↑

Premeditated Leftovers™

Prep-Ahead Meals, Cooking Tips, and Frugal Living


You are here: Home / Recipes and Cooking Tips / How to Make Lemonade

How to Make Lemonade

by 10 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy here.

Use this recipe and tips for how to make lemonade with fresh lemons to quench your thirst on a hot summer day!

Homemade Lemonade Recipe - tips for how to make lemonade from scratch.

I walked into the kitchen and discovered my son juicing lemons. He had already located the sugar and told me he was going to make lemonade. I took a picture because I wanted my husband to see what happens when I fold laundry or clean the bathrooms, so he might gain an appreciation for a dirty house. Perhaps I should have scolded my son, but he pointed out that it was a very hot, lemonade sort of day. So instead of being “scoldy”, I decided to teach him how to make lemonade.

How to Make Lemonade with lemons. This homemade lemonade recipe is the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Tip for making perfect lemonade every time.

How to Make Lemonade

If you have ever tried making lemonade with table sugar, you have probably had a hard time getting the right balance of sweet to tart. You probably also had a hard time getting the sugar to completely dissolve. You will find it much easier to make perfectly delicious lemonade if you combine simple syrup with your lemon juice to make your lemonade.

You don’t have to buy simple syrup, it is easy to make and you make it with the same things that you have used in your old lemonade recipe: sugar and water. Once you have made the simple syrup, you add the lemon juice to it and then you let it chill or serve it over ice.

Homemade Lemonade Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 4 lemons (approximately 1 cup of lemon juice)
  • 1¼ cups simple syrup (How to make simple syrup)
  • 4 cups cold water
  • Extra lemon for garnish (optional)

Directions:

    1. If necessary, make Simple Syrup using 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar.
    2. Juice the lemons.
    3. Combine the lemon juice, simple syrup, and cold water in a large pitcher.
    4. Serve over ice and garnish with lemon if you wish.

Frugal Tip: When lemons are on sale, stock up. Then juice the lemons and freeze the juice. I like to freeze the juice of 4 lemons together, so I can easily make lemonade whenever I wish.

Printable Recipe for Homemade Lemonade

5.0 from 1 reviews
How to Make Lemonade
 
Print
Prep time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: beverage
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 4 lemons (approximately 1 cup of lemon juice)
  • 1¼ cups simple syrup (How to make simple syrup)
  • 4 cups cold water
  • Extra lemon for garnish (optional)
Directions
  1. Make simple syrup using 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar.
  2. Juice the lemons.
  3. Combine the juice, simple syrup, and cold water in a large pitcher.
  4. Serve over ice and garnish with lemon if you wish.

More Homemade Lemonade Recipes

More Homemade Beverages:

This lemonade recipe was originally published on July 1, 2015. It was updated on June 28, 2019.

About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

Comments

  3. April @ The 21st Century Housewife says

    There’s nothing like fresh lemonade on a hot day! Your sous chef definitely has plenty of initiative 🙂

    I also like the tip for freezing the juice of four lemons together, all set for a lovely cool glass of lemonade!

    Reply

    • Alea says

      Thank you Swathi! My husband and I have decided that mastering the art of cuteness is a survival skill for mischievous children. 🙂

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Rate this recipe:  

Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.