Easy Homemade Lemonade
There’s nothing better than an ice-cold glass of homemade lemonade on a hot day.
It’s been so hot lately that it’s a great time for some refreshing ice-cold lemonade.
The trick to making the perfect lemonade is to make a simple syrup where the sugar completely dissolves before it’s added to the lemon juice and water.
As simple as this sounds, before knowing this I’ve made my share of lemonade where I added granulated sugar to the lemon juice and water, and it never seemed to be sweet enough.
But that’s because the sugar never dissolved and just sank to the bottom.
A fun thing to do is to chill the glasses, then just before serving the lemonade turn each glass upside down into a small bowl of sugar to coat the rim of the glass.
It looks so good and tastes even better.
Lemonade is so pretty served in various types of glasses too.
You can get all fancy and serve it in a wine glass, or even in a good old mason jar.
If you happen to have some fresh raspberries or blueberries, you can even throw a few in the pan when making the simple syrup and make a berry lemonade.
Let’s check out the ingredients.
You’ll just need some lemons, sugar, ice, and water
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
A printable recipe with the measurements and instructions is located at the bottom of this post.
For the Simple Syrup:
Zest the lemon and set aside for a moment.
Heat a saucepan on low to medium heat and add the water,
sugar,
and the lemon zest.
Bring the sugar mixture to a boil and stir.
Once the sugar dissolves (about 6 minutes) remove the mixture from the pan into a bowl and let cool.
For the Lemonade:
Juice and strain the lemons.
Then in a large pitcher,
add the strained lemon juice,
cooled simple syrup,
…and water.
Then stir.
Next…
…add the ice.
Slice a lemon into about ½ inch wide slices, remove the seeds, if possible,
…and add to the pitcher.
As an option, chill the serving glasses in the freezer.
Then dip the rim of the glasses in sugar just before serving.
Serve over more ice, garnish with a sliced lemon.
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Fresh Homemade Lemonade
Ingredients
For the Simple Syrup:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- Zest from one lemon
For the Lemonade:
- 1 cup fresh squeezed and strained lemon juice about 4 to 5 lemons
- 4 cups cold water
- 4 to 5 cups of ice cubes
- 1 lemon, sliced into 1/2 inch thick slices (remove the seeds if possible) for garnish
Instructions
For the Simple Syrup:
- Heat a sauce pan on low to medium heat and add water, sugar, and lemon zest.
- Bring the sugar and water mixture to a boil and stir.
- Once the sugar dissolves (about 6 minutes) remove the mixture from the pan into a bowl and let cool. Let the bowl of simple syrup cool on the counter until the temperature drops enough to chill it in the refrigerator.
For the Lemonade:
- In a large pitcher, add the strained lemon juice, cooled simple syrup, and water. Stir together and add the ice
- Add sliced lemons to the pitcher and the serving glasses for garnish. Serve over more ice.
- As an option, chill the serving glasses in the freezer. Then dip the rim of the glasses in sugar just before serving.
This recipe was originally posted on June 15, 2013.
Drinks Made with Fruit or Berries
Here are more refreshing drinks made with fruit or berries you may like “Blueberry Limeade“, “Peach, Lemon and Iced Tea Agua Fresca” and “Pink Lemonade with Pomegranate Juice“.
Refreshing Drinks
More Refreshing Drinks You May Like:
Very Cherry Shirley Temple with Lime
I have a tree covered with lemons. Definitely going to make this. Also love the mason jar idea.
Thank you Jan!
This lemonade sounds so good. Especially in this Texas heat lol. Have a wonderful weekend, and thank you for sharing!
Hi Amy, I was just in Texas and it was so hot. I actually had a lemonade and it never tasted so good in that Texas heat. Thank you for stopping by and have a nice weekend!