Fresh strawberries meet fresh lemonade in this refreshing recipe for strawberry lemonade! The perfect cool and colorful summertime beverage.
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Why we love this recipe
It happens to me every year…I see that hand-lettered sign at our friendly farm market that says “Local Strawberries” and I pick up a carton full of those little beauties and breathe in deeply.
The best way to tell if strawberries are going to taste like you want them to is if they have a sweet strawberry aroma…if they don’t smell like anything, don’t buy ’em.
Strawberries are obviously a key ingredient in this recipe, and here’s a handy guide to everything you need to know about buying, storing and prepping these delicious fruits.
These local babies smelled like a little bit of heaven, and all I could think was…strawberry lemonade!
So I headed down the aisle and got me a small basket full of lemons. You really only need 6 or 7 lemons for this recipe, but they were selling them by the basket, and there’s nothing quite as cheery as a basket of lemons on your kitchen counter, and I can always figure out how to handle a few extra lemons.
Now there were only a few cups of water and some sugar between me and a pretty pink pitcher of lemonade…here we go!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
Here’s how you make this recipe
The first thing you need to do is make a quick sugar syrup, which you do by combining some sugar, some fresh lemon zest and a little water and boiling it for about 10 minutes or so.
Now comes the hardest part, which is waiting for the dang syrup to cool down. Distract yourself by juicing about 6 lemons until you have a cup of lemon juice, and hulling your gorgeous summer strawberries. And here comes one of my favorite tricks, which is the Hulling of the Strawberries with a Straw.
Yep…grab a plain old drinking straw and a berry. Push the straw up through the bottom of the berry towards the stem. Push all the way through until the straw pops out the other end with the leaves snugly at the end of the straw.
It will take you a berry or two to get the knack of it, and then you will wonder why you spent all those years carving strawberry stems out with a paring knife. Your pretty strawberries will be hulled in no time!
Pop the berries into your friendly food processor and let it rip until you have a lovely smooth berry puree. Strain it through a fine mesh strainer to get the seeds and bits out….you’re going to do the same thing with your finally-cooled-down lemon syrup.
We’re almost there! Find a pretty pitcher and pour everything together – the cooled syrup, the lemon juice, the berry puree and some more water. Drop in some ice, and you are in business.
You can liven this lemonade up with some seltzer…or something stronger!…or you can drink it all by its perfectly wonderful self.
Summer = strawberries!
Other beverage recipes we love
Could you leave us a review?
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section.
PrintStrawberry Lemonade
Fresh strawberries meet fresh lemonade in this refreshing recipe for strawberry lemonade! The perfect cool and colorful summertime beverage.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Beverages
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 5 cups water
- 2 lemons, zested
- 1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 6 lemons)
- Ice cubes
Instructions
- Combine sugar, 1 cup of water and lemon zest in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Cool.
- Puree strawberries in a food processor until smooth. Strain the puree through a fine mesh strainer, pressing down on the solids to get all the good juice out.
- Strain the cooled lemon sugar syrup through a fine mesh strainer.
- Combine the syrup, the strawberry puree, the lemon juice and the remaining water in a large pitcher and stir. Add ice cubes and serve!
Chris says
Absolutely delicious and very refreshing.thank you for sharing such a great recipe.
Kate Morgan Jackson says
Thanks Chris! I’m so glad it’s finally lemonade season! :)
Cupcake and Talk says
I am making this pretty drink. I love the color.
Kate says
I know, I love the pinkness of it all! :)
ruthie says
I can’t tell you how much time I’ve wasted with the paring knife this year alone! Thank you goddess of good ideas. ;) And the aroma. O.M.G. The ones I just got…I had to stand there inhaling that berry perfume. So, so good.
I usually get tired of hulling them and start dipping the end in sugar and eating my way to their leafy little caps. Until I get caught. Now I will be the drinking straw maven and all will be well in ruthieland. Heh. Well, at least as far as hulling berries goes.
Kate says
Listen, hulling berries is a very important skill set. :) Although dipping them in sugar isn’t all bad either. :)
melissa@IWasBornToCook says
Love how refreshing this looks. Great hulling tip!
Kate says
Thanks! – I love how easy it is (especially with the straw trick!)
Joanne says
I try to only ever buy strawberries when I can smell them from across the produce section! This sounds like a deliciously refreshing summery drink.
Kate says
The smell teste is the only way to go for strawberries (and tomatoes too!)
Francesca says
A simple straw to hull strawberries….you are a GENIUS!! Thanks Kate for your great ideas!
Kate says
You are so welcome! That’s one of my favorite tricks. :)
Pam says
My kids would be thrilled if I made this for them!
Kate says
Make it! There’s nothing like a happy kid. :) :)
Kate says
There is nothing like fresh homemade lemonade…strawberry lemonade is REAL treat!
Kate says
Fresh lemonade…once you try it, it’s really hard to go back, right? :)