In baking, lemon zest is what makes the best lemon desserts so irresistible, lending these dishes their essential pucker. And it’s just as important to savory dishes like lemon-roasted vegetables.

But how do you capture the powerful flavor of citrus? We’ll walk you through four simple methods for how to zest a lemon, with or without a zester.

What Does It Mean to “Zest” a Lemon?

If you’re not familiar with using citrus in cooking, zest might be a new ingredient for you.

Zesting a lemon is simply scraping the outer peel of citrus fruitlike lemon, orange, lime or grapefruitinto small shavings. It packs so much punch because it’s filled with the fruit’s potent natural oils. Pound for pound, the outer part of the peel has more flavor than lemon juice (though juice also plays an important role in many citrus-based dishes).

How to Zest a Lemon with a Zester

Learn how to zest a lemon with the tool made specifically for the job. A citrus zester is designed to create narrow strips of the outer peel.Be careful to zest only the colorful outermost portion and none of the white pith, which can be bitter.

Once zested, you can chop the strips into fine pieces to stir into a recipe. Or, if you plan to use them as a garnish, leave the strips as isstrips of zest make great accents for our favorite mocktails.

How to Zest a Lemon with a Microplane

A rasp, sometimes called by the brand name Microplane, is our Test Kitchen’s preferred method for getting superfine lemon zest.

To use, simply rub a washed and dried lemon over the plane, using light pressure and turning as you work. Microplanes produce the finest zest possibleperfect for stirring into lemon curd, custard or any batter or dough (lemon spritz cookies, anyone?).

How to Zest a Lemon Without a Zester

Use a box grater

If you don’t have a citrus zester on hand, you can still get the lemon flavor you need. Just break out your box grater.

Use the fine holes or the sharp grater teeth to gently shave the zest from the lemon. Be sure to turn the fruit as you go to avoid getting any of the fibrous white pith.

Unlike the zester, this method provides small, fine pieces of zest, so there’s no need to chop afterward.

Use a vegetable peeler

Your everyday vegetable peeler can also be used to zest lemons. Use the blade to cut away the outer rind of the fruit. Larger strips of zest like this are ideal for garnishing cocktails, like a martini with a twist.

For finer pieces of zest, use a sharp knife to chop up the peel.

Tools for Zesting Citrus

Tips for Zesting a Lemon

How much zest does a lemon have?

The average lemon yields about 1 tablespoon of zest. Keep this in mind as you read recipes that call for these types of measures (but a little extra zest never hurt a dishespecially theselemon-basil recipes).

How do you store lemon zest?

You can store lemon zest in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about a week.

Lemon zest can also be stored in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag in the freezer for up to a year. When you’re ready to use it, no need to defrost: Just pop the zest into your lemon dessert batter.

And never let a lemon rind go to waste! If you’re planning on using just the juice, be sure to zest the peel into a container to use later.

What’s a good lemon zest substitute?

Sometimes, you swear you have a lemon in the crisper only to find the drawer bare. Don’t worrythere are lots of good substitutes for lemon zest. Zests from other citrus fruits are one option. You could also use a small amount of lemon extract or dried lemon peel. Lemon juice works in some recipes, but depending on what you’re making you may need to balance the tartness with a bit of sugar. Lemon juice also adds extra liquid you may not want when baking, so it’s best as a lemon zest substitute in recipes that already contain liquid, such aslemon curd.

Recipes That Use Lemon Zest

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Creamy Chicken Rice Soup

One of our favorite healthy soup recipes, I came up with this easy dish while making some adjustments to a stovetop chicken casserole. We like this soup for lunch with a crisp roll and fresh fruit. Janice Mitchell, Aurora, Colorado

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Psst! This is the best homemade substitute for cream of chicken soup.

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Taste of Home: Tell us a little about you. Where do you live, who’s in your family and what do you do when youre not cooking?

JT: I live near Sacramento in Fair Oaks, California, with my boyfriend, Steve, and my two girls; Kaia and Marlee. I don’t think I’m ever not cooking. Cooking and creating recipes is something we do all the time. We love to cook as family.

