Lemonade Recipe
Lemonade is so refreshing and timeless. You won’t believe how easy it is to make with just 2 ingredients! Once you try homemade lemonade, it will spoil you forever.
If you have a bunch of lemons, this is our favorite way to use fresh lemon juice and each glass has a healthy dose of Vitamin C. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can use this lemonade base to make Strawberry Lemonade.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Lemonade:
Even though this has just 2 ingredients (lemons and sugar), the right method is important. If you just stir the sugar into cold water, it will sink to the bottom and won’t dissolve.
This Lemonade is the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. We’re sharing our favorite proportions of sugar to lemon juice but you can add more sugar or more lemon juice to taste.
How to Store Fresh Lemonade:
Since ice cubes can dilute lemonade, it is best to store in the refrigerator without ice. Add ice when serving to enjoy ice cold lemonade.
Pro Tip: Add lemon juice ice cubes along with regular ice cubes and the lemonade won’t get diluted.
Is Lemonade Healthy?
Lemonade is still a sweet drink but it’s certainly healthier than concentrate and often less sweet than what you might order at a restaurant. You can add less of the sugar syrup to cut down on calories and carbs.
The benefits of drinking homemade lemonade are (1) staying hydrated and (2) it’s high in Vitamin C as each glass has about the equivalent of 1 juiced lemon. Read the nutrition label below to get a full calorie count per serving.
How to Make Lemonade:
All you need to make this recipe is a great lemon juicer, a saucepan and a pitcher.
- Simmer 1 cup water and 1 1/2 cups sugar to dissolve the sugar. Cool to room temperature and chill.
- Squeeze 1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice and refrigerate.
- To serve: combine 7 cups cold water, chilled sugar syrup and chilled lemon juice. Serve over glasses filled with ice and garnish with lemon slices.
Refreshing Summer Drinks:
As temperatures climb, stay hydrated and keep cool with these crisp, bubbly and flavorful summer drink recipes.
- Cherry Lemonade – incredibly fizzy
- Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade – crisp and satisfying
- Cranberry Pineapple Punch – a crowd pleaser
- Brazilian Lemonade – exotic and so fun!
- Raspberry Sherbet Party Punch – such a treat
Homemade lemonade will never go out of style. It’s a real treat in summer. Next step? Stock up on on lemons and satisfy that craving.
Lemonade Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup water, (cold), plus 7 cups to serve
- 1 1/2 cups Lemon Juice , (from 8 medium or 6 large lemons)
Instructions
-
In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup water with 1 1/2 cups sugar. Place over medium heat and bring just to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and let the syrup cool to room temperature. Transfer to a mason jar, cover and refrigerate until ready serving.
-
Squeeze 1 1/2 cups lemon juice. Transfer to a mason jar and refrigerate up to 2 weeks until ready to make lemonade.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Very good,for a healthier version I like to substitute sugar with local honey very well mixed in the vitamix with fresh peppermint and a pinch of pink salt.
Thanks for sharing that with us!
How do I make a single glass of lemonade using your recipe. I’d like to make 1 glass at a time
Hi Rhoda, you may change the serving size to 1 and the ingredients should change as well.
Can you use a sugar substitute like Stevia, Splenda or other to make this? I love lemonade but I have diabetes and can’t have sugar.
Hi Barb, you can use honey as an alternative or stevia but I haven’t personally tried that to advise of the measurements. If you try that, please share with us how it goes.
Try monkfruit sweetener (such as Lakanto brand). It’s a 1:1 sweetener that’s zero glycemic and zero carbs.
This is the way I’ve made lemonade for years now! Initially it was just a tad too sweet for me. I’ve adjusted the sugar down abit to 1 1/4 cups and that is just perfect for us!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Doug! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
The best lemonade I’ve ever had!! It’s so refreshing and delicious! Thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Mary!
This is our family go to recipe.
I agree whole heartedly the simple syrup is what makes this so delicious. It sounds like a hassle but it’s really not and totally worth it. Enjoy ☺️
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Shannon!
