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Dips and Sauces

Honey Lemon Curd

July 1, 2020 by Alexandra Daum
This sweet & tart honey lemon curd, without any white sugar and dairy-free, is a healthier alternative to normal, overly sweet lemon curd.
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Lemon curd in a glass jar surrounded by lemons.

One of my very favourite, very old recipes on OE, updated! I make this honey lemon curd all the time, just to have around to use in baking (or to eat with a spoon) and to give as gifts. Lemons are available in stores year round but I get bulk orders from crowdfarming and use them to make preserved lemons, this curd, and to freeze.

If you’ve never had lemon curd before, it’s creamy, sweet, and a little tart. It’s a bit like an ultra-flavourful pudding, really. You can use it in cakes, cookies, to swirl into ice cream (it’s excellent in these coconut yogurt popsicles).

Maybe you’re already a big lemon curd fan – in that case, this is a touch different from what you might expect. As it uses less sweetener than normal, and honey in place of sugar, it is a bit less sweet and also has more depth of flavour. All around better, really.

Table of Contents hide
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
Step by Step
Recipe Notes
How to Store
Expert Tips
Honey Lemon Curd

Ingredients

Lemon curd ingredients with labels.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

  • Honey: I haven’t tried making this with another liquid sweetener, and recommend a light-tasting honey. Don’t use forest honey for this recipe.
  • Vegan butter: pictured is a high quality vegan butter but I most often use coconut oil instead. With unrefined oil you’ll get a very slight coconut flavour, which isn’t unpleasant here, but you can use refined oil to keep it very neutral. You can of course use dairy butter.

Step by Step

Lemon curd steps 1 to 4.

1. Prepare: add the egg yolks and honey to a small saucepan.
2. Whisk: mix will with a whisk to combine, then whisk in the lemon juice and zest.
3. Cook: place the pot over low heat and cook.
4. Thicken: cook, stirring constantly, until the curd has decreased by about half.

Lemon curd steps 5 and 6.

5. Add the butter: remove from the heat and stir in the butter until melted.
6. Transfer: pour the curd into a sterilised jar and cool completely before refrigerating.

Recipe Notes

As far as I know, this can’t be safely canned. You may be able to use a pressure canner but I can’t speak to the safety of canning this as it doesn’t contain sugar or another canning preservative like citric acid. It does last in the refrigerator for quite some time, at least a couple of weeks.

I use Naturli vegan butter, and recommend Miyoko’s in north America. You will taste it in the final product, so a neutral tasting one is best – not one that you don’t like the taste of on toast, for example. If you prefer, you can strain the curd after cooking to remove any pieces of zest. I prefer it with the zest in but you do you.

How to Store

Storage: lemon curd should keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator if stored in a covered, sterilised jar.

Freezing: freeze for up to three months, and thaw in the refrigerator.

Lemon curd in a low glass jar surrounded by lemons.

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Expert Tips

  • Slow and low: low heat and constant stirring are both very important here! If the heat is too high, you’ll get sweetened scrambled eggs. If you don’t stir, you’ll get a cooked layer at the bottom of the pan. Both are a waste of ingredients, so do it right and be patient.
  • Use unwaxed lemons: because you’re using the zest along with the juice from the lemons, try to get organic, unwaxed fruit. Wash well in warm water before zesting.
  • Be patient: this will take about ten minutes to thicken into a curd, so pull up a stool if needed and be prepared to stir for a while. It’s worth it.

More Lemon Recipes

Elderflower Lemonade
Lemon Rhubarb Cake
Vegan Lemon Challah
Dairy Free Lemon Ice Cream

If you make this Honey Lemon Curd or any other vegetarian spread recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.

Yield: 16

Honey Lemon Curd

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
4.75 from 8 votes

Ingredients

Metric – American
  • 60 grams honey
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 125 ml lemon juice about 6 lemons
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest from about 2-3 lemons
  • 60 grams vegan butter, cut into small pieces

Instructions

  • Whisk the honey and egg yolks in a small saucepan until combined and lightened in colour. Stir in the lemon juice and zest.
    60 grams honey, 3 egg yolks, 125 ml lemon juice, 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • Cook over low heat until it starts to thicken, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. This should take about 10 minutes. It’s ready when reduced by about half, and the curd coats the back of a wooden spoon.
  • Add the vegan butter to the hot curd and whisk to melt and incorporate fully.
    60 grams vegan butter, cut into small pieces
  • Pour your lemon curd into a glass jar and loosely cover with a lid to cool at room temperature. Once cooled, seal tightly and refrigerate.
  • After refrigerating, the curd should be set and pudding-like in texture. It will keep up to a couple weeks in the refrigerator.

* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.


Nutrition

Serving: 1tablespoon Calories: 51kcal Carbohydrates: 4g Protein: 1g Fat: 4g Saturated Fat: 1g Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 2g Trans Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 36mg Sodium: 26mg Potassium: 15mg Fiber: 0.1g Sugar: 3g Vitamin A: 49IU Vitamin C: 4mg Calcium: 6mg Iron: 0.1mg

Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.

© Alexandra Daum
Course: Desserts
Cuisine: American
Print

This post was originally published in September 2014. It has been updated with new step-by-step photos and improvements to the text and recipe as of July 2020.

More Dips and Sauces:

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Small jar of vinaigrette with strawberries and flowers.Summer Strawberry Vinaigrette
Finished coconut butter being moved with a spatula in the mixer.How to Make Coconut Butter
A glass jar of hazelnut butter sitting in a pile of hazelnuts.Roasted Hazelnut Butter

Previous Post: « Blueberry Peanut Butter Smoothie
Next Post: Chocolate Coconut Pie with Strawberries »

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Comments

  1. Anne says

    September 6, 2022 at 6:53 pm

    Haven’t tried this recipe yet but I’m interested. While it may not have been the intention of the author of this recipe, eggs are pareve and so is honey. Since this is made without butter, which would be dairy, this lemon curd is neutral.

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      September 7, 2022 at 6:42 am

      Hi Anne, I hope you like the recipe when you do try it. None of the recipes on OE contain dairy or meat so they should generally be pareve.

      Reply
  2. Ra says

    August 8, 2021 at 12:39 pm

    Hi! Is it possible to make this with other types of oil instead? Like olive or coconut?

    Reply
    • Alexandra Daum says

      August 9, 2021 at 6:47 am

      Coconut works okay, but I wouldn’t use an oil that’s liquid at room temp.

      Reply
  3. Jp says

    January 16, 2021 at 11:14 pm

    You appear to indicate this is dairy free, but in England, bizarrely, dairy includes eggs!

    Reply
    • Alexandra says

      January 17, 2021 at 8:17 am

      Hi there – I think this is a fairly common misconception, as I hear it from American readers sometimes too. It is certainly dairy free (dairy: used to refer to cows that are used for producing milk, rather than meat, or to foods that are made from milk, such as cream, butter, and cheese, Cambridge English Dictionary). Perhaps it’s easier to differentiate in Europe as eggs are not refrigerated in most grocers? It’s not a mistake I’ve ever heard in Canada, even though eggs are refrigerated there too. Hope that helps!

      Reply
  4. Katrina says

    April 27, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    Would it work to add the honey last to avoid heating it?

    Reply
    • Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says

      April 28, 2020 at 7:00 am

      Unfortunately not. It’s key that the honey and eggs are cooked.

      Reply

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