorbet is made with fruit juice, sugar, and water, and this recipe is not much different from that.
To make this lemon sorbet, you will need:
- 1 ¼ cups of water
- 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 heaping tablespoon of grated lemon zest
- 1 ½ cups lemon juice
You will need to zest about 2 lemons to get a tablespoon of zest.
1 ½ cups of lemon juice is a lot of lemon juice. You’ll need around 10-12 lemons to get that much juice.
If you don’t want to juice that many lemons, you could use Nellie & Joe’s bottled lemon juice. I recommend this brand because I think it has a better flavor than other bottled lemon juices.
If this ingredient list seems similar to what you’d find for homemade lemonade (or even strawberry lemonade or watermelon lemonade), you’re right! In fact, this sorbet tastes like a frozen lemonade – and it is sooo good.
Making this recipe
Because granulated sugar does not dissolve in cold water, we have to make a simple syrup in order to sweeten the lemon sorbet base.
In a small saucepan, combine the water with the sugar. Bring this mixture to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is clear. This will take about 1 minute.
Take the syrup off the heat and add the lemon zest. Let the syrup steep for about 20 minutes.
After the syrup has steeped, whisk in the lemon juice and then cover the mixture and place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. You want the sorbet base to be cold before churning it in your ice cream maker.
When the lemon sorbet base has chilled, churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.
Transfer the churned sorbet to a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm, usually at least 3 hours, before enjoying.
Recipe variations
This lemon sorbet is so classic, it gives you a lot of wiggle room to play with adding other flavors to the base before churning.
Infusing the simple syrup with different flavors is the best way to change up this recipe without accidentally throwing off the sugar-to-juice ratio. Some ideas of things you could infuse into the syrup include:
- Herbs such as thyme, rosemary, or sage
- Ginger
- Vanilla
- Lavender
You could even try making the syrup with honey instead of granulated sugar for a lemon-honey sorbet.
FAQS
Yes. If you want to skip juicing a ton of lemons, you can use bottled juice in this sorbet.
If you go that route, I recommend using Nellie & Joe’s lemon juice. I find it to have the best flavor out of the bottled lemon juices I have tried.
Yes! Because Meyer lemons are a tiny bit sweeter than regular lemons, you will want to reduce the sugar by 3 tablespoons if you choose to use them in this sorbet.
If you want the smoothest lemon sorbet, I recommend investing in an ice cream maker. Even though you can definitely find fancy ones that are more expensive, there are very affordable options available.
If you aren’t able to get ahold of an ice cream maker, though, you can still make sorbet without one – it just won’t be quite as smooth.
To do this, pour the chilled sorbet base into a shallow freezer-safe container and place it in the freezer. Every half hour or so, take it out and use a fork to break apart the sorbet, repeating until the sorbet is fully frozen.
Unlike making coffee granita, you don’t really want ice flakes in your sorbet, so try not to scrape the sorbet with your fork. Instead, try to just break up and smash the frozen pieces.
If you don’t have an ice cream maker and want to make homemade ice cream, make sure you check out my no-churn ice cream recipe.
Lemon sorbet is best served within 3 days.
If you’ve ever had a sorbet that was icy instead of smooth, that’s because it didn’t have enough sugar in it!
The sugar ratio in sorbet is important for getting just the right texture. Too little and it will be icy; too much and it will be slushy.
If you make a sorbet that is too icy, simply let it melt, then stir in a bit more simple syrup or even a splash of vodka and re-churn it.
I have tested this recipe with the amount of sugar listed to make sure it is nice and smooth, so I don’t recommend reducing the sugar in this lemon sorbet.
Lemon Sorbet
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 heaping tablespoon grated lemon zest from about 2 lemons
- 1 ½ cups lemon juice from about 10-12 lemons or bottled, see notes
Instructions
- In a small, heavy saucepan, combine the water and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup is clear, about 1 minute.
- Remove the syrup from the heat, add the lemon zest, and set aside to steep for about 20 minutes. Whisk in lemon juice, cover and refrigerate until chilled, 2-3 hours.
- Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer the sorbet to a freezer safe container and freeze the sorbet until firm, at least 3 hours or up to 3 days, before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I want that last bite with the sorbet and raspberry!
It's hot just about all year round here in FL! With active boys that keep me outside when I'm not at work a giant umbrella keeps me cool with a giant glass of ice cubes to crunch on!
~ingrid
'Ritas by the pool when it's about 108 here in Dallas….nothing better!
I'm kind of boring, but I beat the summer heat by staying indoors with air conditioning! (I really hate being hot.)
The sorbet looks yummy and refreshing!
Okay, in the midst of a heat wave I have to say locking my self in my air conditioned house works best…but in honor of your food blog I like to freeze my kids "go-gerts" & snack on them through out the day. Pretty yummy way to stay cool.
I would have to say my fave way to beat the heat is to eat ice cream and hanging out at the pool or shopping and stopping by williams and sonoma and staring at the kitchenaid stand mixer that I will eventually get.
My favorite way to beat the heat is to make ice cream pie. Lemon and ice cream in graham cracker crust. My hubby asks for this pie year round. yummmm Your lemon sorbet looks so great. I am going to try it next week.
Oh and I love to beat the heat by freezing to death at work where the AC is cranked ridiculously high.
I have the muffin version of that cookbook and it is one of my very very favorites.
That sorbet looks delish! I like to stay in the A/C all summer long. Sometimes if it's not too hot, at night I'll sit out with some ice cream and watch the kids play.
I've been staying in the air conditioning!
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