Frozen limeade concentrate substitutes

Made the same way with a different citrus, so it drops straight into the same measuring cup and behaves identically in blenders, pitchers and pie fillings.

Best for

margarita pitchers, punches, sherbet and sorbet, marinades

Sweeter-tasting and rounder, without lime's floral bitterness, so a margarita made with it tastes noticeably more like a lemon drink. The tablespoon of fresh lime juice and a teaspoon of grated lime zest per cup fixes most of that. Colour goes from faintly green to pale yellow, which matters in a pie.

The honest rebuild, and the best-tasting option. Stir the sugar into the juice until it has completely dissolved, then top up with water to the volume the recipe wanted.

Best for

margaritas and cocktails, key lime pie, sherbet, marinades and glazes

Fresh lime tastes brighter and greener than the can and makes a distinctly better margarita, but it is also more acidic than the sweetened concentrate, so a key lime pie made this way sets firmer and tastes sharper. That is usually a good thing. Bottled lime juice gives a result closer to the original canned flavour.

The right choice for key lime pie in particular, since key limes are the fruit the pie is named after and bottled key lime juice is widely stocked.

Best for

key lime pie, bars and cheesecake, cocktails, sorbet

More floral and slightly less harsh than Persian lime juice, with a distinctly perfumed aroma. It is quite acidic, so it firms up a condensed milk filling well, and in a drink it can taste almost herbal compared with the sweetened concentrate.

Cordial is shelf-stable sweetened lime syrup, which is structurally the same product as thawed concentrate, just not frozen.

Best for

cocktails and pitcher drinks, punches, sorbets, glazes

Slightly thicker and sweeter with a more cooked, faintly bitter peel flavour, so drinks taste more old-fashioned and less fresh. Because it is not frozen, blended drinks made with it need extra ice, which dilutes them, so use a little less water elsewhere in the recipe.

Convenient for pitcher drinks, since it is essentially sweetened lime juice with extras, and it is often shelved right where the concentrate would be.

Best for

margarita pitchers, frozen blended drinks, punches

Many mixes contain added flavourings, agave or corn syrup, and some contain salt, so the drink can end up sweeter and slightly savoury compared with concentrate and can taste manufactured. Taste it neat first and adjust. It is a poor choice for a key lime pie, where the added ingredients and lower acidity can stop the filling setting properly.

Works in a pinch for punches and slushes where the lime flavour is a background note rather than the point.

Best for

punches, slushes and freezes, party drinks

Sourness comes from citric acid rather than juice, so it tastes sharp but flat and slightly artificial, and there is no peel aroma at all. A teaspoon of fresh lime zest per batch helps enormously. Avoid it where acidity does structural work, such as a condensed milk pie filling, because the acid level is unpredictable.

Listed because it is the first thing most people try, and because it is the reason a lot of substituted margaritas and pies come out wrong.

Best for

marinades, savoury dressings, guacamole and salsas

The concentrate is roughly half sugar, so plain juice leaves a drink brutally sour and a dessert both sour and unset, since the missing sugar also affects how a frozen or chilled filling firms up. In savoury cooking the sugar matters much less and plain lime juice is genuinely fine.