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Why You’ll Love My Recipe

This fresh-squeezed lemonade is perfect to serve up as an ice cold drink on a steamy summer day.

Pair your fresh lemonade with Swedish Creme with Summer Berries for the ultimate summer afternoon treat! You could make a Fresh Fruit Platter with Dips to impress a larger group or serve this lemonade alongside a zesty Chicken Caesar Salad for lunch.

A glass pitcher filled with lemonade and lemon slices sits on a wooden tray, surrounded by lemon halves and a glass of lemonade on a white marble surface. Blue striped straws and a blue cloth are nearby.

Karlynn’s Recipe Notes

Skill Level: This is a very easy recipe.
Total Time: It takes only 10 minutes to make this lemonade.
Variations: Adjust the tartness or sweetness as much as you like. Add some fresh or frozen berries, mint, or citrus slices to the mixture for even more flavour. Add some more icy water if the flavours are too intense, or reduce the amount of water you use if you like your lemonade extra powerful. Try dipping the rim of your glass in some sugar before pouring the lemonade, for an extra fun and fancy element.
Tools Needed: For this recipe, you’ll need a small pot, some measuring cups, a spoon or whisk, a citrus juicer, a cutting board, a knife, and a pitcher.

A glass jar of lemonade with a blue-striped straw and a lemon slice on the rim sits on a marble counter, surrounded by more jars of lemonade and cut lemons.

What You’ll Need For Ingredients

Lemons: Fresh, ripe lemons will work best for this and you’ll need about 9 of them. Or, if they aren’t available to you for some reason, you can use bottled lemon juice. Adjust the exact amount to your own specific tastes.

Simple Syrup: This mixture is made by boiling sugar and water until the sugar is fully dissolved. It’s generally made with white sugar and can be used in a variety of beverages, not just lemonade. You can also infuse a simple syrup with herbs or flowers and use it to make fancy cocktails and mocktails.

A bowl of whole yellow lemons, a small bowl of white sugar, and a glass of water are arranged on a white marble surface.

How To Make Fresh Lemonade

This is a brief overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients and step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.

A saucepan with a cloudy liquid sits on a marble surface, surrounded by fresh lemons, a bowl of lemons, a glass of water, a whisk, and a blue-striped cloth.

A metal whisk in a bowl with liquid, surrounded by fresh lemons, a halved lemon, a glass of water, and a striped cloth on a white marble surface.

In a small pot over medium heat, mix together sugar and 1 cup of water. Stir to dissolve the sugar as the mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool.
Cut lemons in half and juice them. Pick out any seeds and strain out the pulp if you’d like.
Add 8 cups of ice-cold water to your pitcher. Pour in the lemon juice and simple syrup.
Pour into glasses, add ice and a half slice of lemon. Enjoy.

A pitcher and a mason jar of lemonade with lemon slices and striped straws sit on a wooden tray, with extra lemon slices nearby. Two more jars of lemonade are in the background on a white countertop.

Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks for Making Homemade Lemonade

Even Quicker: Fresh squeezed lemonade is very easy to make, but if you’d like to make it even easier you can use bottled lemon juice. It’s generally quite concentrated, so pay attention to the conversion amounts on the bottle. This eliminates the need for fresh lemons, as well as any cutting or juicing, while still giving you a powerful lemon flavour.

Make the Simple Syrup Fancy: As you may already know, simple syrup is an ingredient in many cocktails and mocktails. You can make a larger batch and use it for multiple beverages. For extra fun, colour, and flavour, try infusing some simple syrup with fresh petals from edible flowers like lilacs, roses, or lavender. You can also play with adding juniper berries, herbs, or other botanicals.

A pitcher of lemonade is being poured into a glass jar with a blue striped straw and a lemon slice. Two more jars of lemonade and lemon slices are in the background on a white surface with a tiled wall.

Storage Instructions

This lemonade can be stored in a pitcher in the fridge for several days, if you don’t drink it all immediately. You can always keep topping up the jug with more lemon juice, simple syrup, and ice water as needed.

If you have some extra lemon juice, you can freeze it in ice cube trays, or silicone molds, to use later.

More Delicious Drinks, Punches, and Mocktail Recipes

For something gentle and refreshing, try Lemon Water.

For an extra blast of fruit, make The BEST Homemade Strawberry Lemonade.

Or, if it’s iced tea that you enjoy on a hot day, learn How to Make Southern Style Sweet Tea.

There you go, folks. An easy recipe for fresh, homemade lemonade. Try it out and let me know what you think.

Happy Cooking!

Karlynn