Summer in a Glass
Homemade lemonade is one of life's simple pleasures. This recipe uses real lemon juice and a simple syrup that ensures the sugar dissolves completely, giving you perfectly balanced, refreshing lemonade every time.
The Simple Syrup Trick
Instead of stirring sugar directly into cold water (where it never fully dissolves), we make a simple syrup by dissolving sugar in hot water first. This ensures your lemonade is perfectly sweetened with no gritty sugar at the bottom of your glass.
Fresh Lemonade
Classic homemade lemonade with fresh lemons
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1 Make simple syrup: In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar.
- 2 Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is completely dissolved, about 3-5 minutes. Do not boil.
- 3 Remove from heat and let simple syrup cool completely.
- 4 While syrup cools, juice the lemons. You need 1 1/2 cups of fresh lemon juice (about 8-10 lemons).
- 5 Roll lemons on the counter before juicing to get more juice out. Strain out seeds and pulp if desired.
- 6 In a large pitcher, combine fresh lemon juice and cooled simple syrup.
- 7 Add 6 cups of cold water and stir well to combine.
- 8 Taste and adjust: add more water if too strong, more simple syrup if too tart, or more lemon juice if too sweet.
- 9 Refrigerate until very cold, at least 1 hour.
- 10 Serve over ice and garnish with lemon slices and fresh mint sprigs.
Chef's Note
For pink lemonade, add 1/4 cup of fresh strawberry puree or a splash of cranberry juice. For sparkling lemonade, replace half the cold water with sparkling water (add just before serving). Make a big batch for parties - it stores well in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze lemonade in ice cube trays and use them to keep drinks cold without diluting them.
Servings: 6
Cuisine: American
Course: drink
Nutrition (per serving): 8g protein · 28g total carbs