Homemade Strawberry Lemonade

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This Easy Homemade Strawberry Lemonade recipe is a refreshing summer drink made with only 4 healthy ingredients including fresh strawberries and honey! Skip the store bought varieties riddled with artificial ingredients, corn syrup and food dyes and make your own, more delicious strawberry lemonade today!

two glasses of strawberry lemonade


Who doesn’t love a cold glass of lemonade after a day of fun in the sun?! This Strawberry Lemonade recipe is made with fresh strawberries, sweetened with honey (or a sweetener of your choice) and has no artificial ingredients, making it a great way to beat the heat this summer!

Store-bought strawberry lemonade varieties usually contain high fructose corn syrup, food dyes, and a laundry list of other undesirable ingredients. However this Homemade Strawberry Lemonade is made with only 4 all-natural healthy ingredients! Plus it only takes 5 minutes to blend it up! 

front view of a glass pitcher of Homemade Strawberry Lemonade and a glass of Homemade Strawberry Lemonade and a bowl of strawberries next to it

Strawberry Lemonade: Ingredients & Substitutions 

This strawberry lemonade recipe only has four ingredients that we will discuss and touch on possible substitutions. 

overhead view of the ingredients in this strawberry lemonade recipe
  • Strawberries. I recommend fresh strawberries for the best flavor and ease of blending! If you have frozen berries they will work too, and will actually help the strawberry lemonade chill faster! 
  • Lemon Juice. I use Santa Cruz Organic Lemon Juice in all of my baking, lemonade-making and cooking. Because let’s face it, with 5 sweet kids I just don’t have time to juice a bunch of lemons. I love the quality of Santa Cruz juice because it’s 100% pure and not from concentrate! If you do have the time, then by all means use fresh-squeezed lemon juice! 
  •  Honey. Any sweetener can be used in this homemade strawberry lemonade recipe. I have used honey and organic cane sugar with delicious results. I did try maple syrup and while it tasted ok, I don’t prefer the maple flavor in my lemonade, to be honest. 
  • Water. I use filtered water from my refrigerator to make this strawberry lemonade. Feel free to use tap water if you live in a place where it is safe to drink. Another fun twist would be using soda water to make a fizzy lemonade!

How do you make Homemade Strawberry Lemonade?

This strawberry lemonade recipe is so easy to make, but I want to give you a few tips and tricks to ensure your success! 

Use a Vitamix blender

I couldn’t post a blender recipe without (once again) reminding you that in a world full of blenders, Vitamix out-performs them all. To get the smoothest strawberry lemonade that you don’t need to strain, I highly recommend using a Vitamix to make this strawberry lemonade recipe, although any blender will work! Click on this post to see my recommendations for buying a Vitamix if you’re in the market for one!

Blend water & strawberries

Remember, when you’re blending it’s important to always add liquids into the blending container first! So in this recipe begin by adding water followed by the strawberries! 

Blending the water and strawberries together first until the mixture is completely smooth ensures there will be no seeds or strawberry pieces left in the final product and no need to add the extra step of straining! It also prevents any honey from getting stuck to the bottom of the blending container (especially if you’re using a less powerful blender). 

two front view photos, the left shows water being poured into the container of a vitamix blender. The right shows strawberries being poured into the container of a vitamix blender to make Homemade Strawberry Lemonade

Add lemon juice & sweetener and blend. 

Now dump the rest of the ingredients into the container and blend for 30 seconds. The goal of this step is to make sure the honey (or sugar) is completely dissolved! 

Add more water and Blend 

Add the last cup of water and blend for 10 seconds or until the mixture is homogenous! 

You will notice that there is a significant amount of froth after the blending is complete. That’s totally normal and it settles and disappears during chilling! 

two front view photos of a vitamix blending container. the left shows lemon juice being poured into the container. the right shows the container with the lid on blending Homemade Strawberry Lemonade

Taste & adjust 

After all 3 cups of water and 3/4 cup of honey have been added, pour yourself a sip and taste the Strawberry Lemonade. I have found that the sweetness of the strawberries changes the amount of honey I prefer to use.

