This Lemonade recipe is refreshing and timeless. You won’t believe how easy it is to make with just 2 simple ingredients. It also keeps well in the refrigerator, so you can enjoy a crisp glass of lemonade on a hot summer day. Once you try homemade lemonade, you won’t want to settle for the store-bought version.
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Helpful Reader Review
“THE BEST recipe!!! I made 3 pitchers of this recipe for a lemonade stand this weekend and it was a HIT! Literally everyone who tried it was in awe at how good it was. Thanks for sharing.” – Miranda ★★★★★
Perfect Lemonade
My in-laws live in California and have a few lemon trees in their yard so every year they gift us a big box of beautiful lemons. If you’re wondering what to do with lemons, making lemonade is my favorite way to use freshly squeezed lemon juice along with our Lemon Bars and Easy Lemon Curd.
This lemonade recipe is the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. I’m sharing my go-to ratio of sugar to lemon juice, but you can add more sugar or more lemon juice to taste. With this basic recipe, you can make tons of lemonade flavors (more on that below). My favorite is pink or Strawberry Lemonade.
What Makes the Best Lemonade?
Simple syrup is a thick and sweet syrup used to sweeten a variety of drinks. Why is this important for lemonade? If you just stir the sugar into cold water, it will sink to the bottom and won’t dissolve. We promise it’s quick and so worth it!
The simple syrup is truly the secret to a perfect lemonade recipe, allowing you to adjust the sweetness of the mixture to your taste. Just add the syrup to the freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste until you find the right balance.
Ingredients for Homemade Lemonade
This simple recipe perfectly balances the sour and sweet flavors of freshly squeezed lemon juice and sugar. After one sip, you’ll see why homemade lemonade is better than store-bought every time.
- Sugar – we prefer using organic sugar to make the simple syrup and sweeten the lemonade. If you want to substitute for a different sweetener, see the variations below.
- Lemons– fresh-squeezed lemon juice is ideal, and you’ll need 6-8 lemons, depending on the size, but bottled lemon juice (not from concentrate) could work in a pinch. Use room-temperature lemons to make juicing easier. Then, roll the lemon firmly on the counter before cutting to help release juices.
The Best Lemons for Lemonade
Plain lemons (a.k.a. Lisbon lemons) are the best for homemade lemonade and are easy to find year-round in the grocery store, for a more traditional sour flavor to the drink. If using sweeter Meyer Lemons, reduce the amount of simple syrup you use or add it to taste. When shopping for lemons, here is how to pick the juiciest ones:
- Size – look for smaller to medium-sized fruit that feels heavy for its size.
- Color – a bright yellow color is a good indicator of ripeness.
- Texture – the skin should be wrinkle-free and firm with a slight give.
How to Make Lemonade
All you need to make this recipe is a great lemon juicer, a saucepan, and a pitcher. If you don’t have a lemon juicer, use a fork to break up the membrane and release more juice.
- Make Simple Syrup – in a small saucepan, 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, cooled simple syrup, and chilled lemon juice. Serve over glasses filled with ice and garnish with lemon slices.
For a Flavor Boost
Add another layer of lemon flavor by adding lemon zest to the sugar and water when creating the simple syrup. Avoid the white pith of the lemon skins, which can make it bitter, and remember to strain the zest out before adding to the lemon juice.
Lemonade Variations
This base lemonade recipe is delicious and versatile! Here are a few ideas on how to put your own spin on the recipe:
- Fruit Purees– raspberry, strawberry, and peach would be delicious
- Agave or honey – these will work as a substitute for sugar with a slightly different taste
- Herbs – add fresh mint leaves, lavender, or even rosemary to the final mixture
- Soda water – get a bubbly twist on lemonade using sparkling water
- Iced Tea – mix equal parts lemonade and unsweetened Iced Tea for an Arnold Palmer
To Keep Lemonade Cold without Diluting
Make lemon juice ice cubes in an ice cube tray and add them along with regular ice cubes when serving to keep the lemonade from being diluted when the ice melts.
Make-Ahead and Storage
- Refrigerate: Keep leftovers in the refrigerator for up to a week. The simple syrup and lemon juice will also keep separately refrigerated for the same time.
- Freezing: Freeze the simple syrup and lemon juice separately, or mix them together before freezing as a substitute for store-bought lemonade concentrate.
- Thaw: allow frozen lemonade to defrost in the refrigerator and serve over ice.
Homemade lemonade will never go out of style. It’s a real treat in summer. Next step? Stock up on lemons and satisfy that craving.
Homemade Lemonade Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup filtered 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.
