This healthier homemade lemon curd is made with just 4 ingredients. This recipe is exactly what your scones, tarts, and parfaits have been missing.

You know how people always ask if you are team vanilla or chocolate? My go-to dessert flavor is lemon.

Lemon anything: cheesecakes, tarts, pies, scones, cookies, and any frozen desserts. Best birthday cake? Lemon with cream cheese frosting. Best part of afternoon tea? The lemon curd. You get the picture.

As much as I love lemon, I’ve always been a bit hesitant to make homemade lemon curd as I was convinced I’d end up with lemony scrambled eggs which sounds far from appetizing.

But I’m proud to report that I successfully made lemon curd and man was it so good! Oh, and I did it with less butter and sugar than traditional lemon curd without losing any of the delicious lemony flavor.

This small batch recipe makes sure none of your healthier homemade lemon curd goes to waste

The only downside of lemon curd is that it only keeps for max 7 days in the fridge.

And as most lemon curd recipes make way more than I’d be able to eat in that timeframe, I usually end up wasting all that lemony goodness.

Which is why I wanted to make sure this recipe only made less than a cup of lemon curd.

What you need

• Fresh lemon juice and zest
• Unsalted butter
• Sugar or honey
• Egg

Tips for making homemade lemon curd

While making lemon curd is easy, there are some key tips to ensure success:

1. Use real lemon juice and zest – no bottled lemon juice please!
2. Don’t stop whisking – consistent whisking is the difference between making lemon curd and lemon scrambled eggs
3. Give it plenty of time to cool – this is not the recipe to cut the fridge time short

How to use homemade healthier lemon curd

This small batch healthier lemon curd is perfect for adding dollops of lemony goodness to yogurt parfaits, chia seed puddings, scones, pancakes, and even overnight oats.

However, if you want to make a full batch for a larger dessert, this recipe can easily be doubled.

More healthy lemon-flavored desserts

• Light and Lemony Cheesecake Bars
• Lemon Poppyseed Thumbprint Cookies from Jessica Levinson
• Lemon, Pistachio, and Raspberry Dessert from The Last Food Blog
• Light and Creamy Lemon Tart with Almond Crust from Joyful Healthy Eats

Print Recipe

Lighter Lemon Curd (small batch)

This lighter lemon curd is exactly what your scones, tarts, and parfaits have been missing!

Prep Time3 hrs

Cook Time7 mins

Total Time3 hrs 7 mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Healthier, Lemon Curd, Sauce

Servings: 11

Author: Kelli

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon grated lemon
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon butter

Instructions

• Combine sugar, lemon zest, and egg in saucepan over medium heat, stirring consistently with a whisk until sugar is dissolved (~2 min).
• Stir in lemon juice and butter. Continue whisking for 5 minutes, or until mixture thinly coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and allow to cool before storing in the fridge. Allow to chill in fridge for at least 3 hours as it will continue to thicken the longer it sits. Store in fridge for up to 1 week.