I usually don’t add more than 3/4 cup, but once I made this with a particularly sour batch of berries and I ended up adding 1 full cup of honey to get the right sweetness!

Chill 

Grab yourself a 2 liter pitcher and put 2 cups of ice in it. Pour the lemonade into the pitcher with ice and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (preferably longer to fully chill). 

front view of a woman pouring Homemade Strawberry Lemonade from the vitamix container into a glass pitcher.

Enjoy!

Serve this Strawberry Lemonade cold over ice after a long day of fun in the sun! It’s a delicious and healthier alternative to lemonade mixes that everyone will love! 

front view of a glass of Homemade Strawberry Lemonade with a lemon slice on the rim of the glass

FAQs about Strawberry Lemonade

Here are some commonly asked questions about making this Homemade Strawberry Lemonade recipe!

What’s the difference between pink lemonade and strawberry lemonade? 

Pink lemonade gets it’s pink color from food dye, while strawberry lemonade (at least this homemade version) gets its pinkish red color from real strawberries!

Which fruit has more sugar, strawberries or lemons? 

Lemons contain 70% sugar and strawberries contain only 40%! Lemons taste sour despite their higher sugar content because they have a high amount of citric acid!

How long does strawberry lemonade last?

This strawberry lemonade stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

More delicious strawberry recipes:

front view of a glass of Homemade Strawberry Lemonade with a lemon slice on the rim. Another glass and a pitcher of Homemade Strawberry Lemonade sit behind the front glass on the left and right. two lemons are sitting on the left side and a bowl of strawberries on the right.

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Homemade Strawberry Lemonade Recipe

Laura
This Easy Homemade Strawberry Lemonade recipe is the perfect refreshing summer drink! It’s made with fresh strawberries, sweetened with honey and has no artificial ingredients, making it a great warm-weather beverage! 
5 from 2 votes
Course beverage, Drinks
Cuisine American
Servings 2 Liters (8 Cups)
Calories 55
Prep Time5 minutes
Chilling time:2 hours
Total Time2 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients 
 

  • 1 cup strawberries (chopped)
  • 3 cups water (divided)
  • 1 cup lemon juice
  • ¾ – 1 cup honey
  • 2 cups ice

Instructions 

  • Place 2 cups water and strawberries in the container of a Vitamix and blend until smooth.
  • Add lemon juice and honey and blend until combined and the mixture is uniform throughout.
  • Add additional cup of water and blend for 10 seconds.
  • Put 2 cups of ice into a large pitcher. Pour lemonade over the ice and put it in the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours or overnight.
  • After chilling, if there is still some foam left at the top, simply stir it into the lemonade or scrape it off with a spoon!
  • Serve over ice for a refreshing summer drink!

Video

Notes

Ingredient Substitutions

  • Strawberries. I recommend fresh strawberries for the best flavor and ease of blending! If you have frozen berries they will work too, and will actually help the strawberry lemonade chill faster! 
  • Lemon Juice. I use Santa Cruz Organic Lemon Juice in all of my baking, lemonade-making and cooking. Because let’s face it, with 5 sweet kids I just don’t have time to juice a bunch of lemons. I love the quality of Santa Cruz juice because it’s 100% pure and not from concentrate! If you do have the time, then by all means use fresh-squeezed lemon juice! 
  •  Honey. Any sweetener can be used in this homemade strawberry lemonade recipe. I have used honey and organic cane sugar with delicious results. I did try maple syrup and while it tasted ok, I don’t prefer the maple flavor in my lemonade, to be honest. 
  • Water. I use filtered water from my refrigerator to make this strawberry lemonade. Feel free to use tap water if you live in a place where it is safe to drink. Another fun twist would be using soda water to make a fizzy lemonade!
Store
Store this strawberry lemonade in a glass pitcher in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 55kcal | Carbohydrates: 15.1g | Protein: 0.2g | Sodium: 1.8mg | Potassium: 42.9mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 13.9g | Vitamin A: 5IU | Vitamin C: 17.2mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Did you enjoy this recipe? Have a question? Leave a comment below!

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2 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    It’s amazing because no artificial flavored strawberry syrup will ever parallel incredible taste of fresh strawberries in lemonade.