Grilled Lemons – And What Do With Them

5 from 1 vote
Jump to Recipe

Sharing is caring!

Grilling lemons is a great way to add smoky and earthy flavor that comes with grilling over charcoal. Grilled Lemons are a fantastic way to finish a dish, or even use to garnish a summer cocktail!

Grilled Lemons on grill grates
The caramelized flavor is rich and almost sweet.

Grilling lemons is an easy and delicious way to add great favor to your grilled food. Anytime I’m grillin’ up some chicken, or seafood, or vegetables, I throw on a couple lemon halves to heat up. While grilling, the heat intensifies the flavor, and while also loosening up the juices. This is one of my favorite secret weapons to adding bright flavor to any dish!

Squeezing some of that concentrated juice over your favorite foods adds a fantastic acidity and brightness, not to mention a nice sweet kiss. Grilled lemons are great over grilled chicken, seafood of all kinds, artichokes, broccolini, green beans, pork chops, you name it!

Bonus, these delicious grilled lemon wedges are also fantastic in a cocktail! Garnish your favorite summer beverage with one of these bright and colorful wedges, or use the juice to make a flavorful grilled lemon simple syrup and Bourbon Cocktail.

Grilled Lemons and Meyer Lemons cut in half

Tip: Meyer lemons work great too. The flavor is sweeter and more intensified. Large lemons tend to be more acidic and less sweet than Meyer.

How to Grill Lemons

  1. Preheat grill: set up for direct or single zone grilling with lump charcoal.
  2. Slice lemons: in half (or in wedges for cocktail garnish)
  3. Grill: place over direct heat until nice and caramelized (around 6-10 minutes)
  4. Serve: squeeze over your grilled foods or to garnish your favorite cocktail.
lemons on the grill

Grilled Lemon Recipe Ideas

And so much more! For more ideas, head to our recipe index and peruse.

About Vindulge

Mary (a certified sommelier and recipe developer) and Sean (backyard pitmaster) are co-authors of the critically acclaimed cookbook, Fire + Wine, and have been creating content for the IACP nominated website Vindulge since 2009. They live in Oregon on a farm just outside Portland.

cookbook cover

Now on 2nd edition

Fire + Wine Cookbook


“This book is a one-stop guide for anyone truly interested in elevating their BBQ experience into a culinary work of art.”
5 out of 5 Stars
San Francisco Book Review

Tried this recipe? Give us a star rating and we would love to see! Mention @vindulge or use the hashtag #vindulge on all the social media handles. And consider subscribing to our newsletter where we drop all our favorite ideas and inspirations every week.

Want to save this recipe?
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from us every week!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
How to grill lemons
5 from 1 vote

How to Grill Lemons

Grilled Lemons are a fantastic way to finish a dish, or even use to garnish a summer cocktail! And grilling lemons is super easy to do!
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Servings: 1 cup (depending on size of lemons)

Ingredients 

  • 4 whole lemons, (For cocktails – can also use Meyer Lemons)

Instructions 

  • Prepare grill for direct or single zone grilling with lump charcoal. Target the temperature over direct heat between 450 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Slice the lemons in half and place over direct heat. When the lemons have caramelized, remove them from the grill, about 6 – 10 minutes depending on how hot the grill is.
  • Immediately squeeze the warm lemons into your favorite grilled dish.

Notes

For cocktails we recommend Meyer lemons, as they are sweeter. However they tend to be smaller, so double the batch size.
Yield: The amount of juice you will get from a lemon will depend on its size. Plan on roughly one cup of grilled lemon juice from 4 large lemons. 
 

Nutrition

Calories: 1kcal | Carbohydrates: 0.4g | Protein: 0.04g | Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 0.1mg | Potassium: 6mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 1IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.02mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Course: Appetizer, garnish
Cuisine: American, barbecue
Servings: 1 cup (depending on size of lemons)
Calories: 1
Keyword: grilled lemon, grilled lemons
Like this recipe? Leave a comment below!

mary cressler headshot

Vindulge

About Mary


I'm Mary, a wine/food/travel writer, Certified Sommelier, mom of twins, former vegetarian turned BBQ fanatic, runner, founder of Vindulge, and author of Fire + Wine cookbook. Thanks for stopping by!

You May Also Like:

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.