Refreshing Homemade Lemonade
Updated Jul. 27th, 2017
Slow things down this summer by enjoying a good old fashion glass of lemonade – just the way grandma used to make it! The citrus from the lemons with a subtle taste of sweetness is the perfect combination to tackle any hot day. Make a batch and bring it to the beach, serve it with brunch of simply store it in your fridge for a pick me up when you need a brief break from water!
- Gluten Free
- Dairy Free
Ingredients:
| ½ cup sugar | 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (roughly 6 lemons) | |
| 1 cup water | 4 cups cold water |
Directions
- To ensure your sugar fully mixes with your water, you’ll want to reduce it to make a simple syrup! Do this by grabbing a saucepan and adding your sugar and only one cup of water. Bring this mixture to a boil, stirring regularly.
- While this is boiling, squeeze your lemons into a measuring cup. Set aside
- Grab a glass pitcher and add in the remaining 4 cups of water and your lemon juice.
- Once boiled, add in your simple syrup and mix well.
- Put pitcher in the fridge until its cold and refreshing. Serve with ice and a slice of lemon.
Make It This Way
Be smart about the type of sugar you’re using to make this recipe healthy. If you have it, swap plain white sugar out for xylitol or coconut palm sugar. If you don’t mind altering the taste a little bit, experiment with honey, light molasses, maple syrup or brown rice syrup. Just be sure to alter your quantity when using these types – try adding a little at a time and mixing well until you get a desired sweetness.
Try adding some fresh mint to your lemonade (either mulled into the glass with a little lemonade first, or by just placing whole sprigs to the glass) to give it an added zing. Fresh mint aids in digestion and helps with nausea and headaches.
Try This
Turn this lemonade into a spritzer! When making your lemonade, try adding a little less water to the initial pitcher (therefore, condensing your lemonade to be stronger). When you go to serve your lemonade, just be sure to fill up a glass with some ice, and a bit of club soda before adding the lemonade! A great drink to quench your summer thirst!
The drink I choose on any summer’s day is Homemade Lemonade. There is nothing like a fresh cold drink. It is extremely easy to make and very refreshing. Lemons are very healthy for you. Instead of sugar, I use honey and adjust to my taste. Sometimes I make it into a Spritzer for a different taste, which is also delicious. I’m really looking forward to summer again. But you don’t have to wait for summer to try it. You can certainly have it anytime. If you haven’t tried it before, give it a try and you’ll see for yourself.
This is a great recipe! I've tried it with maple syrup and it's really good. Like the recipe says, try a smaller amount of syrup first and adjust to how sweet you like it. Make sure you serve it ice cold!
Hello Stephanie,
Homemade lemonade is so tasty and refreshing. Indeed, you can always add more sweetener, but can't take it away once added. Glad you're enjoying these recipes.
Stay cool this summer!
This homemade lemonade is the perfect treat for the summer! Lemon and mint go so well together and offer a lot of great health benefits so I love to see them in a recipe together. I love how it gives you the idea of making a lemonade spritzer as well! I personally love bubbly water and this gives you the same carbonated tastes that a soda would be without the calories and half the sugar of it too! Great idea
Hello,
Indeed, this is very refreshing and has many great health benefits! Lemon has great antioxidant properties, balances PH levels & the two together are a great detox, which you can learn more about here:
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/articles/health-concerns/detoxification/
Stay healthy & well1