The Best Lemon Pepper Substitutes

Lemon Pepper Seasoning is an incredibly versatile and refreshing blend of spices that is being used more and more in a wide variety of recipes.

It combines the delicious citrus and floral notes of lemon with the spicy and spicy elements of black pepper.

It is a very useful spice mix to have at home. If a recipe calls for lemon pepper spice, it cannot and should not be omitted! But sometimes, especially with spices, you don’t realize you’re missing it until you desperately need it.

So what are the best substitutes for lemon pepper seasoning?

The best substitutes for lemon pepper are spices and herbs with citrus notes, such as lemon thyme. Other options are lemon juice, shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7 spices), and lemon curry powder.

In today’s article, we’ll take a look at the various substitutes for lemon pepper seasoning.

We will not only see how they are made, but also when and how they should be used.

What is lemon pepper seasoning?

Before we delve into the various substitutions and alternatives, let’s first look at what exactly this spice mix is to understand what we should use to substitute it.

A lemon pepper seasoning mix is just that: lemons and pepper. This is of course the simplest recipe, but it contains lemon zest or peel mixed with ground black pepper and salt.

There are tons of variations available to buy, each one just as delicious as the last. Varieties often include different textures, different pepper flavors, and even different lemon strengths.

These seasonings also often contain garlic flakes or powder and even onion powder or flakes to add more complex flavors to the mix.

This seasoning mix is best used with chicken or pork, although it has many other uses. Knowing exactly what you want to use it for will also help you determine the best substitute for it.

Lemon Pepper Mix

Your best bet for substituting store-bought is to make your own mix at home. It’s actually incredibly easy and, in our opinion, much more aromatic and flavorful.

Making your own lemon pepper mix at home is very easy. All you need is one element of lemon and one element of pepper, which form the base of the seasoning mix.

To incorporate the lemon, the easiest option is to use freshly peeled or finely chopped lemon rind. You can also use dried lemon peel, zest, or flakes.

For the pepper, the best option is to use freshly ground black pepper, but you can use different varieties if you wish. Try pink peppercorns or even a mix of peppercorns.

Once you’ve chosen your two bases, you can combine them with salt (either fine salt or sea salt flakes) and of course onion and garlic flakes. We never make a lemon pepper mix without these!

The mix is mostly made up of lemon and pepper, so go a lighter hand with the other ingredients.

What makes this substitution great is that you can customize the flavor to your liking. You can also easily substitute these ingredients to create a new and unique mix.

Instead of lemon, you can easily make an orange or grapefruit pepper seasoning. The possibilities are endless and you can experiment as much as you want.

This substitution can be used exactly the same as the original mix and you don’t have to change or tweak the recipe at all.

A simple and easy recipe is for lemon pepper is

• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon zest or peel
• 2-3 tablespoons of pepper

There are tons of lemon pepper seasoning recipes that you can easily customize to your liking.

The Best Lemon Pepper Seasoning Substitutes

Now that we’ve broken down the flavor profile of lemon pepper, you can easily choose the right substitutes. It’s important to think about the texture you need, the final flavor you want, and the end use of the seasoning.

If you need a dressing, you cannot use lemon juice. If you need a dressing, it is better to use lemon juice instead of zest. These are just a few examples of how you should choose a substitute based on its use.

You’ll notice that we’ve also included substitutions for certain ingredients used, for example, lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon zest, lemon flakes, lemon thyme, and lemon verbena are all interchangeable depending on their use.

They all have a lemon flavor that only varies slightly.

1. Lemon thyme

Lemon thyme is a very underrated herb and we love using it in our meals. It is a mild herb that is part of the thyme family.

It has the most beautiful and delicate lemon flavors, not so much the acidity that normal lemon carries, but more its citrus and floral notes.

This herb does not contain much heat, so it is recommended to add a little freshly ground black pepper. With that being said, this herb can definitely work as a substitute on its own and will add those much-needed citrus flavors.

Keep in mind that when adding this herb, as it also carries natural thyme flavors, it is recommended to use it only in savory foods.

Lemon thyme can also make a great substitute for lemon zest. So, for example, if you don’t have lemons (and therefore lemon zest) when making your homemade mix, you can use lemon thyme instead.

Another lemon flavored herb that can be used in place of lemon thyme is lemon verbena or lemon balm. These two herbs have a strong lemon flavor that is very similar to their floral and citrus notes.

2. Chopped onion and lemon thyme

Our next solution is much more creative to match the flavors of the original mix. This mixture uses finely chopped onion and lemon thyme.

Minced onion, especially if finely chopped and allowed to rest for about 5 minutes, has a slightly hot, spicy flavor that closely resembles black pepper.

You can use different types of onions, such as shallots, brown onions, red onions, or white onions, but for the most peppery flavor, we recommend using shallots and white onions.

Lemon thyme, as we have already said, is a lemon-flavored herb that belongs to the thyme family. Although not sour, it has the same floral and citrus notes as pure lemon.

By combining these two ingredients, you have a very similar seasoning blend to lemon pepper.

If you don’t have lemon thyme, you can of course substitute using finely chopped or grated lemon zest or peel.

3. Lemon juice

If you were planning to make a salad dressing, marinade, or sauce of some kind, you can use lemon juice instead of the zest or rind.

Simply combine fresh lemon juice or bottled lemon juice with some black pepper and you have a base for a sauce.

This version should only be used for liquid recipes due to its consistency. If you need a dressing, lemon juice will not be effective.

4. Shichimi Togarashi

It is a Japanese spice mix consisting of 7 different spices.

These include coarsely ground red chili, ground sansh? (Japanese pepper), toasted orange peel, black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds, hemp seeds, ground ginger, nori (seaweed), and poppy seeds.

Red chili pepper and orange peel are always included in the mix, so it works as a substitute for the original lemon pepper seasoning.

This spice blend works perfectly for dressings and general seasoning of foods. It adds a lot of complex flavor, mainly focusing on the spicy side of things.

This spice is also on our list of the best seasoning for ramen, so it can be helpful to have it on hand.

5. Lemon Curry Powder

Our last substitution is a last resort and only works for some recipes.

Lemon zest and powdered lemon juice are part of many curry spice mixes. There are hundreds of different curry mixes on the market, each one focusing on a different element.

Look for specific blends focused on the lemon flavor. They are also sometimes called verbena curry mixes, which use lemon-flavored leaves instead of lemon.

If you can’t find a mixture of this type, look at the ingredients of the mixture; if it contains a lot of lemon (or lime), you can use it to add light lemon and pepper flavors to your recipe.

Keep in mind that curry powder will change the color of your food due to the turmeric present.

Using curry mixes in stews, stews, soups, and even dressings will be your best bets.