Lime Juice
273 recipes found
Strawberry-Ginger Limeade
Red drinks are central to Juneteenth, as the color red represents the blood shed by enslaved people. Strawberry soda is commonly served, but this punch builds on that tradition, adding honey for its sweet distinct flavor, lime juice and mint for freshness, and ginger for a fiery warmth. And it’s a great way to use up slightly overripe strawberries. (It’s better to use overripe berries, since underripe ones can have bitter notes.) Serve over ice with a twist of lime for an extra burst of flavor.
Pickle Brine Margarita
Ever felt as if your margarita was missing something? Take some inspiration from Heather Rush, a co-owner and bartender at Pine Box Rock Shop, who adds pickle brine for a salty-sweet combination that’s hard to resist and delightfully umami-forward. (The bar, based in a former coffin factory in Bushwick, Brooklyn, keeps the brine on hand for another local classic: the pickleback, a shot of whiskey chased with a shot of brine.) There are plenty of ways to customize your pickle brine margarita, including a dash of habanero hot sauce or by substituting mezcal for tequila, but stick with brine from classic dill pickles, as bread and butter pickles lean too sweet. Just go easy on the salt rim; this cocktail is plenty salty on its own. For those interested in making a batch of pickle brine margaritas, see Tip.
Jackfruit Tacos
When ripe, jackfruit is sweet and golden. But unripe, it’s almost a blank canvas, game to take on whatever seasonings you throw its way. Sturdy enough to hold up in the heat of a pan, it has a satisfying chew that makes it an excellent filling for tacos. In this recipe from the poet and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil, skinny strips of young jackfruit soak up an earthy marinade before a turn in the skillet — keep a close eye on the stove, to be sure it doesn’t dry out; you want it saucy — then get folded, still dripping, into warm tortillas. A heaping of raw carrots and cucumber gives you a little crunch, and a spoonful of sour cream brings a rich finish. (If using fresh unripe jackfruit instead of canned, wear gloves and rub your knife with oil before chopping, because the sap is very sticky, and boil the flesh until tender. Note that the sap contains latex, so those allergic to it would do best to avoid eating the fruit.)
Pan-Seared Asparagus With Cashews
In this speedy, springy dish, a crunchy mix of nuts, seeds and coconut flakes gives seared asparagus plenty of texture, while a squeeze of lime and handful of fresh herbs add brightness right at the end. This makes a hearty side dish for simple roasted fish or chicken, or it can be a light meal when served over rice or alongside a fried or soft-cooked egg, the yolk turning into a glossy sauce that coats the stalks.
Mushroom Queso Fundido
Sizzling and gooey, queso fundido topped with chorizo is a staple on Mexican restaurant menus across the country. But the dish likely stems from home cooks along North Mexico and South Texas. Depending on where you go, different cheeses like Monterey Jack, Chihuahua or Oaxaca cheeses are used. Bricia Lopez, an author of “Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling (Abrams, 2023)” and “Oaxaca: Home Cooking From the Heart of Mexico” (Abrams Books, 2019), and an owner at Guelaguetza, in Los Angeles, was inspired by the salsa de queso and quesillo she grew up eating at her family’s restaurant to create her version of queso fundido, which uses the Oaxaca cheese to create a great cheese pull. She also tops it with mushrooms and epazote (see Tip), a fresh herb she grew up eating with cheese.
Crispy Cheddar Chicken Tacos
These quick tacos use leftover or store-bought rotisserie chicken, and have a satisfying crispy Cheddar frico called a costra (crust) that is common both in taquerias in the northern half of Mexico and in the southwestern United States. In some taquerias, you can order a taco using only the costra as the shell without a tortilla. In this recipe, the tortilla and costra are layered together to wrap a simple but delicious shredded chicken and chipotle filling.
Spicy Skillet Ground Turkey and Snap Peas
Inspired by the bold and zesty flavors of a Thai larb, this easy skillet meal pairs nuggets of golden ground turkey with sugar snap peas and a mound of fresh herbs. The sauce, a combination of fish sauce, lime juice and red-pepper flakes, makes everything taste both bright and deep, while an optional sprinkling of chopped nuts adds richness and crunch. Serve over rice or rice noodles, or with flatbread.
Spicy Mint-Cilantro Chutney
Tangy and spicy, with a touch of sweetness, this fresh, herbaceous chutney is incredibly adaptable, and will brighten up curries, stews, fritters, and grilled seafood and chicken. Adapted from “Islas: A Celebration of Tropical Cooking” by Von Diaz (Chronicle Books, 2024), this no-cook, blended chutney hails from Mauritius, but similar chutneys can be found across Indian Ocean nations. Drizzle it and other dynamic sauces on top of spicy Trinidadian doubles.
