lime juice
Also known as: fresh lime juice
The juice pressed from limes, sour and aromatic; used to add acidity and brightness, especially in Mexican, Southeast Asian, and Caribbean dishes.
Buying guidance
Fresh-squeezed has a rounder, more floral flavor than bottled, which is often noticeably more bitter and one-dimensional; reach for fresh whenever lime flavor should stand out rather than just add sourness. One lime yields roughly 1-2 tablespoons of juice, less than a lemon of similar size.
Substitutions
- Fresh lemon juice -- similar acidity, with a milder and rounder aroma than lime.
- Bottled lime juice -- convenient, but flatter and more bitter than fresh.
- Rice vinegar or white vinegar -- provides acidity without citrus aroma; use less, since vinegar is sharper.
Tips & common mistakes
Fresh lime juice turns bitter and loses its brightness faster after squeezing than lemon juice does, so it's worth squeezing it close to when it's needed rather than well ahead of time.
Storage
Bottled lime juice products vary more than lemon juice in whether they need refrigeration after opening -- some concentrated or preserved versions are fine in the pantry, others aren't -- so check the label rather than assuming.