Shaved Lemon Salad

Shaved Lemon Salad is a vibrant, refreshing salad made from paper-thin slices of whole lemons, often tossed with herbs like mint or parsley, a drizzle of olive oil, and a pinch of salt. It's a simple, rustic dish that highlights the bright, tangy flavor of lemons, with the pith adding a pleasant bitterness. This salad is particularly popular in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines, especially in regions like Greece, Turkey, and the Levant.

🍳 View the full Shaved Lemon Salad recipe →

🍽️ Nutrition at a glance

This dish is very low in calories, typically around 50-80 calories per serving, and is virtually free of carbs, fat, and protein in significant amounts. Its key nutritional contribution comes from the lemons' high vitamin C content, along with antioxidants and a small amount of fiber from the pith and peel.

Nutrition breakdown

Calories	45 kcal
Protein	1.2 g
Carbs	9.5 g
Fat	0.8 g
Fiber	2.8 g
Sugar	4.5 g
Sodium	120 mg
Vitamin C	35 mg
Potassium	180 mg
Folate	45 mcg
Vitamin A	120 IU
Calcium	40 mg
Iron	0.8 mg
Magnesium	15 mg
Manganese	0.3 mg

Per 1 cup (150 g) · estimated, varies by recipe

💡 What's interesting

What makes Shaved Lemon Salad unique is its use of the entire lemon—peel, pith, and all—which is unusual in Western cooking where lemons are mostly used for juice. Nutritionally, the pith is rich in pectin, a soluble fiber that can aid digestion, making this a surprisingly gut-friendly dish.