Authentic Limoncello Recipe

Print Recipe

5 from 9 votes

Authentic Limoncello Recipe

The perfect homemade limoncello recipe made with Everclear, organic lemons, and simple syrup.

Prep Time25

Total Time8 25

Course: Cocktail

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Author: Shawn Williams

Ingredients

10 medium or large organic lemons this is important—no pesticides
1 liter Everclear alcohol* 151 proof

Simple syrup (makes 7 cups)

5 1/2 cups water
5 1/2 cups granulated sugar

Instructions

Using a Y peeler, remove the rinds from the lemons, leaving all or as much of the pith on the lemon as possible (the white part). Too much pith and limoncello will be bitter.
Place the lemon peels in a covered glass container with the Everclear and let sit for 7 days.
On the 8th day, strain the lemon peels from the Everclear and discard.
To make the simple syrup (sugar and water), add the water and sugar to a medium saucepan on medium heat. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Let cool to room temp and add to the Everclear. You can serve it immediately or place it in the freezer to chill. I like to store them in smaller glass swing-top containers.

Notes

When peeling the lemons, it's important to leave behind as much of the pith (white flesh) as possible. Use a sharp potato peeler to carefully remove the outermost skin from the lemons so only the yellow portion can be seen on the back of the peel.

To make limoncello you will need a large sealable glass container or wide-mouth jar. You can use large mason jars or any container that will allow you to easily strain or remove the lemon peels after you're finished.

While you can equally divide the peels and Everclear among smaller containers during the steeping process, it's much easier to combine everything in a larger single vessel, especially when it's time to add the simple sugar.

This recipe calls for 1 liter of Everclear and roughly 7 cups of simple sugar, rendering 3+ 750ml bottles of finished limoncello. A one-gallon jar such as this is ideal!

Use a small funnel to transfer the limoncello to individual freezer-safe glass bottles with swing tops (or similar) for storage. I keep my limoncello in the freezer so it's always ice cold.

Nutrition