This collection of lychee recipes is bound to inspire you to experiment more in the kitchen and to try new flavors. Lychee is an incredibly versatile tropical fruit that can be used in both sweet and savory preparations.
Lychee is a small tropical fruit with a flavor reminiscent of a combination of strawberry, pear, and watermelon. It’s mainly cultivated in Asia and South Africa so many North American and European consumers are still unfamiliar with it.
Lately, though, fresh lychees have become more available where I live so our family has become seriously addicted to these little guys. We often enjoy them simply as a healthy snack – all you have to do is just peel and eat.
But did you know that this tropical fruit can also be added to various drinks, salads, desserts, or even savory dishes? I already made lychee panna cotta for the blog and now I have a craving to try more recipes with them.
After looking around the web I conducted a list of the best lychee recipes (in my opinion, obviously) and I am sharing it with you. This collection includes plenty of sweet and savory dishes, drinks, ice cream, you name it.
But before you dive into the list, I do want to share some quick tips about how to choose and store these tropical fruits. My article on how to eat lychee has tons more information, but here are the basics.
- Pick the good ones – The skin should be vibrant and free from blemishes. When gently pressed, a perfect lychee will feel slightly springy rather than very soft. It’s important to pick lychees carefully because once harvested they don’t ripen anymore.
- Easy peeling – You don’t need a knife. The outer skin is thin so just use your fingers to pierce it and peel it back. It should come off easily. The seed is not edible.
- Store properly – Wrap lychees in a paper towel and store them inside a ziploc bag in the fridge for a longer storage life. They will keep this way for up to a week, whereas at room temperature lychees will last only a few days.
Once you taste a perfectly ripe, sweet lychee, you will fall in love. The flavor is absolutely unique. I hope this selection of amazing lychee recipes will inspire you and you’ll discover your own love for this tropical fruit.
1. Lychee Panna Cotta
Lychee Panna Cotta is an elegant, silky smooth dessert that’s simpler to make than it looks. Make this tropical lychee dessert in just 20 minutes and impress guests for dinner parties or make date night even more special.
Recipe by: Yummy Addiction
2. Vegetarian Lychee Salad
This light lychee salad takes your lunch or appetizer to the next level. It has lychee, mixed greens, radishes, crispy shallots, and carrots. The best part is that it’s vegetarian!
Recipe by: Cooking Therapy
3. Lychee-Ginger Lassi
Thick, creamy and bursting with tropical flavours of lychee, this lassi is a delicious addition to a breakfast spread or afternoon snack.
Recipe by: Food Fashion Party
4. Green Thai Curry Chicken Stir Fry with Lychee
This Asian chicken stir fry is made with the addition of fresh lychees as the sweetness really cuts through the heat, and the kaffir lime leaves that add a fragrant flavour to the dish.
Recipe by: The Healthy Hunter Blog
5. Sweet & Sour Lychee Tofu
A plant-based & simplified take on the Taiwanese classic: Sweet & Sour Pork. Made vegan with crispy baked tofu and sweet, juicy lychee. Goes perfectly with freshly steamed rice.
Recipe by: Chez Jorge
6. Roast Duck with Lychee, Watermelon and Watercress Salad
Served warmish, this exotic salad with hints of chilli and lime, shredded kaffir lime leaves and pomegranate seeds, explodes in the mouth with summer freshness.
Recipe by: Shared Kitchen
7. Lychee Smoothie
Lychee Smoothie is a refreshing breakfast drink made using fresh or canned lychees, yogurt, and a few other simple ingredients. Serve it for breakfast or as a pre or post-workout drink.
Recipe by: WhiskAffair
8. Lychee Rose Cake
This lychee rose cake has plenty of rose-scented cake and buttercream, with a hidden treasure of lychee bits on the inside!
Recipe by: Delicious Not Gorgeous
9. Lychee Sweet & Sour Pork
Chunks of succulent meat deep fried to crisp perfection, then coated in tangy tomato sauce. The addition of lychee adds a sweet juicy finish to the dish!
Recipe by: The Bakeanista
10. Lychee Jelly Cream Puffs
These Lychee Jelly Cream Puffs are filled with lychee cream and a disk of lychee jelly. The mixture of textures creates such a unique cream puff experience.
Recipe by: EricTriesIt
11. Lychee Coconut Sorbet
Home made refreshing lychee coconut sorbet recipe with shredded coconut. Perfect dessert to clean the palate after a greasy meal!
