Strawberry Lemonade
Nothing says summertime gathering like a cold pitcher of homemade strawberry lemonade. This sweet-tart refresher is what everybody reaches for when they come in from the heat, and it's so much better than anything you'll buy at the store. The fresh strawberries give it that beautiful pink color and a sweetness that just makes you smile.
Cooking tutorial
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice (about 8 to 10 lemons)
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 8 cups cold water
- Ice cubes for serving
- Fresh strawberries and lemon slices for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- 1
In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and 1 cup of water over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely to make a simple syrup, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool for a few minutes.
- 2
While the syrup is still warm, add the sliced strawberries to the saucepan and mash them up real good with a potato masher or fork. Let this sit for about 5 minutes so those strawberries can release all their sweet juice and color.
- 3
Pour the strawberry syrup through a fine-mesh strainer into a large pitcher, pressing on the strawberries to get all that good flavor out. Throw away the strawberry pulp.
- 4
Add the fresh lemon juice to the pitcher and stir it up good with the strawberry syrup.
- 5
Pour in the 8 cups of cold water and stir everything together. Taste it and add more sugar if you like it sweeter, or more lemon juice if you want it more tart.
- 6
Chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before serving, or serve immediately over plenty of ice. Garnish with fresh strawberry slices and lemon rounds if you're feeling fancy.
Pro Tips
- ★If you want it extra smooth and pretty, strain it twice - that second strain gets out any little bits of pulp and seeds.
- ★Make this the night before your gathering so the flavors really marry together, and it'll be ice cold when folks arrive.