How to Make Homemade Lemonade
Learn how to make Homemade Lemonade with this simple recipe! Whenever you have fresh lemons, this is a must make recipe for a cool and tasty drink!
If you love making homemade cold beverages as much as I do, be sure to check out some of my other favorites like Organic Pink Lemonade, Homemade Sweetened Iced Tea, Chocolate Coconut Water, or Strawberry Limeade.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: How to Make Homemade Lemonade
- Ready In: 15 minutes
- Makes: 8 servings
- Main Ingredients: lemons, cane sugar
- Flavor Profile: sweet and tart refreshing lemonade
- Dietary Info: vegan, gluten free, no seed oils, eggless
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: homemade organic lemonade with 2 ingredients
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 3 Ingredients: Making your own organic lemonade is incredibly easy and it only requires 3 ingredients! Store bought lemonades can contain much more and even have artificial colors or natural flavors. This is the biggest reason why I love making my own organic lemonade, because it just has 2 ingredients!
- Healthy: Homemade lemonade is just sugar, water and lemons, so making your own organic lemonade is so much healthier than buying it! So, when you are craving that sweet taste of nostalgia, just make your own!
- Adaptable: If you are looking for a lower sugar lemonade, you can easily reduce the sugar when you make it yourself. I am making a classic lemonade here, but if you try this and think you want less sugar, you can reduce it by a third or even half.
Yes, I was the girl who hosted a homemade lemonade stand in her front yard every week during summer. Quietly counting my quarters, dimes and nickels and saving up to go buy candy at the forbidden candy shop, haha.
Little did I know that fast forward 20 years and I would be selling lemonade to real customers out of my own bake shop with all the sweets I could ever need! We made this homemade organic lemonade at my bakery on special occasions during the summer when we had fresh lemons. This recipe was a customer favorite and I know you'll love it too!
Ingredients
- Lemons: The first thing you'll need is lemons. I recommend using traditional lemons and not Meyer lemons for this recipe, as Meyer lemons are sweeter than traditional lemons. And if you use Meyer lemons, this might be too sweet, or you'll need to adjust the sugar. I recently got a bunch of lemons from a tree, so that's what I used in this lemonade. But, you can just as easily buy them at the Farmer's Market or at the grocery store.
- Cane Sugar: The second ingredient in homemade lemonade is sugar. Lemonade is a sweet drink, so sugar is key! I use organic cane sugar, which is the organic equivalent of granulated or white sugar. I highly recommend switching to organic cane sugar if you can as it's so much better for you and the environment, and it tastes better too! And with a recipe that has so few ingredients, those ingredients really matter.
- Water: The third ingredient in homemade lemonade is water. I use water and sugar to make a simple syrup, this is what sweetens the lemon juice. Then more water is added to the sweetened lemon juice to create homemade lemonade.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Tips for Organic Homemade Lemonade
- You can use fresh lemons like I'm doing here or you can also use bottled lemon juice for ease, either works.
- If you are looking for a lower sugar option, you can halve the amount of sugar and water when making the simple syrup.
- For sugar free lemonade, skip the simple syrup and add in organic liquid stevia to taste.
- If you're looking for a pink lemonade version, try my Organic Pink Lemonade!
- Turn this organic lemonade into popsicles by pouring into popsicle molds and freezing overnight, it's that easy!
- Use for the liquid in your smoothies for a light, lemon refresh. Try it in Berry Protein Smoothie Without Banana or Tropical Bone Broth Protein Smoothie.
How to Make Homemade Lemonade
- In a small saucepan, add 1/2 cup of water and the cane sugar. Put over medium heat and stir with a spatula or whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
- Juice the lemons until you have 1 1/4 cups.
- Add the lemon juice and simple syrup into a large pitcher.
- Add in the remaining 5 cups of water and stir to combine completely.
- Then it's ready to serve.
- Slice the additional lemon, and place slices in the pitcher or in the glasses for serving (optional).
How to Serve Organic Homemade Lemonade
- Make this organic lemonade for your next BBQ and serve alongside Turkey and Lamb Burgers With Dill Sauce, Chili Lime Ahi Fish Tacos, or Healthy Ranch Pasta Salad with Olive Oil.
- Enjoy for an afternoon snack with one of my favorite cookies like Eggless Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies, Eggless Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies, or Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies.
- Use this as a mixer for cocktails, make hard lemonade or a spiked Arnold Palmer!
- Enjoy with summer desserts like Organic Strawberry Shortcake With Homemade Whipped Cream, American Flag Cream Pie with Graham Cracker Crust, Olive Oil Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches, or Apple Berry Pie.
Recipe FAQ's
I make a simple syrup because this way the sugar is completely dissolved and you don't run the risk of it all sinking to the bottom of your homemade lemonade. When you use organic cane sugar, the crystals are a little larger than traditional granulated white sugar, therefore, it's best to make a simple syrup to assure its completely dissolved.
If you want to make this with less sugar, then make half the amount of simple syrup. Because simple syrup is a 1 to 1 ratio, you want to half both the water and the sugar to cut the sugar in half. I haven't tested this with less sugar, because I think it's perfect the way it is, but if you need less sugar or want to try, then go for it!
Yes! If you have Meyer lemons on hand you can definitely make this recipe with those. Meyer lemons are a little sweeter flavor profile and would also make a delicious lemonade.
Store in a pitcher in the fridge for up to a week. You can also pour into ice trays and freeze. Simply thaw and enjoy anytime!
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How to Make Homemade Lemonade
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Small Pot
- Whisk
- Juicer
- Pitcher
Ingredients
- 113 grams cane sugar
- 5 ½ cups water
- 1 ¼ cups lemon juice (about 4 to 6 lemons depending on size)
- 1 lemon (for serving)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, add ½ cup of water and the cane sugar. Put over medium heat and stir with a spatula or whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
- Juice the lemons until you have 1 1/4 cups.
- Add the lemon juice and simple syrup into a large pitcher.
- Add in the remaining 5 cups of water and stir to combine completely.
- Slice the additional lemon, and place slices in the pitcher or in the glasses for serving.
Video
Notes
- You can use fresh lemons like I'm doing here or you can also use bottled lemon juice for ease, either works.
- If you are looking for a lower sugar option, you can halve the amount of sugar and water when making the simple syrup.
- For sugar free lemonade, skip the simple syrup and add in organic liquid stevia to taste.
- If you're looking for a pink lemonade version, try my Organic Pink Lemonade!
- Turn this organic lemonade into popsicles by pouring into popsicle molds and freezing overnight, it's that easy!
- Use for the liquid in your smoothies for a light, lemon refresh. Try it in Berry Protein Smoothie Without Banana or Tropical Bone Broth Protein Smoothie.
Nutrition
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The best lemonade ever, I make this all the time!