If you’ve ever juiced a bunch of lemons and felt a twinge of guilt tossing out those beautiful yellow peels, this one’s for you. These lemon zest sprinkles are a vibrant, aromatic way to get even more out of your citrus and add a burst of flavour to your meals. As a home gardener and low-waste kitchen enthusiast, I’m always looking for ways to use every part of what I grow or harvest. Lemon zest is one of my favourite zero-waste flavour boosters, and these dehydrated lemon sprinkles are a must-have in my pantry.
Not only does this recipe help reduce food waste, but it’s also a great way to preserve the bright taste of citrus for use all year round, especially when your lemon tree is loaded and you’re making juice in batches.
Sustainable, Simple, and Full of Flavour
✔️ Uses up leftover lemon skins after juicing
✔️ Easy to make with just one ingredient
✔️ Stores well and lasts for months
✔️ Adds fresh, zesty flavour to sweet and savoury dishes
✔️ A perfect DIY pantry staple for low-waste living
How to Use Lemon Zest Sprinkles
This citrusy powder is so versatile! Here are a few of my favourite ways to use it:
It also makes a beautiful homemade gift when packaged in a recycled spice jar with a handwritten label!
What You’ll Need
3–4 lemon skins (or more if you’re batch prepping)
A dehydrator or oven
A spice grinder, food processor, or Nutribullet
Clean, dry jar for storage
Tip: Use organic lemons or those from your own garden to avoid wax and pesticides.
How to Make Lemon Zest Sprinkles
Step 1: Wash and Peel After juicing your lemons, give the skins a quick rinse. Carefully peel or slice off the outer yellow part of the skin. Try to avoid too much of the bitter white pith.
Step 2: Dehydrate Lay the peels on a tray in your dehydrator or on a baking tray in the oven. Dry at around 45°C (113°F) for 2–4 hours, or until the peels are crisp and snap easily.
Step 3: Blend Once completely dry, add the peels to your spice grinder or blender. Blitz until they turn into a fine powder.
Step 4: Store Transfer to a clean jar—this is a great use for old spice jars or small glass jars with tight lids. Store in a cool, dark place.
Lemon Zest Sprinkles
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours2 seconds
Total Time: 3 hours5 minutes2 seconds
If you have used lemons for juicing then this is a great way to get the most out of your lemons.
Ingredients
3-4 Lemon skins
Instructions
Wash and peel or carefully slice off thin pieces of the lemon skins. Use organic lemons or fresh from the tree.
Layout the skins on a tray and dehydrate using a dehydrator or oven at 45degrees for 2-4 hours until completely dry.
Add the dry peels to a spice blender, food processor, or Nutribullet and blitz to a fine powder.
Place in a jar. I save my spice jars to recycle for future homemade spices such as this.
Notes
Add to sugar for a lemon sugar or add to your dishes for a fresh zesty flavour. Great in salad dressings, stirfry or even on top of ice-cream or yoghurt.
Low-Waste Kitchen Tip
After using the zest, the remaining lemon peel (especially the pith and leftover pulp) doesn’t have to go to waste. Here are two great options:
Compost it: Citrus adds acidity to your compost and breaks down well when chopped.
Make citrus cleaner: Soak the leftover peels in a jar of vinegar for 2–3 weeks to make a natural, homemade all-purpose cleaner. Strain and store in a spray bottle.
This lemon zest sprinkle recipe is a beautiful example of how simple, low-waste habits can add flavour and sustainability to your kitchen. It’s one of those small swaps that turns scraps into something useful, aromatic, and delicious. Next time you juice a few lemons, don’t toss those peels, dry them, blend them, and sprinkle some sunshine on your next dish.
Kumquat and custard scrolls are delicious! If you have a Kumquat tree overflowing with fruit, then whip up a batch of Kumquat jam and make these scrolls. There’s nothing quite like a tree dripping with golden-orange kumquats in the middle of winter. These tiny citrus gems are tart, tangy, and packed with flavour, and if you’ve ever grown your own, you’ll know how quickly they can go from “a few ripe fruit” to an overwhelming abundance.