I love her recipes she is a very beautiful young lady she just acts so silly you just get it for you don’t wanna see all that silly stuff just want to see your cook
the silly part is fine that what makes us feel good when cook I dance in my kitchen you have to be different sometimes.
Try peeling the zests off the lemons and putting the sugar on the zests and letting that sit for 30 mins and then pour hot water over it all to melt the sugar, strain and then add ice…
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Thank you for these measurements! I love lemonade but whenever I make it it’s either too lemony or too sweet. This time it worked great! I just have to mention though, sugar does dissolve in cold water! It just takes longer and you have to stir the life out of it. I’ve stirred in sugar to ice cold beverages and it works every time, just takes patience. Not trying to be rude I just thought it would be a good tip for people who don’t have the time to do the simple syrup (though I’m sure it doesn’t take long)
Thanks again for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the homemade lemonade!
hi,Natasha i like your recipes
Thank you, glad you’re enjoying them!
Beautiful! 1 cup of sugar was perfect. Maybe next time I will do this recipe again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hi,
If I’m in a hurry, could I add the warm simple syrup straight to the lemon juice or does chilling it make a difference? Thanks again for all the wonderful recipes!!!
That should work just fine too. Share with us how it goes if you give that a try!
I made this lemonade for my husbands 83rd Birthday gathering! It was a fabulous hit! Will definitely make this again! Thank you for such a easy and very tasty recipe!
You’re welcome, Judy! I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
Can the lemon syrup be preserved ?
Hi Simone, I haven’t tested that to advise but it may be possible. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
This sounds great! Going to make for my husbands 83rd birthday on April 1st, he loves lemonade and enjoys watching you as much as I do! Your recipes are always so good and easy to prepare. Love your sense of humor and the tapping of hands before you prepare food!
Sounds like a great plan, Judy. I’m sure he will appreciate and love it! Thank you for your kind words and support too.
This looks wonderful but as a diabetic can you recommend a particular sugar substitute and would you heat it like the sugar? Thanks!
Hi Karen, you can use honey as an alternative or stevia but I haven’t personally tried that to advise of the measurements. If you try that, please share with us how it goes.
Hi Natasha,
Thank you for sharing with us your beautiful recipes.
Which type of Basil should I use
to make the Strawberry-Basil- Lemonade?
Have a lovely weekend.
Aloha,
Leny Kam.
Hi Leny, we used fresh basil. We have a photo of it in the recipe post.
Hi Natasha,
I don’t have an ice cube tray, so can I not add any ice in my drink? Thanks!
Hi Vivian, you definitely can add ice, but keep in mind it will dilute it more as the ice melts.
Love lemons, can’t wait to make this today.
I hope you love this recipe Cheryl!
Hi Natasha, this lemonade recipe was absolutely amazing (no kidding)! I tried this recipe today and it tasted better than the store-bought ones. I definitely will be making it again–it’s so simple!
Love it, that is awesome! Thanks for sharing that with us, Vivian.
hi Natasha! pls can this work with limes? i would like to make it as my go-to drink to enjoy whenever i need to be refreshed with a healthy treat! hmmmmmm…………!
Hi Annah, I have not tested this with lime. It would be more of a limeade then. If you experiment though I would love to know how you like that.
Wish you had a book Natasha
Hi Barbara, we are working on one! Stay tuned!
I bought some lemons a couple weeks ago and I wanted to make a nice fresh homemade lemonade – not the stuff from concentrate. I love anything lemon – so when I found this recipe it sounded easy enough. The only change I made was to use a vegetable peeler and peeled the rind from two -lemons and added it to the hot syrup to let the oils out. It amped up the flavor a lot. Just made my second jug in less than a week lol. It’s so good!
I’m so happy you liked this recipe Jane! Thank you for that great review!
How many serving would I have to make for a gallon?
Hi Estela, this recipe could make about 8 servings. You can click on the number of servings on the recipe to change the ingredients too.
Have you had anyone use Swerve (granular) and/or stevia in place of the sugar for a sugar-free version? I saw someone asked about Splenda, but just wanted to inquire about a more natural sweetener alternative…and if you have heard of someone using Swerve and/or stevia, how much to use versus sugar?
