This quick and easy Homemade Low Sugar Lemonade recipe uses half the sugar as many traditional lemonade recipes. It's ready in less than 10 minutes and is a perfect thirst quencher on hot summer days. Made with only three simple ingredients: fresh squeezed lemons, water, and sugar.
This homemade lemonade is a simple, classic favorite that uses nearly half the sugar that many other recipes use. You really can't go wrong with a classic lemonade at spring and summer BBQs, pool parties, and picnics.
One of our favorite snacks on a hot summer day is this low sugar lemonade paired with creamy lemon squares, coconut lime bars, and frozen nutella bananas. It also perfectly washes down strawberry cupcakes, mermaid cupcakes and a morning breakfast nutella crescent roll.
Once you master a homemade lemonade recipe, it will be hard to buy a store bought jug again.
Ingredients
You only need 3 very simple ingredients to make this easy homemade lemonade.
- Fresh lemons
- Water
- Sugar: substitute with honey if desired.
- Optional: mint leaves, sliced lemon pieces for garnishing.
Instructions
Making lemonade from scratch is so simple. Anyone can do it .There is no cooking ability required! Kids can help squeeze the lemons to make the lemon juice, pour the water into a jug and stir the sugar into the water. They also love garnishing pour glasses of lemonade with fresh mint leaves, strawberry pieces or sliced lemons.
This recipe has just 3 steps and takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish.
- Combine 1 cup of water and ½ cup of sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved. Remove pot from the heat.
- Cut lemons in half and squeeze the lemon juice into a large pitcher.
- Pour 6 cups of cold water and the 1 cup of boiled sugar water into the pitcher. Stir thoroughly to combine the lemon juice, water and sugar.
Chill in the fridge or add ice to chill immediately. Serve garnished with mint leaves, lemon slices or other fruit slices like strawberries.
Some homemade lemonade recipes skip the step of dissolving the sugar in the water. Don't do this! This step is crucial to getting the sugar to incorporate fully into the liquid. When we get fresh squeezed lemonade from the farmer's market, the man makes it right in front of us. It's so fun to watch! But he adds sugar crystals to the water and lemons in a shaker. Then he vigorously shakes it up to dissolve the sugar. This is totally fine if you are making one serving of homemade lemonade, but not so easy if you are making a whole jug!
Tips from the Chef
Always taste your lemonade to make sure it suits your preferences. You can always add more sugar or lemons (although we always try to keep this a low sugar lemonade).
If your lemons don't feel very soft, roll them on the counter a few times using pressure from your hand as you roll. This will help soften them up and make squeezing out all of the juice that much easier. Plus, they won't squirt all over your kitchen if they are soft. Or, use a lemon squeezer.
Add a handful of mint leaves to the entire jug prior to chilling, if you want a homemade lemonade that has a cooling minty taste to it. Remember, though, that the longer the mint leaves sit in the lemonade, the more minty it will taste. Or make a refreshing strawberry lemonade.
Variations
For a homemade lemonade without refined white sugar, you can use:
- honey (⅔ cup to every 1 cup of sugar)
- stevia (1 teaspoon to every 1 cup of sugar)
- maple syrup (¾ cup to every 1 cup of sugar)
- coconut sugar
Recipe FAQs
The less sugar lemonade has in it, the better it will be for you generally. Homemade lemonade that has less sugar than normally is good for you but should still be consumed in moderation.
In place of white sugar you can use honey, stevia, coconut sugar, or maple syrup to make lemonade.
Store this low sugar lemonade in the fridge in a sealed pitcher for up to 10 days.
Recipe
Low Sugar Lemonade
Equipment
Ingredients
- 7 large fresh lemons
- ½ cup sugar
- 7 cups water
Instructions
- Combine 1 cup of water and ½ cup of sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved. Remove pot from the heat.
- Cut lemons in half and squeeze the lemon juice into a large pitcher. Pour remaining 6 cups of cold water and the 1 cup of boiled sugar water into the pitcher. Stir thoroughly to combine the lemon juice, water and sugar.
- Chill in the fridge or add ice to chill immediately. Serve garnished with fresh mint leaves and extra lemon slices if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Alexandra says
A delicious, simple to prepare recipe for homemade lemonade. I particularly appreciate that it is low in sugar, whilst still tasting fantastic. Thank you - it's so refreshing.
Yu says
I made this low-sugar lemonade earlier along with my dinner; it is SO refreshing and tangy. Love it!
Bernice says
I'm terrible at drinking water during the day. I just find it so boring but everything else is so high in sugar... except for this lemonade. It's the perfect solution.
Jacqueline Debono says
Homemade lemonade is the best and I love that this recipe has less sugar than most. I think I'll be drinking this throughout the summer!
Tammy says
I always find recipes call for an alarming amount of sugar and I never use the suggested amount. Glad to see I'm not the only one either! Sounds perfect 🙂
Veronika says
I always find regular lemonade has too much sugar, especially the store-bought ones so this was perfect!
Ramona says
Very nice and easy, and I substituted the sugar for honey, my kids and guests absolutely loved it.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
You are absolutely right when you say once we taste homemade lemonade, it’s hard to go back to store bought ones. Love this recipe and thanks for all the sugar substitution suggestions.
Krysten says
I love that this is a low-sugar recipe! I am working to lose weight and cut out a lot of sugary beverages. Now and then it would be nice and refreshing to try something sweet that doesn't use artificial sweeteners. I think this recipe would be perfect for that.
Alyssa says
I was hoping to use lemons from my tree but they’re not large. Do you know about how much lemon juice you need from the lemons? Thanks!