Homemade Strawberry Lemonade (2024)

ByApril Anderson

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Strawberry Lemonade is so easy to make! You only need 4 ingredients and a few minutes to make a batch. It’s so refreshing – the perfect summer lemonade recipe.

Easy Strawberry Lemonade Recipe

  • Ingredients
  • How to Make It
  • Variations and Other Fun Tips
  • Recipe FAQs
  • More Summer Drink Recipes

Lemonade seems like something might be a pain in the you-know-what, but you know what? It really isn’t. You don’t have to spend hours squeezing lemons or making complicated syrups to make it all work. This homemade strawberry lemonade recipe has a prep time of about 15 minutes. That’s it!

And, yes, I know you can just buy lemonade, but it’s fun to make things, friends. Plus, the storebought kind doesn’t have pretty strawberries in it. At best, it has a fake strawberry flavor, while our from-scratch fresh strawberry lemonade has just a few simple ingredients.

Ingredients

  • Granulated sugar
  • Water
  • Freshly squeezed lemon juice – you will need about 5 to 6 large lemons
  • Thawed sliced frozen strawberries

How to Make It

Combine the sugar with 3 cups of water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat and stir.

When the sugar is dissolved, remove the pan from the stove and allow the syrup to cool.

Pour 4 cups of cold water, the sugar syrup, and lemon juice into a large pitcher. Add the strawberries and stir to combine. Pour into glasses with ice cubes and garnish with lemon slices and fresh mint.

Variations and Other Fun Tips

Sweetness Level: Lemonade is supposed to be sweet to balance the tartness from the lemon juice, but how sweet depends on your tastes. If you serve it on a warm day with lots of ice, I don’t recommend changing the ingredient amounts. The ice will water the drink down as it melts a bit. That said, you can add up to one to two cups more of water to cut the sweetness if that’s what you prefer.

Make it Fizzy: Add some sparkling water or soda water to make a fizzy, refreshing drink!

Frozen Lemonade: Instead of thawing the strawberries, place them in a blender or food processor with the lemonade and blend until you have a slushy frozen strawberry lemonade.

Strawberry Puree: If you don’t want the strawberry slices in the pitcher, you can puree the strawberries first, strain the pureed juice through a fine-mesh strainer, and add it to the lemonade.

Change the Fruit: You aren’t stuck with strawberries – try other fruit like blueberries, raspberries, peaches, cherries, or other frozen fruit that you like.

Recipe FAQs

Can you use fresh strawberries instead of frozen?

Yes, you can use fresh strawberries, but I suggest mashing them in the pitcher first to release their juices. I like using thawed frozen ones because you get a lot of liquid from the berries, which helps flavor the lemonade.

Can you use bottled lemon juice?

I don’t recommend it because fresh lemon juice tastes a thousand times better. It’s worth squeezing the juice yourself.

Can you use prepared lemonade and just add strawberries to it?

Yes, that would be a super easy option. You can doctor up store-bought lemonade and skip making your own. Just add the thawed berries to the lemonade to flavor it.

I can’t only find whole frozen strawberries instead of sliced. Will that work?

Yes, let them thaw and then slice them. Or you can lightly mash them in the pitcher.

Why do you have to cook the sugar in the water?

Making a simple syrup, which is sugar heated with water until it dissolves, is so much better than just adding sugar to cold water. If you skip making the syrup, the lemonade will be grainy from the sugar.

How long does it keep in the refrigerator?

It will keep for several days, but the strawberries won’t be as pretty after a day or so. You can always scoop them out after a day if you prefer.

I hope you make strawberry lemonade at least once this year! There’s nothing better on a hot summer day – I hope you enjoy this lemonade recipe!

Happy sipping!

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More Summer Drink Recipes

  • Pineapple Agua Fresca
  • Sparkling Berry Lemonade
  • Passion Fruit Iced Tea
  • Grapefruit Ginger Fizz
  • Refreshing Orange Smoothie
  • Homemade Limeade – recipe from Food Folks and Fun

📣Do you love this recipe? I would love to know! Leave a comment below the recipe, along with your recipe star rating.

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Strawberry Lemonade

Homemade Strawberry Lemonade (10)

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Cold and refreshing strawberry lemonade made from scratch with fresh lemon juice, frozen strawberries, water, and sugar. This recipe is easy to make and easy to customize, too, with other frozen fruit like blueberries, raspberries, or peaches.

  • Author: April Anderson
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 0 minutes
  • Total Time: 15 minutes
  • Yield: 9 (8-oz) glasses 1x
  • Category: Drinks
  • Method: Mix
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 7 cups water, divided
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 5 to 6 large lemons)
  • 1 1/2 cups sliced frozen strawberries, thawed

Instructions

  1. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar with 3 cups of water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat until all of the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pan from the stove and allow it to cool.
  2. Pour 4 cups of water, the sugar water, and lemon juice in a large pitcher. Add the strawberries and stir to combine. Serve over ice and enjoy.

Notes

To make the lemonade less sweet, add up to one to two cups of water.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 (8-oz) glass
  • Calories: 105
  • Sugar: 24.5g
  • Sodium: 8.6mg
  • Fat: 0.1g
  • Saturated Fat: 0g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 0g
  • Trans Fat: 0g
  • Carbohydrates: 27.5g
  • Fiber: 0.9g
  • Protein: 0.3g
  • Cholesterol: 0mg

Keywords: homemade strawberry lemonade, summer lemonade recipe, easy strawberry lemonade

The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.

