• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Blog
    • Chickens
    • Goats
    • Small Scale Farming
    • Gardening
    • Food Preservation
    • Frugal Living
  • Shop
    • Profitable Homesteading System
    • Jumpstart Your Homestead
    • Organized Chicken Keeper
    • G.O.A.T. Herd Management System
    • The Ultimate Planner for Breeding Goats
    • Couponing for Beginners Planner
  • Nigerian Dwarf Goats for Sale
    • Nigerian Dwarf Goats
  • About

Mranimal Farm

All About Silkies, Nigerian Dwarf Goats & More

menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Chickens
  • Goats
  • Gardening
  • Frugal Living
  • Food Preservation
  • Shop
  • Profitable Homesteading
  • Goat Breeding Planner
  • Homesteading Consult
  • Goats for Sale
  • Nigerian Dwarf Goats
  • About
×

Home » Food Preservation

Nov 4, 2021 · Modified: Mar 1, 2022 by MrAnimal Farm

Can You Freeze Limes?

This site contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you purchase from one of these links. Learn more Here.

If you happen to grow lemon, lime, or orange trees, you know that when they start to fruit, you will get a ton of delicious, juices, and fresh citrus. So much so that a lot of your limes and other fruit will end up on the ground and rotting or carried off by animals before you can get to using it. What if you could keep your fruit fresh and useful for much longer? You may ask, can you freeze limes?

QUICK ANSWER: Not only can you freeze limes but freezing them is easy and you have a lot of options to do so. Limes can be frozen whole, cut into wedges, sliced into wheels, or juiced. You can even freeze lime zest!

Frozen limes, in just about any form, will last around a year in the freezer which is a lot longer than a month in the fridge (or only a week on the counter)! If you want to thaw your limes you can pop them in the fridge overnight, run them under cool water, or just leave them frozen and use them as a replacement for ice in your drink.

Ready to learn how to easily freeze limes (or really any kind of citrus fruit)? Keep on reading!

frozen limes on baking pan wrapped in foil

In This Article

  • Can You Freeze Limes?
    • Freezing Stats
    • Why should you freeze it?
    • Frozen Vs Non-frozen
    • Supplies
    • How To Freeze Limes
      • Freezing whole limes and lime zest
      • Freezing limes wedges, wheels, and halves
      • Freezing cut lime

Can You Freeze Limes?

Yes, you can freeze limes. You can freeze them whole, cut, sliced, wedged, basically you can freeze them anyway you’d like. Just prepare them the way you want, pop them in a bag and you’re good to go.

Limes are one of our favorite types of fruit. True, they aren’t as good to munch on as maybe an apple or a banana, but the juice is great in a ton of different styles of recipes and drinks. So we like to always have it on hand and is exactly why we wanted to show you that you can freeze limes.

You can freeze them whole which, when thawed in the fridge, can be juiced. Lime wedges and wheels work perfectly for drink garnishes when you just need a splash of flavor (plus you can do this without thawing them first).

Freezing Stats

Blanchedno
Prep Stylewhole
slices
wheels
with peel
without peel
juice
Time To Freezedepends on method
2 to 4 hours (flash freezing)
12+ deep (freezing)
Time to Thaw2 to 4 (in fridge)
<1 hour (on counter or under running water)
Usesjuicing
garnish
zest
anything that calls for lime
Freezer Lifeup to 12 months

Why should you freeze it?

Not only are limes delicious, they are also nutritious (how poetic). Seriously though, they are a low calorie food that are packed full of antioxidants and, of course, vitamin C. According to Healthline.com, limes can also help improve your immune system, lower your risk of heart disease, stop you from getting kidney stones, make your skin healthier, and help your body absorb iron.

Frozen Vs Non-frozen

Freezer LifeFridge LifeShelf Life
up to 1 yearup to 1 monthup to 1 week

Supplies

You are going to need the following supplies:

  • Limes
  • cookie sheet (for flash freezing)
  • ice cube trays (for juice)
  • Freezer bags
  • Sharpie or marker
  • Freezer
  • knife and cutting board (for slices, wheels, and halves)

How To Freeze Limes

These methods of freezing and preserving limes works well with limes in all forms with just a few minor variations.

