Roasted Citrus

Let’s talk about roasted citrus today. I’m guessing many of you have grilled lemons or even oranges, squeezing them over your favorite summer salads and dishes. Maybe less of you have tried roasting? Roasting citrus introduces similar caramelized notes, lots of toasty sweet and sour depth. You get the jammy sweetness of the citrus flesh, a hint of bitterness from the peel along with the all high-octane intensity of the skin. High heat concentrates the slices into a jammy, chewy texture. It’s all intense and delicious. Punctuation to whatever you’re serving.

What Types of Citrus Are Best For Roasting?

My general take here is to experiment. I’ve found sweet citrus with thin skin makes for the most exceptional roasted citrus. There is too much pith in certain citrus varietals, and you tend to get more bitter notes. Look for:

• Mandarins: sweet, thin skinned – these are a go-to. Murcott, clementine, etc.
• Mandarinquats: Perfect for roasting. They are about twice the size of kumquats.
• Kumquats: also yes.The perfect sized slices to accent many dishes.
• Blood oranges: Sweet and juicy, dramatic color.
• Meyer lemon: Fragrant, not too pithy, great for roasting.
• Navel oranges: I look for smaller one if I’m going to roast them
• Eureka lemons: common at many grocery stores, and a little pithy but they great to roast in slices, quarters, or halves.

Let me know if you have other favorite citrus you have had success roasting!Has anyone roasted the pink lemons? It’s very much on my list the next time I see them!

How To Use Roasted Citrus

Once you have roasted citrus on hand there are a lot of ways to use it to punctuate and accent all sorts of things. Some ideas:

• Salad: Salads are the perfect place to drop these jewel-toned, concentrated citrus gems. I use them in a  citrus-boosted version of Caesar Salad (I’ll post the recipe for this soon).
• Tacos: If you’ve ever enjoyed a taco made with hibiscus in the filling, you might try a version with a few pieces of roasted citrus alongside some mushrooms for your next taco night. Or use them in place of the citrus slices called for in this baked mushroom recipe (after baking).
• With Peanuts: Sprinkle these candied nuts with chopped roasted citrus for an added accent.
• On pancakes: Chop up some of your roasted citrus and sprinkle over maple syrup on pancakes or waffles, crepes!

How To Roast Citrus (Step-by-Step)

Here are a few photos to demonstrate the major steps when you’re roasting citrus.

Choose the citrus you intend to roast.  You can see in the above photo why mandarins are my favorite citrus to roast. See how thin that rind is? There is barely any of the white pith, which can be a bit more bitter. It’s still all good, but mandarins are a stand-out to me.

Prepare for baking. Rub olive oil across a baking sheet. Slice your citrus very thinly, and arrange on the sheet. Rub or brush the tops of each slice with a bit more olive oil. Bake until browned and caramalized.

Allow the citrus to cool and crisp up a bit. Enjoy!

More Roasting Recipes

More Citrus Recipes