A refreshing treat that’s light and tangy, Lemon Sherbet is sweet, tart, smooth, and creamy, and uses the entire lemon. Serve as a cooling dessert on a hot day or as a palate cleanser. This lemon sherbet is easy to make and all natural!
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Why this recipe works
- Bright, tart flavor from using the whole lemon, not just the juice
- You can make this sherbet with milk and heavy cream or use your favorite dairy-free milk substitutes
- You can adjust the sweetness and/or tartness to your liking
As with many of my recipes, this one started out as a craving.
I really can't say why this idea flitted into my head, but I suddenly started thinking about smooth, tart, creaminess on a hot, humid day, and it just started percolating.
Then it turned into a "what if I..."
Yeah, baby, let's pack as much lemon flavor as possible into sorbet, then tame the tartness with cream. That's a recipe for Lemon Sherbet!
Homemade lemon sherbet has lemony tartness with sherbet creaminess. It's light and sweet and truly refreshing on a hot, humid, summer evening, and it's perfect as a palate cleanser. It can also help chase away the wintertime blues with its bright flavor!
Since lemon sherbet is made with real fruit, all natural with no extra preservatives or additives, I'm telling myself it's a health food. You know, like dark chocolate.
Lemon sherbet is great as a palate cleanser if you're serving a meal with multiple courses, or when you want to end a meal (like Honey Garlic Salmon Bites) with something light and refreshing. Serve with some Lemon Crinkle Cookies just to add to the lemon goodness.
Bright, tart flavor can be yours!
Thank you so much for your fabulous recipes. I haven’t found one that I don’t like yet 😘
- Mary
Recipe Ingredients
You'll need the following ingredients to make this lemon sherbet recipe:
Ingredient Notes
I like to think of recipes for Lemon Sorbet as frozen lemonade, that is just lemon juice, water, and sugar. Substitute milk and heavy cream for the water, and you've pretty much got a homemade lemon sherbet recipe. Because lemons have a lot of flavor, you don't need a whole lot of extra flavoring ingredients.
Lemons: You can choose to make your sherbet with regular or Meyer lemons (the latter being sweeter and less acidic). Whichever variety of lemons you choose, look for fruit that feels heavy in your hand for its size - those are juicier. As a guide, 1 lemon yields about 2 to 3 tablespoons of juice, so 4 lemons should give you about ¾ cup of fresh juice.
Milk and heavy cream: I use 1% (low-fat) milk, but you can use whatever milk you have on hand. If you want the sherbet to be richer, increase the amount of heavy cream and reduce the amount of milk by the same amount.
For non-dairy (vegan) lemon sherbet, replace the milk and heavy cream with your favorite non-dairy substitutes. Remember to adjust the amount of sugar to accommodate more or less sweetness in your beverage of choice.
Sugar: Like with lemonade, you do have to balance the lemony tartness with a sweetener. The amount of sugar you use will be influenced by the type of lemons and the dairy products you use.
Cornstarch: There is one item that's generally not found in lemonade, though. Here, cornstarch is added to give the sherbet a smoother texture. It's optional, but it helps to keep the sherbet from getting grainy.
See the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Adjust the sweetness based on the type of lemon
Different lemon varieties have differing tartness levels. Meyer lemons are sweeter than standard lemons, so decrease the sugar if you're going to use them. Don’t use bottled lemon juice of any kind - it's too acidic and will ruin the flavor.
How to make lemon sherbet
Have your ice cream maker ready to go. You'll want to churn the base as soon as you combine the lemon mixture with the milk and cream to avoid curdling.
Step 1: Make a simple syrup
Simple syrup is just equal parts sugar and water (photo 1). The sugar is dissolved in the water when you boil the two together.
Using simple syrup is helpful here to adjust for sweetness after the base starts churning. If you just added sugar directly, the sherbet can get grainy. You may not need it if your sherbet base is sweet enough, but it’s easy to make and keeps well in the refrigerator so it can’t hurt to have just in case.
Step 2: Make the base
Just like with my Two-Bite Lemon Tartlets, we're going to use the whole lemon in the purée. This infuses a lot of lemon flavor into the base.
Cut each lemon in half. Check if the thickness of the white ring of the skin (the pith) is larger than ¼-inch thick (photo 2). If so, pare the zest from that lemon, cutting away any of the pith before proceeding.
Starting with three lemons, slice the lemon halves into thin slices, removing the seeds. Juice the remaining lemon with a citrus juicer to adjust for tartness later.
Put the lemon slices (plus any zest pieces) and the remaining sugar into the container of a food processor. Purée the mixture, scraping down the sides of the container as needed, until the lemons are chopped finely (photo 3).
Press the lemon mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove larger pieces of zest and any missed seeds (photo 4).
Pour the milk, heavy cream, and cornstarch (if using) into the lemon mixture and whisk quickly so the lemon's acidity doesn't curdle the milk mixture (photo 5).