Post updated from the archives. First published in May 2021.

Homemade Strawberry Lemonade (2024)

FAQs

What is strawberry lemonade made of? ›

How to Make Strawberry Lemonade. This recipe is incredibly easy! Simply blend up fresh strawberries with water, agave, and a generous amount of lemon juice and it's ready to serve! With this dump and blend method, it will be a little frothy at the top (which we enjoyed).

Are strawberry lemonade and pink lemonade the same? ›

No. Pink lemonade is simply classic lemonade that's been tinted pink, typically with food coloring or sometimes a small amount of fruit juice. Strawberry lemonade has a distinct fruity strawberry flavor, and the color will vary depending on the ripeness of the berries that you use.

Is it cheaper to buy lemonade or make it? ›

Yes, it's cheaper to make lemonade yourself rather than buy it ready-made. Plus, you're eliminating additives that you'd get from those store-bought brands.

Is drinking homemade lemonade healthy? ›

The answer is yes, homemade lemonade is healthier than carbonated lemonade, but only if you cut down on the sugar. Unsweetened lemonade is always the best way forward, allowing you to keep the hydrating properties, vitamin C, and antioxidants but cut down on the drawbacks, primarily caused by excess sugars.

Is strawberry lemonade healthier than soda? ›

Fruit-flavoured fizzy drinks like lemonade and fizzy orange are slightly better choices than cola, but not ideal as your regular drink. The combination of sugar and acid can damage your teeth, and over time, excess calories from a high-sugar diet can lead to weight gain.

How many lemons for 1 cup of juice? ›

On average, there are 3 tablespoons of juice in one lemon. So, for a cup of fresh lemon juice, you would need 5 and a quarter lemons. But, because some lemons are less juicy than others, it's safe to say you'd need 5 and a half lemons for a cup of lemon juice.

What is in the strawberry lemonade at Starbucks? ›

Ice, Strawberry Acai Base [Water, Sugar, White Grape Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Natural Green Coffee Flavor, Fruit And Vegetable Juice, Rebaudioside-a], Lemonade [Water, Lemon Juice, Sugar, Lemon Oil], Freeze-dried Strawberries.

Is pink lemonade just grapefruit? ›

Then for years I thought it was made by adding pink grapefruit juice to lemonade; it's not. Pink lemonade is a popular cloudy variation of traditional lemonade made with added grape juice or cranberry juice, giving the drink its distinctive pink color.

Does Chick-fil-A have strawberry lemonade? ›

A tropical combination of our classic Chick-fil-A Lemonade and freshly-brewed Unsweetened Iced Tea, blended with strawberry passionfruit syrup made with juices and natural flavors. Also available with combinations of Chick-fil-A Diet Lemonade.

Is simple syrup better than sugar for lemonade? ›

Three cups of cold water, 1 cup of lemon juice, 1 cup of sugar and 1 more cup of water to make the sugar syrup. The sugar syrup — also called simple syrup — is the key to perfect homemade lemonade. As anyone who has tried to sweeten ice tea knows, sugar does not dissolve well in cold liquids.

Is homemade lemonade better than soda? ›

A: Despite its healthier image, regular lemonade is not necessarily any lower in calories than an equal portion of a regular carbonated soft drink. Whether ready-to-drink or made at home from frozen concentrate or a powdered mix, most lemonade contains about 100 to 120 calories in each eight-ounce portion.

What is a good price for a cup of lemonade? ›

Set a price for your lemonade that's around $0.25-$1.00. Then, make an inviting, colorful sign that advertises your lemonade. Talk to people as they walk by and politely ask them if they want a cup of lemonade.

Is lemonade good for your kidneys? ›

Lemons are a great addition to a kidney-friendly diet. They are low in potassium, which makes them a safe choice for people with kidney disease. Plus, they contain high levels of citric acid which can help prevent kidney stones from forming.

Which has more sugar lemonade or co*ke? ›

A 12 oz can of Coca-Cola contains 39 grams of sugar. A 20 oz bottle of Mountain Dew contains 77 grams of sugar. An 8.3 oz can of Red Bull contains 27 grams of sugar. A 20 oz bottle of Minute Maid Lemonade contains 67 grams of sugar.

Why is lemonade not called lemon juice? ›

Lemonade is called “lemonade” and not “lemon juice” like “orange juice”; because it is a mixture of lemon juice, sugar and water, which is why it's called “lemonade.” Orange juice and apple juice mixed with water and sugar could be called orangeade.

What is strawberry drink made of? ›

Directions. Combine strawberries, sugar, lemon-lime soda, and lemon juice in the container of a blender. Add ice and blend until smooth. Pour into a fancy glass to serve.

What is lemonade made from? ›

It is traditionally a homemade drink using lemon juice, water, and a sweetener such as cane sugar, simple syrup, maple syrup or honey.

Why is it called strawberry lemonade? ›

One day in 1857, while Conklin was making regular lemonade, he ran out of water. In desperation, he used the pink water from a tub that one of the bareback riders had used to wash her red tights. Unfazed, Conklin added some lemon slices and sold the concoction as “strawberry lemonade,” promptly doubling his sales.

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