Strawberry, Peach, Tropical, Raspberry, or Blackberry Lemonade Recipes
This summer drink recipe is for making fruit-infused lemonades like strawberry lemonade, peach lemonade, and raspberry lemonade. If you've grown tired of the traditional lemonade recipe, try these fun fruit variations!
For the fruit simple syrup for raspberry, peach, strawberry, blackberry, or tropical lemonade:
1cupfresh or frozen fruit(such as raspberries, peaches, strawberries, blackberries, or a tropical mix)
2cupswater
1cupsugar
For the raspberry, peach, strawberry, blackberry, or tropical lemonade:
fruit simple syrup
1cuplemon juice
3-4cupswater
iceat least 2 cups
sliced lemon or additional fruit for servingoptional
For the fruit simple syrup for traditional lemonade:
1cupsugar
2cupswater
For the traditional lemonade:
simple syrup
1cuplemon juice
4cupswater
ice,at least 2 cups
sliced lemon for serving,optional
For the fruit simple syrup for watermelon lemonade:
2cupscubed watermelonseeds and rind removed
1cupsugar
1cupwater
For the watermelon lemonade:
watermelon puree
1cuplemon juice
3–4 cups water
ice
sliced lemon for servingoptional
Instructions
Instructions for raspberry, peach, strawberry, blackberry, or tropical lemonade:
In a medium saucepan, heat the 2 cups of water, 1 cup of fresh or frozen fruit, and 1 cup of sugar for the simple syrup over medium high heat until the sugar is dissolved. Stir it often. Bring the mixture to a boil, and then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 3-6 minutes until the fruit is soft.
Remove the pan from the heat. Use a potato masher to crush the fruit. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes while the fruit steeps in the hot water.
Set a fine mesh strainer over a medium-sized bowl (a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup works well for this) and pour the hot fruit simple syrup through the strainer. Use the back of a spoon to press the fruit against the strainer to remove all of the extra juice. Discard the pulp or seeds (or feed it to your chickens!).
Place the fruit simple syrup in a heat-resistant container (a mason jar with a lid works well for this) and then let it chill in the fridge.
In a large pitcher, add the simple syrup, lemon juice, and 3-4 cups of water. Stir to combine well. Serve over ice and garnish with sliced lemon and/or additional fruit.
Instruction for traditional lemonade:
In a small saucepan, heat the 2 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar for the simple syrup over medium high heat until the sugar is dissolved. Stir it often. The mixture doesn’t need to boil but it will be steamy and hot. Place the simple syrup in a heat-resistance container (a mason jar with a lid works well for this) and refrigerate until chilled.
In a large pitcher, add the simple syrup, lemon juice, and 5 cups of water. Stir to combine well. Serve over ice and garnish with a lemon.
Quick instructions for traditional lemonade:
In a large pitcher, add 2 cups of hot tap water. Add the cup of sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Add the lemon juice, 4-5 cups of cold water, and 2 cups of ice. Stir well to combine. Serve right away.
Instructions for watermelon lemonade:
In a blender, combine the watermelon, water, and sugar. Blend on high for 1 minute to dissolve the sugar.
Pour the watermelon puree through a fine mesh strainer.
Add the watermelon puree to a large pitcher, add the lemon juice and additional water, and stir well to combine.
Serve over ice with sliced lemon as a garnish.
Video
Notes
The lemonade will be a little strong, so be sure to serve it over at least a 1/2 cup of ice. If you aren't serving it over ice, be sure to chill the lemonade well before serving and add 1 to 2 cups more water to suit your taste.
If you don't want to wait for the simple syrup to chill, you can make the lemonade as directed but instead of adding water, add ice. Let some of the ice melt then taste it before adding more ice or water.
If your fruit isn't very sweet, you might want to add an additional half cup of fruit to your simple syrup (I find that strawberries and the tropical fruit mix often need that extra 1/2 cup).
You can find a tropical fruit mix in most frozen sections. It should have pineapple, mango, and strawberry in it (and maybe even papaya).
Don’t skip the straining part for the watermelon lemonade, watermelon tends to feel a little gritty in your mouth when it’s pureed.