This eggless lemon curd tastes just as good as a traditional lemon curd, if not better! It’s super tart, creamy and goes perfectly with cakes and cupcakes!
How is this creamy without eggs?
This recipe uses milk and cornstarch in replacement of the eggs, and along with butter, results in a super creamy curd!
How do I store it?
This eggless lemon curd should be kept refrigerated in an airtight container, and can last for up to 4 weeks!
Eggless Lemon Curd
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- ¾ cup (184 g) fresh lemon juice - about 5 lemons
- ¾ cup (150 g) white granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
- ¾ cup (175 g) milk
- ½ tsp vanilla essence/extract
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter - cold and cut in cubes
- 1 drop (1 drop) yellow gel colour or pinch of turmeric - OPTIONAL
Instructions
- Add your lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, milk and vanilla to a saucepan and mix until well combined.
- Place your saucepan over a medium heat and stir your mixture continuously until you reach a thick consistency (see video for visual).
- Take your saucepan off the heat and stir in the cold unsalted butter until completely melted.
- Strain your lemon curd to remove the little bits of lemon zest (optional).
- Stir in gel colour or turmeric for additional colour (optional). Leave to cool and then it's ready to use!
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
88 Comments
First time making a homemade lemon curd and wow it was amazing! Thank you for a super easy recipe!
You’re so welcome Jolene! So glad you loved the lemon curd 🙂
Made this today, and all I can say is WOW!! Absolutely delicious and so easy 😃
Aww yay! So glad you loved the lemon curd Jules 😀
Wowee! I’m never made curd before and this one is sooooo lemony and smooth and delicious! Excellent directions. It turned out PERFECT!
Aww yay! So glad you loved the lemon curd Ginny 😀
Tried this recipe today to use as a filling in my lemon cake.. wish I’d found this recipe earlier. It could have saved me hours in front of the stove top.. despite making the mistake of combining the butter with the initial ingredients. It still worked out great . Thanks so much for a great recipe ..
So so happy to hear you loved the lemon curd Karen! 😀
Listen, this recipe has worked out for me, thanks MK. I halved the recipe as I didn’t have enough lemon juice, I ended up adding 2 limes to make up for the lemons I was lacking and it worked out so well. I also only had salted butter, I added just a around 8 grammes of sugar, I used what I had and woooo, it turned out so well, thanks again
So happy to hear you loved the recipe Sheilla and that it worked great with limes too! 😀
I’m usually a great chef and baker, but I didn’t love these results. I think I overcooked it so be careful! Mine ended up too thick to even strain.
Hi RG 🙂
Thanks so much for the feedback and sorry to hear you had some trouble with the curd! Lemon curd can be a bit tricky with timing, it’s easy to go from perfectly silky to over-thickened. I recommend cooking on a lower temp and hopefully this will prevent overcooking next time 🙂
First batch turned out great. Second one the milk curdled. What did I do wrong?
Hi Diane! 🙂
So with this recipe, it can sometimes seem curdled but once the cornstarch is fully activated it should come together well and no longer be curdled. Did it not come together even after cooking? If not, then perhaps the temperature you were cooking it on was a bit too high. Try on a lower temp and this should hopefully help 🙂
Creamy lemony deliciousness!
Thanks so much for your feedback Allison! So glad you loved the lemon curd 😀
If I want to use this as a filling for cakes or cookies, do the baked items need to be refrigerated?
Hi Tammy!
They’ll be fine to keep out for the day as the sugar and fat in the lemon curd will prevent it from spoiling quickly, but overnight (or for longer periods of time) they will need to be kept refrigerated 🙂
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe!
It came out so good and tasted delicious! Thank you for the great recipe!
Yay! So glad you loved it Leandri 😀