Coconut Free Classic Lemon Sorbet
Bright, bracingly tart, and refreshingly simple, this lemon sorbet is the kind of frozen dessert that tastes like pure sunshine in a bowl. It's built from just five pantry staples — sugar, water, lemon zest, fresh lemon juice, and a pinch of salt — so there's no guesswork about what's actually in it. Many store-bought sorbets sneak in unexpected additives or are produced alongside tropical fruit varieties that can cause concern, but making it from scratch puts you completely in control. The technique is straightforward: a quick lemon-zest syrup gets strained, chilled, and churned until it turns opaque and pale yellow with a perfectly scoopable texture. Pressing plastic wrap directly against the surface before the final freeze keeps ice crystals at bay, so every scoop stays smooth and clean. Whether you're serving it as a palate cleanser between courses or as a light finish to a summer meal, this sorbet delivers serious flavor with minimal effort.
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Learn more →Ingredients
6 servings
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon zest (from about 3 lemons)
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 6–7 lemons)
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- 1
Combine the sugar, water, and lemon zest in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved, about 3–4 minutes. Do not let the syrup boil vigorously — remove it from the heat as soon as the sugar is clear.
- 2
Pour the syrup through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl or measuring cup, pressing on the zest to extract its oils, then discard the zest. Stir in the lemon juice and salt.
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