What to use instead of lemon
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Acid that brightens a finished dish
Acid cuts through fat and lifts flavours that have flattened over a long cook. Lemon brings citric acid plus a floral top note from the oil in the peel.
Lime juiceRan out
1:1
More bitter and more perfumed, and it pulls the dish toward Mexican or Southeast Asian. Fine on chicken and fish, odd in a French sauce.
White wine vinegarRan out
2 tsp per 1 tbsp lemon juice
Sharper and flatter with no aroma behind it, so the dish tastes corrected instead of brightened.
Citric acid powderRan out
1/4 tsp powder dissolved in 1 tbsp water per 1 tbsp lemon juice
Pure sourness and nothing else. It will not brown, cloud or dilute anything, which makes it useful in a sauce that is already at the right consistency.
Preserved lemon, rinsed and mincedRan out
1 tsp per 1 tbsp lemon juice
Floral and salty with a soft, fermented acidity. Take salt out of the dish to match.
What doesn't work: Bottled lemon juice as a raw finish. It has been heat-treated and preserved, so the volatile top notes are gone and what lands is a dull sourness with a metallic tail. It is fine stirred into a batter that will bake.
Acid that firms or sets protein
Dropping the pH unwinds protein without heat, which is what turns fish opaque in ceviche and splits milk into curds for fresh cheese.
Lime juiceRan out
1:1
Sets fish slightly faster and tastes more bitter and floral. The standard choice for ceviche.
Distilled white vinegar, for fresh cheeseRan out
1:1 with the lemon juice called for
Curds come out firmer and squeakier and the flavour is flatter. Rinse them under cold water or the cheese smells of vinegar.
Citric acid, for paneer and mozzarellaRan out
1/4 tsp dissolved in 1 tbsp water per 1 tbsp lemon juice
Cleanest flavour of the three and the most consistent curd, because the strength does not vary with the fruit.
What doesn't work: Lemonade or lime cordial. They are about half sugar, so the acidity is nowhere near enough to set fish, and the syrup stops milk curds knitting together at all.
Zest, which carries the smell
The aromatic oil sits in the coloured skin. The juice underneath is water and acid with almost none of it.
Lime or orange zestRan out
1:1
Orange is sweeter and rounder and lime is sharper and more perfumed. Both are unmistakably not lemon.
Lemon extractRan out
1/2 tsp per 1 tbsp fresh zest
One flat note with a faint alcohol edge. Add it at the end of mixing so less of it evaporates.
What doesn't work: Extra juice in place of zest. Juice is water and citric acid, so all you get is a wetter, sourer batter while the lemon smell you wanted is still missing.
One medium lemon gives about 3 tbsp of juice and 1 tbsp of zest.