Recipe Easy Lemonade

Fresh squeezed lemonade is a true simple pleasure in life.  The perfect balance of sweet and tart, and the flavor of homemade lemonade made with freshly squeezed lemon juice just can't be beat.  Learn how to make lemonade with this simple recipe that uses ratios, so you can make just a glass for yourself or a huge batch for a crowd.

When we lived in Arizona, we had a lemon tree that produced hundreds of lemons each year.  Hundreds and hundreds.  We got really good at making amazing homemade lemonade!

I always associate lemonade with summertime and lemonade stands, but lemons are actually in season starting in January and running through early May.  You can find fresh lemons all year long now, of course, but they're at their absolute best when they're in season.  

Homemade Lemonade With Simple Syrup

If you want to be really fancy you can garnish your lemonade with some edible flowers, but you don't need any special embellishments to make homemade lemonade something special.  This basic lemonade is absolutely amazing on its own.

Freshly squeezed lemonade is made with just three ingredients:  water, granulated sugar, and lemon juice.  The key is to get the right ratios, and you can make as much or as little lemonade as you'd like.  Make a single glass of lemonade, or lemonade for a crowd.

You don't have to make simple syrup to make lemonade, but I prefer this method over stirring sugar into the other ingredients and mixing and mixing and mixing until it finally dissolves (or doesn't, and you get weirdly tart lemonade with sugary grit at the bottom of your glass).  When you use simple syrup, you know it will blend with the other ingredients with a few quick swirls of a wooden spoon.

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To make simple syrup, simply combine equal parts sugar and water in a saucepan.  Heat the liquid and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  

I made my simple syrup using 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water.  It made about 3 cups of simple syrup.

Once the simple syrup is made, it's easy to make the lemonade.  I like using the ratio method rather than absolute measurements to make lemonade, because I'm often not quite sure how much lemon juice I'll get from the lemons.  I base the measurements for the simple syrup and water on how much lemon juice I manage to squeeze.

Easy, Homemade Lemonade Recipe

If I'm only making a small batch of lemonade, I typically use my hand juicer.  If I'm making a lot, I break out the juicer attachment for my Kitchenaid mixer.  It's amazing!!

Once you have 1 part lemon juice, 1 part simple syrup, and 2 parts water combined, taste a spoonfull and adjust to your particular tastes.  Some lemons are sweeter than others, for example, so you might want to add a little more lemon juice to your mix.  Or you might like really sweet lemonade, and would add more simple syrup.  But as a basic rule of thumb, you can't go wrong with this lemonade recipe.  Start with this basic recipe, then tweak it to make it the perfect lemonade for you, every time.

Want a one page, printable, PDF version of this homemade lemonade recipe?  Click the image below to print directly or save the recipe to your device.

The Best Homemade Lemonade Ever!

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Privacy Policy: We hate spam and will never share your email address with anyone, ever. We will never use your email for any purpose except as described above.The best lemonade? Homemade with real lemons. Make it at home with fresh squeezed citrus, and you’ll find out why this beverage became so popular in the first place. Make a big pitcher for parties, or you can make it by the glass. Either way, you’ll be absolutely smitten! Here’s the

You only need two ingredients to make fresh lemonade (three if you count water!). Here’s what you need to make this homemade lemonade recipe:

Many lemonade recipes call for boiling a simple syrup on the stove. This can be time consuming, so we decided to make our recipe even simpler. You can’t stir sugar right into cold water because it doesn’t dissolve, but we found a trick! Here’s all you have to do for this easy lemonade recipe:

Best Homemade Lemonade {+video}

Juicing lemons might not sound intimidating, until you have to juice 7 to 8 in a row! If you don’t have a great citrus juicer, this recipe will do a number on your finger strength. Here are the best juicers we recommend:

Whatever the case: don’t try to juice them with your hands only! Not only will your hands hurt, you’ll get seeds into the lemonade. Of course, you can strain those out if you don’t have a juicer and are dying to make this recipe. (We won’t judge!)

Don’t want to make an entire pitcher of lemonade? We hear you. This recipe makes 8 to 9 cups of lemonade, so it’s intended for parties or entertaining. Of course, you can also make a big pitcher and refrigerate it. But want to make lemonade by the glass? Here’s what to do:

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There are so many tasty spins on homemade lemonade! You can easily jazz up this lemonade recipe by using different types of fruit, or making it boozy. Here are a few ideas:

Here’s how to make the best lemonade you’ll taste from freshly squeezed lemons! Using real citrus gives this recipe extraordinary sweet tart flavor.

*To make it by the glass: Squeeze 3 tablespoons lemon juice into a glass (1 large lemon, or two small). Add 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 tablespoons warm water and stir until it dissolves. Add 1 cup cold water and a handful of ice.Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.

The Best Homemade Lemonade Recipe

Well, the problem is that if you just stir all of these together the sugar will sink to the bottom. So the best way to make lemonade is to make a simple syrup first, by heating water and sugar together until the sugar is completely dissolved, and then mix that with the lemon juice.

The proportions will vary depending on how sweet and strong you like your lemonade, and how sour your lemons are to begin with. Late season lemons are less sour than early season lemons. Meyer lemons are sweeter than standard lemons.

Start with the proportions of 1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of lemon juice. Reduce the sugar amount if you are using Meyer lemons or if you like your lemonade less sweet. (I usually use 3/4 cup of sugar.)

Easy, Amazing Homemade Lemonade Recipe

Make the simple syrup, combine with the lemon juice, and then add more water (and ice) to dilute the lemonade to your taste.

Simple syrup you can easily make ahead and chill for later use. If you have a bunch of lemons you need to process, you can juice them and freeze the juice too.

For more intense lemon flavor, grate the zest from one fresh lemon and add the zest to the simple syrup as you are making it. Once the sugar has dissolved in the water remove from heat and let the zest seep in the simple syrup for several minutes, then strain out the zest when you add the simple syrup to the lemon juice.

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*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2, 000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

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