Homemade Strawberry Lemonade Recipe
Listen, once you make strawberry lemonade from scratch, it’s hard to go back. This recipe keeps things simple with fresh strawberries, real lemon juice, and enough sweetness to balance everything out without tasting like straight sugar water. As someone who’s been creating drink recipes, Southern comfort food, and easy entertaining recipes for over 10 years, I can tell you the secret is using ripe strawberries and fresh lemons. That’s what gives you flavor that actually tastes homemade.
Servings 10 cups
Calories 33kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups sweetener or sugar
- 5 cups strawberries See notes.
- 1-1 ½ cups fresh-squeezed lemon juice This was 4-5 lemons for me.
- additional water to adjust to taste I added 5-6 cups.
Instructions
- Pour 2 cups of water into a pan on medium-high heat. Add in the sweetener and stir.
- This will create a simple syrup. Continue to stir until the mixture is clear. Set the simple syrup aside.
- Add the strawberries to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Use a strainer to strain the pureed strawberries and extract the juice into a bowl. (You can use the pulp for smoothies!)
- Add the strained strawberry juice, lemon juice, and simple syrup from the pan to the blender. Blend until combined.
- Here is where you taste the lemonade repeatedly and make adjustments as needed. It should be super sweet at first. Start with 1 cup and add additional water until the lemonade suits your taste. If you like more lemon flavor, add additional lemon juice. If you like it sweet, make it sweeter.
Notes
- The number of lemons you will need will vary based on the size of the lemons you use and how much juice you can get from each.
- You can use fresh or frozen strawberries. If using frozen, thaw them first.
- Adjust this recipe to suit your taste and needs. If you like really sweet lemonade, add more sweetener. The overall taste will vary greatly because some strawberries are sweeter than others, some lemons are more tart than others. It's up to you to taste the lemonade and adjust to suit what you like. Add more lemon, strawberries, and sweetener as necessary.
- You can use bottled lemon juice if you want. I do not like the taste, so I don’t use it.
- If you are having trouble juicing the lemons, place them in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. This will help soften them up.
- You can heat the simple syrup in the microwave if you wish. Heat it until the mixture turns clear, timing will vary.
- The macro nutrients noted assume zero calorie monkfruit is used. If you’re using table sugar feel free to calculate the nutrition using the calculator of your choice.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 33kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g