This quick and easy Homemade Low Sugar Lemonade recipe uses half the sugar as many traditional lemonade recipes. It's ready in less than 10 minutes and is a perfect thirst quencher on hot summer days! Made with only 3 simple ingredients: fresh squeezed lemons, water, and sugar.
Once you master a homemade lemonade recipe, it will be hard to buy a store bought jug again!
You really can't go wrong with a classic lemonade at spring and summer barbecues, pool parties, and picnics. We love it paired with creamy lemon squares, lemon muffins, and coconut lime bars. It also perfectly washes down strawberry cupcakes, lemon cookie bites and strawberry lemon bread.
Table Of Contents
Ingredients
You only need 3 very simple ingredients to make this easy homemade lemonade.
- Fresh lemons
- Water
- Sugar: substitute with honey if desired.
- Optional: mint leaves, sliced lemon pieces for garnishing.
Recipe Notes
Some homemade lemonade recipes skip the step of dissolving the sugar in the water. Don't do this! This step is crucial to getting the sugar to incorporate fully into the liquid. When we get fresh squeezed lemonade from the farmer's market, the man makes it right in front of us. It's so fun to watch! But he adds sugar crystals to the water and lemons in a shaker. Then he vigorously shakes it up to dissolve the sugar. This is totally fine if you are making one serving of homemade lemonade, but not so easy if you are making a whole jug!
Instructions
Making lemonade from scratch is so simple. Anyone can do it .There is no cooking ability required! Kids can help squeeze the lemons to make the lemon juice, pour the water into a jug and stir the sugar into the water. They also love garnishing pour glasses of lemonade with fresh mint leaves, strawberry pieces or sliced lemons.
This recipe has just 3 steps and takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish.
- Combine 1 cup of water and ½ cup of sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved. Remove pot from the heat.
- Cut lemons in half and squeeze the lemon juice into a large pitcher.
- Pour 6 cups of cold water and the 1 cup of boiled sugar water into the pitcher. Stir thoroughly to combine the lemon juice, water and sugar.
Chill in the fridge or add ice to chill immediately. Serve garnished with mint leaves, lemon slices or other fruit slices like strawberries.
Kristina's Tips
- Always taste your lemonade to make sure it suits your preferences. You can always add more sugar or lemons (although we always try to keep this a low sugar lemonade).
- If your lemons don't feel very soft, roll them on the counter a few times using pressure from your hand as you roll. This will help soften them up and make squeezing out all of the juice that much easier. Plus, they won't squirt all over your kitchen if they are soft. Or, use a lemon squeezer.
- Add a handful of mint leaves to the entire jug prior to chilling, if you want a homemade lemonade that has a cooling minty taste to it. Remember, though, that the longer the mint leaves sit in the lemonade, the more minty it will taste.
What Can I Use Instead Of Refined Sugar?
For a homemade lemonade without refined white sugar, you can use:
- honey (⅔ cup to every 1 cup of sugar)
- stevia (1 teaspoon to every 1 cup of sugar)
- maple syrup (¾ cup to every 1 cup of sugar)
- coconut sugar
How To Store
Store in the fridge in a sealed pitcher for up to 10 days.
Recipe
Low Sugar Lemonade
Equipment
- large pitcher
Ingredients
- 7 large fresh lemons
- ½ cup sugar
- 7 cups water
Instructions
- Combine 1 cup of water and ½ cup of sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved. Remove pot from the heat.
- Cut lemons in half and squeeze the lemon juice into a large pitcher. Pour remaining 6 cups of cold water and the 1 cup of boiled sugar water into the pitcher. Stir thoroughly to combine the lemon juice, water and sugar.
- Chill in the fridge or add ice to chill immediately. Serve garnished with fresh mint leaves and extra lemon slices if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
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