- Use a citrus juicer to squeeze 1 1/2 cups lemon juice. Transfer to a mason jar and refrigerate up to 2 weeks until ready to make lemonade.
- To make the full batch of lemonade, pour 7 cups cold water into a pitcher, add the 1 1/2 cups of lemon juice and 1 1/2 cups chilled sugar syrup and stir to combine. You can also add the lemon juice and sugar syrup to taste. Add ice to glasses when serving.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Refreshing Summer Drinks
As temperatures climb, we stay hydrated and keep cool with these crisp, bubbly, and flavorful summer drink recipes:
- Cherry Lemonade
- Sparkling Raspberry Lemonade
- Cranberry Pineapple Punch
- Brazilian Lemonade
- Raspberry Sherbet Party Punch
- Mango Smoothie
- Blackberry Limeade
This recipe brings back a lot of memories from when my sons were young. I always made it with the simple syrup and it does make a wonderful difference. They both said it was the best lemonade ever. Thank you for sharing this recipe and reminding me to make it again really soon. Love your recipes. Always turn out great.
The only youtuber you won’t miss to follow, nashata you are Amazing, following you from Bahrain 👍👍. I really enjoyed and learned alot from your shows. Keep doing great work kudos.
I’ve made this several times in the last week. Everyone loves it.
This is seriously the best lemonade recipe ever! So delicious and so easy! Thank you for sharing it!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Teresa!
How much would you use for just one glass of lemonade.
Hi Jane, I recommend clicking “Jump to recipe” at the top of the post, it will take you to our printable recipe where you’ll have the option to change the number of servings. Hover over the number of servings highlighted in red and slide it to how many servings you would like to make. I hope that helps!
Looks refreshing! Would it still work well with stevia or monk fruit? I guess it doesn’t hurt to try !
Hi Maria, 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.
Delish my husband loved it! Reminded us of Hawaii.
I’m so glad you both loved it!
Great recipe 👌
The best homemade lemonade with balanced sweet and sour
Hi Natasha, I would like to make the equivalent of a frozen 12 oz. lemonade concentrate. It is not easy to find it in the stores and I have an old recipe that calls for that in a punch recipe. How would I adjust this recipe to achieve the same amount of concentrate?
Hi Barb. I’m sorry I can’t be much help with that. I’m not sure what adjustments would need to be made.
Perfect lemonade. Not too sweet. Just right. Volka lemonade for cocktails tonight to celebrate Father ‘s Day. Thank you.
Awesome recipe for your lemonade! Thank you Natasha! Vodka lemonades for cocktail time tonight. Yumm!
I love an Arnold Palmer. I use less sugar as suggested because I use Myer lemons. Instead of plain water, I used 7 cups of fresh brewed sun tea. Brings it to a whole new level, yummy. So refreshing on this screaming hot day.
I have been watching you since the beginning. I love you and your family. Your kids are getting so big God bless you continue your success.
Thank you for your love and support, it means a lot to us!
Walmart has seedless lemons. They seem to keep longer than regular grocery store lemons. My next lemonade will made using your method. Also I would like to thank you for adding the print versions of the video recipes. Sometimes I am ready to make something and dont have time for videos.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Hi Natasha 😀 i really like to come here and read recipes and get inspired! I’m from Brazil living in Norway. In Brazil we do mix sugar in the water to make lemon, we actually bled the whole fruit in water and sugar, but one thing catch me here is make ahead lemon juice since I know the juice gets bitter after not to long time seriously 10-15 min after its has been prepared. Do you have any tips on that? The bitter taste after the just being squeezed? Thank you for always come with nice recipes and ideas and inspire us all.
Hi Carolina, the bitterness comes from the white pith of the lemon peel. If the pith is in the lemonade, it will have a bitter taste.
I love lemonade!! Also I love how you can change the serving size, how high does it go!?!?!?
Everything you want in a simple, classic lemonade. I prefer to dilute mine just a little more, but the ratio of tart to sweet is perfect.
Thank you for your great comments and feedback!
Delicious! I will definitely be making this a lot this summer. Thanks! 🍋
Wow! Way better than regular lemonade thanks for sharing this recipe! I have been a fan for months great stuff!
You’re very welcome, Erica!
I have read the recipe, and re-read it two more times. I only see the initial 1/2 c. sugar added to the water to make the syrup. The recipe calls for 1 1/2 c. sugar. Am I missing something?
Hi Kim, You can check this part of the recipe “Make Simple Syrup – simmer 1 cup water and 1 1/2 cups sugar to dissolve the sugar. Cool to room temperature and chill.”
Ah! The “1” was displayed on the previous line on my phone so I missed it. Thanks!!