Homemade Limoncello Recipe

I have a thing for lemons. As if it wasn’t already obvious from the numerous recipes I’ve made featuring lemons (lemon-lime margarita pops, lemon Bundt cakes, and lemon blueberry muffins).

Plus, my local farmer’s market always has the most gorgeous lemons–the farmer (see image above) even cut one open for me to see just how juicy they were!

My love of lemons actually started way back in college with the now infamous Bacardi Limon shots. Do you remember those? You take a shot and then immediately suck on a sugar-coated lemon wedge. Funny. Well, they quickly became infamous after one too many nights hugging the porcelain.

This strange obsession remerged with my first pregnancy and carried well through my second. Now that I’m done having babies, I can think about alcohol again. I’m not a huge drinker, but I won’t pass up something sweet and girlie.

With my love of lemons and Italian heritage in mind, I thought it would be fun to make my own limoncello. Read on to see just how easy it is to make your own.

Homemade Limoncello

Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients:

10 Lemons
1 – 750 ml bottle vodka
3 ½ cups water
2 ½ cups sugar

Directions:

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from the lemons in long strips. Using a small sharp knife, trim away any of the white pith from the lemon peels and discard the pith. Place the lemon peels in a 2-quart pitcher or another container. Pour the vodka over the peels and cover with plastic wrap. Steep the lemon peels in the vodka for 4 days at room temperature.

After four days, stir the water and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Pour the sugar syrup  over the lemon peel and vodka mixture. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight.

Strain the limoncello through a mesh strainer. Discard the peels. Transfer the limoncello to bottles or mason jars. Seal the bottles and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours and up to 1 month.

Can I say yum? This homemade limoncello recipe is sweet and super lemony—a total winner. You must try this recipe, as long as you don’t mind waiting a few days to complete the process. I hope you’ll give this recipe a try and let me know what you think!