Recipe by: Just One Cookbook
12. Healthy Lychee Chicken Curry Noodles
These Healthy Lychee Chicken Curry Noodles are a perfect one pot, high fibre, high protein dinner for easy casual entertaining.
Recipe by: Abbey’s Kitchen
13. Strawberry Rose Lychee Mojito
This lychee mojito is an exotic, floral take on the every day mojito. Filled with lychees, strawberries, a splash of rose water and white rum.
Recipe by: With Spice
14. Coconut Lychee Jello
A variety of combinations of lychee syrup, milk, and/or coconut milk will all work in this jello fruit co*cktail. It can be made with either almond or coconut flavoring.
Recipe by: Mochi Mommy
15. Lychee Jelly for Bubble Tea
Learn how to make lychee jelly for bubble tea with this easy homemade recipe. It’s easy and makes great boba option for fruit and milk teas.
Recipe by: Decorated Treats
16. Rose Lychee Raspberry Cupcakes
These Rose Lychee Raspberry Cupcakes are delicately flavoured with rose water and fresh lychee. It’s topped with a lightly sweetened rose and raspberry buttercream and is naturally coloured pink.
Recipe by: Sift & Simmer
17. The Best Soft and Moist Lychee Cake Ever
This amazingly soft and moist cake adorned with sweet lychees, matcha cream, and caramel syrup will be your new favorite cake.
Recipe by: What To Cook Today
18. Lychee and Rose Macarons
Blush French macarons filled with a subtle rose water and lychee frosting and a fresh lychee fruit center. Memorable in taste and fitting for the spring and summer season!
Recipe by: Posh Little Designs
19. Lychee Sangria
This lychee sangria is a winner. Easy to make and super refreshing, it is destined to be a party favorite. It smells wonderful, tastes great, and is an ideal beverage to sip on during warm summer nights.
Recipe by: The Little Epicurean
20. Lychee Ice Cream
Sweltering in the heat? Cool off with this simplest lychee ice cream that is made of 3 ingredients and doesn’t need an ice cream maker.
Recipe by: Not Quite Nigella
21. Thai Red Chicken Curry with Pineapple & Lychee
This Thai Red Chicken Curry is incredibly delicious, so easy to make with bite size chicken pieces, mushrooms, pineapple, lychee and simmered in a red curry and coconut milk sauce.
Recipe by: Dollmestic Goddess
22. Chicken & Lychee Green Curry
This Chicken & Lychee Green Curry is a fun alternative to a normal curry thanks to the addition of juicy lychee. It’s creamy, sweet and spicy and has a sauce that is so good you will want to drink it with a spoon. Best of all it requires just one pan and is ready in under 30 minutes.
Recipe by: Every Last Bite
23. Chicken and Lychee in Sweet and Sour Sauce
Use a can of lychee to cook this chicken and lychee in sweet & sour sauce. This unique take on a familiar dish will instantly be your family’s new favorite dish.
Recipe by: Daily Cooking Quest
24. Mango Lychee and Blueberry Fruit Bowl
Tropical fruit bowl made with mangoes, lychee fruit, blueberries, granola bars, and more tasty treats.
Recipe by: Will Cook For Smiles
25. Mango & Lychee Shrimp Kebabs
Grilled kebabs of mango, lychees, shrimp, onions and peppers served with a herb yogurt dip.
Recipe by: Suwannee Rose
26. Vegan Lychee Ceviche
Vegan Lychee Ceviche flavored with citrus, green chilli, mint, onions & ginger, it’s a delicious plant-based alternative.
Recipe by: Love is in my Tummy
27. Raspberry and Lychee Curd Tarts
With a crunchy base and a soft curd which is made from raspberries and lychee’s – these tarts will be sure to be a crowd pleaser.
Recipe by: Twigg Studios
28. Rose’s Luxury Inspired Lychee Salad
Rose’s Luxury Inspired Lychee Salad, a make-at-home version of Rose’s Luxury’s infamous dish that combines sweet lychees with spicy pork sausage, peanuts, red onions, herbs and a creamy coconut whip dressing.
Recipe by: Sprinkles & Sea Salt
29. Sakura Lychee Fizz
This Sakura Lychee Fizz is a sparkling and lightly floral drink, sweetened with real cherry blossom syrup.
Recipe by: Sift & Simmer
30. Lychee Ice Cream
This easy lychee ice cream recipe is creamy, delicious, and only requires 5 ingredients! With sweet and subtle floral notes, this refreshing lychee dessert makes for the perfect snack on hot summer days, but is really just a tasty treat any time of year.
Recipe by: The Picky Eater
