Lemon Curd

4.95 from 18 rating

This lemon curd is so easy to make and so delicious! It's ready in a flash and is the perfect way to use up leftover egg yolks.

Prep Time10

Cook Time6

Additional Time1

Total Time1 51

Course: Frosting & Fillings

Cuisine: American

Servings: 1 1/4 cups

Calories: 78kcal

1 cup granulated sugar 200g
2 Tbsp lemon zest - zest of 2 large lemons 10g
6 large egg yolks 120g
1/2 cup lemon juice - juice of 2 large lemons 120g
1/2 tsp fine salt 3g
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into 1 Tbsp pieces 113g

Add 1 cup of sugar into a saucepan. One quick thing to note! When making the lemon curd, it's best to use a saucepan that's ceramic as opposed to metal. Some metal pans and sometimes even metal whisks can give the curd a metallic taste.
Zest 2 lemons into the saucepan and massage the zest into the sugar with your fingertips. This helps release the oil in the zest and gives this curd a bright, citrusy flavor.
Add in 6 egg yolks and whisk the mixture together until it becomes lighter in color. Then mix in 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 1/2 tsp salt.
Cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wire whisk until the mixture thickens. It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and keep its shape. This usually takes me 5-7 minutes.
Remove the pan from heat, then add 1/2 cup of cold butter that's been cut into small pieces. Mix until the butter is fully melted, and the ingredients are combined.
Pour the lemon curd through a fine mesh strainer into a separate bowl to remove any bits of cooked egg, zest, or lemon seeds. This gives it a perfectly smooth texture! Place the lemon curd in the fridge to cool. If you make the curd in advance, cover it flush with plastic wrap to prevent it from forming a skin and store it in the fridge for up to a month.

If you need to make any substitutions or swaps in this recipe, please check out the section on ingredient substitutions in the post above.

One batch of this recipe makes a little over 1 1/4 cups of lemon curd.

This recipe can be cut in half, in thirds, or doubled as needed. Note that the cook time will change based on the size of the batch.

Massage the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingertips. It helps release the oil in the zest and gives this lemon curd an amazing flavor!
If you don't have leftover egg yolks to use up, you can use 3 large whole eggs in place of the egg yolks.
Whisk the mixture continuously as it cooks over the stovetop to prevent the egg yolks from cooking through and to prevent the mixture at the bottom of the pan from burning.
Use yolks from brown eggs if possible! They have a deeper yellow color and will naturally give the lemon curd a stronger yellow color.
Pour the lemon curd through a fine mesh strainer once it's done cooking to remove any bits of cooked egg, zest, or lemon seeds. This will give it a perfectly smooth texture.
Let the lemon curd cool fully and thicken before using it to fill desserts.

The lemon curd can be made up to a month in advance and stored in the fridge.

You can also freeze this lemon curd for up to a month. Transfer it to the fridge to let it gradually thaw before using it.