By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 10 minutes, plus cooling and 1 hour’s chilling
- Rating
- 4(353)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This dairy-free version of lemon curd is lighter than more traditional, butter-enriched versions, but is just as tart and creamy. The olive oil gives it a complex flavor that can range from herbal and grassy to earthy and mellow, depending on the brand. Mound this lemon curd into a tart, use it as a cake filling, pile it onto a Pavlova, or serve it as is, topped with berries or other fruit. It keeps for at least a week in the fridge and freezes well for up to 1 month. And you can even make it in the microwave (see Tip).
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Ingredients
Yield:About 2 cups
- 1cup/240 milliliters freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 4 to 6 lemons)
- 1cup/200 grams granulated sugar
- 3large eggs
- 1egg yolk
- 2teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
- Pinch of kosher salt
- ½cup/120 milliliters extra-virgin olive oil
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
514 calories; 32 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 22 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 55 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 52 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 86 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Place the lemon juice, sugar, eggs, egg yolk, lemon zest and salt in a blender, and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. With the motor still running, slowly pour in the oil until just combined.
Step
See AlsoItalian Lemon Olive Oil Cake (Easy Moist Recipe)Orange Olive Oil Cake, Easiest One Bowl RecipeLemon Olive Oil Cake Recipe (Gluten-Free / Dairy-Free)Orange Olive Oil Cake (Easy Recipe) - Olives + Thyme2
Fill a medium saucepan with about an inch of water and bring water to boil over high heat. Transfer lemon mixture to a metal mixing bowl that can nestle into top of the saucepan without touching the water. Reduce heat to medium-low and, using a potholder or towel to protect your hands, whisk constantly until the curd thickens and looks like mayonnaise, 6 to 10 minutes. Do not overcook. (If you have a double boiler, you can use that here instead of the pot and the bowl.)
Step
3
Remove bowl from the heat and inspect the curd. If you see hard bits of coagulated egg, strain the curd through a fine mesh sieve, pressing with a rubber spatula. (If it looks smooth, you can skip this step.) Transfer curd to a container and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal. Let the curd cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour.
Tip
- To make the curd in the microwave, pour the lemon-olive oil mixture from the blender into a large glass bowl and cook in the microwave, on high power, in 1-minute intervals for 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk furiously between intervals, especially at the edges. Reduce power to 70 percent and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes (stirring every minute), until the curd thickens and looks slightly puffed and spongy. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and let the curd cool to room temperature, then refrigerate.
Ratings
4
out of 5
353
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Cooking Notes
Carol
Yum! I used half the sugar (we like tart) with Meyer lemons and Meyer lemon olive oil from Ranch Olivos. The texture is fabulously smooth and light. So yummy! Happy Chanukah!
LM Myers
Very similar to David Leibovitz's Tarte au citron, but no-cow. Definitely strain. Bake in pre-baked KA almond flour lemon bar crust using olive oil for the fat, should bake in 6-10 minutes.
lynn
love this! used trader joe’s regular extra virgin olive oil and meyer lemons. didn’t time exactly, but pretty sure it took longer than 10 minutes to thicken, but well worth it. hard to describe exactly how the taste it differs from a traditional curd — both are delicious.
Marty Harrington
Used 1 T lemon zest.Cut to 3/4 cup sugar.Substituted about half the lemon juice with lime juice.Added all ingredients to the top of the double boiler and blended it there with immersion blender. No need to strain - totally smooth.Cooled the curd in the pan I cooked it in by placing it in cold water in a larger pan.
max
My most cherished NYT recipe! Every time I make a batch for some thing, the next day I end up having to make a second one because I haven’t quite gotten my fill. I use around 1/3 of a cup of sugar and find it perfectly tart and beautiful over strained Greek yogurt.
Tracy De Soto
I’m lactose intolerant and truly appreciate this curd hack. :) 5 stars for the end result, 4 stars for the recipe as written. It definitely takes longer than 10 minutes to get the curd thick like mayonnaise. It’s really excellent when finished—I didn’t realize until I made it this way that butter ultimately sort of dulls (clouds?) the crispness and sharpness of the lemon, while the olive oil seems to create a cleaner finish with a more lemon-forward (forgive me) flavor. Excellent.
DDREW
Olive oil! Brilliant! Less sugar and Meyer lemons are a must. Duck eggs are the best, if you have access to them. And there's no better way to make lemon curd than in a Vitamix. Blends it entirely as well as cooking it. I used a candy thermometer to see when it reached 180 degrees.
