This delicious homemade lemonade recipe is so easy to make at home. Made with only 3 ingredients, this simple recipe is refreshing and perfect for a hot summer day!
When life gives you lemons, you make homemade lemonade! And that is exactly what I did with a big bag of lemons I bought! It was easily the best use of those lemons.
When hot weather comes onto the scene, lemonade is a must around here! Our patio demands it, really. There is nothing better after a day of gardening in the hot sun, then relaxing into a patio chair with a glass of lemonade to cool off.
This refreshing pitcher of lemonade is made using fresh lemons, not bottled lemon juice. You truly can’t beat using fresh lemons. Add some sugar and water and that is all you really need to make this easy recipe.
The beauty of making homemade lemonade is that you have full control of the flavor and can easily adjust these simple 3 ingredients to suit your preferences.
Turning this refreshing summer drink into a cocktail is also a nice option. Spiked lemonade, anyone? Just add a little vodka or gin and you have a refreshing summer cocktail.
If you are a big fan of lemonade, be sure to also check out my Homemade Cherry Lemonade and Raspberry Lemonade recipes!
Ingredients in this Homemade Lemonade Recipe
- Sugar: regular granulated sugar.
- Water
- Lemons: Freshly squeezed lemon juice is the key to the best lemonade. In addition to the juice, you may want to use some lemon slices to add to your pitcher.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
Making homemade lemonade
- Make a simple syrup. In a saucepan, add sugar and 1 1/2 cups water to create a simple syrup. Heat it over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once all of the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
- Mix the 3 ingredients. To make the lemonade, add about 1 cup of simple syrup to a pitcher with the lemon juice and about 5 cups of water. Stir to combine and taste. If needed, add more syrup, lemon juice or water to suit your taste preferences. How sour your lemons are will affect the proportion needed.
- Refrigerate. Refrigerate the lemonade before serving to ensure it is nice and cold. Before serving, add lemon slices to pitcher.
Why make simple syrup?
While you may be tempted to skip the step of making a simple syrup and just go ahead and dump the sugar in the pitcher, there’s a good reason why you shouldn’t. If you do, the sugar will sink to the bottom of the pitcher and won’t mix well with the lemon juice water. You will wind up with undissolved sugar at the bottom of your pitcher and a lemonade that isn’t sweetened enough since the sugar isn’t dispersed evenly.
A simple syrup completely dissolves the sugar into the water. This creates a perfectly sweetened drink every time!
Tips for making the best lemonade
- Buy a few more lemons than you think you need. Lemons can vary in size and how juicy they are. I like to keep some extra lemons on hand so that I can add more if needed. I also like to slice the lemons for garnish in the pitcher.
- Taste and adjust to suit your taste. As mentioned above, the lemons you use can vary each time you make a pitcher of this drink. I always taste and adjust the lemon mixture as needed. This is why I make a little more simple syrup than needed.
- Refrigerate before serving. Chilled lemonade is the best way to enjoy this refreshing summer drink. Be sure to make it with enough time to chill it in the fridge before serving.
- Make lemonade ice cubes! If you are serving this on a hot summer day and your pitcher will be sitting out on the patio table, you will need to add ice cubes to help keep it cool. Since plain ice cubes can water down your lemonade, plan ahead by freezing some of that lemonade into ice cube trays and using those to keep your drink cool!
Hope you enjoy this refreshing drink this summer!
-Cathy
Still have lots of lemons to use? You may also like:
Lemon Ricotta Cake
Lemon Vinaigrette
Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Slow Cooker Creamy Lemon Chicken Thighs
Oven Roasted Lemon Chicken Drumsticks
Lemonade Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/4 cups water + 5-6 cups to serve
- 1 1/2 cups lemon juice freshly squeezed (about 6-8 lemons)
- 2 lemons sliced for garnish
Instructions
- In a saucepan, add sugar and 1 1/2 cups water to create a simple syrup. Heat it over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once all of the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
- To make the lemonade, add about 1 cup of simple syrup to a pitcher with the lemon juice and about 5 cups of water. Stir to combine and taste. If needed, add more syrup, lemon juice or water to suit your taste preferences. How sour your lemons are will affect the proportion needed.
- Refrigerate. Before serving, add lemon slices to pitcher.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
