Watermelon Juice

This easy watermelon juice recipe is perfect for hot summer days. Made with just 3 ingredients (and no added sugar!), it's cool, delicious, and refreshing.

A cold glass of this watermelon juice is everything I want on a warm summer day. When it’s blistering hot outside (or super humid, like it has been here), this hydrating juice is the best way to cool off. And, like, how gorgeous is that color?! Topped off with a sprig of fresh mint, this watermelon juice is just plain fun. How to Make Watermelon Juice I’m not a fan of overly sweet fruit juices, so I don’t use any added sugar in this recipe. Instead, I make it with 3 basic ingredients: watermelon, lime juice, and ginger juice. Here’s…

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Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

Cookies for breakfast? Yes, please! These oatmeal breakfast cookies are filled with healthy ingredients like oats, nuts, and fruit. Great for meal prep!

These oatmeal breakfast cookies are soft, nutty, and lightly sweet. They’re so delicious that you’d never guess they’re made with good-for-you ingredients like oats, nuts, and fresh fruit. They just so happen to be vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free too! These oatmeal breakfast cookies are one of my favorite healthy breakfasts for meal prep. I love to make a double recipe and freeze them to keep on hand for quick healthy breakfasts. The freezer is also a great way to hide them from Jack, who would otherwise eat one every time he walks past the kitchen counter. 🙂 I hope you…

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Sesame Cucumber Salad with Pickled Mustard Seeds

This easy, refreshing cucumber salad recipe is perfect for hot days! A sweet and tangy dressing coats cool cucumbers, onions, and lots of fresh herbs.

This cucumber salad recipe is the quintessential summer side dish. Like all the best summer recipes, it calls for just a few ingredients, but it still packs a big punch of flavor. Thanks to a light sesame salad dressing, it’s salty, sweet, nutty, and tangy, with plenty of fresh mint and dill to take it over the top. You only need 15 minutes to make it (including 10 minutes of hands-off chill time), so toss it together and enjoy it as a dinner side dish, or, like me, eat it straight out of the bowl! On hot days, there’s nothing…

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Pumpkin Bars

These easy pumpkin bars are super moist, perfectly spiced, and slathered in tangy cream cheese frosting. What more could you want in a fall treat?

If you’re looking for a fun, festive, and sweet-but-not-too-sweet treat to make for Halloween, this easy pumpkin bars recipe is just the thing for you! It’s based on the pumpkin bread recipe that I make every fall. Like the bread, these bars are moist, tender, and filled with pumpkin spice flavor. UNlike the bread, they’re topped in a rich, tangy cream cheese frosting, which really highlights the warm spices inside them. On cool fall afternoons, they’re the perfect treat to pair with a coffee or tea. But heads up: these pumpkin bars are seriously addictive. Eat one, and you’ll have…

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Roasted Delicata Squash

If you've never roasted delicata squash, get ready to fall in love! It's a breeze to prepare, and it has a rich, creamy texture and delicious sweet flavor.

If you’ve never roasted delicata squash before, get ready to fall in love! When winter squash appears at farmers markets and grocery stores each year, I’m excited to get my hands on all of it – acorn squash, butternut squash, sugar pie pumpkins, and more. But delicata squash is my favorite by far. Nicknamed the “sweet potato squash,” it has a sweet, velvety flesh that caramelizes beautifully in the oven. But that’s not all. Thanks to its small size and thin, edible skin, it’s super easy to work with. That’s right – you don’t have to peel it! In fact,…

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Tartar Sauce

Once you learn how to make tartar sauce, you'll never buy it at the store again! This recipe is creamy, tangy, and easy to make in under 10 minutes.