TOH: Where did your love of cooking come from?

JT: I have been baking with my mom and gram since I was a preteen, and my dad and I have always shared a passion for cooking. We’ve spent many hours in the kitchen together. The smell of chorizo brings me back to my childhood. We would make chorizo with eggs and potatoes for breakfast together, just like my gram made for my dad. As an adult, I elevated that dish and created my Chorizo and Grits Breakfast Bowl.

TOH: What inspires you to cook?

JT: I love food and cooking for others. Not only is cooking a creative outlet, I find it very therapeutic. I especially love creating new recipes. Many of them come from what I like to call “cabinet vibrations”: getting inspired by what I have on hand.

TOH: You love entering recipe contests! What was your proudest achievement?

JT: Out of hundreds entered, I have probably won somewhere around 50 contests. The contest I’m most proud of was Stanford’s Ultimate Burger Showdown. They flew me to Lake Oswego, Oregon, and treated me like a star. I won third place out of 10 finalists and won $1,000. Plus, they featured my recipe on their summer menu. My burger was topped with bacon and blue cheese, topped with a tomato jam and a schmear of mustard aioli. So good!

(Hey, Jenn! Be sure to enter Taste of Home‘s recipe contests, too!)

TOH: What recipe do you get asked to make the most?

JT: My Slow-Cooked Caribbean Pot Roast: There are lots of seasonings that create all that flavor but it’s essentially an easy dump-and-go dinner.

TOH: What do you enjoy most about being a Community Cook?

JT: It’s just that, the community. I find inspiration through my fellow Community Cooks’ recipes. They motivate me to be creative when I’m developing new recipes, which is also a hobby of mine.

TOH: Whats your desert-island mealthe one you could eat over and over again and never get tired of?

JT: A classic charcuterie board, loaded with meats, cheeses, fruits, olives, nuts, dips and crackers. I can just picture sitting on a deserted beach, noshing away on a plate full of all my favorite snacks.

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Toad in the Hole Bacon Sandwich

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Lemon Lover’s Pound Cake

Everyone raves about this pretty lemon sour cream pound cakeand it sure doesn’t last long with my family. It also freezes beautifully, so why not make two and pop one into the freezer for another day? Annettia Mounger, Kansas City, Missouri

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Melted chocolate tends to find its way into our sweetest, most decadent dessert recipes. And what’s not to love? A drizzle of that stuff can turn fresh fruit into a charming dessert or become the heart of a showstopping cake. If you’ve ever tried to melt chocolate on your own, you know the task isn’t as simple as it may seem. One false move and the smooth, dazzling drizzle of your dreams can become a burnt, crumbly mess.

Luckily, Taste of Home Community Cook Coordinator and chocolate-melting guru, Sue Stetzel, is here to help. As a fervent home baker, she’s melted many, many chocolate bars with much success. Her secret is simply to avoid a few common mistakes.

How to Melt Chocolate: 5 Ways

Our Test Kitchen uses a handful of different techniques to melt chocolateand each has its own benefits depending on what you’re using the chocolate for. Follow along as we guide you step-by-step on how to melt chocolate the quickest way, the best way for drizzling and more.

1: The Microwave Method (Aka the Quick-and-Easy Way)

Best for melting chocolate fast without dirtying many candy tools.

Step 1: Chop chocolate into small pieces and place in microwave-safe bowl.

Step 2: Microwave at 70% power for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and give it a stir.

Step 3: Continue to microwave in 30-second increments, stirring frequently, until the chocolate has fully melted.

Editor’s tip: Because each microwave behaves differently, it’s best to keep a careful eye on your chocolate. The main drawback to this method is that it’s easy to overcook chocolate in a microwave. (This is truer still for white chocolate!)

2: The Stovetop Method (Aka the Double Boiler Method)

Best for keeping a close watch on the melting chocolate (and making your home smell like a chocolate factory)!

Step 1: Add chopped chocolate to the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water.

Editor’s tip: Don’t have a double boiler? A metal bowl over a saucepan works in a pinch. Just make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water in the pan.

Step 2: Stir gently and frequently until the chocolate has completely melted. Use a heat-safe rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl as you stir.