Crispy Smashed Sweet Potatoes
With charred skin and crispy bits, this irresistible side dish embodies the beloved dichotomy of smashed potatoes or tostones — soft inside and crunchy outside — but with the natural sweetness of the sweet potato. The key is to cut the sweet potatoes at just the right thickness — about ½ inch — so they can spread out when smashed. The optional step of sprinkling a thin layer of cheese on top before the final broil gives each piece a slight salty finish, with additional texture: Any bits that fall onto the pan become crisp and frico-like. A tangy, lime-mustard-yogurt dip or drizzle would also be welcomed.
Roasted Cauliflower and Arugula Salad
In this hearty, colorful salad, cauliflower florets, slivers of red onion and briny capers are coated with spices and roasted until the florets turn soft and sweet, and the onions and capers get browned and crisp. Everything is tossed with tangy-sweet raisins (or your favorite dried fruit), more red onion that’s been quick-pickled in lime juice, a green mound of arugula and parsley leaves. It’s a bright, satisfying salad that works as a substantial side dish or a light main course, either rounded out with crusty bread or served on top of a bed of rice, farro or other grains.
Ranch Water
Bold, tart and fizzy, this mix of blanco tequila, lime juice and carbonated mineral water, is a refreshing thirst quencher that packs a punch. Use the amounts here as a guide, and pour to suit your taste buds. To take the edge off, add a little sweetener like simple syrup, or a touch of orange-flavored liqueur, such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau. For an extra hit of flavor, rim the glass with chile-lime salt. While Topo Chico is synonymous with Texas ranch water, preferred for its highly effervescent bubbles, you can use other sparkling waters, too.
Ceviche
Light and bright, vibrant and punchy, ceviche involves marinating raw seafood in citrus juice until it becomes opaque and toothsome. You’ll find many variations of the dish in coastal Latin America made with ingredients like coconut milk, ketchup and green olives. This colorful rendition is one style popular in Mexico, but if you leave out the tomatoes, cucumber and avocado, you’ll get a dish that’s common in Peru, the birthplace of ceviche. Whatever version you make, start with fish that’s as fresh as possible; ask your fishmonger what’s best for ceviche that day, and to make shrimp ceviche, see Tip.
Tangy Romaine Salad With Habanero-Avocado Dressing
Tender lettuce, juicy sweet oranges, pungent radishes and crunchy cucumbers get a lush treatment with this creamy, tangy, rich, addictingly spicy dressing that leaves a luxuriously rich and full mouthfeel after each bite. The habanero becomes sweeter and its flavors more bold as it roasts, imparting zesty, peppy flavor, feisty bite and a hint of rustic smoke to the creamy avocado dressing. This dressing works well on any green salad — but is so good you might even want to pour it onto a bowl and eat with a spoon.
Habanero Chicken and Broccoli
In this bright, tangy sheet-pan dish, the chicken gets a quick first roast covered in a light oregano and garlic marinade. That quick warmup is followed by a stellar run: The chicken is flipped, broccoli florets get tucked all around and a sweet citrus sauce with the slightest habanero kick drenches the mix. The sauce adds flavor and moisture to the chicken as it roasts and browns, and soaks the broccoli, which chars and tenderizes. Although this can be a complete meal on its own, the ample sauce is so flavorful that you may find yourself craving for something else to soak in it. Rice is the perfect cheerleader to round up the race. The habanero’s heat is tamed by citrus, allowing its zesty and flowery flavors to shine.
Hamachi Sashimi With Ginger Ponzu
At Tiffany’s in the small town of Wailuku in central Maui, hamachi sashimi comes with a sauce so good, diners keep spooning it up long after the fish is gone. Bright and briny at once, it draws from the cuisines of island nations across the Pacific, combining elements of Japanese ponzu and fina’denne’, a CHamoru condiment from Guam that is a blend of shoyu (soy sauce), vinegar or citrus, onions and chiles. The chef Sheldon Simeon adds sweet local onions and ginger in lieu of chiles, for a gentler kick, plus shiso for “effervescence,” he says. To finish, he simmers lemon peel and olive oil over low heat, then strains out the peel so just the olive oil is left, only now sun-possessed. Drizzled at the very end, it gives the fish the vividness of lemon without curing it.
Peanut Sauce
Bright with lime juice, salty with soy sauce and punchy with chili sauce and garlic, this straightforward rendition of peanut sauce is an ideal accompaniment to grilled meats, seared tofu, roasted vegetables, noodles, salads, spring rolls or satay. There are many ways to make a peanut sauce, but the essential ingredients include ground peanuts, something savory (kecap manis or hoisin are common) and fragrant aromatics, like ginger, galangal, tamarind and chiles. The resulting sauce adds rich creaminess and toasty earthiness to whatever it touches.
