Limoncello Recipe (made with sous vide!) – A Nerd Cooks (2024)

Seriously, making Sous Vide Limoncello couldn't be easier. You also only need 4 ingredients. AND it's delicious!

And sure, it's delicious when made the traditional way, too. But sometimes we want our limoncello and we want it now. Or, like 2 hours from now.

Looking for ways to use this limoncello? Try my Limoncello Spritz or Limoncello Martini recipes!

🌟 Why You'll Love This Recipe

It's very easy to make. This recipe is truly easy to make. The vast majority of the time is spent totally hands-off.
It tastes great. This limoncello is sweet, citrusy, and boozy.
It's fast! This method for making limoncello is WAY faster than if you'd make it the traditional way.

💭 What is limoncello?

Limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur. It's primarily produced in southern Italy (but you can make it at home, too!).

Traditionally, a neutral grain alcohol is allowed to infuse with lemon zest (for weeks or months) before straining out the zest and combining the resulting infusion with simple syrup.

It's often served chilled as an after-dinner digestivo. But it also makes a delicious addition to co*cktails.

📝 Ingredients

You only need 4 ingredients to make sweet, delicious limoncello. They are:

• Lemon zest: It's a lot of lemon zest. Make sure to only remove the yellow zest, and avoid the white pith, which is bitter.
• Vodka: You don't have to go all out here. No need to pick up a bottle of Belvedere or anything. But make sure that you use a decent vodka; something that you wouldn't mind using in a mixed drink.
• Simple syrup: Made from plain old water and granulated sugar.

🍋 Why make limoncello using sous vide?

Time!

Using conventional limoncello preparation methods, you would allow the lemon zest to infuse the vodka for weeks or months. Months! Who has time for that?

However, making limoncello using your sous vide means that it will come together SO much more quickly. We're talking in like a little more than two hours. You can't beat that.

👩🏻‍🍳 How to make limoncello using sous vide

So, how do you do it? Let's walk through the steps.

Wash and zest your lemons

You'll want to start by washing and scrubbing your lemons really well. This is because most lemons that you'll get at the grocery store are coated in wax.

Once your lemons are squeaky clean, you'll want to remove the zest from all of the lemons. You can either use a microplane to zest the lemons or a vegetable peeler. Whichever method you use, try to make sure that you're only removing the yellow zest, and not the bitter white pith that's underneath.

Place all of the zest in the bottom of a quart Mason jar. I use a wide-mouth variety, and really like them.

Next: add the vodka

Once the lemons have been zested, you'll fill the Mason jar with plain vodka.

I'm of the opinion that you don't necessarily need to use top shelf vodka here. No need to break out the Grey Goose or Belvedere (though I'm sure both would yield a lovely end product). I tend to stick with a more middle-of-the-road, but still good quality vodka, like Smirnoff. Use something that you would feel good about using in a mixed drink.

Put the Mason jar into the water bath

You'll start by screwing a lid onto the Mason jar, finger tight. Preheat your water bath to 135 degrees F and submerge the jar in the water. "Cook" for 2 hours.

If you're looking for a sous vide/immersion circulator, check out this one from Anova. I have the model that was available just before this one.

After that, the process is as simple as allowing the contents of the jar to cool, straining out and discarding the peels, and mixing the vodka with simple syrup.

How should I store my limoncello?

I like to store mine right in the Mason jar in which it was "cooked". But you can put it in any airtight container that makes sense/suits your needs. Put it in tiny glass bottles and give it away as delicious gifts!

Regardless, store it in the fridge.

🍋 What should I do with all of those lemons that I zested?

This Sweet and Tart Homemade Lemonade is a good place to start! Homemade Lemon Curd is also a good bet, though you will need to zest a few more lemons.

The Hollandaise sauce on these Crab Cakes Eggs Florentine also use a little lemon juice. AND the Hollandaise is made with the sous vide.

🔗 More infused alcohol recipes

Looking for more infused alcohol recipes? Click on any of the photos below to be taken straight to the recipe.

🍸 What should I make with this limoncello?

Wondering what you should make with this limoncello? Click on any of the photos below to go straight to the recipe. They're all winners!

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