Making a batch of fresh lemonade feels so summery to me. I also kinda feel like I am June Cleaver or something… and I like it.
Fresh lemonade is so delicious too. It only takes three simple ingredients and it totally blows away anything you buy pre-made. I don’t know how or why it tastes so great, but I love it and make it often. If you prefer your lemonade flavored, adding fresh fruit to this recipe makes it even better! Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries… anything you want!
Let’s get this started…
Technically all you need to make a carafe of fresh homemade lemonade is 1 cup of granulated sugar, 4 cups of water and 4 or 5 large lemons. Easy, right?
Start by gathering 1 cup of fresh lemon juice. Next, make a simple syrup by bringing 1 cup of water to a boil and stirring 1 cup of granulated sugar in until it is fully dissolved.
Once the sugar has dissolved, remove the simple syrup from the heat and stir in the fresh lemon juice. Add 3 cups of water and transfer everything into a large carafe. Place your fresh lemonade into the refrigerator to chill.
So, the only thing more refreshing and delicious than fresh lemonade is fresh lemonade with fresh fruit or mint added and it is also really easy.
When adding the fruit, you have two options. You can crush the fruit in a small bowl with a little potato masher, a pestle or a stiff fork and add everything into your lemonade. It will add the beautiful flavoring from the fruit, but there will be pulp in there as well. While pulp is not a big deal to many, the “pulp removal step” is worth it to some (I would be one of these people).
To remove the pulp, press the mashed fruit through a small strainer or sieve using the same utensil that you mashed the fruit with. This will draw all of the juices from the fruit leaving the pulp behind. Add this concentrated goodness into the bottom of a large glass and fill the rest with lemonade. Mix. Enjoy. Repeat.
Today, I made some raspberry lemonade, blueberry lemonade, mint lemonade and some good old fashion plain lemonade. Once your fruit or mint has been added, fill the glass with lemonade, add a few ice cubes and enjoy!
My husband loves the original and I love the raspberry and the mint. The raspberry is fun and sweet, but the mint super fresh and interesting. The good thing about adding a small amount of flavoring to one glass is that you can experiment with different fruits or herbs.
Have some fun with your flavors! You can add peaches, watermelons, fresh thyme… you will never know what you love until you give it a try!
I hope you enjoy this simple recipe and make it often. Summertime calls for fresh lemonade and now you can answer that call in so many ways…
Lemonade
Ingredients
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 cups water
- fresh berries or herbs (optional flavoring)
Instructions
- Gather 1 cup of fresh lemon juice (4-5 large lemons) and set aside
- Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan
- Add 1 cup of granulated sugar into the boiling water and stir until all of the sugar has dissolved
- Remove the saucepan from the heat
- Add the fresh lemon juice into the simple syrup (the water and sugar) and stir to combine
- Transfer the lemon simple syrup into a large juice carafe
- Add the remaining 3 cups of water and stir to combine
- Refrigerate to chill or serve immediately over ice
