Lemon Olive Oil

This easy lemon olive oil is a quick infused oil made with lemon zest and fresh herbs, and it's perfect in salad dressing. Freeze for later!

I love infused oils and vinegars.

That might be obvious, since I've shared recipes for quite a few on this site!

Infusing extra flavor into oil or vinegar is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to make your meal a little extra fabulous.

That said, as much as I love trying store-bought infused oils, the flavors can be hit and miss. And sometimes the ingredients are a little iffy.

Homemade infused oils are easy, with all of the flavor and none of the questionable ingredients.

This lemon olive oil is made with oil, lemon zest and fresh (or dried) herbs. I like to freeze it for later.

Looking for more ways to infuse your favorite herbs? Try making thyme tea, cold-brew hibiscus tea, cold-brew chamomile tea, lavender simple syrup, hibiscus simple syrup and basil simple syrup.

Ways to Use Lemon Olive Oil

My favorite way to use lemon olive oil is in an basic vinaigrette. The standard vinaigrette ratio is three parts fat (oil) to one part acid (vinegar), but I generally make mine a little more acidic.

Try mixing this lemon olive oil in a vinaigrette along with hot pepper vinegar, chive blossom vinegar, basil vinegar or oregano vinegar!

I like to use vinaigrettes for warm veggie salads. Try swapping this oil for regular olive oil in a green bean almond salad, French potato salad, haricot vert salad or a broccoli raisin salad.

Safety with Infused Oils

Olive oil on its own is safe at room temperature. Obviously.

We need to take care, however, when adding ingredients to the olive oil. If you add commercially dried ingredients, such as in this hot chili oil recipe, the oil is still considered safe at room temperature.

Ingredients that contain moisture (such as lemon peel and fresh herbs) will drastically lower the olive oil's shelf life because the ingredients introduce water to the oil.

Olive oil infused with "wet" ingredients (like this lemon olive oil) should be stored in the fridge and used within two to three days or frozen for longer storage.

Yes, I am aware that there are lots and lots of lemon olive oil recipes out there that recommend storing the oil at room temperature for months. But when it comes to food safety, I like to side with science.

What's the Best Olive Oil to Use?

I believe in buying quality olive oil, but that doesn't mean it has to be expensive.

Look for oil that lists a harvest date, not simply an expiration date. Olive oil tastes best within 18 months of harvesting, and yes, it can become rancid over time.

Exposure to sunlight will make the oil go bad more quickly, so look for bottles packaged in dark green glass or metal.

I generally buy California Olive Ranch's olive oil.

How to Make Lemon Olive Oil

Start by warming the oil in a saucepan. Heat it until it's just starting to simmer, and then turn off the heat.

Add your lemon zest and herbs, cover the pot, and let the zest and herbs steep in the oil for about 10 minutes.

At this point, you've got options.

You can use the oil right away, or you can continue infusing the oil in the fridge. Or do both, use some right away and steep the rest for later.

How to Freeze Lemon Olive Oil

I don't know about you, but I'm unlikely to use an entire batch of infused oil within three days.

Instead, I like to freeze part of my infused oil for later.

My favorite way to freeze oil is to pour it into a silicone ice cube tray. Simply freeze the oil in the ice cube tray, pop the frozen oil out and then store the oil cubes in a freezer bag.

I also use this technique for freezing basil in oil, freezing basil pesto, basil butter, chive butter, orange butter, mushroom butter and freezing leftover oil from marinated feta.