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If you love lemon curd then lime curd is going to be your new favorite – it’s creamy, sweet, and tart and perfect for topping cheesecakes, toast, or eating with a spoon. Instead of paying $4 a jar and breaking the bank, I decided to make my own and now you can too!
Have you ever had Lime Curd? Chances are you’ve seen lemon curd used in a plethora of lemon recipes, like my lemon cake roll or lemon cheesecake. And you can easily make it with limes instead of lemons!
Curd is one of those things that you don’t realize you love until you try a spoonful. Thicker and creamier than jam or jelly, it’s got the consistency of a pudding, but it’s much, much better. And it’s perfect for toast or scones or topping lime cheesecake.
How to make Lime Curd
- This recipe is so simple, so easy, and so basic. It’s done in under 10 minutes. You only need a handful of ingredients!
- The basics of homemade lime (or lemon) curd include: eggs, sugar, juice, zest (if you have it), and butter. You cook the eggs, sugar, and juice together until it thickens, then you add the butter. The butter gives it creaminess and lots of depth.
- This recipe includes whole eggs because honestly? I hate wasting the whites.
- Before I add heat, I whisk all the ingredients together in the pan. Once they’re whisked (which looks kind of like scrambled egg mixture before you cook it) then I put the pot on the stove. This way you will have less chances that the whites of your eggs will get lumpy.
- Always strain your curd after you cook it to catch any little bits of egg that may not have been mixed in.
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How to Use Easy Lime Curd
- Me, laughing. How do you eat lime curd. With a spoon!
- But you can also put it on toast, dip crackers in it, or add it to yogurt to make a dip for fruit. Put it in whipped cream, swirl it into fro-yo, or fill a cake with it. Have I mentioned the spoon?
Lime Curd Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup fresh lime juice, (or bottled Key Lime juice)
- Zest of 1 large or two small limes, (or Key limes)
- 4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, , diced
Instructions
- Place eggs, sugar, salt, juice, and zest in a medium saucepan. Do not put it over the heat yet. Whisk the ingredients together until smooth.
- Place over low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens, about 4-5 minutes. Turn all the way to low and add the butter. Stir until smooth.
- Remove from heat and strain into jar(s). Makes just shy of 2 cups.
Notes
- You can use regular or key limes/lime juice
- Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
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Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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So I want to make homemade curd for wedding favors! Can I can this? Or do you know of a recipe that is used for canning? It has eggs so I’m unsure… I need to make a large batch though.
Hmmm, I’m not sure. I know it’ll last about 2 weeks in the refrigerator. If you want to make it ahead or have it last longer you might want to can it. I’ve never done that, but I found this that might help! http://www.pickyourown.org/lemon_curd.php
My curd stayed watery- (little thicker than when I first whisked the ingredients together). I cooked the whisked ingredients for about 5 minutes, thinking it would get thicker when I added the butter but it never did. Thank you for your help!
That’s so strange! Hopefully it was just a one time occurrence. I’m sorry that happened!
My lime curd did not thicken when I made this. The taste was good, but I added in the butter and it would not get into a curd consistency. Any advice for next time?
When you say it didn’t thicken, did it stay watery? Each time I’ve made it the curd ends up being like a very thick gravy. How long are you cooking it? Possibly your stove/pan combo needs to cook more time than mine? Mine is usually thick, but like pudding thick, and then it gets a little more thick as it cools. I’m not sure what else it could be, except in a pinch you can add a little cornstarch to get it thicken if it has problems again next time!
I had a bag of limes sitting on my counter that needed to be used so I went searching for a recipe on Pinterest and found this one. My husband loves key lime pie so I thought he might enjoy your lime curd recipe. I substituted coconut palm sugar for the granulated sugar (trying to stay away from refined sugars) and although it doesn’t look as pretty as yours because the sugar I used is brown, it sure tastes wonderful! Thank you for sharing!
I made lime curd yesterday, because I had a bag of limes to use up before it was too late. The curd was so easy to make, and I was VERY happy with how it turned out! I would make this again next time I have extra citrus – will probably try with Meyer lemons in the near future. Then I made the tart crust from Smitten Kitchen, poured the curd in and….magic. Both the crust and the curd are in my favorites now!
This site is gold – thanks for all your hard work!
Awesome! I’m so glad you liked it Vicki! A lime curd tart, I want to come over and share it with you. And I’ve used regular lemons to make curd with this recipe -it’s awesome too!
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