Step 2: Churn the base
Immediately pour the sherbet base into the ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions until semi-firm, about 20 to 30 minutes (photo 6).
Check for taste after 10 and 20 minutes, adjusting with lemon juice or simple syrup in one tablespoon increments. Cold deadens flavor, so make the base sweeter or tarter than you think it should be.
The ice cream maker I'm using is a KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment for my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Another good option is a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker.
Step 3: Ripen the sherbet
Ripening just means freezing the soft base for a few hours to let it harden. When the sherbet goes into the container after being churned, it will be pretty soft.
But not to fear, after about 2 to 4 hours, the lemon sherbet will be hard enough to scoop, but not overly so (photo 7).
Storage instructions
Homemade lemon sherbet will last for up to a month in a plastic freezer container placed in the rear of the freezer. After that, the sherbet may develop ice crystals and lose its creamy texture.
Questions asked and answered
Here are some questions you might have...
According to Yankee Magazine, "The word sherbet comes from the Arabic sharab or sharbat, a cold, sweetened drink usually made with fruit juice. Over time, the cold fruit juices were frozen into fruit desserts."
Sherbets are the fruit cousin to gelato. There is more milk than cream like in a gelato, so they are lighter in fat than regular ice creams. And they can be lower in sugar, too, but that depends on the fruit.
What's the difference between sherbet and sorbet? Sorbets are skinny sherbets. That is, instead of using milk and cream, they use water. While sorbet is simply a frozen fruit purée, sherbet has the addition of dairy in the base, giving it a creamier consistency more like ice cream. Sounds refreshing, right?
Sherbet and ice cream are made with similar methods, and both contain a dairy or dairy-free component. However, sherbet is flavored with fruit or fruit juice, while ice creams are not as fruit-forward. Also, there will be much more fat in ice cream than there is in sherbet.
Yes! Replace the milk and heavy cream with your favorite non-dairy substitutes. Remember to adjust the amount of sugar to accommodate more or less sweetness in your beverage of choice.
I hope you like this recipe! Let me know if you have any questions, and don't forget to leave a comment and rating. Thanks!
Slainté! L’chaim! Cheers!
- Tammy
More recipes with citrus to try
Recipe
Lemon Sherbet
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 4 lemons, small- to medium-sized, see Recipe Notes
- 2½ cups milk, cold, see Recipe Notes
- ½ cup heavy cream, cold, see Recipe Notes
- 1½ teaspoons cornstarch, optional, see Recipe Notes
Instructions
- Have your ice cream maker ready to go. You'll want to churn the base as soon as you combine the lemon mixture with the milk and cream to avoid curdling.
- Make the base: Bring ½ cup of sugar with ½ cup water and boil until the sugar is completely dissolved. Transfer this simple syrup to a bowl and chill. You'll use the syrup to adjust the sweetness of the sherbet as it's churning later.
- Cut each lemon in half. Check if the thickness of the white ring of the skin (the pith) is larger than ¼-inch thick. If so, pare the zest from that lemon, cutting away any of the pith before proceeding. Starting with 3 lemons, slice the lemon halves into thin slices, removing the seeds. Juice the remaining lemon with a citrus juicer to adjust for tartness later.
- Put the lemon slices (plus any zest pieces) and the remaining sugar into the container of a food processor. Purée the mixture, scraping down the sides of the container as needed, until the lemons are finely chopped.
- Press the lemon mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove larger pieces of zest (and any missed seeds).
- Pour the milk, heavy cream, and cornstarch (if using) into the lemon mixture and whisk quickly so the lemon's acidity doesn't curdle the milk mixture.
- Churn the sherbet: Immediately pour the sherbet base into the ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions until semi-firm, about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Check for taste after 10 and 20 minutes, adjusting with lemon juice or simple syrup in one tablespoon increments. Cold deadens flavor, so make the base sweeter or tarter than you think it should be.
- Ripen the sherbet: Transfer the sorbet to a freezer-safe container and smooth the top using a small offset spatula. Freeze for 2 to 4 hours to allow the sherbet to firm up, a process called ripening. Serve and enjoy!
- Storage instructions: Homemade lemon sherbet will last for up to a month in a plastic freezer container placed in the rear of the freezer. After that, the sherbet may develop ice crystals and lose its creamy texture.
Alison says
If you add cornstarch how and when do you do it? Does it need to be cooked first or do you just add the powder to the mixture?
Tammy Spencer says
Hi Alison, thanks for your question. You don't need to cook the cornstarch, just whisk it in to the lemon juice with the milk and cream before churning the mixture.
Mary Gillott says
Thank you so much for your fabulous recipes. I haven’t found one that I don’t like yet 😘
Tammy Spencer says
Glad you enjoyed it! 😉