Easy Lemonade Made with Bottled Lemon Juice
Stir together a batch of homemade lemonade using bottled lemon juice to save time. It’s a sweet and refreshing treat!
If you want a treat, make it yourself.
It’s a rule of thumb that makes sense to me, especially with sweet drinks.
Because at the risk of being the fun police, even homemade drinks like lemonade are still treats (and mostly sugar).
So this is a treat we make ourselves, especially in hot weather.
From one reader: “Just wanted to share I made this lemonade for Memorial Day weekend and my kids can’t get enough! My daughter (super picky) LOVED it! I also felt better giving them this over the powdered, brightly colored stuff. It was easy and I can’t wait to continue making it…and to teach my kids to do it!” –Meghan G.
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This lemonade recipe requires just a few simple ingredients: lemon juice, sugar, and water–plus fresh lemons if you’ve got them.
You can make this lemonade with all freshly-squeezed lemons, especially if you’d like to keep your kids occupied for a while. We use an old-fashioned glass juicer like this one but I’ve heard these handheld citrus squeezers work well too.
Otherwise, enlist some bottled lemon juice to pick up the slack. We’ve tried a few different kinds and do notice a difference between the slightly higher-priced juices (fresher-tasting) and the store-brands (perfectly fine as well).
Feel free to experiment with ratios. We were using a full cup of sugar before cutting it down. I find this version with less sugar perfectly sweet and satisfying.
And yes, this lemonade is lighter in color than the instant kind because it’s missing artificial food dyes. (And it tastes a whole lot better than the powdered kind too.)
My kids have also been mixing this homemade lemonade with sparkling water to make a fizzy drink.
Hope you and your kids enjoy this sweet treat!
Easy Lemonade (Made with Fresh + Bottled Lemon Juice)
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 8 1/2 cup water, divided
- 1 cup lemon juice
Instructions
- Make the simple syrup: Combine sugar plus 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat and stir until sugar is fully dissolved (you'll know it's dissolved when the liquid looks clear).
- Combine the simple syrup and lemon juice in a 2-quart pitcher.
- Add 8 cups of cold water.
- Chill before serving (or serve over ice).
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 78Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 18mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 0gSugar: 19gProtein: 0g
Hello Sally!
Do you think the True Lemon brand is good for kids and adults to drink or not? It’s a water flavor enhancer with 1g of sugar.
Here is the link to their official site: https://www.truelemon.com/
Hi Elisha–Looks like True Lemon only contains crystallized lemon (citric acid, lemon oil, and lemon juice) and it’s naturally calorie and sugar free (meaning, no artificial sweeteners, etc). If your kids like that, I think it would be a great replacement for regular lemonade!
Bit too tart for one kid but the other slugged it down lol good stuff
You can definitely increase or decrease with the sugar amount, depending on how sweet you and your kids like it!
I make my own lilac simple syrup every spring. I use that in place of the plain simple syrup to make lilac lemonade. Rest delicious with this recipe! Beautiful color too!
That sound so lovely! 🙂 Bet that’s a pretty color.
It tasted great!!! It tasted like lemonade in the stores!!! I made it for the first
How can I make just one glass of lemonade with bottled lemon juice?
Here’s a recipe for single-serving lemonade (just swap in bottled for fresh-squeezed): https://www.kitchentreaty.com/fresh-squeezed-lemonade-by-the-glass/
Personally, it feels like more work than I’d be willing to do for one glass 🙂 but you might not feel that way!
I loved this recipe,I also added to my glass fresh sliced strawberries and let them sit in the ice along with the lemonade and after about an hour it is the perfect drink. Great mix of sweet and tart with this recipe. Thanks again I wrote it down on a 3×5 card for my mini file box of grandmasholy grail of recipes collection. This is going to be right next to grandma’s rocky road recipe.
It was very good! I will definitely use this recipe again!
Love this method!! I’ve done step 1+2 and put it in a mason jar in the fridge for a quick lemonade concentrate. 1/4 cup or less of the concentrate topped off with ice and still or bubbly water is a fun single-serve option! I’ve melted a tablespoon of strawberry jam in the simple syrup while hot to make a pink lemonade!
I love that idea of a lemonade concentrate, and the jam too. 🙂
Do you have to make the simple syrup or can you just put sugar with hot water and stir till dissolved and then add other ingredients?
Whether you use a cup or a gallon, just remember:
6 equal parts
-1 part lemon concentrate (equal parts sugar and lemon juice)
-5 parts water
I used to work at a restaurant that made “fresh” Lemonade like this everyday. This recipe confirms those measurements ..
Great info–thank you!
This Lemonade is also great as ice cubes or popsicles ❣️ I Make it Weekly
Hi I made the 8 1/2 Cups Water to 1 Cup of Lemon Juice and it’s not Strong enough it tastes too watered down. I use Spenda instead of Sugar because I have Type 2 Diabetes. Please advise how many more Cups of Lemon Juice I will need
Hi Thomas–since you’d like a stronger lemon flavor, I would cut back on the water by about 1 cup and see if you like that better.
Sooo delicious and refreshing on this hot late-spring day! Just what we needed – Thank you!
Glad you liked it!
Do I double the amount for a gallon or what ratio for a gallon?
Hi Angela–Yes, this recipe makes 8 cups. For a gallon (16 cups) just double everything.
It tasted great !!!!
just like a lemonade should taste; bought from the stores Yum tasted , good. I made it for the first time ⏲️ Bravo !
What lemon juice brands do you recommend? How far in advance would/could you make this for a lemonade stand? Thank you!
Honestly we have used all different brands, including ALDI store brand. I’d make it within a day of serving at the stand so it tastes fresh. Have fun!
I use Santa Cruz organic lemon juice. I like that it comes in a glass bottle.
This lemonade was delicious
Glad you liked it!