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When I saw this recipe for citrus salt on 101 Cookbooks, I knew it would be the perfect host/hostess gift for an upcoming dinner party that my husband and I were invited to. This salt is particularly amazing because it can be used in so many different ways, and works especially well as a finishing salt for fish, chocolates, caramels, or the rim of a margarita glass. My personal favorite way to use it is over air-popped popcorn with a smidge of sugar and melted butter.
For this batch, I decided to use lemons, but you can use any citrus you’d like. It might even be fun to combine flavors, such as lemon-lime or orange-grapefruit. Either way, once you have prepared your salt, you can package it in tiny jars or good old fashioned salt & pepper shakers to give as gifts. I found my tiny jars at a thrift store, and added my personalized tags in the style Aunt Lorraine to make them extra special.
Citrus Salt
• ½ cup salt of choice, such as kosher or flaky sea salt
• 1 tablespoon citrus zest
Preheat oven to 225◦F, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Zest your citrus until you have about 1 full tablespoon. Mix the zest in with ½ cup salt until well combined. I used kosher salt, but feel free to experiment with any salt you’d like, especially flaky sea salts.
Spread the salt evenly over a parchment-lined cookie sheet, and bake in a 225◦F oven for about an hour, checking your progress every 10 minutes or so after the half-hour mark since every oven varies. Also the moisture level in one type of citrus may vary from another. Remove from oven when the zest has dried and crumbles easily, and allow to cool to room temperature.
Store your salt in an airtight jar until you’re ready to package it for gifting. The salt will stay fresh for a couple of months.
Recipe from Heidi over at 101 Cookbooks.
Helpful Links
- Diamond Hang Tags • I chose the “Aunt Lorraine” style in Tuxedo.
More homemade gift ideas from Lindsay Jewell…
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Lindsay is a writer/blogger from Oregon who loves crafting, cooking, gardening, and simple living. You can find her writing about all of this and more on her blog A Wooden Nest.
i have been making a similar item for several years, there is a product called true lime, that is freeze dried lime juice, i mix that with some rock salt and place it in a salt grinder m m m m good,
they also have true lemon and true orange and i use that also
Very creative! We’ll have to try this one day. Thanks for sharing!
Rick and Jen
Is this the salt they use on the chips at Chipotle?