3: The Water Bath Method (Aka the Hands-Off Way)

Best for melting multiple kinds of chocolate at once.

Step 1: Fill a slow cooker one-third of the way with hot water. Set the heat to high, leaving the lid off.

Step 2: Place wide-mouth mason jars filled with chopped chocolate pieces into the water.

Editor’s tip: Take extra care to keep water from getting inside the jarsno seized chocolate, please!

Step 3: Step away for 30 minutes or so, leaving the lid off, and you’ll return to beautifully melted chocolate that’s ready to drizzle.

4: The Slow Cooker Method (Aka the Big-Batch Way)

Best for melting chocolate in large batches. Great for fondue parties…or the average Tuesday.

Step 1: Place chopped chocolate pieces directly into a slow cooker.

Step 2: Set heat to high, cover and let cook for one hour.

Step 3: Reduce heat to low and continue cooking, covered, for an additional hour or until completely melted, stirring every 15 minutes.

5: The Sandwich Bag Method (Aka the Decorator’s Way)

Best for when you want to drizzle or decorate with melted chocolate.

Step 1: Place chopped chocolate in a resealable plastic bag. (A sandwich-sized Ziploc works great.)

Step 2: Seal completely, and place in a bowl filled with hot (but not boiling) water.

Editor’s tip: Worried some water might seep in? Place the sealed bag inside another resealable plastic bag for extra protection.

Step 3: When the chocolate is melted, use scissors to cut a very small hole in a corner of the bag, then drizzle at will! Our French Kiss Truffles are a good place to start.

Mistakes to Avoid While Melting Chocolate

Mistake #1: Forgetting to Dry Your Tools

Before you begin, make sure that your equipment is bone-dry. (This includes the whisk, too!) It only takes a drop of water to turn chocolate from warm and melty to gritty and gross. Kitchen experts call the latter seized chocolate. When moisture comes into contact with chocolate, it causes the sugar to turn into syrup and the cocoa particles to clump. You’ll know your chocolate has seized if it looks dry and lumpy.

Pro tip: Have a bowl of seized chocolate? Here’s what to do: If you’re making candy (Homemade Peanut Butter Cups, for example) or any other recipe where the chocolate needs to re-harden, you’ll need to set the seized batch aside and start over. But don’t throw it out! Simply add more water, melted butter or cream, a little at a time, and stir or whisk until smooth. This reactivated chocolate is a little less potent and won’t firm back up, but it still makes a great topping for vanilla ice cream.

Mistake #2: Rushing It

When exposed to too much heat too fast, chocolate gets an icky, grainy textureor worse, it can burn entirely. The thing to remember when melting chocolate is to cook low and slow. For most chocolate-melting methods, it’s smart to stir often to keep any sections (often along the edges) from overheating.

Editor’s tip: Instead of breaking chocolate into pieces with your hands, take a few moments to roughly chop the chocolate. Breaking the bar into small pieces allows the chocolate to melt evenly. Burnt bits begone!

Mistake #3: Not Springing for the Good Stuff

Though we certainly wouldn’t turn down a bargain brand if it were served to us (all chocolate is delicious in our eyes!), one secret for a smooth-as-silk finish is to invest in good-quality chocolate. Look for one that’s got a high cocoa butter content. I recommend buying two or three different brands and performing a taste test at home to determine which you like best. (See how we did it with chocolate ice cream, here!)

How to Use Melted Chocolate

Follow these methods to a T, and you’ll be up to your ears in rich, silky-smooth melted chocolate. What to do with it afterward is entirely up to you. Taste of Home staffers enjoy it with strawberries, marshmallows and pretzels (but we won’t judge if you have at it with a spoon). Looking for something more involved? Here’s a list of ideas to get you started.