When your kumquat tree is loaded and you’re wondering what to do with all that fruit, this kumquat and custard scroll recipe is a must-try. It’s comforting, simple, and a great way to preserve and use your homegrown harvest. These scrolls are soft, sticky, and filled with a beautiful mix of creamy custard and zesty kumquat jam—perfect for a weekend treat, morning tea, or a garden-inspired dessert.
Why Kumquats Deserve a Spot in Your Garden
If you’re new to kumquats, they’re small, oval citrus fruits that can be eaten whole, skin and all! Their skin is sweet while the inside is tart, making them ideal for marmalades, jams, and even fermenting. They’re also compact and make wonderful trees for small backyards, pots, or food forests.
Kumquats fruit prolifically through the cooler months, adding much-needed colour and freshness to a winter garden. But because they’re so tangy, many gardeners are left scratching their heads over how to use them all. This recipe is one of my favourite ways to turn that vibrant tartness into something sweet, creamy, and utterly delicious.
Kumquat & Custard Scrolls Recipe
These scrolls are super easy to make and don’t require yeast or rising time, so they’re perfect for a quick baking session. All you need is a batch of homemade kumquat jam, thick custard, and a few pantry basics.
1 cup thickened custard (store-bought or homemade)
Kumquat and Custard Scrolls
Yield: 8-10
Sweet, tart, creamy, and crunchy these Kumquat and custard scrolls are mouthwatering and delcious.
Ingredients
2 cups self-raising flour
2 TBSP icing sugar
80 grams of butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup Kumquat Jam (see recipe below)
1 cup thickened custard
Instructions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Mix flour, icing sugar, and butter until it forms a breadcrumb texture. Add milk and form a dough.
Roll out on a floured bench to a rectangle shape rough 30cm long.
Add cooled set custard on top and spoon on your kumquat jam. Mix slightly.
Then roll the long side to form a long roll. This is quite tricky but just do your best.
Then cut into 8cm pieces and place in a greased oven dish with the cut side down.
Spoon on any extra mixture that has fallen out. Bake for 20mins until golden.
Allow cooling before removing them so the custard has set again.
You can also brush with extra jam to glaze.
Make Your Own Kumquat Jam
You’ll need kumquat jam for this recipe, and making your own is incredibly rewarding. You can bottle up the sunshine of your citrus tree and use it in scrolls, toast, cakes, or even savoury dishes like glazed roasted vegetables.
Kumquat Jam
Yield: 3 jars
Prep Time: 4 hours30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Additional Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours55 minutes
Kumquat jam is a great way to use and preserve your harvests. Add this jam to pikelets or baking for a delicious citrus flavour.
Ingredients
4 cups chopped Kumquats
5 cups of water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 lemon
Instructions
Wash and chop your Kumquats and keep the seeds as you will need them to use as natural pectin.
Place the Kumquats and water in a pot.
Get all your seeds and make a little bag from cheesecloth or in a strainer. You want the seeds to be submerged in the water but not dispersed throughout as you will be discarding them later. Let the seeds and kumquats sit in the water for 4hrs to release the natural pectin. Remove the seeds and discard.
Place a saucer or plate in the freezer to test your jam out at the end.
Bring the pot to a simmer for 30mins. Add in the sugar and stir. Bring the pot to boil for 5min.
Test your jam by putting droplets onto your frozen plate. They should thicken as you run the end of a spoon through the droplet to check. If it doesn't look like it is set add some fresh lemon juice, reheat, and stir. Test again. I repeated this a couple of times and it started to look set.
Spoon hot mixture into hot jars (heat mine in the oven to sterilise 120 degrees for 15 mins and the lids in a bowl of boiling water).
Turn the jars upside down to cool and help the lids seal.
Refrigerate and enjoy.
Watch the video
Why Grow Kumquats at home?
Here are some of the many reasons to grow Kumquat
Hardy, low-maintenance fruit tree
Perennial
Ornamental and edible
Prolific producer
Dense busy shrub
Grows well in pots and containers
The whole fruit is edible
Great for making jams and preserves
Popular Kumquat Varieties
Nagami – Japanese variety with small oval-shaped fruit. Bright orange when ready. Sweet skin and tart flesh. 1-2 seeds in each fruit ( my favourite).
Meiwa – Larger round orange fruits. Sweet skin and flesh. A hybrid of Nagami and Marumi varieties.
