Dried lemon peel substitutes

The same ingredient before it lost its water, and by a distance the best-tasting substitute. Grate it finely on a microplane so it distributes like a spice rather than sitting in strands.

Best for

dry rubs used the same day, marinades, seasoning butters and oils, baking and sauces

Livelier and more perfumed than dried, so a lemon pepper chicken made with fresh zest tastes noticeably brighter. The catch is moisture: fresh zest will clump a dry spice blend and shorten its shelf life to a day or two in the fridge, so make only what you need. It also browns faster under a grill, so watch for scorching.

The most likely dried citrus already in the spice cupboard, and it does the identical job of delivering slow-release citrus aroma to a dry blend.

Best for

spice rubs, mulling and simmering blends, ras el hanout and North African blends, poultry and pork seasoning

Sweeter and rounder with less of lemon's sharp edge, so a homemade lemon pepper made with it tastes softer and slightly floral, which is fine on pork and less convincing on fish. In a Moroccan-style blend the difference barely registers. Use a pinch more than the ratio if the recipe is lemon-forward.

Pare the peel off two or three lemons with a vegetable peeler, scrape off any white pith, dry the strips on a rack for two or three days somewhere warm or in a 170F oven for about an hour and a half until they snap, then blitz or crumble them.

Best for

any recipe calling for dried lemon peel, homemade lemon pepper, rubs and seasoning salts, spice gifts

Better than most commercial peel, which is often old and faded, and it costs nothing beyond lemons you were going to juice anyway. Use unwaxed or organic fruit, or scrub the lemons under hot running water first, because food-grade wax does not dry out and tastes of candle. Stored sealed and away from light it keeps its aroma for six months or so.

Concentrated lemon oil in alcohol, which delivers the aroma with no solids at all. Useful in marinades, sauces, batters and dressings.

Best for

marinades, sauces and dressings, cakes and glazes, brines

Very easy to overdose into something that tastes of furniture polish, so measure carefully. The alcohol carries the flavour but flashes off with heat, so add it late rather than at the start of a long simmer. Useless in a dry rub, where it wets the mix and evaporates, and it leaves none of the visible flecks a peel-studded rub is known for.

Lemon pepper already contains dried lemon peel, so it is a legitimate source of the ingredient as long as you account for what else comes along.

Best for

chicken and fish, roast vegetables, seasoning salts, quick weeknight rubs

It brings salt, black pepper and often onion or garlic powder, so an unadjusted swap will over-season the dish, and brands vary enough that this ratio is approximate rather than exact. Taste the blend before it goes on the food. Not suitable in sweet recipes for obvious reasons.

Not a lemon substitute in the literal sense, but an excellent one in practice for rubs and finishing, because it delivers a fruity, tart citrus impression as a dry powder.

Best for

rubs for chicken, lamb and fish, salads and dressings, hummus and dips, flatbreads

Sumac is genuinely sour, unlike dried peel, and it stains the food dark red, so it changes both the taste and the look. On grilled chicken this is often an improvement. In a pale spice blend the colour is obvious, and in baking the tartness will read as odd.

Worth stating plainly because many cooks reach for dried lemon peel hoping for tang and are disappointed. Dried peel never provided sourness; it provided smell.

Best for

rubs for fried chicken and fish, seasoning salts, popcorn and snack seasoning, finishing dishes

Citric acid is sharply sour with no aroma whatsoever, so it is the exact complement to peel rather than a replacement, and an eighth of a teaspoon goes a long way. A squeeze of fresh lemon at the table gives you both the acid and some aroma and is usually the better answer.