Hello Marni, I personally haven’t tried using Swerve to advise. Sorry wish I could help you more!
I’ve made lemonade with Monk Fruit sweetener (1 for 1) and it comes out good.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Can this be made with Splenda? If so do you know how to use?
Hi Elaine, I haven’t tested that through since we don’t use Splenda but if you experiment, please let me know how it goes.
You don’t need any sweetener or sugar at all. In Austria we drink it as lemon soda. just fresh cold soda water + freshly squeezed lemons! Really refreshing! Zero calories!
Yes, it works well with Splenda.
I have been chasing after the perfect lemonade recipe for years and I finally found it!!
That’s so great! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Presentation is great. We like lemonade very much. We consume it summer to winter every time. Also, we share our homemade lemonade (in Turkish limonata) on our blog site
That’s so great! Thank you for sharing that with us!
i love this! this was so helpful for my party! it was so tasty!!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Wow! Really simple to make and tastes great on a hot day. Really energizing & refreshing.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
This recipe is fool-proof! It came out great using lemons from a friend’s tree. So refreshing on a hot summer day, and especially soothing for a sore throat. Thank you for sharing the recipe. 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Andie! Thank you for the wonderful review!
This was so good! I made it with homegrown lemons, organic cane sugar, and added a few mint leaves from our garden! Perfect!! Thanks!
Homemade is the best!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
After cooling the syrup to room temperature can I proceed with the whole batch of lemonade? Do you recommend refrigerating it for a period of time?
Hi Lisa, we like to drink it cold so we make it ahead of time and chill it in the fridge.
Such a simple recipe, yet so delicious! 😋 it’s so perfect for summer. I’m a huge lemonade fan and so are my kids (surprising right lol). My kids eat lemons with touch of sugar but when they saw lemonade, it was gone in minutes. Thank you! Here are my July 4th goals😋😋
I’m so happy you enjoyed that, Olga. Thank you for sharing that with us!
We love lemonade!! Thanks for all the tips! This is such a perfect drink this summer!
You’re so welcome Toni! I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
Nothing like homemade lemonade, incredibly delicious!
Isn’t it the best! Thank you for that awesome review!
Nothing beats a pitcher of homemade lemonade!
I couldn’t agree more! Thank you for that awesome review!
We drink this all summer long! great lemonade recipe!
So refreshing and perfect for summer! Thank you Cheryl!
My son is coming home from college for summer to see me for two weeks before he has to go back. I was wanting homemade lemonade for him and poof! The perfect recipe just showed up! Thank you!!!
You’re so welcome! I bet you’re so happy to him home for the summer! That’s so great!
Love the ice cube tip!
I’m so happy to hear that!
Lemonade is also prescribed by doctors to those who suffer from kidney stones. There is something in the lemon that dissolves existing stones and prevents new ones from forming. It works too. Ask me how I know.
One suggestion: Use only organic sugar to prevent acid indigestion and heartburn.
Thank you for sharing that with us!
Does this taste like chick fil a lemonade!? Their lemonade is sooo good haha
That’s a good question Ruby! Sounds like a taste test is in order!
1.5 cups of sugar is NOT healthy. Sugar contributes to obesity, diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, cancer, and even Alzheimer’s.
Hi Mark, keep in mind it is divided by 8 servings. Also, I didn’t claim it was healthy to consume alot of sugar, but I do think it is a better alternative to concentrate lemonade and restaurant lemonade which often has more sugar.
Could you freeze prior to adding the 7 cups of water
Hi Diana, I haven’t tested that to advise. If you experiment, I would love to know how it goes.
Absolutely amazing recipe! I love the fact that it is naturally healthy and without any concentrates.
Another hit recipe. Thank you Natasha!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it Lesya!
Here is a tip for healthier version of lemonade. Use honey instead of sugar (mix honey with room temperature water). Also, I add a few stems of fresh mint before chilling lemonade in the fridge. My kids love it and it’s very popular at family gatherings.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
how much honey would you use?