Need to get all your food preserved easily? Check out the Ultimate Guide To Freezing Food so that you can fill your freezer without in minimal time.

Freezing whole limes and lime zest

Both whole limes and lime zest can be put into a freezer bag with all the air queened out and just put in the freezer. The whole lime will stay good for a year and can be thawed in the fridge overnight.

Lime zest will also last a year but will start to lose it’s flavor over time after around month 3 or 4. It’s much better to freeze a whole lime and zest it when you need it.

Those are the two easiest ways to freeze. Halves, wedges, wheels, have 2 additional steps with juice having a method all to itself. Let’s get into how they work.

Freezing limes wedges, wheels, and halves

Each of these cuts of lime can all freeze using the same method. This works the same as freezing kiwi. It essentially breaks down to cut, flash freeze, bag, deep freeze. What is flash freezing you ask? Let me tell you.

fresh cut limes on cutting board
Flash Freeze

When you flash freeze something you are just barely starting the freezing process. We leave them in the cold just long enough for any moisture on the surface or just below to harden. That makes it easier to store and use them later because they will not stick together.

  • Take out a standard sized cookie sheet or baking pan and wrap it in aluminum foil
  • After you’ve cut all of your limes into their desired forms, line them on top of the cookie sheet in a single, non-overlapping layer
    • make sure there is enough room between each piece for air to circulate freely around them
  • place the pan in the freezer where it can sit undisturbed for 2 to 4 hours (depending on size and amount)
  • when the timer goes off, check them to see if the outer layer feels hard to the touch
  • if it is, take them out and move to the final steps.

Freezing cut lime

Now that you know how to flash freeze, let’s see where it fits in the entire process.

  • Take out your limes and, using a sharp knife and cutting board, cut them into wedges, wheels, halves, or whatever shape you want them to be
    • Halves work well for juicing
    • Wheels are perfect as a cocktail garnish
    • Wedges are also good garnishes but can also be used foehn you just need a splash of lime juice flavor in your drink or while cooking
  • follow the instructions above for flash freezing
  • while waiting, take out some freezer bags and a marker and write the contents, freeze date, and use by date on the outside of the bag
  • when the flash freeze is over, remove the pan from the freezer
  • you should be able to easily pop each of the pieces of lime from the cookie sheet and place them into the labeled freezer bag
    • you will notice that the lime pieces will feel dry and move freely in the bag without sticking to each other
  • close the bag, carefully squeezing as much air out as possible
  • place the limes back in your freezer and allow about 24 hours of minimal disruption for them to freeze
Freezing lime juice

Freezing lime juice is pretty easy and pretty handy. Especially if you make a lot of recipes that call for lime juice. You are going to need an ice cube tray and a Tablespoon size measuring spoon.

freezer bags of frozen limes in front of baking pan wrapped in foil
  • You can use store bought or freshly squeezed lime juice
  • Take out an ice cube tray
  • pour a tablespoon or two into each of the open pods
    • if you use a specific amount regularly, feel free to freeze in those amounts
  • leave about ¼” of space at the top of each reservoir to allow the juice to expand when freezing
  • Place the ice cube tray in the freezer and let the juice freeze over night
  • Once the lime juice has frozen solid, remove the tray from the freezer and pop each of the cubes out
  • add them into a freezer safe bag and put them back in the freezer
  • the Juice should stay good and flavorful between 6 and 12 months

If you need more help getting your foods frozen, check out the Ultimate Freezing Food Guide for a complete quick start reference so that you can have a well-stocked freezer.

Access the Ultimate Freezing Food Guide Here
« Do Roosters Lay Eggs?
Can You Freeze Peas? »

Primary Sidebar

Welcome, we are Kristin & Justin and this is MrAnimal Farm! We are excited to have you join us!

We love to share our knowledge on homesteading, livestock and poultry, gardening and food preservation. Learn more about us here.

Footer

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure

We are a participant in the Amazon Services, LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Privacy Policy

For details on our privacy policy click here.

Copyright © 2023 · MrAnimal Farm