Go beyond a simple squeeze of lemon with these inventive dishes featuring oranges, grapefruits, and more zingy citrus varieties.
This easy fruit salad looks especially striking made with multiple varieties and colors of blood oranges and grapefruit, but it’s just as delicious with a single kind of each. You’ll have enough syrup left over for flavoring sparkling water or lattes.
Every good cook needs a nice moist, dense cake in his or her repertoire. This one—loaded with orange flavor and tender flecks of peel, and not too sweet—is perfect for brunch as well as dessert.
Recipe: Whole Orange Cake
Talk about a celebration-worthy dish. Meyer lemon’s gentle tang and floral quality couldn’t be a better partner for sweet Dungeness crab, and the sparkling wine brings it all together.
Ice cream pies make ideal desserts for big holiday dinners, because you can make them days in advance and just haul them out of the freezer right before serving. Plus, they’re easy to make.
Attention, citrus lovers: This dish includes zest in the lemongrass-chile rub, juice in the refreshing dressing, and peeled segments in the crunchy cucumber and shallot topping.
If you’ve never had raw brussels sprouts before, this salad will be a revelation. To save time, use a handheld slicer for the sprouts and onion.
A two-citrus filling and a toasted-coconut base make this version of the traditional lemon bar both bright and rich. For bars with flecks of zest but no foamy top, whisk the egg mixture just enough to blend.
Recipe: Lemon-Lime Macaroon Bars
Our Test Kitchen tasters declared this might be their favorite scrambled egg recipe ever, thanks to the flavorful combination of three robust cheeses and a vibrant sauce, along with the smart cooking techniques for keeping the eggs moist.
The marvelous merger of orange and chocolate gets even better when you pair blood oranges’ raspberry nuances with dark chocolate and a little Campari for complexity. The herbal, slightly bitter liqueur also helps keep the sorbet from getting icy.
It’s worth it to make your own preserved lemons or track them down from the store so you can add their salty-tangy complexity to this Moroccan braised dish.
Recipes:
Since the fava greens in this tasty salad are eaten raw, be sure they're very tender. As a tip, serve the greens raw if you want a grassier flavor, or saute them to bring out their nuttiness.
Just a few deftly chosen ingredients make for an elegant, complex-tasting salad. Serve it with warm rolls and glasses of cold, crisp white wine (our wine editor suggests Grenache Blanc).
Recipe: Crab and Tangerine Salad
Update the classic dense, buttery upside-down cake with a bright, sweet-tart candied lemon topping and the fine crunch of cornmeal.
Meyer lemons get used twice in this early spring salad, squeezed for the silky dressing and sliced paper-thin to tuck into the greens.
Recipes:
Duck breasts have thick skin, so it’s best to cook them slowly over a low flame to render the fat. Here, we used that fat to make a decadent glaze studded with citrus segments.
This creamy, brightly flavored dessert is delicious served with your favorite cookie recipes, but for a more festive presentation, alternate scoops with vanilla ice cream and pour Champagne over the top.
Recipe: Tangerine Sherbet
This Southwestern-inspired soup hits all the right notes: solid protein from the beans, crunchiness from the cucumber, creaminess from the avocado, a sweet hit of acidity from the citrus, and a hint of spice.
Quickly grilled albacore steaks top a bright and citrusy bed of greens, sweet onions, and creamy avocado in an entrée that can be prepared in 30 minutes.
Recipe: Grilled Albacore Citrus Salad
Yuzu, a kind of Japanese citrus, has an ultra-aromatic, floral flavor that makes it a knockout with seafood and mango. A soy-ginger mayo and a sprinkle of minced kaffir lime leaves add more layers of complexity.
Sweet citrus and dates, in season throughout the west all winter long, pair beautifully with bitter radicchio. Tangelos and blood oranges would also work well in this recipe.
Recipe: Radicchio Salad with Citrus, Dates, Almonds, and Parmesan Cheese
Light, fluffy, and very nutritious, quinoa—one of the "ancient grains" that have sustained the people of the Andes for centuries—thrives in Colorado, too. It's super easy to cook (easier than rice) and makes wonderful salad.
Think of these shooters as really good margaritas you can pick up with your fingers (or a spoon). Serve them at your next party and watch your guests’ eyes light up.
Recipe: Rangpur Lime Shooters
Chinese orange-peel beef was the inspiration for this roast.
Recipe: Spicy Beef Cross-Rib Roast with Caramelized Clementine Sauce
Winter is prime citrus season so our lightly scented crème brulee is a perfect way to get more of it into every meal.
Recipe: Tangerine Crème Brulee
Still-warm quinoa gives off just enough heat to barely wilt the spinach in this side-dish salad.
Recipe: Citrus, Spinach, and Quinoa Salad
This salad shot with burts of citrus adds brightness to your Thanksgiving table.
Recipe: Fall Greens and Orange Salad
These super-simple ribs are a home run, especially if you add a squeeze of lime at the end.
Recipe: Roasted Pork Spareribs with Citrus-Soy Sauce
When she first tried a similar dish at Kuleto's Italian Restaurant in San Francisco, Sunset recipe editor Amy Machnak was shocked at how well this unusual flavor combination complements mussels.
Recipe: Orange and Basil Mussels
The nice thing about frisée is that it can sit for a long time without wilting--so this is a great salad to serve at a party. If you can’t find blood oranges, use regular oranges.
Recipe: Frisée with Blood Oranges and Fennel
Pack your dressing separately from your greens and chicken and toss right before you’re ready to eat—this will prevent a soggy salad.
Try pairing this bright citrus salsa with chicken or fish as well as pork.
Recipe: Honey Lime Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Citrus Salsa
Tart grapefruit and sweet shrimp make for a refreshing pairing and hold up well against spice.
You’ll need to plan ahead to find or make candied orange peel (try our recipe for Candied Citrus Peel or buy from gourmet food stores or Market Hall Foods)―it’s worth it.
Recipe: Orange Hot Cross Buns
By sectioning broiled grapefruit and adding a bit of thick yogurt, it becomes a fancy dessert.
Recipe: Grapefruit Brûlée
Be sure to buy a ham without added glaze; it would mute the flavor of our extra-citrusy one.
The dressing for this salad relies on a smart low-fat cooking technique: Reduce juice to concentrate its sweetness and create a clingy texture, so you don't have to add much oil.
Recipe: Orange, Radicchio, and Oregano Salad
Reader Yvette Kaplan, of North Hollywood, CA, created this delicious and brightly colored winter salad. The honey and olive oil in the dressing tame the bitterness of the dandelion greens, so feel free to drizzle on more if you'd like it milder.
Recipe: Dandelion and Grapefruit Salad