The Best Homemade Lemonade

 

The Best Homemade Lemonade

The best homemade lemonade recipe using no refined sugar - a lemonade with freshly squeezed lemon juice & naturally sweetened with honey for hot summer days.

CourseDrinks

CuisineAmerican

DietVegan

Freezer friendly2 Months

Shelf life5 Days

Cook Time5 minutes

Total Time5 minutes

Servings6

Calories99kcal

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 1.5 cups lemon juice
• ½ cup honey or maple syrup or alternative sweetener

Instructions

• Juice the lemon.
• In a large jug, combine the lemon juice, cold water, and honey. Stir and serve!
• Optionally, add herbs or other fruit, for garnish, and serve with or without ice cubes. 

Notes

• Top tip – There are a few ways to get the most juice out of your lemons. If you have a juicer, then feel free to use it. However, I sometimes  microwave my lemons for about 20 seconds (depending on their size) and then squeeze as usual. I’ve found that this method makes the process quicker AND gets out more juice!
• If you want a fresh version of lemonade soda, then simply add sparkling water instead of still.
• Once you have your lemonade base recipe, then this recipe can be easily customized with homemade syrups and ingredients. Add some fresh, muddled (or blended and strained) fruit like raspberries or strawberries, peach or blackberries, for additional flavor.
• You can also add various herbs to the lemonade, for additional flavor. My favorites include fresh mint, basil, lavender, or rosemary! (i.e., peach and thyme, raspberry and rosemary, blackberry and mint)
• For this refined sugar-free lemonade recipe, I decided to use honey as my natural sweetness. Swap this for your favorite natural syrup (although the flavor will change a bit too) or a natural sweetener like erythritol. 
• If you decide to use erythritol or another ‘powder’ form of sweetener, then you still shouldn’t need to make a sugar syrup. Just mix it directly into the lemon juice to dissolve before adding the water. 
• The level of sweetness that you like may differ from my own. I suggest adding half the amount of sweetener first and increasing as needed until you reach your desired level. 
• The type of lemon you use will also affect the tartness of the lemonade. For example, Meyer lemons are sweeter and will require less additional sweetener. However, any lemons will work.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Cup | Calories: 99kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 10mg | Potassium: 78mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 10mg | Iron: 1mg