How to make Strawberry Lemonade
This easy fresh strawberry lemonade recipe is exactly what the warm weather ordered. All you need are four ingredients: water, sugar, lemons, and fresh strawberries for a seriously delicious drink with all the flavor and no blender required! Skip the store bought stuff, fresh-squeezed lemonade at home is a breeze.
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 118kcal
Ingredients
Strawberry Simple Syrup
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 7 strawberries hulled and chopped
Strawberry Lemonade
- 2 cups strawberries hulled
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 8 lemons
- 3 cups ice water
- Lemon slices and frozen strawberries to garnish
Instructions
- Make Strawberry Simple Syrup
- Add the water, 1 cup of granulated sugar, and the chopped strawberries into a small saucepan over medium heat on the stove.
- Let the water come to a simmer and dissolve all the sugar, you can stir to help it dissolve.
- Let the simple syrup simmer (never boil!) for 5 minutes, then strain the syrup through a mesh sieve into a heat-safe bowl or container.
- This can be done ahead of time or right before you make the lemonade, just make sure to add extra ice to cool it down.
- Make Strawberry Lemonade
- In a large pitcher, take the remaining strawberries and pour the remaining sugar over them. Stir to cover the strawberries in the sugar and let the berries macerate for 5 minutes.
- Juice all the lemons and add the juice to the pitcher with the macerated strawberries and sugar.
- Add water to fill up the pitcher, then stir in the strawberry simple syrup.
- Add ice cubes or frozen strawberries and place in the fridge to cool if you have time, otherwise serve with ice/frozen strawberries!
Notes
Sugar Substitutions
For this strawberry pink lemonade, you have a lot of choices for what sweetener you want to use, especially if you want to make this a keto or healthy pink lemonade recipe! Agave Nectar, which is a syrup with a high fructose concentration that's way sweeter than sugar. So a little goes a long way. Honey, which gives it a beautiful floral flavor. Raw Sugar, it's less processed than granulated white sugar and can give a slightly rich taste. For my keto friends, you can use stevia (if you are used to the aftertaste) and monkfruit. I've seen them pretty frequently in mainstream grocery stores, so they're not difficult to find!Variations
- Instead of making the simple syrup, you can just follow the directions for making this recipe, just add the full amount of sugar to macerate the strawberries and stir the lemonade well.
- Swap the strawberries for raspberries! Raspberry lemonade is so, so good. The perfect drink when raspberry season comes around.
- Change the lemons for limes and make a fantastic strawberry limeade!
Make Ahead Strawberry Lemonade
Cover the pitcher of lemonade with a lid or plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days. This makes it perfect to make ahead before your next cookout, brunch, or summer party.Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 118kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 1g | Sodium: 5mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 25g