Here's a summertime favorite with a healthy twist. An easy homemade lemonade recipe with honey simple syrup and a splash of orange.
One of my favorite summertime treats is the fresh-squeezed lemonade you get at local festivals. You know the lemonade stands where they squeeze the lemon juice while you wait, and shake it with superfine sugar and ice?
Well, here's an easy version you can make at home without refined sugar. Refreshing, healthy, and perfect for summer!
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How to make lemonade
This recipe starts with making honey simple syrup. Which is a fancy way of saying honey dissolved in hot water. This makes it easy to mix into the lemon juice. If you've ever tried to stir honey into a cold drink, you know it just stays together and sinks to the bottom of the glass.
I like to use a honey that complements the citrus flavors. Try orange blossom honey, or a berry honey like raspberry or blueberry, if you can find it.
Squeezing the lemons goes pretty quickly with a handheld citrus juicer. I have a few different ones and this is the one I like best. You can have all the lemons juiced in the time it takes to heat the water.
Then all that's left to do is stir everything together and let it chill in the fridge.
Serve the lemonade over a full glass of ice—with a squeeze of orange to add an extra hint of citrusy sweetness. And I like to use paper straws (like these bamboo ones) or glass straws instead of plastic.
Flavor variations
Now that you have the basic lemonade recipe down, let your creativity run wild with lemonade add-ins and flavor combinations. Here are a few to try:
- Add frozen fruit – this is a trick I use to keep drinks cold all summer long. Try frozen peaches or watermelon cubes.
- Add fresh fruit – strawberries are a classic combination for strawberry lemonade. Just muddle a few strawberries in the bottom of the glass and garnish with sliced strawberries.
- Add fresh herbs – lavender, rosemary, mint, basil – try different combinations with different types of honey or fruit juice for your own mocktail.
- Make it a cocktail – vodka lemonade is a summer classic. I like Ciroc, a vodka distilled from grapes.
- Make popsicles – frozen popsicles are a summer essential and lemonade makes the perfect base for any type of fruit you want to add. (I use these popsicle molds.)
However you drink it, this easy lemonade recipe with honey is perfect for a hot summer day!
More cool summer drinks
- Cold Brew Iced Tea
- Dairy-Free Iced Latte
- Frozen Watermelon Berry Smoothie
- Strawberry Mojito Smoothie
Easy Lemonade Recipe with Honey
Ingredients
- 3 cups filtered water divided
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice about 6 lemons
- ice for serving
- orange wedges for serving
Instructions
- Heat 1 cup water in saucepan over medium heat.
- Remove from heat and stir in honey until dissolved. Pour into pitcher and stir in remaining 2 cups water and lemon juice.
- Chill and serve over ice with orange wedges.
Notes
Nutrition
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