Whip up this easy Homemade Strawberry Lemonade as a special treat on a hot day! So quick and simple to make from scratch (no mixes!) and it tastes absolutely delicious.
Make sugar syrup: In a saucepan over medium-high heat, boil 1 cup water with sugar, stirring until sugar dissolves and liquid looks clear. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
Blend strawberries: Blend strawberries with lemon juice until smooth. Combine strawberry mixture with cooled sugar syrup.
Strain: Strain strawberry/sugar mixture through fine mesh sieve, reserving pulp and catching juices in 2 quart jug. Place pulp back into sieve and rinse with 2 cups water to strain out any remaining flavor/sugar (catch juices in jug, too; discard pulp).
Assemble: Stir 5-7 cups water into strawberry mixture, yielding a stronger or milder lemonade. Use club soda in place of water for a sparkling lemonade.
Notes
Strawberries: Both fresh and frozen work. If using frozen, I recommend letting them sit on the counter for 10 minutes before blending. It helps to add one cup of the water to the blender if you can’t get the frozen ones blended.
Quick chilling: If you don’t have time to chill your lemonade, fill glasses half full with ice and serve the lemonade over it for instant chilling. You can also use chilled bottled water to make chilling quicker.
Tartness/sweetness: Adjust the amount of lemon juice and sugar to your taste. As written, the recipe makes a quite sweet lemonade. For a more tart, less sweet drink, try 1 ½ to 2 cups of lemon juice and/or reduce the sugar to ½ cup. The amount of sweetener needed will also depend on the tartness of your berries.