Homemade Lemonade Recipe
This homemade lemonade recipe is perfect for a refreshing drink all summer long. Tart, tangy lemons, sweet simple syrup, and ice cold water will help you beat the heat and stay cool any time!
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My kids are wierdos.
But I guess I am too since they do the exact same thing I did when I was little.
What is it?
Well, I’ll tell you.
They eat lemon slices.
I did too.
And they all make pucker faces when they do it, but they beg for the lemons any time we are making anything with lemons.
So you can guess how much they love a good homemade lemonade recipe.
A lot.
It’s cool, refreshing, and sweet with just a little of that pucker they love so much!
Ingredients and Kitchen Supplies
To make this homemade lemonade recipe, you’ll need:
- Lemons – For the best flavor, use fresh lemons and squeeze them out yourself or get a juicer. If you are craving homemade lemonade and can’t squeeze your own, bottled lemon juice can work, it just won’t have as fresh a flavor.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar adds the sweetness to the lemonade so that it does not cause your mouth to completely pucker when drinking it.
- Water – You can use filtered or spring water if you like, but tap water works too.
Some tools that can make your life easier include:
- Hand-held Juicer – You’ll need to use your muscles on this to squeeze out the juice.
- Electric Juicer – This saves your arms and hands a bit, but it also comes with a much heavier price tag. It’s a great option if you juice your fruit a lot.
How to Make this Homemade Lemonade Recipe
1. Squeeze the juice out.
The first step to making a lemonade recipe is to squeeze all the lemon juice out of your lemons.
We used about a cup of lemon juice when making our homemade lemonade, which equals about 6 medium to large sized lemons.
You may find you need a few more or less, depending on how much juice you get out per lemon.
2. Make a simple syrup.
Pull out a small pot and pour the cup of sugar and a cup of water into it.
Over medium-low heat, constantly stir the sugar and water until all the sugar dissolves into the water.
This will take about 2 minutes.
Once the sugar fully dissolves, remove from heat and allow the simple syrup to cool a bit.
3. Combine it all and serve.
In a large pitcher, combine the simple syrup, lemon juice, and cool water.
Give it a good stir and then either store in the fridge until ready or pour into glasses filled with ice to serve.
You can garnish the glasses with lemon wedges, mint leaves, or coat the tops with some granulated sugar by dipping them into water and then a bowl of sugar.
Serving
Like any homemade lemonade recipe, ours tastes best chilled and poured over ice.
Fill your cups or glasses with ice and then pour the lemonade into the glasses.
Homemade lemonade compliments just about any meal and tastes great as you grill up some bacon and cheese stuffed burgers or pineapple ribs.
Storing
We highly recommend using a pitcher that can close with an air tight seal so you can easily store lemonade in the fridge.
You could also cover an open pitcher with plastic cling wrap before storing in the fridge.
Homemade lemonade should stay fresh for about 5 to 6 days.
Also, unless you plan to serve it all at once, we recommend not adding ice to the lemonade pitcher.
As it sits, the ice will melt and dillute the lemonade.
Tips and Tricks
- Unless you plan to serve it all at once, don’t add ice to the pitcher. This will delude the lemonade and cause it to lose some of its flavor.
- If you want to use another sweetner, you can as long as it dissolves easily in cool water or is a liquid to begin with. Stevia, honey, maple syrup, and agave nectar can all fill in for sugar in a lemonade recipe. We have not tested the alternative sugar substitutes, so you may need to experiment some with how much to add to get the right flavor and sweetness for you.
- You may want to use a strainer when adding the lemon juice to your pitcher. This will catch any stray seeds or pulp that might have slipped through your juicer.
Other Homemade Lemonade Recipe Ideas
Love lemonade? Check out these other variations.
Or, for some spiked lemonade options, check out these recipes:
- Raspberry Lemonade Cocktail
- Frozen Boozy Strawberry Lemonade Slushies
- Easy Boozy Lemonade Slushies
- Lemonade Cocktail
- Boozy Strawberry Lemonade Slushies
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Equipment
- 1 lemon juicer (hand held or electric)
- 1 small pot
- 1 strainer (optional – helps remove seeds)
Ingredients
- 6-7 cups water
- 1 cup lemon juice (about 6 medium-large lemons)
- 1 cup sugar
Instructions
- Halve the lemons and squeeze into a measuring cup until you reach about 1 cup of juice.Or measure out a full cup of bottled lemon juice.
- In a small pot, combine 1 cup of water and the sugar.
- Continuously whisk the sugar and water over medium-low heat until the sugar completely dissolves. This should take about 2 minutes.
- Remove the simple syrup from heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes.
- Combine the lemon juice, simple syrup, and about 5 to 6 cups of water in large pitcher, stirring to combine. For stronger lemon flavor, use less water and take a quick sip to test before adding more water.
- Pour the lemonade into ice filled cups to serve.
- Garnish the glasses with lemon wedges or mint leaves.