Marumi – Round fruits that are quite sour or tart. Mainly used for preserving.
Variegated Kumquat – Stand out ornamental variegated leaves and fruit. Variegation disappears on fruit usually once ripe. Also known as Calamondin or Calamansi.
What to Make With Excess Kumquats
If your kumquat tree is overflowing with fruit and you’re wondering what to do with them all, you’re not alone! Kumquats are a wonderful citrus to grow, but their short season can leave you with more fruit than you know what to do with. Thankfully, these small citrus gems are incredibly versatile — perfect for both sweet and savoury recipes.
Here are some delicious ways to use up your extra kumquats:
Make a quick kumquat jam – perfect for toast, yogurt bowls, or as a swirl in baked goods like scrolls or muffins. (I used mine in these Kumquat & Custard Scrolls!)
Candy them – sliced thin and simmered in sugar syrup, candied kumquats are beautiful on desserts or cheeseboards.
Add to salads – thinly sliced fresh kumquats add a pop of tang and sweetness to green or grain salads.
Preserve them – kumquats can be fermented, turned into marmalade, or preserved in honey for winter immunity boosts.
Dehydrate them – sliced and dried kumquats make a bright, citrusy snack or addition to tea blends.
Use in sauces or glazes – cook them down with honey or vinegar for a punchy topping to chicken, tofu, or roasted veg.
And of course, if you’re baking, kumquat and custard scrolls are a delicious and unexpected way to transform your harvest into something cozy and irresistible.
TIP: Don’t forget — even if you’re not using the whole fruit right away, kumquats freeze well or can be zested and juiced for future use.
Garden to Plate
There’s something incredibly satisfying about using your own homegrown ingredients in a recipe from start to finish. These kumquat and custard scrolls are a sweet reward for your gardening efforts, and they showcase just how versatile your backyard harvest can be. If you make these, I’d love to see them! Tag me on Instagram or leave a comment letting me know how they turned out—and if you’ve got other creative ways to use kumquats, share them too.
Feijoas or pineapple guavas come in thick in fast over the Autumn month. Their sweet, perfumey flavour is delicious and eaten fresh but once the trees are established you will have a hard time keeping up with them! This Feijoa crumble is delicious and not too sweet. Serve with ice cream yogurt or custard. Feijoas can be frozen to make this throughout the year or switch out the feijoas with other fruit such as apples, apricot, or plum.
Feijoa Crumble Slice
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Feijoa crumble slice is delicious served warm with icecream, yoghurt, or a sweet treat for packed lunches.
Ingredients
Crumble
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup shredded or desiccated coconut
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 /2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup yoghurt
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
80g Butter
Filling
3 cups Feijoa flesh (scooped out of the skin)
1 TBSP Raw sugar (or honey)
1 TBSP Flour
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Scoop out the flesh of the Feijoa (or thaw out previously frozen ones).
Add Crumble ingredients to a bowl and lightly mix into a crumble.
Grease or line a 20cm baking dish and press 2/3rds of the mixture in to form a base.
Bake for 15 minutes or until edges turn golden.
Mix filling ingredients together and pour over the base.
Evenly spread the remaining crumble on top and bake for a further 20-30 minutes until golden.
Enjoy!
Notes
Feijoas can be mixed with finely sliced apple if you do not have enough.
Swap out the Feijoas for whatever fruit you have in season such as Strawberry, Plum, Apricot
Quick and easy creamy garlic sauce that is perfect for burgers, salads, wraps, fritters, or grilled veggies. You do need to be prepared a little ahead of time to soak the nuts. This recipe can be adapted to make different flavours each time using fresh in-season herbs and veggies. The beautiful lilac colour is made naturally from the cabbage leaves and stands out against a green salad. Alternatively, swap out the cabbage for herbs and make a creamy green sauce!
Creamy Garlic Sauce
Yield: 2 cups
Prep Time: 12 hours
Additional Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 12 hours5 minutes
Creamy and delicious dipping sauce or salad dressing with a unique all-natural lilac colour.
Ingredients
1 cup raw cashews
2 garlic cloves
1/2 red chilli ( add the whole chilli if you like spice or leave out)
2 tsp lemon fresh juice
1-2 pinch of sea salt
2 purple cabbage leaves
1 cup water
Instructions
Soak cashews in water overnight in the refrigerator (alternative if you want it quicker soak in lukewarm water for 2+ hours the longer the creamier).
