Real Lemon Lemonade

This real lemon lemonade is a timeless drink that everyone loves. It makes the best kids' lemonade, or use it to make the best summer cocktails for adults.

It's almost summertime! Who else is excited about that? I know I am, but I know our girls are thrilled! They may or may not have been counting down the last days of school for over a month now.

Summer in our house means vacation time! Whether we live it up out in the world or stay close to home, we always get out and enjoy everything we can. Whether we are hiking through the mountains, kayaking the lakes or rivers, or even chilling poolside, the drink of choice is this real lemon lemonade recipe.

Jump to:

• Gluten-free lemonade.
• Is lemonade healthy?
• Ingredients.
• Steps.
• Sugar-free lemonade.
• Make ahead.
• Lemonade concentrate.
• More ways to enjoy lemonade.
• Boozy lemonade.
• More gluten-free drinks.
• 📖 Recipe

Gluten-free lemonade.

There are a lot of different brands that sell premade lemonade and even lemonade powders. While most are considered gluten-free, not all lemonade drinks are considered safe to consume for those on a gluten-free diet because they can use barley-based sweeteners to make them shelf stable.

Is lemonade healthy?

Healthy is relative; while traditionally, lemonade is filled with a lot of sugar, this can be adjusted. There are a few things that fresh lemonade can do to help keep you healthy, though.

• It helps to keep you hydrated.
• It has a high level of Vitamin C.

Otherwise, it's still a drink like any other and is not a miracle worker.

Ingredients.

This homemade real lemon lemonade has only three simple ingredients. 

• Lemon Juice - I like to use fresh Meyer lemons to make lemonade, but you can use whatever lemons you prefer. If you want, you can even use already squeezed lemon juice in the bottle.
• Water
• Sweetener of Choice

Steps.

See just how easy it is to make homemade lemonade with real lemons.

1. Make the simple syrup.
2. Juice the lemons.
3. Let the simple syrup cool.
4. Mix the water, lemon juice, and simple syrup.

Sugar-free lemonade.

I'm not always a fan of sugar substitutes, but there are a few that I've tried and have seen success with within this particular recipe.

• Stevia - Stevia lemonade works great. Stevia makes a simple syrup just like sugar does. It also makes this more of a keto lemonade.
• Monk Fruit Sweetener - Just like with stevia, you can make a monk fruit simple syrup and add it to make your low-carb lemonade.
• Honey - I suggest using honey if you like less sweet lemonade. It makes a good honey simple syrup, but the sweetness is not as strong as other sweeteners.

The amounts of these will vary depending on types and sweetness preference when compared to traditional sugar. To make your simple syrups use the conversions on the packages to see how much to use.

Make ahead.

While I prefer lemonade when it's freshly made, there are a few ways you can make lemonade ahead of time and save yourself some time when you want to make a batch of fresh lemon lemonade.

• You can make the simple syrup ahead of time - I like to keep the simple syrup in my fridge to make it easy to sweeten drinks for my kids.
• You can freeze lemon juice - I like to portion out fresh lemon juice into ice cube trays and freeze it. Then, I just have to let it defrost the right amount when I want to make a gallon of lemonade.

Lemonade concentrate.

You can also make a frozen lemonade concentrate with this real lemon lemonade recipe. It makes the perfect way to whip lemonade at home without all the extra work.

1. Make the simple syrup.
2. Measure the lemon juice.
3. Combine the simple syrup and lemon juice.
4. Transfer the mixture to a freezer-safe container and freeze.

When you are ready to make lemonade.

1. Defrost equal portions of concentrate to cold water (1:1).
2. Stir till defrosted, and enjoy.

More ways to enjoy lemonade.

My kids like to mix some green tea to make a copycat of Starbucks green tea lemonade. They also like when I add fresh strawberry puree to turn this into a strawberry lemonade. You could even use blueberries for a fun blueberry lemonade.

This real lemon lemonade also makes the perfect lemonade popsicle. I just put the made lemonade into the popsicle molds and let them freeze. Once frozen, my kids go nuts for them.

Want a little more fun? You can blend this real lemonade in a blender with a little heavy cream and make a fun whipped lemonade drink to enjoy.

Boozy lemonade.

My husband likes to make a rum and lemonade drink with this. I am more of a tequila and lemonade fan myself. I'll even blend it with some strawberries to make a strawberry lemonade margarita.

If you really want to up the alcohol concentration of this classic, check out my Limoncello Recipe!

More gluten-free drinks.

Check out these other gluten-free drinks, and keep the fun coming.

📖 Recipe