Summer is full of delicious flavors and treat. One of my favorites is a nice glass of homemade lemonade. Lemonade is so simple to make and when you make it from scratch you can customize the sweetness vs. tartness as well as control the sugar amounts. It's also a perfect base for lemonade popsicles.
When it comes to restaurant lemonade, in my opinion Chick Fil A has some of the best. This homemade recipe comes pretty close, you just need to add some nugget ice. To store it, you'll want to put it in a pitcher preferrably with a lid in the refrigerator. There are varying opinions on how long it will last, but I would say at least a week. But, it rarely lasts that long in our house.
If you need a fun summer treat to go with your perfect glass of lemonade pair it with our white chocolate popcorn or some sweet strawberry hearts.
Tips
- Use a liquid measuring cup when juicing your lemon. I recommend 5 lemons but some have more juice than others and you may get a different amount. If you need to adjust the recipe you can use lemon juice from a can or bottle, or less water.
- Play with the sweetness level but subbing stevia or using less sugar. It's completely customizable and up to you how sweet you want to make lemonade.
Substitutions
- Try adding fresh strawberries, limes or raspberries for a bit more flavor. If you're making popsicles try a lime with strawberry version too!
- If you're wanting a lighter version swap the sugar for a sugar alternative.
- If you don't have fresh lemons substitute bottled lemon juice.
- Garnish with a lemon slice for fancy lemonade.
FAQ
You can mix together without melting the sugar, but I think the flavor is smoother if you combine into a simple syrup.
Yes! I think the fresh lemons give it the best flavor but you can use bottled juice.
It will be good for at least a week if stored in a bottle with a lid in the refrigerator.
Homemade Lemonade (Chick Fil A Copycat!)
Equipment
- 1 sauce pan
- 1 wooden spoon
- 1 juicer You can use any type of juicer to extract juice from the lemons.
Ingredients
- 4 single fresh lemons, about 1 cup lemon juice
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- 2½ cups water in a separate pitcher with ice.
Instructions
- Combine your 1 cup water and sugar in a saucepan and allow to heat until sugar has melted.
- Juice your lemons into a separate container. You want about 1 cup of juice.
- Combine your sugar water and lemon juice.
- Pour your lemon water into the glass container with 2½ cups water and ice, stir to combine.
Claire says
Keeping a pitcher in the fridge at all times these days!