Chop up red cabbage and blend all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Add more water for a runner dressing. Season with extra salt if needed.
Serve with chilli flakes and edible flowers (I used dried cornflower)
Notes
Swap red cabbage for a handful of your favourite herbs such as Parsley, Coriander or Chives.
Looking for a healthy, homemade wrap alternative? These DIY spinach sushi wraps are a delicious and nutritious way to use up garden greens and create quick, wholesome meals. Whether you follow a gluten-free, low-carb, or plant-based lifestyle, these wraps are a game-changer. Made from fresh spinach, herbs, and garden vegetables, they’re packed with nutrients and completely free from preservatives and additives.
These wraps have the texture of nori but are 100% vegetable-based. Use them for sushi, wraps, or as a healthy tortilla alternative. This is the perfect recipe for zero-waste gardeners who want to make the most of their seasonal harvests. I am so impressed with how amazing these are!
These dehydrated spinach sushi wraps taste and feel just like the real deal but I know exactly what is in them. Use excess garden greens along with bottle gourd or zucchini to make a batch of sushi wraps for a quick and easy lunch. Like most of my recipes, you can mix and match different greens and herbs depending on what’s in season or in abundance in your garden.
Garden Vegetable Variations
Don’t have spinach? No problem. Try other leafy greens such as:
NZ spinach (Tetragonia)
Swiss chard
Rocket/arugula
Sweet potato leaves
Amaranth greens
You can even mix in edible weeds like chickweed or purslane for extra nutrition.
Recipe Notes
Psyllium Husk helps bind the mixture and gives flexibility.
Herbs are optional but add great flavor.
Dehydration Time varies depending on water content and thickness.
Spinach "sushi" wraps
Yield: 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 6 hours
Total Time: 6 hours10 minutes
Easy way to preserve excess produce and have wraps on hand for a quick garden-to-plate lunch when you need it.
Ingredients
4 cups spinach or greens*
1/2 cup fresh herbs*
1 TBSP psyllium husk
1 - 2 TBSP water
2 cups chopped bottle of gourd or zucchini
Instructions
Rinse the greens and quickly blanch for 30 seconds in hot water then transfer to iced water to cool.
Strain and add to a mixer or blender. (use the blanching water on the garden once it has cooled down)
Peel Bottle gourd using a vegetable peeler, remove the center seeds and pith then chop into 2-3cm cubes. If using zucchini there is no need to peel.
Add all the ingredients to a blender or mixer and blitz until combined. You may need to move things about with a spoon to get it mixed or add a dash more water. You want a thick paste-like consistency not too watery.
Spread the mixture onto 3-4 silicon dehydrator trays. You may need to do this in batches or use baking paper and a tray if you do not have enough of the silicon trays. The mixture should be thick enough to not see through to the tray or paper but also as thin and even as you can (before seeing through to the tray)
Dehydrate at 50 degrees celsius until dry. Check after 2-3 hours as the time will vary depending on the water content of the greens you used.
Remove and carefully run a knife around the edges to loosen it. Carefully peel off the sheet it is best to do this one bit at a time holding the sheet as close to the tray as possible as to not tear it.
Once removed from the tray cut the sheets into the desired size (I cut in half for wraps but I keep them whole for sushi rolls) then roll them up and place them in an airtight storage jar. Or use them straight away. would
Use the wraps with your favorite salad ingredients and grilled chicken, haloumi or similar.
Notes
Greens - I used NZ spinach including the young stems but you could use any spinach or greens such as chard, rocket, sweet potato leaves etc just remove any thick stems.
Herbs - add herbs or leave them out (replace with more greens) completely up to you. Try adding 1/2 cup of herb such as parsley, chives or coriander for added flavour.
If you do not have a dehydrator you can use an oven on low to 50 degrees but be aware it may take up 6 hours so ensure you are home and not leaving the oven unattended.
These homemade spinach sushi wraps are a sustainable way to reduce kitchen waste and boost your nutrition. Whether you’re preserving an abundant garden harvest or just trying to eat healthier, they’re a delicious, eco-friendly addition to your kitchen staples.
