Homemade Strawberry Lemonade (2024)

Fresh, homemade Strawberry Lemonade might be the best thing you’ve ever tasted! Made with fresh berries and lemons, water and sugar, you do not want to miss out on this classic summer beverage.

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Easy Homemade Strawberry Lemonade recipe

Now that I’m a small business owner, it’s fun to think about where all of that started.

Honestly, it might have been the ol’ lemonade stand. I’d get up on a Saturday morning and ask my parents if I could set up a lemonade stand.

I’d sit in the yard at a card table for hours with a pitcher of Crystal Light and some solo cups. My generous neighbors would eventually stop by and humor me with a quarter.

I love those memories, but I wish that little girl had something better than store-bought lemonade to offer!

She didn’t know this yet, but homemade lemonade is where it’s at — and flavored with fresh strawberries? THE BEST.

Why you’ll love this recipe

Homemade strawberry lemonade is like summer in a glass! And it is the perfect summer drink.

• Made with fresh, natural ingredients, you can feel good about what goes into this lemonade.
• It’s a simple recipe that you can pull together in less than 20 minutes with the help of a blender.
• Sip it on its own or mix it into co*cktails.

This classic lemonade recipe is going to be your new favorite. And probably one of the whole family’s favorite things, too.

It would be so good with a slice of strawberry lemonade bundt cake!

Ingredients

To make homemade lemonade, you only need four simple ingredients: strawberries, sugar, water and a bunch of lemons.

Let’s talk a little bit about what you will need for this recipe:

Sugar

Granulated white sugar or cane sugar will work best. You may use maple syrup, honey, agave nectar or brown sugar, but keep in mind these may affect the color slightly and dull the color of those fresh berries.

You can also reduce the sugar if you like, especially if you have very sweet strawberries.

To reduce the sweetness, I recommend making the simple syrup and then adding it ¼ cup at a time, mixing well. Taste after each addition until you reach your desired sweetness.

If you want to use a sugar-free substitute, like Stevia, go for it. Depending on your sweetness preference, you should use about 10 packets’ worth in the simple syrup.

Water

Ideally, you should use filtered water for the freshest taste. If you have a Brita or Soma filter or your fridge filters your water, that will work great. Distilled and bottled water work too.

You absolutely can use tap water though if needed.

Lemon juice

Okay, so yes… you technically can use the bottled concentrate from the store. Have I done it? Yes, I’m a human, and you can’t beat how convenient it is! So if you need to, it’s okay to do.

But please hear me when I say that the flavor is SO much better if you use fresh lemons — trust me.

If you really need to take a shortcut, look in your grocery store’s produce section and see if the grocery store sells fresh-squeezed lemon juice. You can get the same taste with less effort, though it will likely be more expensive than the concentrate.

Strawberries

Bright red, juicy, ripe strawberries are the best for this lemonade.

Though frozen berries are an option, fresh strawberries will provide the most succulent, sweet flavor. Strawberry season will vary depending on where you live, but usually they are available in the early summer months. if you can get your hands on berries from a local grower, do it. It’s always nice to support farmers.

For fresh berries, make sure you wash and pat dry your berries before you begin. Then, use a strawberry huller to remove the green tops of the berries. Since they’re going in the blender, there’s no reason to slice them.

You can use frozen strawberries in this recipe, ideally sliced ones. They might need a tad longer in the blender to get nice and puréed.

Best way to juice lemons

Strawberry lemonade tastes so delicate with freshly juiced lemons. These two are the perfect combination!

My favorite way to juice lemons for lemonade is with an electric juicer.

It makes juicing citrus so easy — you can use it for grapefruit, oranges and limes too. It does a great job of getting every last drop of the juice out of each fruit.

You can also use a citrus squeezer (though it will take some hand strength!), a reamer or a hand juicer. Here are some of my favorite juicers:

No juicer? No problem. Check out these tips for juicing lemons without a juicer.

How to make Strawberry Lemonade

Making lemonade from scratch is pretty easy. Here’s how to do it:

1. First, juice all your lemons. You can do this in advance and store it in the fridge for a day if you like.
2. Then, make a simple syrup on the stove. We will use this to sweeten the lemonade. Heat water and sugar on the stove over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves, then remove from heat and let cool slightly.
3. While that cools, prepare your strawberries. Hull them to remove them green stems. Then place strawberries in a blender with water.
4. Blend together to make strawberry puree in a blender or a food processor. Blend until there are no more large chunks.
5. With a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth, strain out the strawberry seeds and pulp to get a strawberry juice. You may need to do this one or two times.
6. Combine the lemon juice, simple syrup and strawberry mixture in a large pitcher. Top with cold water. Refrigerate until ready to drink!

Pour it into glasses of ice cubes and garnish with fresh strawberries and lemon slices.

Then you can enjoy this refreshing drink! Now you’re ready for a cookout or a lemonade stand on a hot summer day.

Variations and substitutions

Have fun with this perfect summertime drink and try one of these ways to make it even more perfect:

Boozy lemonade. Add a shot of vodka, tequila or rum for a refreshing summer co*cktail. Or top with champagne!

Strawberry limeade: Use fresh limes instead of lemons for a zippier libation.

Peach strawberry lemonade: Sweeten your lemonade with a fruity simple syrup, like peach syrup.

Strawberry mint lemonade: Use an herbal syrup like mint syrup or rosemary syrup.

Mixed berry lemonade: Use different types of berries like blackberries, raspberries and blueberries as well as strawberries.

Raspberry lemonade: Substitute fresh raspberries for strawberries.

Strawberry lemonade mimosas: Add some fresh strawberry lemonade to a glass and top with champagne! (See also these strawberry mimosas.)

Strawberry acai lemonade: Add dried acai powder or acai puree to add some superfood power to this classic lemonade drink.

More pitcher recipes

Try one of these easy recipes to go with your strawberry lemonade!

• Herbal limeade
• Cold Brew Iced Tea
• Berry infused water
• Citrus infused water
• Lavender Lemonade