Old Fashioned Lemonade
With freshly squeezed lemon juice and sweet lemon syrup, there is nothing more refreshing than an ice cold glass of this old fashioned lemonade on a hot summer day. It's the best!
Servings: 8 cups
Calories: 201kcal
Ingredients
Lemonade Simple Syrup
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Peel of 3 washed lemons in strips
Lemonade
- 1 ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup lemonade simple syrup
- 6 cups cold water
- Ice
- Lemon slices mint sprigs, for garnish
Instructions
- Make the Lemonade Simple Syrup
- In a medium sized saucepan, heat sugar, 2 cups water and zest over medium heat. Bring to a lively simmer, not a boil, for about 8-10 minutes or until the syrup becomes a light yellow color from the zest. Turn off heat and let cool for about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Make the lemonade.
- In a large pitcher, add the lemon juice. Strain the syrup through a mesh sieve into the pitcher to catch zest. Pour the water into the pitcher. Taste for sweetness and tartness. Too sweet, add water. Not enough tartness, juice another lemon.
- Fill the rest of the pitcher with ice and chill until ready to serve or serve immediately with ice.
Notes
Pro Tips
- This recipe is easily doubled to make a gallon of lemonade!
- Juicing the lemons - speed up the process with an electric citrus juicer if you're not into squeezing by
- Roll the lemons - want to get the most juice for your buck? Aggressively roll your lemons. Roll them with your hands, under a pan, anything. It breaks up the cells in the lemon so you easily squeeze juice right out!
- Be wary of large lemons - I know you'd think large lemons equal more flesh and juice...but oftentimes they have a thick pith instead. Sneaky...
- Speaking of pith, when you use the vegetable peeler try to get as little of the bitter white pith under the yellow skin as possible. It does not taste good!
- Throw your fresh squeezed lemons into your garbage disposal or compost after you make lemonade so there is no waste. Lemons help clean your garbage disposal!
- Instead of sugar, use honey for a truly old-fashioned homemade lemonade.
Storage Instructions
Store the lemonade in your fridge, covered, for up to a week.Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 201kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 1g | Sodium: 20mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 49g