Do you love adding lime juice to your recipes, drinks or salads?
If so, you might have wondered how to squeeze the most juice from a lime without a juicer. It can be frustrating to cut a lime and get only a few drops of juice out of it. But don’t worry.
There are some easy and effective ways to get more juice from your limes with just your hands or some standard kitchen tools.
In this post, I’ll share with you some tips and tricks on how to squeeze the most juice from a lime without a juicer. This is really the best way to juice a lime.
You’ll also learn how to choose the best limes for juicing, how to store them, and how to use them in different ways. Let’s get started!
Table of contents
How To Choose The Best Limes For Juicing
When you have to choose a lime for juicing, there are two factors you need to consider:
- The lime variety
- Its ripeness
Some varieties are better for juicing because their vesicles contain more juice and might be easier to break down.
My favorite lime varieties for juicing are:
- Persian Limes: This is the most common lime variety you can find in your local store. They’re small, round-ish, bright green, and contain the most juice.
- Key Limes: These limes, also called Mexican Limes, are more elongated than Persian Limes, have thinner skin, and have a more yellowish skin. They are fantastic in baking but can also be used for juicing.
Once you’ve selected the variety, you have to pick the right limes to have the perfect ripeness.
Choose limes that are firm to the press, bright in color, and have a relatively smooth skin.
If the limes have started to wrinkle or have brown spots, they are too ripe, and their taste won’t be good.
If you don’t have a juicer or if you want to find the best way to juice a lime, you’ll find that it’s really easy to do it.
You need two of the most basic kitchen tools:
- A knife that can cut the limes in halves. I recommend using a vegetable knife
- A fork to squeeze the small juice vesicles.
How To Best Juice A Lime (Without Juicer)
1. Rolling The Lime
I usually roll the lime between my hand on the benchtop or counter but if there are really hard I am using my feet on the floor. I know what you think right now.
Yuck! But I am obviously not doing that after a 30 minutes run or if I am going to use the zest of the lime.
2. Cutting Crosswise
The membrane inside the fruits will be harder to break if you cut the lime crosswise but you will get more juice. If the membrane is too hard to cut through them with a knife.
Cut it with a kitchen knife.
3. Using A Fork
That is the trick! Using a fork as a reamer. Pick the fork onto the half lemon above a large bowl.
Hold firmly in one hand, squeeze and twist the fork at the same time. The juice will easily come through while squeezing.
You see, no need to buy a wooden reamer or a citrus juicer! We all have forks in our kitchen.
Time needed:5 minutes
How to Squeeze a Lemon (or a lime) without a Juicer
- Roll the unopened lemon on a hard surface
Put the lime or lemon on the floor or on your benchtop.
Roll it by pressing hard with your foot or hand. Not so to make it burst, but enough to make the tiny juice sacs inside pop.
- Slice the lemon
Slice your lemon or lime crosswise with a sharp knife on a cutting board. Slicing lengthwise is easier, but you will have a hard time scraping for juice.
A crosswise cut actually reveals the juice sacs in the lemon. - Juice with a fork
Insert a fork inside the lemon.
Then compress the lemon with your other hand and shuffle the fork.
As juice comes out, it will get easier and easier. - Filter the Juice optional)
If you have seeds or many juice sacs in the lemon juice, use a sieve to filter it.
Storing Lime
There are several ways to store lime depending on how you want to use them.
- Whole Limes: Uncut limes should be stored refrigerated in an airtight container. It will make them keep their color and moisture for longer. You can easily store fresh lime for 4 weeks in the refrigerator. You can also store limes at room temperature for a couple of weeks.
- Halved Limes: If you’ve cut a lime in halves, wedges, or slices, the best is to store them in small ziplock bags with as little air as possible as air would oxidize them.
- Lime Juice: Lime juice can be stored for a few days in the fridge, but it can also be frozen. I recommend pouring it in ice cube trays and transferring the cubes when frozen to a small container. They can be stored for up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Lime Zest: The zest of the lime is what you get when you shave the skin of the fruit. It can be kept for many weeks in the fridge in a small plastic bag. If you have zested a lime, you can keep the skinned fruit in the fridge for a few weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the easiest way to juice a lime?
The easiest way is to use a juicer, but you tend to waste more juice. The best way to juice a lime is this squeeze and fork method.
Does microwaving limes get more juice?
Microwaving the lime makes the vesicle burst more easily but it also tends to breakdown some of the vitamins in the lime.
So while using a microwave makes it easier, I don’t recommend this method.
Can I Keep Lime Juice At Room Temperature?
No, it’s preferable to refrigerate or freeze fresh lime juice.
Lemon and Lime-Based Recipes
If you like lime and lemon, you’ll love these recipes!
Vegan Avocado Key Lime Pie
Healthy Key Lime Cheesecake
Keto Lemon Bars
Chia Fresca
Lemon Garlic Pasta
Sugar-Free Lemon Curd
Sugar-Free Mojito
Lemon Pepper Chicken Tenders
Keto Lemonade
Lemon Pepper Chicken Marinade
Healthy Lemon Cake With Blueberries
Healthy Lemon Cake
Lemon Herb Tahini
About The Author
Carine Claudepierre
Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook and many ebooks, and founder of Sweet As Honey.
I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.
I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet
Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!
All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.
Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.
I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!
