This homemade lemonade syrup is the perfect summer drink. Made from lemon juice, sugar and water it takes 15 minutes to make and keeps in the fridge for weeks!
This post was originally published in September 2015 – it has been retested, rephotographed, rewritten, and republished (to make it better for you!) in February 2020.
It is HOT!! We are in the middle of the kind of summer days that I have always dreamed of. Slow mornings, picnic lunches on the lawn, afternoons spent in the paddling pool under the shade of the umbrella and homemade lemonade on tap all day long!
I'm all for encouraging drinking lots of water at this time of year, but sometimes it just doesn't cut it and you need something a little sweeter which is where this homemade lemonade comes in.
The whole process only takes 20 minutes start to finish, and although you need to wait for the lemonade to cool, if you use a glass full of ice and cold water (if you are super impatient like my 2 year old!) you don't even need to wait!
To start with, you make a sugar syrup. Usually sugar syrup is equal parts water to sugar but I find that too sweet. I want to drink this lemonade allthetime and so does Sadie, so I figure, the less sugar, the better! I used 3 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. I also added the zest of 3 lemons, just to add a little extra lemon flavour. And it makes it yellow! Bring this to the boil so that the sugar dissolves and simmer for 5 minutes before adding the lemon juice and allowing to cool.
That's it! Keep the lemonade syrup in the fridge and when you are ready to make it, add 1 part of lemonade to 3 parts water, or adjust to your taste.
For kids, just put a splash of lemonade in the bottom of the cup and fill it up with water - it's enough to make them feel like they are having a special drink but not so much sugar that they'll be up until all hours!
I love making mine up with sparkling water which makes it extra fancy but plain old tap water is be just as good. And I won't tell if you don't but I'm pretty sure a nip of vodka would make this a great summery cocktail...shhh adults only!
We also love making lemonade popsicles out of this - I use a ratio of 50:50 lemonade and water in ice block moulds and they taste just like the bought ones!
Other refreshing summer drinks to try:
Homemade Lemonade
Ingredients
- 3 cups hot water
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup lemon juice About 5 lemons
- Zest of 3 lemons
To serve
- Ice
- Soda/sparkling/regular water
Instructions
- Add hot water, sugar and lemon zest to a medium sized pot. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in lemon juice. Strain through a sieve to remove the lemon zest and any pips that have made it in.
- Allow to cool and store in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
- To make lemonade mix 1 part lemonade to 3 parts water (regular, soda or sparkling)
If you tried and loved this recipe, please leave a comment and a rating below!
Kamrin says
I have to do it again
Sheree Johnson says
I make this recipe for my 3 kids under 7 every week and they love it! I turn it into blocks for them.
They Always ask for them I love how it’s all natural ingredients and not a lot of sugar.