Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

5 from 12 votes

This recipe gives the perfect balance of lemony sweetness and sourness, making it a deliciously refreshing beverage you can enjoy all year round.

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Keyword Home Lemonade, homemade lemonade, lemonade recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 5

Chill Time 30

Total Time 55

Servings cups

Calories 208

1½ cups granulated sugar*
¼ cup lemon zest about 4 lemons
1½ cups fresh lemon juice about 6-12 lemons depending on size (plus more for garnish)
2 cups hot water
4 cups cold water more as needed

Zest the and juice the lemons.
In a pot over medium heat, add sugar, lemon zest, and two cups of hot water.
Simmer stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has a yellow hue. There's no need to boil the water.
Strain the lemon juice and sugar mixture into a 2 quart/1.9 liter pitcher to remove the pulp, seeds, and zest.
Add in 4 cups of cold water.
Taste for sweetness and if it's too sweet add more water a little at a time until it reaches the desired sweetness.
Store in the refrigerator.
Serve over ice in a glass garnished with lemon slices.
This recipe makes approximately eight 8oz/236ml glasses of lemonade.

*If your lemonade preference is on the tart side, reduce the sugar to one cup.

Always zest lemons before juicing. Zesting a lemon that is already juiced is much harder to do!
Roll your lemons under your palm on the cutting board, adding as much pressure as possible to make it easier to juice.
Don’t Chill Your Lemons – Room temperature lemons yield more juice than cold.
If your lemons aren’t very ripe, microwave them on high for 20 to 30 seconds to help juice flow more easily.
Speed up juicing by using an electric juicer.
To keep from watering down your lemonade, add ice to the glass instead of the mixture or better yet, make extra lemonade and make ice cubes out of it to chill it down without added water.