Homemade Lemonade Recipe

My easy homemade lemonade recipe uses whole lemons soaked in simple syrup, similar to a Midwestern county fair lemon shake-up.

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Keyword homemade lemonade recipe, lemonade recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Chill Time 8

Total Time 8 20

Servings

Calories 138kcal

In a large sauce pan, combine two cups of the water with the two cups of sugar. Cut each lemon in half and add to the sauce pan.
Heat over medium heat until the sugar completely dissolves. The water will be simmering but it's not necessary to boil it.
Cover the pan with a lid and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, squeeze each lemon to get the juice and pulp into the simple syrup. The lemons will be very soft. Add the squeezed lemons to a one gallon-sized pitcher or jar. You could also use two half-gallon sized containers.
You'll have about 4 cups of the lemony simple syrup. Add this to your pitcher with the four lemon halves. Pour in the one cup of bottled lemon juice. And then add the remaining 10 cups of cold water, or enough water until the pitcher is full.
The homemade lemonade will stay fresh in the refrigerator in a covered pitcher for 5 to 7 days. Pour over glasses of ice when ready to serve.