Pastelitos
When my mother, Rosa Fernandez, immigrated from the Dominican Republic to New York to be with my father, she brought her grandmother’s recipe for pastelitos along with her. Most Latin American countries have their own versions of a savory pie; stuffed with spiced meat and deep-fried, pastelitos are the Dominican Republic’s take. Variations on the filling exist throughout the island, the most common of which is ground beef (but you can swap in any ground meat of your choice). Street vendors and restaurants in the Dominican Republic and New York sell these savory pies year-round, but many home cooks save them for special occasions. Though dough is traditionally made from scratch, this recipe uses store-bought dough disks instead, for convenience and ease. Usually, one disk is folded to create half-moon shapes, but in this recipe the disks are cut in half and folded to create small triangles, which makes them the perfect bite to serve to guests.
Strawberry Daiquiri
Frozen daiquiris have been around almost as long as the electric blender. First served at a bar in Havana in the 1920s, this fruity frozen cocktail increased in popularity in the following decades. This classic strawberry daiquiri recipe uses a combination of frozen fruit and ice to mimic the smooth, frothy texture of cocktails dispensed from a commercial frozen drink machine. Depending on the sweetness of the strawberries purchased, you may need to add additional simple syrup. Add a rum floater if you are so inclined.
Gimlet
The original gimlet was made with just two ingredients: gin and Rose’s Sweetened Lime Juice, a bottled, concentrated lime juice. Modern versions of the cocktail are most often made with fresh lime juice and simple syrup for a crisper flavor. With such a short ingredient list, the gimlet is all about striking the perfect balance between tart, sweet and boozy. The flavor of the gin comes through in this drink, so use one you like, preferably a dry one with a hint of floral or citrus.
Lomo Saltado (Tomato Beef Stir-Fry)
Lomo saltado might be the most well-known and beloved example of Chifa cuisine, a hybrid of Peruvian and Chinese culinary traditions. It’s a quick stir-fry made with marinated beef, juicy tomatoes, sautéed red onion, sweet peppers and potatoes or French fries, all tossed in a chile-and-soy-based sauce. Rice is served alongside to help soak up the bountiful sauce. A fresh, fruity, vibrantly yellow tropical chile called aji amarillo is usually called for, but this recipe calls for aji amarillo paste, which is more widely available. (Serrano chile works here, too.) Lomo saltado often has a subtle smoky flavor from engulfing the steak and sauce with flames in a wok, often with the South American brandy called pisco. This recipe is streamlined for home cooks, but if you’re familiar and comfortable with the technique, you may want to try it out.
Cuban Sandwich
There are many types of Cuban sandwiches, but the star of this one, also known as a Cubano, is tender, fall-apart roast pork. The pork’s marinade, called mojo, is citrusy and garlicky and spiked with earthy cumin and oregano. Sour oranges are traditionally used (see Tip), but a mix of regular oranges and lime juices can be swapped in if the former is difficult to source. A loaf of Cuban bread is ideal for its fluffy interior, but a soft French bread, bolillo bread or hero rolls can stand in its place. Besides the pork, the sandwiches are stacked high with deli ham, Swiss cheese, dill pickles and yellow mustard (add salami to make it Tampa-style). They’re pressed until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden. Any leftover pork can be served alongside Cuban beans, maduros and rice.
Maple-Soy Pork Chops With Shichimi Togarashi
Shichimi togarashi is a citrusy, savory Japanese seven-spice blend featuring ground red chiles, roasted orange peel, black and white sesame seeds, sansho pepper, seaweed and often ginger. You can extend those sharp, multilayered flavors with lime juice, maple syrup and a touch of soy reduced to a sticky pan sauce that slicks quick-cooking pork chops in this easy recipe. Try to find bone-in loin chops with nice fat caps around the curved outer edges for richness and succulence. Serve with white rice and green beans, or alongside a big crunchy salad.
Frozen Watermelon Daiquiris
Fresh watermelon juice is one of summer’s most refreshing treats, and is arguably even more of a treat when used to make specialty summer cocktails. Its fresh, sweet flavor pairs well with everything from vodka to tequila to gin, and, in this case, white rum. Inspired by the ingredients in a classic daiquiri, this recipe uses frozen cubes of watermelon in place of ice for a potent, full-flavored drink. Along with freshly squeezed lime juice, a generous pour of rum and a splash of simple syrup to round things out, this is the ultimate summer party cocktail. If you think to freeze some watermelon ahead of time, you can have a pitcher of watermelon daiquiris ready in ten minutes, any day you like.
Michelada
A classic Michelada means different things to different people but its core ingredients remain constant: cold beer, lime, salt. Serve the beer-based cocktail as is, over ice, in a chilled glass rimmed with salt or adapt from there to your preferred Michelada by adding a litany of condiments such as: Worcestershire sauce (or salsa inglesa), hot sauce, Maggi seasoning, and Clamato or tomato juice, or both. If you like, switch out the salt rim for a Tajín rim.