Classic homemade lemonade — fresh lemon juice, a simple sugar syrup, and cold water. The one trick that separates good lemonade from gritty, uneven lemonade is dissolving the sugar into a syrup first rather than stirring granulated sugar into cold water (where it never fully dissolves). From this base you can swing to limeade, add mint, or make it fizzy. Bright, tart, and endlessly adjustable for hot days.
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 5 to 6 lemons)
- 3/4 to 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water (for the syrup)
- 3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)
- Ice, lemon slices, and mint to serve
Instructions
Make a simple syrup
- Heat the sugar with 1 cup water in a saucepan, stirring until fully dissolved, 3 to 5 minutes. Cool. (This is what keeps the lemonade smooth, not grainy.)
Mix
- In a pitcher, combine the lemon juice, cooled syrup, and 3 to 4 cups cold water. Stir and taste — add more water to soften, more syrup to sweeten, more lemon to sharpen.
- Chill, then serve over ice with lemon slices and mint.
Variations
- Mint limeade — swap lime juice for the lemon, and muddle a handful of mint into the pitcher. Sharper and more aromatic.
- Fizzy — top each glass with chilled soda water instead of still water.
- Strawberry / other fruit — blend in 1/2 cup strawberries (or other fruit) and strain for a fruit lemonade.
- Honey-sweetened — replace the sugar syrup with 1/2 cup honey whisked into a little warm water.
Notes
- Simple syrup is the key — granulated sugar won't dissolve properly in cold liquid, leaving it grainy and unevenly sweet. The quick syrup fixes this; make extra and keep it in the fridge.
- Balance to taste — lemon acidity varies, so always taste and adjust water/syrup/lemon rather than following the ratios blindly.
- Fresh juice only — bottled lemon juice tastes flat and slightly bitter; fresh is worth it for something this simple.
Added Oct 26, 2026 · Updated Oct 26, 2026