The girls and I have been testing out several homemade lemonade recipes this spring and we finally found one that I think is a perfect mix of tangy and sweet that I wanted to share.
This is about 1000 times better then the powder mix lemonades and I find it a little lighter and more refreshing then the stuff you can buy at the store.
It is so fast to whip this up and a fun way to get the little ones in the kitchen too! My 4 year old and 5 year old have become very good little lemonade makers (we seriously tried about 11 recipes or so and this was the biggest hit). I make the simple syrup and they squeeze the lemons- pop in the fridge and viola! Perfect lemonade!
This does have sugar in it but far less then the stuff you buy at the store and you can always substitute agave or turbinado sugar if you prefer to skip the white sugar. (We did try this with honey instead of sugar and it wasn’t to my taste but that is another option.)
We just have one of these juicers that was maybe $5 or so at Target. (Or grab one for $5 from Amazon here.) It is really fast to juice the lemons- my little girls can actually do this step.
Here is the recipe:
Squeeze the juice from about 8 lemons ( or 6 lemons if they are large). You want about 1 1/2 cups of lemon juice total.
Add 1 1/3 cups of sugar to a pot and 1 cup of water. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves. Set aside.
Add lemon juice and 8 cups of water to a large pitcher. Once the simple syrup cools mix that in as well.Chill well and serve! This actually makes a great gift idea.
I put this in inexpensive pitchers from Target last year and added a little note and we gave these to the teachers at the end of the school year. Also a nice little hostess gift– the perfect thing to take to BBQs and pool parties!
So simple and just delicious! I prefer a little tang to my lemonade. If you like it just a tiny bit sweeter add 1 1/2 cups of sugar instead if you are a super, super sweet lemonade person adjust the sugar to 1 3/4 cups.
Recipe slightly adapted from All Recipes.
And if you want a little caffeine kick- try this easy homemade iced coffee recipe.
And here is another recipe for a perfect iced tea lemonade (or Arnold Palmer)- one of my favorite summer drinks!
Yummy Strawberry Lemonade Recipe
I just read this, and I thought it paired nicely with your lemonade post. Thank you for such a perfect recipe!
http://thankyourbody.com/31-ways-to-use-lemon-peel/
I can’t wait to try this!
On a scale of 1-10 how tangy would you describe the lemonade! I like mine with a kick 🙂 I was also curious since you mentioned trying honey, (which I tried and didn’t love either), if you tried stevia?
Sarah Jane- yes I like that tartness on the end as well. I have not tried Stevia. I find this to have a bit of zip to it. I think it depends a bit on the lemons- the perfect huge summer lemons are obviously better then the beginning of summer lemons that were hard and small I used recently ;). I would say this is a pretty tangy lemonade- just reduce the sugar a bit and see what you think. You can always add more later.
lol, I already checked this one out and pinned it from your other lemonade post last week! 🙂 Still excited to try it!
We love lemonade! I’ve also found that making a simple syrup is the best way to get a great lemonade with no sugar crumbs at the bottom of the pitcher. Thanks for sharing.
Sounds so good! Need this drink right now, it’s so hot
The ultimate summer drink! Makes me envisions picnics and swimming pools. Yum. Thank you for Linking at the In and Out of the Kitchen Link Party. Hope to see you again next week.
Seeing this recipe just reminded me that I have a citrus juicer and just how long it’s been since I made lemonade. #wakeupwednesdaylinky
I found your blog through #SayGdayParty and I’m really looking forward to making my own fresh lemonade.
My first impression is quite good, tasted delicious. I just had problems with the size of the cup to use. And my pitcher was too small. In the end I had about 3.5 liters of lemonade.
I used Truvia instead of sugar, worked great!
Can i freeze this?
Courtney- you can certainly try. I have never tried to freeze lemonade but I would think it would be OK.
I. Love. This. Recipe! Thank you!!
Not sure if this had been shared…. I’ve split the base, creating a concentrate, (omit the 8C of water) into 2 pint jars and given as a gift with the instructions to add 4C of ice cold water for fresh lemonade. The concentrate also freezes wonderfully (freeze in ziplock bags) for later use
Thank you for the tip Mesha 🙂