This tartar sauce recipe is creamy, fresh, and packed with tangy, savory flavor. No store-bought version I’ve tried comes close! Luckily, this homemade tartar sauce is easy to make with simple ingredients like mayo, dill pickles, capers, and lemon. You can whip up a batch in 10 minutes or less! Tartar sauce is traditionally served with seafood, but we love this recipe with potatoes, veggies, and more. Really, anytime you feel like a dish could use a rich, tangy pop of flavor, you can make this tartar sauce recipe to brighten it up! Tartar Sauce Recipe Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need to make…

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Watermelon Margarita

This watermelon margarita recipe is the best drink you'll make all summer! Naturally sweetened with watermelon, it's easy, refreshing, and delicious.

I can’t think of a better way to kick off the weekend than with this watermelon margarita recipe! It’s super easy to make (no cocktail shaker required!), and its vibrant color just screams summer. Thanks to the watermelon, it’s naturally sweet, and fresh lime juice gives it a delicious tart finish. This watermelon margarita recipe is perfect for parties, happy hours, or any summer evening. Sip it on its own, or enjoy it alongside tortilla chips, salsa, and/or guacamole. Cheers, friends, and happy summer! Watermelon Margarita Ingredients A classic margarita is made with tequila, fresh lime juice, an orange liqueur like…

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Best Veggie Burger

If you make one veggie burger recipe, it has to be this one. These burgers have a wonderful savory flavor and hearty texture. They're grillable, too!

Say hello to the BEST veggie burger recipe! Of course, that’s just my opinion, but once you try it, I think you’ll agree. For one, these patties are grill-able! And if you’d rather be spending time in the sun than in the kitchen, you can even make them a day or two in advance. But that’s not all. This veggie burger has an amazing meaty texture and savory, smoky flavor. It’ll keep its shape when it’s stuffed inside a bun, and it’s delicious with fancy fixings or with good old ketchup and mustard. Unlike many packaged veggie burgers, its incredible…

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Healthy Banana Muffins

These healthy banana muffins are moist, fluffy, and flavorful! Made with whole wheat flour and maple syrup, they're a delicious breakfast or snack.

I’ve been making this banana muffin recipe on repeat lately! Adapted from my healthy banana bread, it’s made with whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened with maple syrup. But even though these muffins are healthy, they’re super moist, fluffy, and full of sweet banana flavor. Kids and adults (well, at least Ollie, Jack, and me) can’t get enough of them. I love these healthy banana muffins for breakfast or as a snack. We’ve been going through them pretty quickly in our house (I’ve made them 3 times this month already!), but if you have more restraint than we do, they’re great…

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Best Shakshuka

This shakshuka recipe features gently poached eggs in a flavorful tomato and red pepper sauce. Try it for an easy, healthy breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

Shakshuka is one of my favorite breakfasts…and lunches…and dinners. Though this Middle Eastern and North African dish is traditionally eaten for breakfast, it’s so easy, filling, and flavorful that it’s a great option for any meal of the day. Below, I’m sharing my go-to shakshuka recipe, which features gently poached eggs cooked in a fragrant bell pepper and tomato sauce that’s spiced with cumin and paprika. It’s an updated version of a recipe I originally shared in 2017, with a more traditional, streamlined ingredient list and new photos. If you like simple meals that go BIG on flavor, you’ll love…

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Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Made with Yukon gold potatoes and lots of roasted garlic, these garlic mashed potatoes are creamy, rich, and flavorful. An easy, delicious side dish!

The first time I made these garlic mashed potatoes, I didn’t know what my husband Jack would think of them. See, Jack grew up eating his Uncle Billy’s mashed potatoes, and he still reminisces about them. They were creamy, fluffy, and rich with (lots of) melted butter and (lots of) sour cream.  These garlic mashed potatoes aren’t exactly like Uncle Billy’s. Instead of dairy, olive oil and starchy potato cooking water give them an amazing creamy texture, and roasted garlic fills them with rich, nutty depth of flavor. When I tried them, I thought they were delicious, but Jack’s opinion would…

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A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Welcome to Love & Lemons!

I'm Jeanine Donofrio, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author and recipe developer. I share fresh, delicious vegetarian recipes that celebrate seasonal ingredients and flavors.

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