Yvonne
2/3 C white sugar because I had Meyer Lemons. I would go full til 1C sugar with Eurkekas.I used COSTCO Extra Virgin olive oil. What I loved about this recipe is there's no butter to diminish the pure lemon flavor. The little bit of green from the olive oil is a complement.I used a hand mixer. And I nuked it. Easy breezy and delish. Can't wait for it to cool.
Donna
How long can you store in the fridge?
Howard
This came out great! I didn’t have a mixing bowl that conducted heat well enough, so I set up my sous vide stick and cooked at 180 degrees in the water bath for an hour. Took longer but no need for whisking and the texture was perfect.
Ducky
As with any good lemon curd, it should take a lot closer to 20 minutes, if you are adequately whisking and holding at a medium low. I made mine with TJs sunflower oil that had medical cannabis in it for a month before straining. Lemon curd is an ideal medible base for many applications.
Richard
Just substitute for sugar in whatever ratio suits your taste.
Richard
Until it goes bad.
Colleen
made as prescribed but there is something uhm, bitter? Could it be that my olive oil was to old? It did take longer than 10 min. to thicken...
Kiki
Amazing as written. Have also made with 1/2 cup passion fruit and 1/2 cup lemon juice. Double amazing.
dee
I made this recipe exactly as instructed, except doubled everything. I stirred constantly at a relatively low heat for about 45 minutes until it reached a perfectly smooth curd consistency. There were no scrambled eggs or chunks. However, it had a strong, funky/sour egg taste on the back end that was so unpleasant we had to trash it. I’m not sure what happened, but the eggs were fresh. it seems most curd recipes avoid egg whites for this reason, but this one uses 3!!
Catherine
This was excellent. I also reduced the sugar by about a 1/3 of a cup (i.e., I used 2/3 cup of sugar). It came together beautifully and easily, with no straining required. The taste was amazing.
Johanna
I’ve made lemon curd with olive oil and with butter. The other day I was wondering which to use. A half hour later I realized I had finished my lemon curd without any fat. Just Eggs, Sugar, Lemon juice. Then for the fun of it I asked a friend to guess whether this version was olive oil or butter. They guessed olive oil.
Margery Cooper
Whisked it vigorously over a low heat for nearly 30 minutes and nothing happened. Amped up the heat, got out my immersion blender, and voila. It thickened up in 5 minutes.
DDREW
Olive oil! Brilliant! Less sugar and Meyer lemons are a must. Duck eggs are the best, if you have access to them. And there's no better way to make lemon curd than in a Vitamix. Blends it entirely as well as cooking it. I used a candy thermometer to see when it reached 180 degrees.
Tracy De Soto
I’m lactose intolerant and truly appreciate this curd hack. :) 5 stars for the end result, 4 stars for the recipe as written. It definitely takes longer than 10 minutes to get the curd thick like mayonnaise. It’s really excellent when finished—I didn’t realize until I made it this way that butter ultimately sort of dulls (clouds?) the crispness and sharpness of the lemon, while the olive oil seems to create a cleaner finish with a more lemon-forward (forgive me) flavor. Excellent.
Gianine
I would prefer with a different oil that doesn’t impart it’s flavor. I’m not opposed to dairy so using butter would be fine with me! I will use less sugar next time.
jj
is there any way to use stevia or monk fruit type sweeteners?-
Richard
Just substitute for sugar in whatever ratio suits your taste.
Ducky
As with any good lemon curd, it should take a lot closer to 20 minutes, if you are adequately whisking and holding at a medium low. I made mine with TJs sunflower oil that had medical cannabis in it for a month before straining. Lemon curd is an ideal medible base for many applications.
Yvonne
2/3 C white sugar because I had Meyer Lemons. I would go full til 1C sugar with Eurkekas.I used COSTCO Extra Virgin olive oil. What I loved about this recipe is there's no butter to diminish the pure lemon flavor. The little bit of green from the olive oil is a complement.I used a hand mixer. And I nuked it. Easy breezy and delish. Can't wait for it to cool.
Laura
Excellent as all melissa Clark’s recipes! I cut the sugar to a half and cooked the curd in a pot at rather low heat and when it got dense removed it.
max
My most cherished NYT recipe! Every time I make a batch for some thing, the next day I end up having to make a second one because I haven’t quite gotten my fill. I use around 1/3 of a cup of sugar and find it perfectly tart and beautiful over strained Greek yogurt.
Howard
This came out great! I didn’t have a mixing bowl that conducted heat well enough, so I set up my sous vide stick and cooked at 180 degrees in the water bath for an hour. Took longer but no need for whisking and the texture was perfect.
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