Hand Press, Lever or Electric: Which Is the Best Lime Squeezer?

Fresh lime juice is the backbone of a margarita, the finish on a plate of tacos, and the acid that cures ceviche and brightens a salsa. Squeezing a few limes by hand is easy enough; squeezing twenty for a pitcher of margaritas is where a good tool earns its drawer space, getting more juice from each lime with less effort and keeping the seeds out of the drink.

Lime squeezers come in more shapes than you might expect: hinged hand presses, countertop levers, reamers, fold-flat squeezers and electric juicers. This guide names the ones worth buying, explains which suits the way you use limes, and cites the independent reviewers whose findings back them up.

Julia’s earns a commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no cost to you. Recommendations are based on what a working Mexican kitchen looks for in a lime squeezer, the makers’ own specifications and published equipment reviews, which we cite.

Quick verdict: which is the best lime squeezer?

Below, every pick is explained, along with who should skip it.

Five lime squeezers compared

Our five standout picks side by side, one for each way of juicing limes, with the details each maker or listing states. All eight squeezers are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Details are as stated by each maker or listing; check the listing before you buy.

Our picks for the best lime squeezer

These eight squeezers cover every common way to juice a lime: hinged hand presses that turn the fruit inside out, a countertop lever for big batches, a fold-flat press, a wooden reamer and an electric juicer. Each pick explains who it suits, the details that matter for limes, and one honest reason to skip it.

How to choose a lime squeezer for your kitchen

Four questions point you to the right squeezer. How many limes you juice at a time matters most.

1. How many limes, how often?

For a lime or two over food, a reamer or a basic hand press is plenty. For a round of margaritas, a geared hand press like the Chef’n saves your grip. For a pitcher, or for a weekly batch of agua de limón, a countertop lever or an electric juicer is faster and far less tiring. Our guide to aguas frescas explains why a pitcher can take a lot of limes.

2. The size of your limes

Most limes in US supermarkets are Persian limes, which a University of Wisconsin Extension guide describes as usually 2 to 2½ inches across and usually seedless. Key limes, the small limes common in Mexico, are only 1 to 2 inches across and have more seeds, according to the Produce Market Guide. A lime-size bowl fits both, but for small key limes choose a squeezer with a good seed strainer.

3. Material

Stainless steel cannot chip or react with citrus. Enameled aluminum is light and non-reactive while the enamel is intact. Painted or bare aluminum is the lightest, but check the care instructions, since some are hand wash only. Nylon presses like the Chef’n are light and durable, and wood reamers need to be dried promptly.

4. Your hands and your storage

If grip strength is a concern, look for gears (Chef’n), a twist (Joseph Joseph), a side squeeze (Dreamfarm) or a lever (Zulay). If drawer space is the limit, the Dreamfarm folds flat and a reamer takes almost none.

How we picked these eight lime squeezers

We started from what a Mexican kitchen needs from a lime squeezer: plenty of juice, few seeds in the glass, a tool that survives daily use, and something that suits both a single lime over tacos and a pitcher of margaritas. We then searched the squeezers sold on Amazon in the United States, checked each was in stock with Amazon’s product data on the day of writing, and took specifications from each maker’s own listing. For how they perform, we relied on two published reviews: America’s Test Kitchen’s manual citrus juicer review and Reviewed’s citrus juicer ranking. Where those reviewers did not recommend a popular squeezer, we left it out, even when its own listing claimed praise; that is why two well-known hand presses from big kitchen brands are not here. We also left out near-identical squeezers from sellers that publish no maker details, and enameled squeezers whose makers give no lead-free statement. We have not used these products ourselves, and where we describe how a design behaves, we say whose findings those are.

Getting the most juice from a lime

1. Start with room-temperature limes. Cold limes are firmer, so let refrigerated limes sit out before juicing.
2. Roll each lime firmly on the counter under your palm before cutting, to loosen the flesh.
3. Cut across the middle, not end to end, so each half sits flat in the bowl.
4. Put the half in cut side down in a hinged press, so the press turns it inside out.
5. Squeeze straight into a measuring cup or jigger, not into the drink, so a stray seed stays out of the margarita.
6. Juice close to serving time. Fresh lime juice tastes brightest the day it is squeezed.

Lime squeezer questions, answered

Which is the best rated lime squeezer?

Among independent reviewers, the Chef’n FreshForce Citrus Juicer comes out on top: America’s Test Kitchen named it the winner of its manual citrus juicer review, and Reviewed ranked it first. For countertop presses, ATK’s favorite is a Zulay Kitchen heavy-duty press.

Which way does a lime go in a squeezer?

Cut side down, facing the holes. It feels backwards, but the press turns the lime inside out and the juice runs straight through.

Is a lemon squeezer the same as a lime squeezer?

Nearly. Lemon squeezers have a slightly larger bowl and handle limes well; lime-size squeezers are compact but too small for most lemons. If you use both fruits, a lemon-size press like the Chef’n FreshForce Citrus Juicer covers both.

How many limes do you need for a margarita?

It depends on the limes and the recipe, so measure the juice rather than counting fruit. Small key limes give much less juice each than larger Persian limes, which is one reason a squeezer that empties every half matters. For the drink itself, see our guide to frozen versus on-the-rocks margaritas.

Are electric citrus juicers worth it for limes?

Yes, if you juice in quantity. For a lime or two, a hand squeezer or reamer is quicker to use and to clean.

Our final pick for limes

Buy the Chef’n FreshForce Citrus Juicer if you want one squeezer that does nearly everything well. Add a countertop lever press like the Zulay, or the BLACK+DECKER electric juicer, if you make margaritas by the pitcher, and keep a wooden reamer in the drawer for a quick lime over dinner. For the rest of the bar, see our guide to margarita accessories, along with our picks for the best margarita glasses and the best margarita mix for nights when fresh limes run out.

And if you would rather someone else made the margaritas, see our drinks or call to order.