Lemonade Recipe
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Learn how to make Lemonade at home with this super simple recipe! This Lemonade Recipe is made with fresh lemon juice, water, sprite and simple syrup. This will be your go-to drink all Summer long! For an extra refreshing beverage, give my Frozen Lemonade a try. SO good.

Lemonade: A Really Basic Recipe
There are so many varying levels of proficiency when it comes to my readers. This recipe can be made by ANYONE. When I say it’s stupid easy, trust me that you can totally make this. It’s as easy as it gets! Here’s what you will need:
- Fresh Lemon Juice – squeeze about 6 large lemons to get 3/4 cup
- Cold Water – to water down the lemonade
- Simple Syrup -to sweeten the lemonade
- Sprite – for a little bubbly effervescence. This is an optional ingredient! And yes, you can absolutely use unflavored sparkling water.
Why Use Simple Syrup?
Just like the name suggests, Simple Syrup is a two ingredient syrup used to sweeten drinks and cocktails without having that gritty granulated sugar texture. Comparable to the classic syrup at Starbucks, homemade simple syrups stir in easily, can easily go undetected and sweeten drinks flawlessly.
Simple syrup is a way to add sweetness and no flavor in an easy way that mixes and dissolves right in to lemonades, drinks or cocktails.
Can I Just Use Sugar?
Yes, you sure can! The only problem is the sugar might take a bit to dissolve completely as you stir it into the water and lemon juice. You will want to use 3/4 cup of sugar total for this recipe. And you will want to add an extra 3/4 cup of cold water to the finished lemonade recipe to make up for the simple syrup.
How to Make My Lemonade Recipe
Make the Simple Syrup
Make the simple syrup by heating 3/4 cup of water and 3/4 cup of sugar together in a small saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.
Stir Remaining Ingredients Together
To make the lemonade, stir simple syrup together with lemon juice, cold water and Sprite. For a sweeter lemonade, use all the simple syrup. For a lemonade that has a little more zing, use half the simple syrup.
Serve over ice with lemon slices.
Making Flavored Lemonade
You had to have known this was coming! There are so many fun and different kinds of lemonade you can make and yes, they are as simple as muddling a little bit of fruit in the bottom of your pitcher before adding the rest of these lemonade ingredients. Here are some popular add-ins:
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Fresh Mint
- Watermelon (so refreshing in the Summer!)
- Pomegranate Juice
- Cucumber and Lime
- Pineapple

Making Ahead and Storage Directions
This is a great recipe to make ahead and store in the fridge, especially if you don’t add the Sprite. The lemonade will lose its bubbles after a few hours of just sitting in the fridge. If you wanted to make this ahead, I would stir all the ingredients together without the soda, then right before serving, adding it in last minute.
Love Lemonade? Try These Fruity Favorites:
- Homemade Fruit Punch
- Sonic Ocean Water
- Virgin Pina Coladas
- Mojito Mocktails
- Liquid Sunshine
- Blackberry Lemonade
- Strawberry Mint Limeade
Hope you guys love this Lemonade as much as my kids did! It’s a classic recipe that I’m sure you all will love! Have a great day, friends!

Homemade Lemonade
Ingredients
For the Simple Syrup
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup water
For the Lemonade
- 3/4 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 4 cups cold water
- 2 cups Sprite optional
- ice, lemon slices for serving
Instructions
- Make the simple syrup by heating 3/4 cup of water and 3/4 cup of sugar together in a small saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside to cool.
- To make the lemonade, stir simple syrup together with lemon juice, cold water and Sprite. For a sweeter lemonade, use all the simple syrup. For a lemonade that has a little more zing, use half the simple syrup.
- Serve over ice with lemon slices.