• Dip: For an easy, light dessert, dip your favorite fresh or dried fruit halfway into melted chocolate. Place on parchment paper; add sprinkles if you’d like. Then, let stand until the chocolate has set. Start with our recipe for Chocolate-Dipped Apple Rings.
• Drizzle: Give waffles, milkshakes or homemade candies the Jackson Pollock treatment by dripping, drizzling or splattering melted chocolate on top. Play with colored chocolates to make the decoration pop. Need inspiration? Check out this jaw-dropping recipe for White Chocolate Cranberry Blondies.
• Decorate: Got a birthday or special event? Use the sandwich bag method to create a DIY piping bag, using the melted chocolate as icing. Write a special message on top of the cake or add a simple design such as polka dots.

Get your chocolate fix (without the guilt) with our favorite light chocolate dessert recipes. (They’re all under 300 calories per serving!) Go ahead. Indulge!

Next, learn how to temper chocolate.

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Basic Cauliflower Rice

Cauliflower rice is a tasty low-calorie alternative to rice. Start with our super easy recipe(or grab a bag in the frozen food aisle of the store), then browse through this collection for saucy, flavorful recipes to pair it with!

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Remember, if you can read, you can cook

Easy for us to say, right? True story, though. A recipe is just an instruction manual for a great dish. Take the time to read through it before you start, much like you would (or should) any other set of instructions. Here’s how to read a recipe the right way.

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Cuban Sandwich Burgers

My mom would make these Cuban burgers when we would visit her in Florida. They are a take on the real Cuban sandwich. My kids love them. My boys could eat two of these monsters in one sitting. Marina Castle Kelley, Canyon Country, California

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Ham and Scalloped Potatoes

Give your Dutch oven some love, too, with these Dutch oven camping recipes.

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Day 1: Slow-Cooked Peachy Spareribs

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Open-Faced Prosciutto and Egg Sandwich

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Day 1: Spicy Chicken and Bacon Mac

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Day 1: Greek Shrimp Orzo

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Four-Berry Spinach Salad

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Fast Baked Fish

We always have a good supply of fresh fish, so I make fish recipes often. This recipe is my favorite because it is moist, tender and flavorful. Judie Anglen, Riverton, Wyoming

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Day 1: Chicken Biscuit Bake

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Beef and Lentil Chili

Lentils were one of the crops on my Dad’s farm when we were growing up, and they’re the best-kept secret in this delicious chili recipe. This dish is great for a large family meal and also freezes well. Everyone who asks for this recipe is amazed at how simple it is. Cindy Agee, Lewiston, Idaho

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Grandmas Chicken n Dumpling Soup

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First-Place Coconut Macaroons

These coconut macaroon cookies earned me a first-place ribbon at the county fair. They remain my husband’s favoriteswhenever I make them to give away, he always asks me for some, too! I especially like that this macaroon recipe makes a small enough batch for the two of us to nibble on. Penny Ann Habeck, Shawano, Wisconsin

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Potluck Taco Casserole

This is the dish I take most often to potlucks, and the pan comes home empty every time. It has the irresistible taco taste that everybody craves. Kim Stoller, Smithville, Ohio

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Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice

My husband often ordered pineapple fried rice at Thai restaurants, so I surprised him by tweaking some similar recipes to come up with a version that’s both simple and delicious. —Bonnie Brien, Pacific Grove, California

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From New York to California, Alaska to Floridathese recipes have been rated best-of-the-best. What’s more, each saucy, slow-cooked bite has been submitted by a real home cook like you. Here are the very best slow cooker recipes from around the country!

Psst… Find out which sandwich your state loves best.

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Potato Kielbasa Skillet

No need to hunt through kielbasa and potato recipes, this smoky take steals the show as a hearty home-style, all-in-one meal. It’s especially perfect on those cold late fall and early winter nights. Taste of Home Test Kitchen, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Mediterranean Chicken

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Eggplant Rollatini

Want to learn how to cook eggplant? Here’s where to start. These authentic eggplant roll-ups may take some time to prepare, but the end result is restaurant-quality. Your family will request this recipe time and again over the holidays. Nancy Sousley, Lafayette, Indiana

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Cilantro-Avocado Tuna Salad Sandwiches

Can’t get enough of avocado and tuna? Then you have to try out this tunacado sandwich.

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Pear Waldorf Pitas

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Champagne Punch

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Chickpea Tortilla Soup

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